[nilanjanray]

I took up a job in Gurgaon, and so had to bring Bison along :-)

The Bangalore - NCR monsoon drive was interesting, done over 2.5 days. Day 1: Bangalore to Pench. Day 2: Pench to Agra Day 3: Gurgaon.

Note: planning matters a lot. Weather conditions (very important during monsoon), crossing a city bottleneck, road conditions, when one should cross the badlands (e.g. Chambal stretch; note: conditions are a lot 'tamer' now, compared to three years back when I did Jhansi - Agra in the night) etc. Especially when one has a deadline to go from A to B.

Had got rid of my Pirellis (Scorpion ATs) and shifted to the Yoko Geolanders (G015, A/T) after much research and deliberation. Till date (fingers crossed), the Yokos have performed rather well. I have driven through pouring rain, done fast highway cruises, and driven on rocky trails. Except road noise, these Yokos seem to be better than my old Pirelli Scorpion ATs in all aspects. Of course, need to see how damage/puncture resistant they are over at least 50K km :-) Anyway, happy with the tyres, till now.

I had to take Bison to the Himalayas the first chance I got. She has been enjoying. Will share a few photos.

130K service coming up. One advantage with a Toyota Fortuner - usual numbers cease to matter. One can do what one wants to do even after passing 100K km. Without much worry. :-)

MP forests, digital painting based on a photo. Yes, of course I did a detour at the cost of a few hours :-)


7500 feet, Himalayas.


A kaleidoscope of butterflies. Encountered while driving on a lonely forest road near Corbett.


KA to UK


Just before it started pouring cats and dogs. Shot somewhere on the N-S corridor, near Sagar, MP.


Exploring near Pangot, Nainital.


Bison time :-)

[nilanjanray]

Updating this thread after a long time. Bison has been doing quite a few trips to the forests and mountains of North India. She keeps purring along, gonna be nine years old this month.

I have shifted to Yoko G015s (Geolander A/T). Only one puncture till now (fingers crossed), that was due to a nail. It performs pretty well in wet conditions. Let's see how it handles Spiti. I am driving there with a few friends later this week.

Bought a few things for the trip. These were long pending, used the Spiti trip as an excuse to finally buy them.
* Another Yoko G015 for the stepney. I had been using my old Pirelli Scorpion ATR till now.
* Vantro power inverter
* Lukzer anti-slip traction tread board. Would have preferred longer/larger ones, but could only find expensive imported options on Amazon. Yes, one can always use a simple wooden board, but that is a little unwieldy.
* Jumper cables, the Amazon-branded one.
* Haathi tow strap and D shackles
* Puncture repair kit

Will do the servicing after I come back.

[sumeethaldankar]

Considering you are in Gurgaon will the 10 year diesel ban affect your car?

[nilanjanray]

Got back to Gurgaon after traveling cross-country and immersing myself in the midst of wildlife and nature. My company has a 'work from anywhere' option so as long one has good WiFi and a clean + sanitized room, one is good. Did the long drives over the weekends, and took leave when I didn't have a signal e.g. in Corbett forest rest houses.

Route: Gurgaon - Pench - Bangalore - Tadoba - Bandhavgarh - Panna NP (stayed at BHPian Trojan's camp, highly recommended!) - Pilibhit Tiger Reserve - Corbett - Gurgaon. With some offroading on forest trails and many random drives to explore the countryside.

Went through some bad roads, and often traveled in the evening/night. Bison did everything without a protest, not a single issue. She handled some horrendous roads with aplomb, and made Google Map reconsider - quite a few times - what is possible with a trusty 4WD when one is venturing onto unknown roads.

Sharing a couple of photos, yet to start curating the RAW files and process. Have plans to write a travelogue.

Young leopardess


Oriental pied hornbill


Bull gaur in golden light

[nilanjanray]

162K++ km done. Been traveling a bit. Mainly RJ, UK, and UP. 160K servicing was expensive because I had to replace front brake discs (after 37K km) + coolant + some other stuff. But Bison is purring along pretty fine

I would recommend the Yoko A/T G015s. Allrounder for someone who cruises on highways and then offroads. They have handled all sorts of terrain - highways, rocky trails, snow, sand, wet roads, etc. pretty well.

Safari, Dudhwa National Park, UP, near the Nepal border. Beautiful sal forests.



Paradise flycatcher.



A less encountered tigress, Ranthambore.



Panchachuli peaks, somewhere near Munsiyari, around midnight.



Sunset, Desert National Park, near Jaisalmer.



Demoiselle cranes near Jodhpur. They are one of the highest-flying birds, they cross the Himalayas when migrating from Central Asia/ Mongolia, sometimes flying at 26,000+ feet. They complete the journey in 5-6 days.



Just before sunrise, Eastern Uttarakhand.

[RoadFiend]

Greetings Nilanjan - this should be the longest running Fortuner ownership thread, and what an epic thread !!! Remember reading this closely as I firmed up my mid 2012 acquisition of a 4x2 AT. While Guderian departed and many others sold etc., it's an enduring pleasure to read your thread still going strong

At 9yrs\90k my steed is still a pony and I intend to keep it forever. Rozinante had a close call in 2019 and survived unscathed by itself. That incident endeared it to us, and any thoughts of replacing evaporated. Invested in factory repainting to rejuvenate the lush black majesty. Hope diesel rules don't crop up in Bangalore shortening it's life

If you are visiting Bangalore, you should call for a Fortuner get together !

[nilanjanray]

Originally Posted by RoadFiend

Greetings Nilanjan - this should be the longest running Fortuner ownership thread, and what an epic thread !!! Remember reading this closely as I firmed up my mid 2012 acquisition of a 4x2 AT. While Guderian departed and many others sold etc., it's an enduring pleasure to read your thread still going strong

At 9yrs\90k my steed is still a pony and I intend to keep it forever. Rozinante had a close call in 2019 and survived unscathed by itself. That incident endeared it to us, and any thoughts of replacing evaporated. Invested in factory repainting to rejuvenate the lush black majesty. Hope diesel rules don't crop up in Bangalore shortening it's life

If you are visiting Bangalore, you should call for a Fortuner get together !

Thanks. Bison is doing ok, though haven't driven much in the last few months. Had to replace the alternator pulley, otherwise things are fine with the vehicle. I was driving to the Himalayas and faced the issue near Moradabad. Other Fortuner owners - Team BHP contacts - helped me to get in touch with the right folks in the ASC and get things sorted the same afternoon.

Fingers crossed, but the Yokos have been pretty decent for my kind of usage - highway + offroading.

Himalayas, monsoon mist


Female khalij pheasant


Elephant near Corbett National Park


Lemon-rumped warbler having a bath in a Himalayan rivulet

[nilanjanray]

When I talk about driving to some remote forest rest house, which requires a 4x4...well, an example :-)

Somewhere in Uttarakhand. No help around. So, you have to rely on your trusty Toyota. Anyway, if I hadn't found the way (another story, will write a travelogue), I would have been ready to park somewhere in the forest and light a fire and make maggi and then go to sleep. I saw many (fresh...trust me, I can make out) tiger spoors. But the elephants worried me. Anyway, got to the FRH around 7.30 pm (this was late Dec, Uttarakhand, so you can imagine the darkness).

Watch after 20s.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFG4VHoEomQ

[Manuuj]

Lovely to see Bison still going strong. The sound of the engine in the video took me back to my time with Obelix. Really miss the ol chap.


How many kms has Bison covered? Do the NCR cops trouble you over the 10 year rule?

The video was lovely! Where was this beautiful road? Which FRH?

[nilanjanray]

It is such a pain not to drive the vehicle in Delhi - NCR! Bison mostly roams around in Uttarakhand and Rajasthan, chasing cats and Himalayan peaks in golden light and sunrises and sunsets and FRHs.

Close to 200K km now. AC conked off after a 10K service. It was working fine before that. I am not sure whether I need to replace the part (clutch assembly magnet, part no A-8410-0K200), or it was due to some error. Grrr. Outside NCR, jugaaaru guys usually don't have much clue. And I can't even get the vehicle inside NCR where there are so many experts!

There was an issue with the boot, it suddenly stopped opening when I was driving to Gangotri. Got it fixed at some ASC. Again the same problem happened. BUT. I was driving over rough roads, and crossed a bump at moderate speed. I heard a click. Voila. Boot door opened. And the issue seemed to have sorted itself out. Fingers crossed, all fine now.

#BisonTimes


Trishul, monsoon


Some stream outside Corbett. A tiger was seen here that morning, was waiting to have an encounter.


Kosi river bed, Kaas grass, near Corbett. Was waiting for a tiger to appear.


Gone bird. Green bee-eater, Mohan, outside Corbett National Park.


Bhagirathi, beyond Harsil


Panchachuli peaks, B&W


Beside Bhagirathi, evening, Harsil


Kaladhungi (Corbett's village), Boar river. Again, waiting for a tiger

[Jagann13]

One of the beautiful threads that never caught my attention until now.

Lovely pictures and man! Your bison going on and on and on is a testament to why Fortuner rules the space despite being less VFM these days!