Originally Posted by BlackPearl
(Post 2719760)
The truck drivers warned me not to do so, but having 4x4 does not help in those situations. You start feeling invincible. Just before that I was explaining to my wife about the innumerable mod options on the Bolero to make it a better offroader. Anyways, the Bolero went hurtling down the 20 feet slope. All was going good till we came to a place where a Nala crossed our path and we had nowhere to go. I had to back up the entire stretch. Made a mistake at one point and the soft ground on the side pulled the Bolero in. I did not wait a second, put the car into 4L and after a few seconds the Bolero got out of the mess. After that we had to find a place where we could get up to the highway again. Found a place and to the utter amazement of my wife, the truckers and a few private car owners, the White Tusker went up that slope smoothly. After this incident, wifey has named the 4L as "Magic Potion" :D. |
Originally Posted by samarjitdhar
(Post 2721160)
Beautiful travelogue. I have been scared of the broken state of NH34 and hence never planned a trip in a sedan in these destinations. I can see that you are loving your 4X4 now clap:. Seriously travelogues like yours and the one's by HVK sir have inspired me enough to get my own 4X4. Only thing is having bought a sedan recently, can only probably look at options south of 10 lacs for now , and I know the choices are very limited here. Lets see, the research is on. |
Originally Posted by BlackPearl
(Post 2721181)
Thanks Samarjit. The NH34 will be a dream road in a few years time if the current work progress continues. Two laning has been started in many places and the basic foundation has been completed. Once the tarmac is laid, the travel time to Siliguri should reduce drastically. |
Originally Posted by BlackPearl
(Post 2721181)
This side of 10 lacs, you have options like Scorpio LX (new), Bolero SLX (new), Bolero LX (new), Thar (new), Gypsy (new/pre-owned), Pajero (Pre-owned). Not too bad :D. I think Scorpio LX 4x4 should be the best option among these if you plan to travel long distances with family. |
Originally Posted by samarjitdhar
(Post 2721262)
I actually had looked at options in Scorpio but didn't come across LX4X4. Its only available as an option in VLX as per their website. Am I missing something here? |
Originally Posted by BlackPearl
(Post 2721277)
Scorpio LX is available. The threads on Scorpio LX 4x4 on tbhp are - http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian...-launched.html http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/4x4-ve...io-lx-4wd.html |
Originally Posted by nilanjanray
(Post 2719414)
Next night we did a campfire with some Israeli backpackers, and feasted on some chicken bought from the village a few kms down. While the negotiations were going on, our local guide helped himself to a few round of Roxy. On the way, he and my friend (who had been given the money to buy chicken) decided that since the chicken were about to die, they deserved a last drink (the guys were somewhat sloshed and feeling sentimental). So in the middle of the forest track, they started force feeding the two chickens some Roxy. One lay comatose after having some of the fiery stuff. So they put it down and focused on the other one. Big mistake. The comatose chicken had a delayed reaction of super stimulating fiery liquid. It gave a squawk, jumped 10 feet into the air and then ran down the hillside forest. Securing the other chicken, the guys gave chase, but couldn't catch it. |
Originally Posted by BlackPearl
(Post 2719760)
....huge truck jam caused by the broken axle of a truck. Waited for an hour and then could not stop myself from getting the Bolero down on the side. The truck drivers warned me not to do so, but having 4x4 does not help in those situations. You start feeling invincible. Just before that I was explaining to my wife about the innumerable mod options on the Bolero to make it a better offroader. Anyways, the Bolero went hurtling down the 20 feet slope. All was going good till we came to a place where a Nala crossed our path and we had nowhere to go. I had to back up the entire stretch. Made a mistake at one point and the soft ground on the side pulled the Bolero in. I did not wait a second, put the car into 4L and after a few seconds the Bolero got out of the mess. After that we had to find a place where we could get up to the highway again. Found a place and to the utter amazement of my wife, the truckers and a few private car owners, the White Tusker went up that slope smoothly. After this incident, wifey has named the 4L as "Magic Potion" :D. |
Originally Posted by Manuuj
(Post 2721488)
BlackPearl that was an awesome travelogue. I would call you "ADC junior" but only his son who has done more road trips to exotic locales in his 6 years than me in my 38 deserves that particular title. It was a very will written thread with great pics also. My only worry was that you seem to put too much faith in 4X4 systems. Please dont take this the wrong way as i only mention it out of a sense of kinship that we as TBHP members share. All 4X4's have some limitations. Before going down any steep muddy or slippery paths it is imperative that you make a small recce on foot before you commit the vehicle. Also our vehicles come with All terrain tyres which are good but not ideal for tricky offroading as mud and snow tyres are. 4x4 should ideally only be in a convoy of minimum two to three cars and never on ones own.Some recovery gear like thick nylon ropes and a shovel are also imperative. If the vehicle is equipped with a winch then that would make such adventures less risky. |
All the same the White Tusker (nice name..wish i had thought of it) seemed to be well up to the task so all's well that ends well. I hope i did not offend you in any way. Look forward to some more travelogues from you :) |
Originally Posted by amrisharm
(Post 2721721)
Wow what a great drive! A true 5 star travelogue indeed. And hats off for attempting to drive to Sandakphu. |
I was wondering what model bolero you were driving so did a search on Team-bhp and read your other thread on the vehicle as well. Just a few questions, 1) while negotiating the hairpin turns on the way to Sandakphu, were you able to make the turns in one go or did u have to do a bit of backing up? While going uphill I was able to make the turns in one go. But while coming down, initially I was trying to stick to the inner line of the curve (as I was a bit scared) and that was a mistake. It did not give me enough space and I had to back up to be able to complete the turns. After a few turns, I was doing better in tackling them. 2) Also Do you think a Gypsy King will make it up to the top? Considering the Max torque is achieved at a much much higher RPM? I think its like above 4,000rpm (feel free to correct me if i am wrong). I have not seen any Gypsy not being able to go where the Jeeps have gone and the Bolero is much heavier than the jeeps. But saying that, I have not driven a gypsy, so I don't know the strengths and weaknesses. IMHO, a Gypsy will be able to go to Sandakphu. 3) Also would it not have been easier just to get the Bolero Di 4x4? I am sure you have valid reasons for picking the Lx 4x4 over the Di 4x4, could you share them please The Sales person had said that it would take the same amount of time if I had ordered the LX or the Di. Since the LX was costing about 20K more, I thought it must be a better model as at that time I did not have any idea about the differences. It was much later that I came to know about the differences between LX and Di :). So you can say that it was an uninformed decision. |
Originally Posted by amrisharm
(Post 2721721)
1) while negotiating the hairpin turns on the way to Sandakphu, were you able to make the turns in one go or did u have to do a bit of backing up? 2) Also Do you think a Gypsy King will make it up to the top? Considering the Max torque is achieved at a much much higher RPM? I think its like above 4,000rpm (feel free to correct me if i am wrong). |
Originally Posted by gauravdgr8
(Post 2721819)
Have been to sandakphu way back in 2005 with my wife. The journey was amazing to say the least. It was an experience in itself to go in the Land Rovers which were waiting at the junction on the main road. Hope the White tusker enjoyed every rock of it. |
Originally Posted by 1100D
(Post 2722066)
I must say some of the pictures are really well shot/composed. Especially for the pictures of the W-Tusker against the scenery and scenes from planters. A white Bolero never looked this good. |
Originally Posted by Gujarati
(Post 2722162)
Excellent Travelogue. Great work on picture taking as well. |
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