[akaush]

no_enthu_da here is a pic of you with the world's highest dog !

[BolBolero]

@ no_enthu _da and KSM-Vtec,
Those are some lovely photographs you guys have posted! Once again regretting my decision of not joining you'll from the beginning!

Originally Posted by KSM-Vtec

[i]
Everyone in the IPHE team other than HVK was new to me. Few people did know each other in the virtual world, but now we were going to spend 20days together...its like how life changes before and after you get married to your girlfriend....living together is a different ballgame altogether...there can be many completely new surprises/shocks.
Who was BolBolero? have we met him before? who are the people are they Tbhpians?? Will all of us make a good team??

Originally Posted by no_enthu_da

In my case, I had met BolBolero once at the Mumbai-Pune TBHP meet this year; and trailed him in my car! Apart from that and a few conversations on phone and the internet, I didn't know much about anyone!

I guess the same thoughts were going through everybody's minds! Besides SSj (the j is added henceforth to differentiate between SS (81) & SS (44) , the only person I knew really well was HVK. I had met Jeep Captain a few times, so you could say I knew him too! Laluks, I had met fleetingly at Kaas in 2010 and I'm pretty sure he won't even remember, cos he was busy running around with his camera even then. Like no_enthu_da mentioned, I knew him from the T-Bhp mega meet, but only just. Had met akaush once in HVK's office in Mumbai and we had lunch together. At this point in time I was not even aware of The Mumbai Roadsters being part of the IPHE. Had met DB once when he had come shopping for stuff with HVK. The rest of the gang was primarily through FB and Google groups! And yes like KSM-Vtec said "Will all of us make a good team??" was upper most in everyone's mind I guess!

Originally Posted by hvkumar

Yes, KSM-Vtec has outlined what was the challenge in travelling in a team.
This was a collaborative effort, never a conducted tour.
None of us had any commercial interests, we were just a group of people coming together thanks to the bonding of existing friendships - and the power of online networking. None of us had our families with us although we did have a father-in-law-son-in-law pair and a brother-brother pair. However, we all found that the common interest in driving to Ladakh and the sheer love for travelling bonded us together and I guess we made friendships that are probably going to last a long time, not like any conducted trip where you say bye and forget the guy thereafter.

+1 to that Sir

BTW, our eldest guy was 81 years old, we had 3 other senior citizens of 64 years and our youngest was 23.
The collective age of the members in my car was 228 years!

If we add the age of your car too, it will be 234!

Each person in the team had his own deadlines and time lines to get back, so it was very crucial that we planned the trip thoroughly without any time overruns. For example, both TS and Jeep Captain had to fly abroad after the trip on pre-determined days. Lalu KS had a firm booking on a flight back to Bangalore from Bombay, as had some others.

Trip plan was frozen before the trip began and despite the dislocation in Kaza, we maintained our overall schedule and itinerary to the last exactly as per plan. We had enough buffers to cushion against any route uncertainties and possibly a solution for every twist in the tail.

We made no prior bookings except in Rampur and Chitkul, a challenge in itself since it was always a hit-and-go situation finding rooms for a minimum of 16-20 people in places which did not even have that many hotel or tent rooms.

We moved as a convoy almost all the time, which meant that everyone had to be up and ready within a certain time band so that they did not delay others. We were very clear at the outset that if anyone suffers from illness or his car breaks down, the rest of the team would go on ahead except to provide some help and wait only if the overall schedule was not getting affected.

Very importantly, we had several pre-trip briefings online - and over phone - so that there was clarity on our daily drive plans and logistics, and also consensus on important issues like medication, car care and tooling. We also eliminated redundancy by pooling our resources - car tools mainly - so that we reduce our payload and also have better co-ordination.

Therefore, even when it demanded cars to be towed out of sticky situations, the team was ready with tow ropes, towing SUV and so on. This level of information dissemination and preparedness for any adverse situation helped make a very smooth drive.

Needless to say, in endeavours like these, there are lots of angry words exchanged but then when so many people are copped together in a tour, such psychological aberrations are normal. We bonded like a happy family, we also fought like only brothers will!

We had set a budgetary estimate for the trip, and we stayed at the best places during the trip. Despite that, I guess most of us were within budget. We shared costs for each car & each hotel room. We did not have a common treasurer and each paid for his own, although there was some pooling and cashiering in each car or group.

And at the end of it, it all worked out so perfectly!

Originally Posted by hvkumar

AR joining the BolBolero team at Amritsar was another piece of networking. AR had called me just a fortnight or so before the trip through a common friend expressing a desire to come too. We looked at his dates and our seats position and much as we tried, it was impossible to fit him into what he called the "full" circuit that the HVK Scorpio & co was doing through Kinnaur Valley, etc. So the next best alternative was to team up with BolBolero somewhere en route. Therefore, AR flew down to Delhi, took a fast train to Amritsar and joined BolBolero and SS there! S they were 3 in the car, with one more to be picked up in the next 600 kms or so..........

BolBolero, tell us more about the rich Kulchas & butter chicken that you guys devoured at Amritsar?

Now now HVK sir, you are rubbing it in! As it is I'm regretting having missed all those fabulous places and there you go and write about the "Full " Circuit!
BTW we had Cream Chicken & Tandoori Chicken, no Butter Chicken and SS & AR wouldn't let me order Kulchas!

[idlebrain]

I have driven to one of the highest motorable road at 14,000 ft elevation here in USA (Pikes Peak, Colorado) and posted a TL here too some time back. In US you see maps, get directions, see some pics, if possible watch webcams, some youtube videos, you get alerts of traffic congestion, road closures etc well in advance, and hardly there won't be any surprises. Mostly predictable.

But the drive in India (especially in places in this TL) there are full of surprises at every turn. You really don't know what is there stored in the next turn something like watching a suspense thriller movie. Get off vehicle and checking stream flow, watching for landslides, encounter with lady captain..etc.

I have been following this forums from last three years or so, and read most of the travelogues here and definitely this is a "mother of all travelogues".

Take a bow to all you who participated in this and sharing each and every minute details here. Hopefully I too can do this one day.

[motomaverick]

Originally Posted by idlebrain

I have driven to one of the highest motorable road at 14,000 ft elevation here in USA (Pikes Peak, Colorado) and posted a TL here too some time back. In US you see maps, get directions, see some pics, if possible watch webcams, some Youtube videos, you get alerts of traffic congestion, road closures etc well in advance, and hardly there won't be any surprises. Mostly predictable.

But the drive in India (especially in places in this TL) there are full of surprises at every turn. You really don't know what is there stored in the next turn something like watching a suspense thriller movie. Get off vehicle and checking stream flow, watching for landslides, encounter with lady captain..etc.

I have been following this forums from last three years or so, and read most of the travelogues here and definitely this is a "mother of all travelogues".

Take a bow to all you who participated in this and sharing each and every minute details here. Hopefully I too can do this one day.

In my humble opinion all these surprises, uncertainity, planning, buffer days, streams etc is what makes it more enjoyable and satisfying at the end of a trip

[suhaas307]

Originally Posted by hvkumar

On the Capt Gowri episode:

- This was NH22, under the control of the police, and not any random army unit, although some parts of it are maintained by the BRO

- The Captain's unit had nothing to do with either the control or maintenance of the highway

- Army does not stop motorists at random, look at their "darling" faces and decide whether they should go on the road or not. I have been to insurgency-affected areas in Manipur where people are slaughtered in cold blood and yet the Army never stopped me from going through such roads.

- If there was indeed a problem with the road, there would have been a proper check post

- The HP Police were manning the only checkpost between Powari & Pooh (for checking permits) and even the next and only CP at Sumdo is manned by HP Police, and the Army is nowhere in the picture..

Wow. The Indian army loses some brownie points for the incidents, in my book. Very sad.

Tisk tisk. But this is seriously edge-of-the-seat writing and photos here. I tried to stop myself from writing a comment until I'm done with the entire thread, but I simply couldn't help myself.

Are police out-posts always so-so in these parts of the country? Does the army stop you on the basis of cast, creed, colour, religion? Talk about living in a democratic and secular republic.

I need to go to Leh. It's the one place in India where I haven't graced my presence.

This has got to be, without doubt, the ultimate travelogue ever posted on Team BHP, and possibly, one of the best ever recorded on film and text.

[hvkumar]

Originally Posted by suhaas307

Are police out-posts always so-so in these parts of the country? Does the army stop you on the basis of cast, creed, colour, religion? Talk about living in a democratic and secular republic.

This Captain episode perplexed us a lot, so uncharacteristic of their normal friendly and helpful behaviour in these parts.

POlice everywhere in HP and JK were super-friendly whenever we met them in check posts. I remember earlier in JK, cops always demanded a bribe (including the CP at Pang), but this time at least we faced no problems. Even the army CP guys we ran into at Loma were very appreciative of us travellers and commended us for the drive.

[BolBolero]

GPS track.

Day 1: Mumbai to Chittorgarh


1 Mumbai to Chittor.kmz

Day 2: Chittorgarh to Amritsar


2 Chittor to Amritsar.kmz

[idlebrain]

Originally Posted by motomaverick

In my humble opinion all these surprises, uncertainity, planning, buffer days, streams etc is what makes it more enjoyable and satisfying at the end of a trip

Exactly. Thats what I am trying to convey in my earlier post. You nailed it.

[laluks]

Sorry guys for the delay from my side. As per the log, I am still at Pooh . I need to run to catch up with the team which is raring to go on from Kaza to Ladakh.

I was on an unplanned 2500km trip to Kaas-Mahabaleshwar-Panchgaani-Raigad-Satara-Kohlapur-Bijapur-Badami-Pattadakkal-Aihole-Hampi-Anagundi-Thungabadra-Chitradurga-Bangalore for the last 10 days.

I am starting my report from Pooh tonight. Please bear with me till I complete the four days of report

[Hurrycane12]

Awesome pictures and write up; waiting for more.

Lalu: You were so close to Pune we could have met if I had know you were planning to be in MH.

[mr.sinha]

Originally Posted by idlebrain

I have driven to one of the highest motorable road at 14,000 ft elevation here in USA (Pikes Peak, Colorado)

Brings back my memories of driving up the Pikes Peak Hwy too. Must have done that at least 6-7 times at different times of the year. I had lived in Colorado Springs for 5 years during the last century. It was a fully gravel road back then. Now I heard they paved most of it.

Back to the current travelogue. Loving it, I check for new updates every day. This is 5* material. Thanks.

[laluks]

Day 05
16th August 2011
Pooh - Kaaza

The VVIP room VB got for us in PWD RestHouse at Pooh was very cozy. But we were planning to leave early to Kaaza. So with much difficulty got up from bed and became ready by 05:00AM. By 05:30 every one was ready and all vehicles loaded up to go.

Walking out of the room I see VB enjoying his cup of tea amidst a beautiful backdrop


Flower wet in the night rains


We stopped for regrouping on the main road


We waited for a while to check our luck for another encounter with our lady captain


By 06:15 we started the journey. Rains also started.

HVK Scorpio rushing to pick me up before getting too much wet from the rains


continued...

[laluks]

Day 05
16th August 2011
Pooh - Kaaza

By 07:00AM we reach the confluence of Spiti and Sutlej. We stopped here for our customary photo shoot.

The confluence


Bridge across the river


Amazing roads cut through the rocky mountains!!




We moved on after the photo shoots immediately. It was also raining.

continued...

[hvkumar]

Kaza was a turning point of sorts.

The road ahead was closed. NO one was prepared to bet when it would open, it was already down last one week. Every day, we hear of somebody or the other reaching Kaza after being stranded en route for 2-3 days, etc.

I had some buffer in my trip plan, but that could take any delay beyond 2 days. I realised that if Kunzum la is snowed out, there was no realistic chance of reaching Chandra tal.

No one had any genuine news about the condition of the roads to Keylong, except that many sections were affected and one by one each was being cleared. Tales about drunken bull-dozer drivers, go-slow strikes, fresh snowfall abounded. By our 2nd day in Kaza, we heard that Kunzum la was open, but there were some major landslide problems in Chota Dhara and Chhatru beyond.

In our camp, anxiety mounted and there was talk of cancelling the tour. There were discussions on the feasibility of going back towards Shimla and taking the route via Srinagar to Leh.

I was steadfast in my faith that the Kaza-Keylong road would open and had set myself a last date for moving out of Kaza either direction on Aug 20. We settled down to a relaxed stay in Kaza, having breakfast, lunch and dinner on all days, luxury we are unaccustomed to on our long drives!

The cars got much-deserved attention as they were pampered in the Maruti Service Centre.

On Aug 17, the HVK Scorpio went to Pin Valley & Dhankar Gompa.
On Aug 18, it was Ke Gompa & KOmik.
And finally on Aug 19, it was Tashi Ganga & Khibber.
All these places could have been covered in a day and half.

This waiting game meant that we were under pressure to reach Leh too. WE had a date with BolBolero on Aug 22 at Kargil - and we needed a clear 3 days to drive from Kaza to Leh - which meant our deadline to leave Kaza (to maintain that schedule) was Aug 20. It was a bet I had to win somehow, not just to keep to our schedules but also to assure our team that we will win this round.

In the meantime, the prolonged delay meant some members re-prioritised their trip goals.

The Bolero Stinger, our only 4WD SUV, with its 4 members, had a legacy of wanting to return from Ladakh early anyway because of issues with leave for 2 of its team, so they decided to break out on their own and breast the Kaza-Gramphoo road no later than it reopened. This meant they left Kaza on Aug 17 itself and travelled to Losar and Batal, watching the road clearance teams at work - and enjoying the deep snow in the countryside around them - and moving on with them to Chota Dara & Chhatru as each section got cleared of boulders, snow and water crossings bridged. We lost touch with them completely till 4 days later, because they had no communications channels left. That was also the last they were with us on this trip.

Dr RK realised that the rigour of such a strenuous drive was too much for him and with considerable regret, decided to back out and return to base. It was a dilemma for him - the road ahead to Manali (to return to Delhi) was closed, and the road we had come - via Rampur - meant another 3-4 days of long road journey back too. He ultimately took a taxi back to Manali 4 days later.

Jeep Captain was in a peculiar situation - having committed himself to the full circuit, he received an emergency summons for some work back in Kerala - that too for a couple of hours on Aug 20 - and he had to go back.........but with a promise to rejoin us in Ladakh before Aug 22! So the bright sunny morning of Aug 18 saw him hiring a taxi cab to Recong Peo back on the same road we had come. He made good progress that day, reached Recong Peo just as the only night bus to Delhi was pulling out, went standing (or so I think!) and reached Delhi sometime the morning of Aug 19 - and hopped into 2 flights reaching him in Kochi the same evening! PD has also decided that he had enough - he also was apparently suffering some stomach upsets the past couple of days - and also bailed out, getting to Delhi along with Jeep Captain and taking a flight back home to Ahmedabad.

That left our AP SWift. The 2 childhood chums consulted each other and decided that instead of wasting their time in Kaza - in what they thought was a futile wait - they would also turn back towards Shimla and call on old friends in Dehra Dun before embarking on their long drive back to Hyderabad.

But what dismayed us even more was that akaush came under both family boss and office boss pressure simultaneously and was "summoned" back by both quarters to Delhi. He had been our bed rock in organising all our food and board arrangements along with KSM-vtec and he left a big vacuum behind. With him went PK and Vishal - who was on an unplanned 2-day drive anyway!!!!!

Thus, on the morning of Aug 20, our team was reduced from 24 members to just 12!
(of course, the population grew later to 16!!!).

[laluks]

Day 05
16th August 2011
Pooh - Kaaza


A little later I saw a beautiful scenery and asked HVK to stop.

Beautiful


Little did I realize I asked HVK to stop here




Some more views from there


Spot HVK Scorpio contest - anyone?


HVK Scorpio coming out through a gorge - optical illusion?




continued...