[v1p3r]

Sorry to be such a pain, but what's the food like?

And NO, I do NOT mean is there Pepsi!

[mclaren1885]

Dont know how I missed this thread .. I am in .. If we have more than 5 members from bangy (apart from goddy's family) I could drive down to delhi in my car * maybe transporter could get your Dicor too steer .. Maybe we could hitch a ride with the two safari's from delhi as most roads might not be motorable for a baleno ..

[Godfather]

Originally Posted by mclaren1885

Dont know how I missed this thread .. I am in .. If we have more than 5 members from bangy (apart from goddy's family) I could drive down to delhi in my car * maybe transporter could get your Dicor too steer .. Maybe we could hitch a ride with the two safari's from delhi as most roads might not be motorable for a baleno ..

My confirmation is yet to come... I might be flying off to US during this time on work .. Will keep you guys updated though.. Also MCL if we are going why do u wanna drive down from Bangalore to Delhi..???
And yes..It will be better to leave the Baleno here in bangalore.. Fly down to delhi and join us in the Dicors..
If i am coming i will most probably send the Safari by truck till Delhi, and fly down there..

Godfather

[mclaren1885]

Goddy , we love driving ra .. Anyways Im ready either way ..

[v1p3r]

Originally Posted by nkapoor777

WOW! I wanna go!!!

Originally Posted by Godfather

If i am coming i will most probably send the Safari by truck till Delhi, and fly down there..

Boring! Driving is so much more fun.

I think I know a certain Elantra owner who will be very interested in this trip!

[Godfather]

Originally Posted by mclaren1885

Goddy , we love driving ra .. Anyways Im ready either way ..

Ur choice... But i am a little hesitant to drive till delhi..That will mean 2 to 3 more days and we will be dead tired bro...+ expenses on Fuel...

Originally Posted by v1p3r

WOW! I wanna go!!!

U are more than welcome to join in..
And the latest update is that My Wife is not joining us in this trip..

Godfather

[Godfather]

Ummmm.. One more thing... ANy idea of the weather there during August End????

Godfather

[esteem_lover]

Originally Posted by kpzen

Can i join u from Cochin ??

Yeah & you wanna share the driving time, right ?? LOL

Originally Posted by mclaren1885

Maybe we could hitch a ride with the two safari's from delhi as most roads might not be motorable for a baleno ..

i think you could take your baleno, check with the experts. I'd like to see you do this.

one word of advice. since some of you are taking your wives etc(intentional), i would advice you to take this trip leisurely with as many pauses as you can in the most breathtaking places you come across, instead of trying to rush it to get back to work & literally not seeing anything at all. you guys are spending a whale of a money to do this, so let the moment last. what say ?

[Godfather]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

. The road is slightly broken in pieces with black ice at many places(which you will find a lot). There were so many times when I was sliding. I had to drive extremely slow and it was very very trechrous.

I bought this great digital compass for My Safari.. Has all sorts of sensors on it..
1. Shows us the Directions in Digital
2. Has a Digital Battery condition Meter
3. Digital inside and outside Temperature meter
4. Black Ice Warning Meter With continous beeps as we approach it... .. Yay..Will finally have a chance to use it.

Godfather

[khaadu75]

Guys, just remember its August when you planning on doing this trip ... and thats when the monsoons hit this part of the country . And during monsoons anything can happen .. also the average speeds can drop drastically --- and the evrage speed is much lower when u in a convoy also !! So instead of pushing for Keylong on Day 1 , I would still recomend Manali as a lot of you wud need to get acclimitised .

Bunny might be able to push it .. as hes more of a mountain man than any of the others here so his system is used to that -- right BUnny ??

Also I wud advise you guys to kee a contingency plan .. as plans mite need to ve changed for a million reasons and extra days are recomended !! Also in case you can fit it in .... you can swing back via my place though that would ask for a detour and a night extra !!

Cheers

[BunnyPunia]

Originally Posted by Godfather

Ummmm.. One more thing... ANy idea of the weather there during August End????

Godfather

As khaadu bro said, it rains a lot in Himalayas in August. But then on the whole, in Ladakh, weather can change at any time. It can snow at the passes without a notice!

Originally Posted by Godfather

I bought this great digital compass for My Safari.. Has all sorts of sensors on it..
1. Shows us the Directions in Digital
2. Has a Digital Battery condition Meter
3. Digital inside and outside Temperature meter
4. Black Ice Warning Meter With continous beeps as we approach it... .. Yay..Will finally have a chance to use it.

Godfather

Black ice warning meter? Damm cool!

Originally Posted by khaadu75

Guys, just remember its August when you planning on doing this trip ... and thats when the monsoons hit this part of the country . And during monsoons anything can happen .. also the average speeds can drop drastically --- and the evrage speed is much lower when u in a convoy also !! So instead of pushing for Keylong on Day 1 , I would still recomend Manali as a lot of you wud need to get acclimitised .

Bunny might be able to push it .. as hes more of a mountain man than any of the others here so his system is used to that -- right BUnny ??

Also I wud advise you guys to kee a contingency plan .. as plans mite need to ve changed for a million reasons and extra days are recomended !! Also in case you can fit it in .... you can swing back via my place though that would ask for a detour and a night extra !!

Cheers

yep guys, you can hit his place via jalori pass and narkanda. Have seen his place, the location is awesome

PS : Cars like the Baleno can make it thru this trip. OD's octavia RS made it too. May be a couple of body scrapes here and there

[BunnyPunia]

Originally Posted by v1p3r

Sorry to be such a pain, but what's the food like?

And NO, I do NOT mean is there Pepsi!

Once above Manali, its usually noodles/maggi/thupka/soup

[Godfather]

Originally Posted by BunnyPunia

Black ice warning meter? Damm cool!

Yeah.. I had not connected that sensor in yet.. Never felt the use in Bangalore.. Will have that connected ASAP.And i will definately put up some pictures

Originally Posted by BunnyPunia

Once above Manali, its usually noodles/maggi/thupka/soup

This reminds me... theMAG.. are u planning on Joining us.. You have been awfully quiet on this Thread..

Godfather

[doctorkats]

okay Desert Stormers!
the adrenalin rush on this thread is pretty palpable.
dont rush through the drive though guys.its tiring.the rarefied air doesnt help either.
besides the group has to be in the pink.
when i did the manali leh road trip last:
1.i drove from del to manali.halted at johnson's inn and cafe.walked to Hidimba Devi temple and Ghatotkachh Sthan in the morn.
2.drove my pals (3 of us besides me) to Marhi upwards of manali towards rohtang for acclimatization.drove back to manali and halted the night.
3.manali to sarchu the next day.carried a military jerrycan of fuel from tandi.at keylong the gypsy's fuel hose pipe sprang a leak.lost fuel.had it fixed.lost time.post afternoon started for leh from keylong.
4.a dry mud and rock slide blocked the roads near stingri.roads were being cleared by BRO(brilliant men).by the way no cranes here.almost everything is manual.lost time again though.roughly 90 minutes.
5.crossed baralacha la pass (16500ft) in complete darkness.10 kms away from sarchu the gypsy 4x4 died on me.sputtered,sighed and passed out.
6.one of my friends started getting dizziness, light headedness and threw up.first signs of acute mountain sickness.
7.the gradient was abt 30 degrees.threw the hand brake and stepped out to lift a few mid size rocks to place behind the tyres to prevent a roll back.puffed me out.felt like an old sea weary sailor!the altitude reminded me to hit the gym more often when i get back to del.
8.abandoned the gypsy.hitched a ride with a bunch of truckers.by this time my pal was wheezing.had to put her on meds,though the only sure shot solution is to descend fast.
9.reached sarchu.paid and thanked the truckers.one of the helpers had severe AMS too (he got meds as well).
10.the tents at sarchu were freezing.the chap who owns it, some ajay had a portable hyperbaric chamber there too.
the night sky was out the world.felt like the entire milky way was staring down.the cold dry breeze cut through my jacket.my face frozen.
felt like heaven!
11.next morning took help from army jawans.fixed the gypsy.drove to leh.
(finally!)
via sarchu-lachalang la(minor AMS symptoms here for a few)-paang-more plains(tore the terrain down)-tanglang la(17582ft)-rumste-upshi(cross the River Indus)-karu-leh.
12.reached leh around 5.30 pm.took our time.

at the time J&K had no roaming for cell phones.it was viewed a security threat.
my buddies stayed back in leh for over a fortnight.yup, they lived it up.
but for hapless souls like myself work called.the next morning i took the 6:15am jet airways home.
by the way on the domestic air route, leh-del has the most picturesque and beautiful scenes ever.the stok mountain range is breathtaking.

[Godfather]

Whoa doctorkats..That was one helluva trip..
But i am determined to do it.. Unless my Trip to US falls in those dates..

Godfather