[arvi86]

Wow! That is all I can say after going through your travelogue and the awesome photographs that you have managed to capture. As someone else mentioned, it was so real that I felt like I was traveling (or rather driving) to those places at the top. I wonder Skoda and J&K Tourism might try to contact you for using a few of those pictures in their official brochures and websites. Guys like you (and others with their beautiful travelogues to Leh/Ladakh) are truly inspirational and make us yearn to stretch that extra mile to satisfy our driving desires.

Keep them coming! I first ran into your thread yesterday in office, but couldn't go beyond Page 1. And I am here since 5:30 AM, going through the whole thread in a relaxed pace, enjoying the pictures and the experience. I even forgot to log in and realized that only after finishing the whole thread. Its great to see that the Laura came out tops after this drive.

Your thread deserves more than 5 stars just for those amazingly beautiful pictures, but that's the maximum here.

By the way, did you inspire me to secretly plan for a drive to Leh in my Civic?

[hocuspocus]

Congrats Anshuman!

First, I will go with the usual applause for the great write up and photography that you have displayed on this thread. This usual applause is necessary since if one put's himself in your shoes, then to capture each moment, road, scenery, board, etc is not a piece of cake specially when you have an entire camera kit to take care off instead of Point & Shoot camera.

Secondly, I do not see any details(pics) shared of your return from Rohtang Pass in order to guage the condition of the roads plus your experience with the same.

All in all, while reading your thread, i assumed as if i'm travelling with you, however i'm not yet back in gurgaon....so bring me home ... Country Road !

[FrankMartin]

Brilliant writeup and topshot photos Anshuman,

I have always had a liking for the Laura. My wife wonders if its the car or the name. I would say both. She is a very able car the proof point is this travelogue.
I have always been wanting to go up north and especially to the region around Laddakh, but being based in Pune is a big deterrent and driving all the way up there will take some time and effort.
Nonetheless i hope to make it there someday.
Will definitely PM you if i need any details.

Cheers

[.anshuman]

Guys, sorry for interruption in the travelogue. I am out of Gurgaon for a few days, i will post next batch of pics as soon as i find 3G coverage. Thanks for your patience

[manasmadaan]

brilliant write up and amazing photographs. I do have plans to travel to leh in my linea diesel. Hve been ridiculed by many for the thought of travelling there in linea. Do you feel its possible??

[.anshuman]

Originally Posted by manasmadaan

brilliant write up and amazing photographs. I do have plans to travel to leh in my linea diesel. Hve been ridiculed by many for the thought of travelling there in linea. Do you feel its possible??

Your car can do it easily, with cautious driving and lots of patience. I know of 2 Linea's from Team-BHP which did the trip comfortably. Here is the link to a currently running travelogue: http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...akh-linea.html

[headers]

superb travelogue - excellent pics - i'm glued

[debuda]

Anshuman -- you have written an engrossing travelogue and your pictures are simply awesome. I found the composition of many of your pictures very artistic -- a treat for the eyes.

I too am very fond of long drives as well as photography, but mixing the two sometimes becomes a problem. What I mean is that frequent stopping on the road to take pictures may throw one's schedule haywire, especially if the driver and photographer are the same.

I think you planned a nice unhurried itinerary and shared the driving and photography. Having like-minded companions always doubles the fun during such trips.

Waiting eagerly for the remainder of your travelogue. Also dreaming of a road trip to Ladakh from Jamshedpur in my next car (an XUV500, which is probably still somewhere along the M&M assembly line in Maharashtra).

[.anshuman]

Originally Posted by n.devdath

So, you went via Srinagar and came back via Manali, right?

Yes, original plan was to return via Srinagar route but going back through the same route would have been boring and after spending so many days with no roads i was confident my car can do harsher terrain with ease.

That Unimog fellow crossed paths with us at Rangdum.

Nice fella

Zozi La was smooth sailing, Khardung La was acceptable, Baralacha La and Nakeela were in their usual form. It was the popular Rohtang La that was the worst.

Agreed, the roads before and after every pass were bad. Rohtang is something else, dirtiest and least scenic pass.

We were 4 people in a 2wd Scorpio SLE and I must say that the 2.2 felt underpowered at a few places.

Did you face any such issues with the Laura?

Though there was some loss compared to plains but Laura still had more than enough grunt to pin us to seats on kickdown.

Did you have to keep up the momentum at the cost of bouncing the car and passengers around while climbing/negotiating the Las'?

Only Rohtang La, bouncing was not an issue, i was more concerned about underbody hits. Thankfully came out with no damages, some minor scratches to remind of Rohtang La. Never needed manpower, one slushy incline she refused to climb, few inches reversing and attempting with a bit more momentum was required to cross.

What was your FE figure while at Leh and around?

I did not calculate FE past the first 2 days. MFD said 10kpl for Khardungla climb, overall Pangong trip was somewhere close to 13kpl, for longer routes it showed 13-15kpl.

What was the passenger feedback? Did you ever get to sit in the rear seat?

I drove 100% of the time. Others feedback say: 10/10 for Front seats, 7/10 for rear seat. Ride quality was excellent everywhere.

Waiting for the rest of your travelogue and congrats on the successful completion of the trip.

Waiting for your travelogue. More details at the end, stay tuned.

[n.devdath]

There are enough Leh travelogue s here Anshuman and I do not want to add to them. I 'll prolly post a few pics, just for the heck of it.
One more question, did you ever have to make the passengers get down to clear any obstacles? Did you , after reaching Leh , decrease your luggage by putting some of it at the hotel?
Finally, any plans of doing Zanskar next year In the Laura? I 'll join you.

[.anshuman]

Originally Posted by n.devdath

One more question, did you ever have to make the passengers get down to clear any obstacles? Did you , after reaching Leh , decrease your luggage by putting some of it at the hotel?

Passengers had to get down only at Sarchu crossing, mainly because i needed spotting.

Since our plans were not fixed, we always carried all our luggage with us.

Finally, any plans of doing Zanskar next year In the Laura? I 'll join you.

It's too early to say anything..

[VeyronSuperSprt]

Originally Posted by .anshuman

i was confident my car can do harsher terrain with ease.

Well done!

I doubt whether even the manufacturer would have attempted this trip without a support / service / backup car. And the R&D guys at the factory must be wondering how the car actually did this trip.(even though it's equipped with the rough road package )

Your statements sum it up - cautious driving, patience and the TRUST and confidence that one has in one's car matters most of all.

I suppose you must have used the manual mode in the difficult terrain areas to avoid stress on clutch / mechatronics. The cooler ambient temperature would have helped in reducing heat build-up too.

Great pics.

Cheers!

[debuda]

Originally Posted by VeyronSuperSprt

Well done!

I doubt whether even the manufacturer would have attempted this trip without a support / service / backup car. And the R&D guys at the factory must be wondering how the car actually did this trip.(even though it's equipped with the rough road package )

While I have no intention of either undermining the performance of the Laura or the efforts of Anshuman in doing this fantastic Ladakh trip, I wish to point out that doing this route is not like doing the Himalayan Rally or Dune Bashing in Dubai or something that can only be done in a rugged off-roader. Many lesser vehicles like Maruti-800 and 100 CC bikes have done this route. To read an interesting account of a Ladakh trip in a Tata Nano, check THIS out.

I am fond of long drives myself and though I have not done Ladakh yet, I have driven extensively in Darjeeling Hills, Sikkim, Bhutan, Uttarakhand, Himachal, etc. Most of these drives were in my Maruti Esteem, Premier 118NE and Swift VDi, none of which are strong or powerful vehicles with big wheels and high GC. What is more, on n-number of occasions I have seen cars like M-800, Alto, Nano, etc., on mountains and wondered how they got there. IMHO, the main thing that determines climbing ability is power-to-weight ratio. The small cars have low power, but they are also very lightweight and they can pull reasonably well in 1st gear. The main problem in these small cars would be that they have to be driven very slowly on steep and / or bad roads and the ride would be a pain for the occupants.

[D-nav]

Anshuman, When did you do this trip? i mean, what dates? I did the same route from 14th Sep night to 27th Sep night. Seems like we stayed in the same camp in Pangong tso but on different dates (now, dont tell me you stayed in tent no. 2 & 3). will post my travelogue shortly.

[VeyronSuperSprt]

Originally Posted by debuda

I wish to point out that doing this route is not like doing the Himalayan Rally or Dune Bashing in Dubai or something that can only be done in a rugged off-roader. Many lesser vehicles like Maruti-800 and 100 CC bikes have done this route.

Actually this isn't about strength, power, offroad ability or dunebashing ability but just plain old reliability and on this score the Japanese (read 800's, 100cc bikes, Esteem, Swift VDI, Alto etc) have proven much better than their European counterparts regardless of make, power or size. That's all there is to it.