[droolingvoyager]

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21 Days and a journey which will be engraved deep in my psyche. A Journey that has changed my life. The cherished dream of travelling to Ladakh was nurturing from 3 years now. Finally left Bangalore on 27th may evening.

Timeline:
Day 1-2 - 27th May, 8 PM started from Bangalore and reached Satara by 28th May 11 AM - (google map - distance 734 Kms). A bit slow, because we were stuck for good 2 hours in yashwantpur jams.

Rest and after noon nap.

Day 2-3 - 28th May, 5 PM started from Satara and reached Shani Shingapur by 29th May 1 AM - ( google map - 286 Kms). Again got lost and stuck inside Pune. There is a bridge after Hadapsar more, which you have to do a complete u-turn, somehow missed that in heavy traffic. This place is really tough I guess unless you are a local. There are literally no signs till Shani Dham, or I just did not see them in night.

We rested at Shani Shingapur.

Day 3 - 29th May, 7AM We went for darshan of Shani Maharaj and were back by 8 AM. 9 AM we started for Shirdi, and at 11 AM we were at Shirdi. It was a Sunday and a huge queue was awaiting us, nevertheless we joined the queue. Please be aware that mobile phones and cameras are not allowed, hence you need to deposit them. However, the depositing/collecting requires you to stand in a queue for at least 30 - 45 mins, so a total of 1 to 1.5 hrs lost in this. By 3PM we had darshan. By 4 PM we were out of Shirdi after having lunch and a quick checkup on the car at Shirdi service center, Last night we had invaded a deep pothole in middle of the road and hit the bottom with a nice loud thud.

Day 3 - 4 - 29th May 4 PM start from Shirdi and reached Mt. Abu at 30th May, 12 Noon. (google map - 838 Kms). We missed a few recent updates by HV Kumar and were stuck at Bharuch for 5 hrs. Most of the section from Dhule till NH4 is in making and with a lot of diversions, so average speed in this stretch was 50 Kms. Except for Bharuch the rest can be easily done at 100 Kms average. If you need to know the, here is the solution from the expert - Kumar HV says "Yes, this has been a problem for almost a year now ever since 1 of the 2 River Narmada bridges on NH8 Ankleshwar-Bharuch bypass closed. 3 techniques - stick to the left shoulder, you will have better speeds, Go on the wrong side of the road along with the locals, but the one which works best is to go into Ankleshwar & Bharuch towns and come out after the jam, crossing Narmada on the 1881-built Golden Bridge which is closed to trucks. You will take no extra time, and can do the entire 16 kms through the towns in 15-30 minutes."

So, removing the pain points, we were at a height of 1722, however felt more warm than in Bangalore. Its bustling town with tourists, majoring from Gujrat and Maharashtra. Hotels are pretty expensive, we stayed in hotel Shikhar, which is maintained by RTDC, costed us 1200 rs for a night. We met an ardent Biker, Mr Omshankar Singh, manager of the hotel, and made friends with him.

Day 4 - 30th May - rest of the day slept, late evening went around the places.

Day 5 - 31st May - 12 noon started reached Bikaner at 1st June, 1 AM (google map - 533 Kms) - We went past Jodhpur, without giving a visit to the town. really felt bad, while passing the old city. The roads were good, however with no medians and no sign boards until Pali. Rural Rajasthan was very very hot. Food was excellent in this stretch.



Images now:


Road to Belgaun, 4 lane and spotless.



Day 2 Rainy ghat section to Pune. Be aware, I find the folks driving 2 wheelers and 4 wheelers doing some very extreme stuff. Like, on a blind curve, overtaking. On heavy rain speeding at 100. Very careless and casual sense of people driving. Also Came to know what is meant by 'Permit Rooms' its a place you get drinks



Shani Shingapur Dham, Parking stand.


En-route to Shirdi, local sugarcane drink. The way they make it was so much fun. The Bulls are very good looking. The rural folks are simple and very loving.


Shirdi Maruti Service center - car checkup


en-route to Dhule


After the turn at Dhule, relaxing and enjoying the empty roads after a very long time



After Ahmedabad, towards Abu road


small train at Abu road


Dirt road towards Mt. Abu


Dry river.


empty petrol pump


Hotel Shikhar, Mt. Abu



Some random snaps of Mt. Abu






A restaurant en-route towards Jodhpur


Deliciously good food, freshly prepared. We had to wait for entire 45 minutes but worth the wait.


Hot summer afternoon in Rajasthan.


Jodhpur Sweet shop



Bikaner, heritage city and small by lanes



Heritage city Jodhpur, as we entered the city, we founf everything amazing. This snap is on a busy crossing and seems like a heritage building.

[v&v]

wow, another Leh TL. This same period SSTraveller & Rideon too were at Leh. Me too completed our Leh trip on 15th to 30th June. What was the route taken ?

[skilanjar]

Thats one of the best pics I have seen till date. Hatts off to your photography skills. The Ritz would have completed the picture to perfection. If you have some more please share em. Amazing is the word!

[droolingvoyager]

Day 6 - 1st June - 10 AM started and reached Amritsar at 1st June - 10 PM - (google map - 508 Kms) blame it on the sand dunes on the way we were totally mesmerized with the desert view. Amazing sand storm, the lush greenery of Punjab and big petrol pumps (mind boggling big) was amazing. Food/road etc was excellent in the stretch. I was cruising at 140 Kms/hr. If not for photo shoots on the way, we would have reached much earlier. This stretch was the most enjoyable, with Mike Knofler on the deck.

Day 7 - 2nd June 6 AM started from Amritsar and reached Srinagar at 7 PM. ( google map - 509 Kms) - from Amritsar till Pathankot sections of roads are under work, hence a lot of diversions, however since I was covering thisearly morning did not face any problem. Did not take Udhampur way, since people had advised that road is not good. en-route there are very nice places, however as unfortunate as it could get, we did not take snaps. We wanted to reach Srinagar faster knowing the problems aroud Jawahar tunnel etc. However we did not find any blockades in the journey, except when we entered the Dal gate section inside Srinagar. Our Hotel was on the other side and we wasted a complete hour on dal gate jam. This Jam can be totally avoided if the police folks are strict.



Now Images:


Early Morning Photo Shoot @ Bikaner - Haweli



Mata Nagneji


Lalgarh Kila


Veterinary Hospital


After we left Bikaner, pretty soon we saw the vast desert.



Abandoned Dhaba.. erie no one around for miles.


And near Dhaba, we do a photo shoot




Sand Storm



Cruising at 140 Kms/Hr
Attachment 573135

Evening In Deserts was cooler



Vegetable Shop @ Amritsar


Petrol pumps @ Amritsar




Somewhere after Pathankot



After Amritsar and after Pathankot, we can spot the hazy Himalayas




Entering Jammu ( twice police checked my papers but no fuss and no chalans all they want to check your papers )




Enter the hilly Section on way to Srinagar

[droolingvoyager]

Day 8 - 3rd June Went on a shikara for a whole lake ride and rested the whole day. Car was given in the maruti service, for tyre rotation and hand break adjustment and a suspension check. In the Evening we gathered a few more stuff from the List of important things to cary from Kumar HV's log. A good towing rope, gas stove, enough maggi, 40 litres of mineral water, dry fruits and cooking utensils. We had inquired about road conditions from Srinagar to Kargil, Kargil to padum and Kargil to Leh at the taxi stand and we gauged Zanskar valley roads are not really there for a hatchback and just dropped it from our heads. we planned to reach Leh first and then decide. We were also short of time we had to return by 16th June and it was already 3rd

This post is dedicated to dal lake, it was so colorful and a treat for the eyes, that one has to go there to experience. Do try the Kashmiri Kawa (hot drink) its so good, better than our tea. You can buy very good almonds here. so, do feel free to shop. Shopping is a big exploration activity which one can do. Kashmir is known for its craft, so there is a lot of crafty stuff on wood and stone, at just as amazing price. I highly advice to purchase stuff and ship it to your home from here, its worth.

[GTO]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line, back to the Travelogues forum. Thanks for sharing!

Originally Posted by droolingvoyager

The cherished dream of travelling to Ladakh was nurturing from 3 years now.

Wow! Another Ladakh travelogue, which is highly informative. Congratulations and best wishes, droolingvoyager. How many of you travelled in your MS Ritz to Ladakh? Did you face any issues? I am still nurturing my dreams of driving in my Linea to Leh!

[droolingvoyager]

Originally Posted by J.Ravi

Wow! Another Ladakh travelogue, which is highly informative. Congratulations and best wishes, droolingvoyager. How many of you travelled in your MS Ritz to Ladakh? Did you face any issues? I am still nurturing my dreams of driving in my Linea to Leh!

Thanks Ravi,

We were just 2 of us, and I was the only driver. Although that was not what we had planned for. flashback 3 months before, I floated the idea around my friends, colleagues, relatives and in general forums ie. team-bhp etc.. Few folks showed interest and came forward. To tell you the truth, 3 months back we were a bunch of cars with at least 10 - 12 folks (all male). in the next 3 months of countdown, every one of them wrinkled to just 2. Its a long and uninteresting story of excuses which I have become so used to now on long trips. Its either alone or never is what I feel now

Besides, the lone friend I had, came back from kargil. He had enough of road travel. Road travel is not fun for the one who does not like the road
Any given day I like the road more than flight/train/bus. I do not have a clue why.

[figo_united]

Wow! Leh'd in a ritz! amazing
Please put up more pics of your car at various places!
Also share how the ritz behaved through the trip.
Waiting for the main part of the travelogue now, bring it on soon.

[onesomeone]

Originally Posted by droolingvoyager

Its either alone or never is what I feel now

I totally agree with you, I also now do all my adventure travel either with my wife or with one or two other friends. Big groups never worked!

[Judemayne]

Originally Posted by droolingvoyager

Thanks Ravi,


Any given day I like the road more than flight/train/bus. I do not have a clue why.

How right you are droolingvoyager-The wife and I prefer the car any day-did two long long trips this year and planning the longest one this Nov-Shillong and back!!! Did both these trips-one 5800 kms and the other 3500 kms in my Ritz!!

Originally Posted by onesomeone

I totally agree with you, I also now do all my adventure travel either with my wife or with one or two other friends. Big groups never worked!

I couldn't agree with you more!! Its just the wife and me-driven all over South, West and East India-just the wife and self. Started recording the trips after becoming a member of BHP.

[supertinu]

good write up droolingvoyager , waiting for rest of it and pics.

[droolingvoyager]

Please do NOT use more than 2 smileys per post

To Continue the travel..


Day 9 - 4th June (real journey starts now) - start at 9 AM and reached Kargil at 8 PM (google maps - 202 Kms - Very eventful day. Land slide before baltal - stuck from 12 noon to 4 noon. After captain more my car slid and the right wheel was out of road into a gorge. I was trying to navigate a deep hole, when I just went too close to the edge at right. Suddenly a part of the road on the right caved in and my right wheels were hanging. Tried a reverse but it was stuck on a rock and wouldn't budge. Luckily army towed us out. It could have been a life threatening one. Army folks said the roads in this section can cave in at the edges so do not go close to the edges. After this it was bad section for some 100 kms after which, relatively smooth till kargil, with amazing sights. However the drive has to be cautious as the roads are narrow with steep incline and decline. I did not add, my lone friend in this journey had enough of the hilly train, even before we reached our main destination Leh. I do not want to go into specific details, but we parted at Kargil. He made a dicision and i respect that, to return home. I meanwhile could not apprehend returning after driving 3800 Kms to reach Kargil an not going another 230 kms to the intended destination. I was in a shock and hence on 5th June, alone in my hotel room, I was hard in thoughts feeling lonely. There was another excitement, and slowly it dawned on me that it might be better than I had thought

Now images, departing Srinagar, one of the most beautiful places I have ever visited. The people and girls in this place are the most beautiful people in India.

As we leave Srinagar, small towns which have narrow roads are jammed.
[


Sonamarg




Stuck in a land slide, and lucky us we were standing right beside snow. My first in this trip and my colleagues first ever snow in hist lifetime.


A huge queue stood behind us, and notice the army caravan. I couldn't believe we have so many trucks they are all 4 wheel trucks with probably massive torque.


The dreaded part of the Zozilla pass, where the road becomes one way. What I did not know there were timings which are not rigid. 6 AM they let you go up and 9 AM they let the downwards traffic. They let the downwards traffic pass from 9AM to 12 noon. On the later part of the day the pass is all open for going up, coming down is open next day (9 - 12 noon only)



After the dreadfull incident of nearly slipping into the gorge we relax and take our breath. No photos of the mishap as we were acting on high adrenaline and hardly could do things coherently


Bad sections, and we just thought its good to follow Army. Who knows when we need them



Drass section we came across war memorial. We did salute and collected some earth from here and its nothing less than alter for me. While we were doing this we also waved at Army folks, it gave me a new kick


These are the pools you need to be very carefull of, the bed has some oddly shapped stones and my friend here is helping me navigate. To tell you truth we waited at this place for about 30 minutes for anything to come and go through before we do, but nothing came. Finally I had to plead my friend in doing this. This part of advice I had read in team-bhp an bcmtouring by stallwarts of mountain driving.


A nice place we found in between it was better than any other place I have ever been, and this place had no one except us, shepherds and few sheep.






thanks folks for the appreciation.

[pamishra]

Wow..thats an amazing journey dude. Beautiful snaps..waiting for Leh

[saleem_k]

droolingvoyager, Hats off to your trip and your courage to go on with the plan. The pics are simply awesome and I got such a kick seeing the pics and reading your travelogue that I'm seriously contemplating something similar, sometime in the future.

You are absolutely right that we have to move on with our plan coz I have experienced things exactly like you have described, many times, which left me disappointed. Wish I had a colleague or friend like you, half of my time would have gone in exploring India. It's not always possible to do such trips with just wifey, it's much safer with friends, I believe.

Do post more pics and your experiences with Ritz. I have observed in some photos that you kept the bonnet open. Is it really required with the current generation engines?