Delhi to Mathura...
In January 2009 with the Republic day coming close to the weekend, I had two days handy and spent it in a little different way. I traveled to Mathura on my bicycle. I wanted to travel to some nice location, but was a little reluctant to do without my new hobby of cycling on the weekends. For the past 3-4 months I was enjoying my weekends cycling the wide and beautiful Delhi streets especially Lodhi Estate, India Gate areas. Cycling turned to be my new mode of exercise. Initially I planned to travel by cycle to Bharatpur in Rajasthan, which is 40 km far from Mathura and 185 km from Delhi. As a beginner this was too big a task for me to complete in 1 day and return the same way to Delhi the next day.
On 25th, I started from home at 7:30 a.m. It was foggy outside, but was not very cold. I cycled with enthusiasm and reached Faridabad in one hour. Till Faridabad traffic was heavy and the area was covered with dense fog. Without taking a break I continued on NH2 towards Ballabgarh. Till Faridabad I had the company of other cyclists. Now there were only cars, buses & trucks: mostly, cars heading towards Agra on the long weekend. I reached Ballabgarh and slowly headed towards Palwal. I pedaled steadily also enjoying the nice weather and the scenic farm fields. After taking short break to have a tea I carried on and reached Palwal. Without stopping I headed to next town Hodal. Now I started feeling tired and I reached Hodal at 1:30 p.m. I stopped there for lunch. After having lunch from a highway dhaba I continued towards Mathura, which is further 55 km from Hodal. Soon my cycle started having problem in addition to my tiredness. I struggled a bit to reach next town Kosi Kalan, which is 12 km far from Hodal. Kosi Kalan is a city in Mathura district. By then it was past 3 p.m. and I decided to leave my cycle at a service centre for repairing and traveled to Mathura by bus. It was a 45 minutes journey to Mathura. I reached Mathura at around 5:30 p.m. And checked in a guesthouse near the Lord Krishna temple. After a refreshing bath I had darshan at Krishna temple. High security was deployed at the temple premises, probably because of the temple’s proximity to a mosque. After the darshan I visited Lord Krishna’s birthplace. There was a long queue of devotees. After experiencing the devotional atmosphere of the area I came out and headed towards Vrindavan, which is 12 km far from Mathura. I reached Vrindavan and had no clue where to go on that night. So I approached a pedestrian to have some knowledge about Vrindavan. His name is Chavi Ghosh and he is unmarried and lives in an Ashram. The middle-aged man showed great enthusiasm in guiding me to a Lord Krishna temple called Banke Bihari. We walked around 2-3 km to reach the temple. The temple area was heavily crowded and we could feel the rush all along the way towards the temple. We had darshan with Aarti. Soon we departed and I headed back to my hotel room in Mathura. After a restless day I needed a good sleep. The next day early morning I traveled back to Kosi Kalan in a bus. It was as foggy as the previous day. I collected my cycle and pedaled back to Delhi.
In January 2009 with the Republic day coming close to the weekend, I had two days handy and spent it in a little different way. I traveled to Mathura on my bicycle. I wanted to travel to some nice location, but was a little reluctant to do without my new hobby of cycling on the weekends. For the past 3-4 months I was enjoying my weekends cycling the wide and beautiful Delhi streets especially Lodhi Estate, India Gate areas. Cycling turned to be my new mode of exercise. Initially I planned to travel by cycle to Bharatpur in Rajasthan, which is 40 km far from Mathura and 185 km from Delhi. As a beginner this was too big a task for me to complete in 1 day and return the same way to Delhi the next day.
On 25th, I started from home at 7:30 a.m. It was foggy outside, but was not very cold. I cycled with enthusiasm and reached Faridabad in one hour. Till Faridabad traffic was heavy and the area was covered with dense fog. Without taking a break I continued on NH2 towards Ballabgarh. Till Faridabad I had the company of other cyclists. Now there were only cars, buses & trucks: mostly, cars heading towards Agra on the long weekend. I reached Ballabgarh and slowly headed towards Palwal. I pedaled steadily also enjoying the nice weather and the scenic farm fields. After taking short break to have a tea I carried on and reached Palwal. Without stopping I headed to next town Hodal. Now I started feeling tired and I reached Hodal at 1:30 p.m. I stopped there for lunch. After having lunch from a highway dhaba I continued towards Mathura, which is further 55 km from Hodal. Soon my cycle started having problem in addition to my tiredness. I struggled a bit to reach next town Kosi Kalan, which is 12 km far from Hodal. Kosi Kalan is a city in Mathura district. By then it was past 3 p.m. and I decided to leave my cycle at a service centre for repairing and traveled to Mathura by bus. It was a 45 minutes journey to Mathura. I reached Mathura at around 5:30 p.m. And checked in a guesthouse near the Lord Krishna temple. After a refreshing bath I had darshan at Krishna temple. High security was deployed at the temple premises, probably because of the temple’s proximity to a mosque. After the darshan I visited Lord Krishna’s birthplace. There was a long queue of devotees. After experiencing the devotional atmosphere of the area I came out and headed towards Vrindavan, which is 12 km far from Mathura. I reached Vrindavan and had no clue where to go on that night. So I approached a pedestrian to have some knowledge about Vrindavan. His name is Chavi Ghosh and he is unmarried and lives in an Ashram. The middle-aged man showed great enthusiasm in guiding me to a Lord Krishna temple called Banke Bihari. We walked around 2-3 km to reach the temple. The temple area was heavily crowded and we could feel the rush all along the way towards the temple. We had darshan with Aarti. Soon we departed and I headed back to my hotel room in Mathura. After a restless day I needed a good sleep. The next day early morning I traveled back to Kosi Kalan in a bus. It was as foggy as the previous day. I collected my cycle and pedaled back to Delhi.
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