[Passiontodrive]

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8th October 2010: Scrutiny. My turn was at 3.30 in evening, but I reached scrutiny venue at 8.00 AM in morning, Helping competitors in stickering or other things was also a good experience. So many media persons were capturing videos etc. I met Mr. Vijay Parmar, Mr. Manjeev Bhalla for the first time. I was calling them since 2008 but this was our first meeting. I have seen their videos on youtube. Nice guys. Clearing paper scrutiny: Long Queue, all were in hurry, only one person was handling all the things, first question was Who is this guy? Got answer: Mr. Sanjay, Ok… I used to call this guy very frequently for one doubt or the other. He was managing all the things like one man army, So energetic and hard worker. People were taking time about 20 to 30 minutes to clear paper scrutiny but me: only 2 minutes. Arrange all the documents in the order he want and done. Now run for sticker job, only 30 minutes given, by the time it was little dark outside, I was panicked, I will be penalized for sure, but thanks to Aman, George, Deepak, Abhash, Nutan and Abhey. My gang was waiting, only for me, it was so late in the evening, so nice, we completed in 15 minutes only, vehicle scrutiny was responsibility of Aman and he is very good in his job. I got Scrutiny OK sticker in no time.

some pictures of scrutiny time:
Aman and George with Gypsy
Abhash and Deepak with Esteem

@wbd8779: Thanks dear feeling better now.

We have to reach hotel Peteroff (not sure if I am spelling it correctly) for drivers briefing.
(Sorry friends, I think I am taking too much time in describing things before rally, but it feels great from start to end with all the stuff).

[Passiontodrive]

First pics of my Partner Neeraj, before him I was alone but now we were 1+1=11... Vehicles lined up for flag off, Formal Flag Off By Himachal CM Mr. Prem Kumar Dhumal

Originally Posted by MileCruncher

Boss Amazing story. One can feel the story coming straight from your heart. I also want to do it. May be someday.

BTW can you tell me how much it cost you for getting the whole Gypsy done ?

Keep the story flowing.

Cheers

Thank You Sir for appreciating my writing...
Whole gypsy with registration and some accessories will cost around 4.5 lacs... But mind my words admiration and value for money is GREAT

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[nitrous]

Originally Posted by wbd8779

I had clicked this pic at the start , this was the Austrian KTM contingent , the guy in the middle with the beard has also participated in the Paris Dakar rally . I recently got another pic of him with the newly crowned F1 world champion Sebastian Vettel.

The sound that those KTM's made was something to remember.

Damn, He seems to have trained hard and developed his body for endurance.

[Passiontodrive]

Start of Day 1: All lined up at Hotel Peterhoff 5:00 am (cold and so early in the morning)

First Day First Half: One gypsy rolled down in front of us... Thank God as no causalities, very scary for first time participants, around 10 to 12 participants stopped and tried to pull gypsy with the help of winch (2 different winches from different vehicles) but due to some rocks it was not possible... we all were shouting like mads, "Hello, are you OK, need any kind of medical assistance?". Both the guys were safe and without injuries.. Incident reported to raid officials, raid starts again.

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[Sorcererenator]

Jatin buddy, hope you are feeling much better. Now that you have started the thread again, I am all glued to it.

[Passiontodrive]

thanks dear, feeling much better now...

Some more pictures from day 1

Day 2: Shimla to Manali. Really a car breaker... we survived a head to head accident with mini bus.. it was a very narrow turn, we were on high speed as we were late, Thank God... as no major damage caused to our gypsy... during whole raid most frequent words were: THANK GOD

Day Time: Break your car...
Night Time: Repair it...

We got service from HMA and those guys were very helpful and responsible for keeping us in competition. We were carrying enough spares with us but we have not used ours as we want to carry them as backup till end... so for every replacement we got it from service team.

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[Turboholic]

I just went through entire thread and I am really very happy to read the experience of Passiontodrive (very true to his handle). I felt that this is the kind of thing that most people dream of doing but only few like Passiontodrive accomplish.

Congratulations and I am waiting for more details.

Glued to this thread!

[sudev]

There has been a "break" in the write up because our man had a "break" bone - actually a few of them - due to a road accident. I am also waiting for Jitinder to finish the balance.

I wonder why the Subaru did not get good position. Such a lovely car and so nicely prepared with rally suspension etc.

[Turboholic]

@Passiontodrive: hope you are recovering from the accident an do serious damage. Get well soon and revive the thread.

[informmaha]

Originally Posted by wbd8779

Posting some random pics that i have . i cant seem to post a majority of them as i cannot downsize the pics (i have over 400 ) nearly all of them are over the 1mb upload limit.

Nice write up guys..Hope you guys are doing well. It really is an eye opener for others who are planning to participate in the future just like me .

A suggestion on the file size, just open the picture you want to upload in "Paint" which you have it in accessories of your computer and just save it (it might sound stupid, but you can feel it once you do it) and see the file size reducing by atleast 50% if you have'nt tried this before. I do this lot of times, its a painfull process to open the photos and do it, but that's the only way to reduce the file size.

Wish to see you guys someday ofcourse in the rally circuit

[Passiontodrive]

@Turboholic: Thank you Sir, I am OK now but still walking with three legs (with the help of stick)
@Sudev Sir: I wish someday I will participate in Desert Storm, I am regularly checking all the updates, I know I have to do nothing with that but I feel engaged without any reason..
First Question after accident: Will I participate in future motorsport events?
Answer: Yes, for sure.
What is the risk? (Thank God as death rate in Indian Motorsport is not so high). Only risk is some broken bones with lot of pain and I have enough experience of that and what I have learned so far is every pain is bearable and if we are determined we can get rid of that with the help of painkillers, and for broken bones: doctors are there, so get a mediclaim policy and get ready for any kind of action

Day 3: Manali to Kaza and night stay at Tabo:
Lot of discussions about road books, tracks, Speeds etc. etc. etc. and you know we all are Gyanchands (Persons with overflow of knowledge). While crossing Rohtang Pass we were thinking of Sedans with very low ground clearance, big rocks, no roads, it was like jumping of a frog from one rock to another.. Phew
May God help them… On this kind of tracks we cannot guarantee that our vehicle would be able to complete the day or not.

After crossing Rohtang Pass we were into lonely planet.. Not much traffic, we hardly see any vehicle on road (other than rally cars)

(Need help: How to post between two pictures)

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[Passiontodrive]

Once we reach Kaza: first thing is go for Petrol from the only outlet. Long queue of rally cars, all saying one thing to the man out there “Fill it full”. Thanks to Aman again as I was not aware of this fact and while Neeraj was sleeping in gypsy as the day ends and I was doing nothing but teasing everyone out there. Immediately rushed to Petrol Pump and got both of our tanks full… bought some chocolates and water bottles as our stock was not up to the mark. It was so nice that the person selling these things was charging on actual rates i.e. MRP. We were of idea that rates here would be higher due to the distance covered in bringing those things here.

[Passiontodrive]

Regarding Neeraj: What a guy. Living in U.S. from last two decades, driving super luxury cars on smooth roads there and participating in Raid De Himalaya. Hats off.
In our whole group I was the only guy (Stupid) who was carrying laptop, use of laptop is not allowed during run, but to upload GPS waypoints it is required. But yes, after the completion of raid the condition of laptop and mobile was $@$@$#@ %%# %$@% (not allowed to use foul language but cannot stop myself for expressing my feelings.)
Now we have a free run from Kaza to Tabo I guess around 45 kilometers. Partners exchanged. Deepak joined me in Gypsy and Neeraj joined Abhash in Esteem. Now there is a twist in story. Me and Deepak busy in useless discussions (were driving without road books) and turned a wrong way crossing a river with a metal bridge and keep on going going and going. Road was going upwards and was becoming narrow with every few meters after around 30 to 40 minutes of driving it was not wide enough to drive a gypsy and we were standing on the edge of a mountain, no way to turn back, no way to drive backwards, we both were shocked and so panicked, we were lost what to do. Main tension: we were thinking that Abhash and Neeraj are ahead of us. Now time to check road book. We both were agreed that we are fools. Turning radius of gypsy is very less and in 4 X 4 low gear, it needs very hard and muscular arms to turn it in any way. Deepak was standing at the edge and was shouting “little more little more”, I was so tired but somehow we managed to turn back. What should we do to find Neeraj and Abhash? Without mobiles or any communication material we can’t do anything, so let us proceed on the right way and reach Tabo to get help to find them. We reached Tabo, searched them everywhere in monastery, on helipad (parking and service was arranged there) but they were not there, So just like Hindi Picture 3 Idiots “lets us concentrate on food” as going behind them was not a good idea at all. In that kind of atmosphere no one can help anybody, in so dark outside, nobody can spot a vehicle even if it is dropped down. So waiting is better idea.

After around one hour they both reached and you know they were not on wrong track they reached Tabo way before us, but they went back to find us. Neeraj was so shocked and worried about me, he slapped me, yes he slapped me but in next moment he was hugging me like mads “Saaale kahan tha” (Where were you $@%$#). We have developed a brotherly relationship between both of us. Now time to enjoy traditional welcome from local people.

[Passiontodrive]

Drinking is not permitted: But it was very difficult to sleep for only 3 to 4 hours daily with pain in whole body, Gypsy is good for offroading but is not a comfortable vehicle. So two small pegs of rum in night, while repairs are going on was not a bad idea.
Air filter of Abhash’s esteem was badly broken, but no need to worry: JUB SAATH HUM HAIN TO KYA GUM HAI. (I was carrying extra filter of same size). Issue resolved. After dinner time now to find our beds and to take rest. Wow what a luxury rooms, we haven’t expected. Simple hard beds with hard mattresses without electricity or hot water or room heater or carpets or or or. I asked myself: Dear, you are not here for luxury, these rooms are far better than tents, so don’t complain, thank them and enjoy whatever is provided. We have to use candles; it was very cold outside and inside also. Abhash and Deepak used their Sleeping bags, but I and Neeraj were so tired (because of our lovely, sweet and tough machine), we don’t wished to go downstairs and bring sleeping bags from the vehicle so we used the Rajais.

[BulZire]

passiontodrive, congrats buddy!. Nice set of pics. Trust you recovered from your broken thigh now. Take atmost care in your future rides and adventures. Hope your team finished the ride successfully