[v1p3r]

Just an off thought, but why don't you guys look for sponsors?

[mclaren1885]

Change of plans maybe .. Convinced Haathi to drive from bangy to delhi for the fear of having his tyres swapped or car filled with tomatoes and potatoes .. Shall personally assist him with the driving and make sure noodle's is where he belongs .. All packed and safe .. Vikram and tadu are willing to join in too ..

Akshay are you really coming ?? Or wanting to turn out to be Haathi II ??

[v1p3r]

Originally Posted by mclaren1885

Akshay are you really coming ?? Or wanting to turn out to be Haathi II ??

Some of our parents have a choice. When asked for money, they say no.

[doctorkats]

@all:4x4 is not a must.i have seen a lot of santros and humble zens doing the trip like it was their own backyard!
@viper:good idea that.maybe we could get tata motors to sponsor this.we'll get to feel rather privileged.they could use the publicity.will chk with the team to follow up.
@tsk and steer:apologies.just logged in.gruesome day at work.missed the tele-conf.will pm.
@steer:bro you wont regret the proposed longer 'transport' part.
the 'action' and real beauty of this trip is the drive and journey itself. mesmerising terrain.lush green metamorphosing into dry cold desert.crazily named bends and turns.wind eroded giant rockfaces,mountain goats and yaks....the works.all thats just the start.
i wont play spoilsport.i want you to experience it yourself.
leh as a city is like another touristy kathmandu minus the swanky casinos.lots of ex-pats.eating joints.smuggled goods stores.pretty boring except the gumpas.in my humble opinion the lesser we rush the drive, the more we feel the blood in our viens!


@all of us:
one last thing.at the risk of sounding like an old grandpa,i must reiterate here that in all outdoor trips like this the WEATHER RULES over whatever groundwork we do.so please do keep a contingency plan in case Mother Nature plays spoil sport.

[Godfather]

[quote=doctorkats;434001 please do keep a contingency plan in case Mother Nature plays spoil sport.[/quote]


Hmmmm.. Then we turn around.. Get back to Delhi..
1. Wake up all the Delhi Bhpiians.. and Party for 2 days
2. Drive to Mumbai -- party for 2 more days
3. Stop in Goa -- Party again

Get back to Bangalore -- and sulk at work.

Godfather

[zenx]

Wow, didnt visit this thread for a while and its become a real plan! Awesome.
Some thoughts

GPS : the road goes either this way or back, unless u seek the less apparent "roads" to Tso Kar etc.

Sat Phones: useful if there's snowfall and you need help - usually there's folks around - even traffic jams at times - to help. Again, unless you're off to Zanskar etc. And anyhow there's N gaadis.

Rain : After Rohtang its all in the rain shadow region. Of course, this does not preclude the possibilty of localized rain due to other factors - and the weather's changing every year - but not too correlated to the monsoons - those clouds never make it in that deep.

Food : Breakfast was usually aloo parantha at most places. You get stuff easily, except on the Pangong Tso trip.

Won't Delhi/Chd - Sarchu at one shot be a little strenuous ? A night stop at Vashisht etc may help acclimatize to a certain extent - or even Darcha - tho I dunno if there's acco there.

AMS : the medicines only help a little - when it happens it happens - and the best cure is descent to a comfortable height. Major places to watch out for - Pang, Baralacha La/Kahrdung La - you'll want to spend time up there and it may hit (very subtle) after a few minutes despite whatever acclimatization you've had - we'd gotten there after 10 days of heights via Kinnaur-Spiti and still felt a little funny-in-the-head.

I have my doubts about managing to be free around then .... :(

[pogusingh]

Great man, this thread seems to be really going places

Although the plan is to go to Himalayas, From Kiratpur Sahib you can also go to Nangal ( Bhakra-Nangal ) and see the Bhakra Dam. I have done my schooling from that place and can say for sure you wont regret it. It shall take half an hour from Kiratpur to Nangal and then another 1/2-->1 hour to the Dam

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by zenx

Wow, didnt visit this thread for a while and its become a real plan! Awesome.
Some thoughts

GPS : the road goes either this way or back, unless u seek the less apparent "roads" to Tso Kar etc.

Its always good to have a GPS with waypoints marked. You never know when you need it. Since atleast 2 of us own GPS systems, I included it in the list

Won't Delhi/Chd - Sarchu at one shot be a little strenuous ? A night stop at Vashisht etc may help acclimatize to a certain extent - or even Darcha - tho I dunno if there's acco there.

Well we are not doing Delhi-Keylong or Delhi-Sarchu. Infact Sarchu will not be the halt. AMS hits at sarchu. So it will be Keylong Jispa. Chd to Keylong is doable in one day(9 hours journey). Return journey also there will be option to stay in chd for the night. People who are not tired and in real hurry can drive on straight to Delhi, but after such a trip I doubt we will have anybody willing to do that option.

AMS : the medicines only help a little - when it happens it happens - and the best cure is descent to a comfortable height. Major places to watch out for - Pang, Baralacha La/Kahrdung La - you'll want to spend time up there and it may hit (very subtle) after a few minutes despite whatever acclimatization you've had - we'd gotten there after 10 days of heights via Kinnaur-Spiti and still felt a little funny-in-the-head.

Have to live with it. The route is planned such that the night halt places are not Sarchu type.
I have my doubts about managing to be free around then .... :([/quote]

Originally Posted by pogusingh

Great man, this thread seems to be really going places

Although the plan is to go to Himalayas, From Kiratpur Sahib you can also go to Nangal ( Bhakra-Nangal ) and see the Bhakra Dam. I have done my schooling from that place and can say for sure you wont regret it. It shall take half an hour from Kiratpur to Nangal and then another 1/2-->1 hour to the Dam

It would be great, but there is no time. On the way back people with extra time can explore this, but we will reach Kiratpur Sahib early evening from keylong, so may not be able to include it.

[Steeroid]

For the return journey is there an option for us to skip Delhi? This would save valuable time on the return to the south - will probably go on to Jaipur and stop there.

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by Godfather

Hmmmm.. Then we turn around.. Get back to Delhi..
1. Wake up all the Delhi Bhpiians.. and Party for 2 days
2. Drive to Mumbai -- party for 2 more days
3. Stop in Goa -- Party again

Get back to Bangalore -- and sulk at work.

Godfather

Or we go to spiti
Its just a small detour via Jalori pass, or we can drive with the Sutlej.
If not Leh, we will visit Kibber, supposedly the highest village in the world(or second highest?)

[zenx]

That used to be the highest village in the world connected by a motorable road till Koumik took over - the Chinese lay claim to some other place tho.

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

Have to live with it. The route is planned such that the night halt places are not Sarchu type.

You can't really live with it, not with AMS. When you see symptoms of AMS, just turnaround and come down. I have seen supremely fit people turn into pudding due to AMS. Don't try to ride it with medicine once it starts.

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by Steeroid

For the return journey is there an option for us to skip Delhi? This would save valuable time on the return to the south - will probably go on to Jaipur and stop there.

Nope you can't skip delhi. Well technically you can drive through south punjab, and enter Rajasthan from there, but you will spend 2-3 hours more getting to Jaipur.
Grand Trunk Road, the oldest highway in the world, also allows you to do some serious fast time. Not as much as the Mumbai-Pune expressway, but good time nonetheless.

If you time it such that you cross delhi at 2am or so, you miss out all the Delhi traffic and Gurgaon chaos and can do Jaipur 3 hours flat from Delhi.

My suggestion, when we come back, don't do keylong-Delhi, do keylong chd, get good sleep, start from chd early morning, cross Delhi by lunch and reach much beyond jaipur by evening.

In 2005 I did a Jaipur-chd-Kufri(Near shimla) journey.
Started from Jaipur at 11am, reached Gurgaon by 5(suffered a puncture in between)
Did a shopping spree in Gurgaon, roamed Delhi roads, had coffee at Taj at 4am, started towards chd, reached by 7:30 slept till 1, roamed chd till 6, started again and reached shillon(near kufri) by 10:30 in the night.

I would not like to do such trips, they make your back ache and your head spin. I am sure you also don't want to do that .

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by Samurai

You can't really live with it, not with AMS. When you see symptoms of AMS, just turnaround and come down. I have seen supremely fit people turn into pudding due to AMS. Don't try to ride it with medicine once it starts.

Thats why we are not staying in high places. AMS prone passes will be done for 10 minutes at a stretch. No stopping there, if you want to admire scenery, do so from the window of the moving car .
I will try to get the complete GPS trail of the route so that we know which places we need to pass through fast.
Sarchu is the favorite night halt because its midway, but we are not doing that. The halts will be at places at lower altitude.
Also people are telling carry portable small oxygen cylinders, no doing that, I will try to get the large cylinders on rent(The kinds hospitals use).
With two medicos riding along we think we can do a fairly good job on that front

[BunnyPunia]

to avoid AMS, drink as much fluids as possible, no alcohol and no smoking.

If u do keylong-delhi in one day and wish to start back from Delhi for South, start as early as possible.
Delhi-Jaipur (NH8) : 260kms ,easily 3.5 hrs.
Jaipur-Kishangarh (NH8): -108kms : easily 1 hr 20 mins
Kishangarh-Chittor-Udaipur (bypassin Ajmer and following the Golden Quad, NH79 and NH 76) 294kms, 4 hrs max.

That means leavin Delhi at 4am, Udaipur can be done by 1pm. Carry on for Ahmedabad, another 243, some twisties, and reach by 5pm. Can then decide to carry on or rest for the night. I would say take a break and carry on

PS : Have done this route twice on motorcycles and hence can vouch for high avg speeds here. On my karizma i did Ahm-Delhi with 8-9 stops in around 16hrs. Stops were for tea to combat cold and sleep, and together these 8-9 stops were for around 2 hrs!