Team-BHP - Leh and Ladakh - Trip Planning

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hammer & Anvil (Post 2384795)

Permits taken care of, thanks for asking, as the wife will be flying into Leh and coming south to Upshi with the permits.

The 560 is Tandi-Upshi-Pangong Tso-Marsimek La-Tangste-Leh.

If I get fuel at Karu, then I dont really need to sweat, a 20 or 25L jerry can should suffice for 'safety sake.' Right?

I will note your Marsimek La advise, can you tell me why though... Am out to have a good time, and not heroics... am already married :uncontrol

KD

Yes, 25L should be more than enough.
As for Marismilk La, its a very tough track. Last couple of kms are very steep, very very steep, with rocky terrain. You need to be in 4L if you want to avoid damaging your vehicle.
As for Marisik La, here is a pictorial guide
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/4x4-ex...ml#post1496091

Quote:

Originally Posted by v&v (Post 2386879)

I am starting for Leh on 14th. Planning stopovers at Jammu, Srinagar, Kargil & Leh.
Some queries

1. Route after Jalandhar : Dasua, Pathankot, Lakhimpur (Is this where toll Rs 130 to be paid ?)

Jammu Bypass : is it from samba to udhampur or is there a bypass form dayala Chak ?

Hotel : JKTDC at Kud : Any review or any other alternatives ?

thanks in advance

Go via Banur-Ropar-hoshiarpur-Dasua-Pathankot-Dyalachak-Udhampur...
Best and fastest route.

Quote:

driving in my petrol Linea in the second fortnight of August for the trip:

you may have read stories about Nano been driven on these roads and will also find all kind of cars including alto , 800 & Omni but having done this circuit twice in last 3 years , i will advise you to take some high clearance car / suv - 4x4 is not must though . I returned back day before from Leh - front tire of my Fortuner was damaged along with alloy on Rohtang pass due to a big crater on road which was submerged under water . Side foot rail was also damaged due to this impact . Check if you can increase Ground clearance of your Linea by adding some spacers on shocks else try a different car - travelling alone in this part without any rescue / support can spoil the trip ...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paco (Post 2372115)

So, we both got into Jammu on the same day. The drive from Jammu to Srinagar on 17th was horrendous; I am sure you would have faced the same as well. Took us almost 12hours to hit Srinagar Airport.

So, where all did you go?

Route Taken ---> Pune - Thane - Bharuch - Baroda - Ahmedabad - Udaipur - Jaipur - Delhi - Karnal - Ludhiana - Jallandhar - Amritsar - Wagah Border - Dharamshala - Pathankot - Jammu - Vaishnao Devi - Kashmir - Gulmarg - Sonmarg - Jojilla Pass - Drass - Kargil - Leh

don't have the stamina for the travelouge, but here is a picture to share,
and few words to cap.

I would like to thank HVK from the bottom of my heart, he was our "Light House" through this literally unplanned journey, it was with his guidance over sms and voice call that we came to the shores every day

overall, the only chronic problem that I faced through the journey was with the tyres, though the tyres were good, but 2 of the rims had rust issues on the inner side and caused frequent leakage, and secondly, maybe because of the variation in the temprature there was a equally huge variation in the tyre pressure. mostly the situation could be contained without any drastic impact

another incident was right in the middle of Jojila, where i got a side-wall cut manouvering through the terrain, even worse, I did not realize the situation as I was in a slushy ice situation and was only made aware by a army guy standing at one of the corner on the pass. Again the situation was contained using the 12v tyre inflator, did not want do the spare wheel changing process in the middle of the pass. the air-fill took me easy to Sonmarg where the tyre was repaired

no other major issue worth mention, but once again I would like to thank HVK for his support, my 'Limi' tyre inflator which proved it's value beyond money and I would call it a must carry 'life-saver' for all travellers and last but not least the post paid bsnl connection bought specially for the trip which practically works like a sat-phone in the mountains :-)

and yes, how can I not aknowledge the car itself, there canot be a better choice than an innova, family members ranging from 3 yr old to 70 yr old, were comfortable through the journey and no signs of fatigue whatsoever

kids played, slept, eat and even studied in the car during these days with no complains at all

there was not an iota of special prepration, and the car did not ask for any... 'trust toyota'

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anupam (Post 2390113)

and yes, how can I not aknowledge the car itself, there canot be a better choice than an innova, family members ranging from 3 yr old to 70 yr old, were comfortable through the journey and no signs of fatigue whatsoever

kids played, slept, eat and even studied in the car during these days with no complains at all

there was not an iota of special prepration, and the car did not ask for any... 'trust toyota'

+1 for this. We also did the entire travel all across Leh till srinagar in Innova's. No issues in the 7 days of journey other than a flat tire once in one of the vehicles. :thumbs up

Once you recover from the trip a separate TL would be needed. A single snap from your trip does not do justice. :D

Anupam, thanks for the commendation, my pleasure to have been of some help.

The experience with your tyres gives all some useful tips. I too have the problem of rusted rims in my Scorpio, but it is mainly in the stepney tubeless tyre which loses air fast. Therefore, I have permanently put a tube inside the tubeless stepney so that it arrests the air loss due to rusty rims.

Yes, one should be always watchful for cuts on sidewalls, a common thing in such rough roads. And in the Ladakhi terrain, it can be extremely difficult - from physical exertion/ stamina point of view - to change tyres, carrying the air compressor is one of the bets tools you can have in your car so that you can keep inflating tyres which have less air in them. Having said that, please be careful when inflating such tyres because of the hot-cold conditions, you will not be able to get proper measure and find the tyre over-inflated (and dangerous) after some time.

Turbantor, that was indeed unfortunate about the alloy wheel getting damaged - what did you do after that? You had to do some repairs? I am extremely nervous about using alloy wheels for that reason - that it may get damaged in rough trails - and have stuck to old-fashioned wheel rims in my Scorpio.

A question for both Anupam and Turbonator - does Toyota have a service centre in Leh? Did you get the cars serviced - or things like air filters cleaned and underbody checked - in Leh? If so, where, and any ideas on availability of spare parts for Innovas (quite likely, since there are many Innova taxis in Ladakh), but what about the Fortuner?

Quote:

Originally Posted by hvkumar (Post 2390363)

Yes, one should be always watchful for cuts on sidewalls, a common thing in such rough roads. And in the Ladakhi terrain, it can be extremely difficult - from physical exertion/ stamina point of view - to change tyres, carrying the air compressor is one of the bets tools you can have in your car so that you can keep inflating tyres which have less air in them. Having said that, please be careful when inflating such tyres because of the hot-cold conditions, you will not be able to get proper measure and find the tyre over-inflated (and dangerous) after some time.

AT tires help a lot there. Taxi drivers doing Zanskar use Hawkz R/T in most cases, with only few taxis running H/T tires.

Quote:

Turbantor, that was indeed unfortunate about the alloy wheel getting damaged - what did you do after that? You had to do some repairs? I am extremely nervous about using alloy wheels for that reason - that it may get damaged in rough trails - and have stuck to old-fashioned wheel rims in my Scorpio.

A question for both Anupam and Turbonator - does Toyota have a service centre in Leh? Did you get the cars serviced - or things like air filters cleaned and underbody checked - in Leh? If so, where, and any ideas on availability of spare parts for Innovas (quite likely, since there are many Innova taxis in Ladakh), but what about the Fortuner?

I never enter puddles until I see some other traffic doing them. If there is no traffic, I assume every puddle to be a crator. It does slow us down, but better safe than sorry.

As for air filter, even through Tata has a "workshop" in Leh, I normally take out the air filter myself, take it to the air compressor guy, and have it blasted. I have seen that a single run at More plains or dirt tracks(such as tracks to marsimik la) can totally choke the air filter.

I did not see a toyota service center, but I do see lot of innova Taxis up there.
So there must be some kind of local support.