Driving... and other Panuanaula, India Transportation Tips

'Mode': TO
Category: Car/Motor Home
Getting TO/AROUND: There are two ways you can get here... take the night train from Delhi station to Katgodham, which is the last station on the line and before you start climbing. You reach Katgodham early in the morning, after which, you can negotiate with one of the local cab drivers to drive you up. The driving time from here is about 4 hours, since this is a winding hill road. You can take your drivers mobile phone number, so that you can call him to let know when he should pick you up for the return leg. The only issue is that they will charge you for two return trips- ie- dropping you there and then for them to return to katgodham after that, and then again when they come to pick you up. The plus point in the train option is that you arrive at Katgodham after getting a decent amount of sleep on the train, and so the whole journey is not so tiring.
The other option, which is what we did, since it was too late to get train tickets by the time we decided on things, is to rent a vehicle for the whole trip, from Delhi itself. make sure the driver has sufficient experience of driving in the hills and at least roughly knows the routes. They charge you by the Kilometer, and you have to pay the driver a nominal fixed amount per night. You will also have to budget for the drivers food and the highway tolls. We rented a `tempo traveller', which is a small coach. Usually seats up to 12 people easily. We paid Rs 13 per Km.

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