[satan]

Day 4: Srinagar – Udhampur – Chandigarh – Delhi [Truck driver style]
After lying awake we finally woke up by 3.45am and decided to hit the road as against turning in our beds listening to the singers perform. We were on our way by 4.15am and ripped thru a completely emty and desolate Srinagar town. Once we reached the outskirts of town we saw what became a regular feature at an alarming frequency. Every 5 odd kms we encountered a battery of a dozen army troops completely replete out with ammo, sniffer dogs and mine detectors, walking along both the shoulders of the highways looking for mines planted there by militants. The mines are planted along the shoulder of the road and covered up. If a vehicle or truck pulls over to the side for whatever reason it is toast. Apparently we learnt later that on an average they uncover and diffuse 2-3 mines a month which I found truly alarming. Watching those troops patrolling the roads at an unearthly hour in freezing cold makes you think that we civilians completely fail to understand the cost of freedom and the realities on the ground in that area. Hats off of these army men!!
We crossed The Jawahar tunnel soon and started our rapid descend towards Udhampur. With Rishad at the wheel we made some record time coming down the mountains not to mention all that torque of the Audi coupled with stop go overtaking on the twisting roads made me very queasy in the back seat. After that we had an uneventful run thru the Udhampur bypass and were soon enroute to Chandigarh which we hit by 7pm. Met up and had dinner with our ever hospitable friends Karandip and Navaz and were soon on our way to Delhi by 11pm. Reached the outskirts of Delhi by 2.30am, pulled into a Dhaba and slept off for 2 hours after which we made a quick dash to the airport to catch the 6.20am flight back to Aamchi Mumbai on monday morning The last 24 hours were fairly tiring and we really had no motivation to stop for pics. Ah yes I do have one very inspring one at the Titanic view point outside Jawahar tunnel from that day.

[satan]

Originally Posted by sudev

What fuel consumption figures for the trip?

We averaged between 6.5 and 9 kmpl through the trip of. To be fair barring the night runs, we were almost always driving her very hard. I am sure those figures could be better with more sedate driving.

Originally Posted by sudev

And how was the cars handling? Good and bad points?

This car is like an Autobot from the movie Tansformers. On the highways its completely planted hugging the road doing ridiculous speeds, almost making you feel like God as there are very few cars that you cannot outrun in this baby. If the owner of a certain white Chandigarh registered E class is reading this heh heh howdy buddy. Even around hairpins there is minimal bodyroll at the lowest highway settings.
Once you turn offroad, simply dial the touch screen select an offroad mode and the suspension transforms itself to match the terrain. Sure this feature is indeed available in most highend SUVs these days but then I cannot comment on them as I haven’t driven many.

Some things that I really liked about this car:
a. Very easy to drive and maneuver. You do not feel its width and length when driving
b. Very solid feel to every thing in the car, from door handles to control dials
c. Air suspension very comfortable for rear passengers – we drove through some really bad terrain enroute to Gurez and I was quite comfortable in the rear seat
d. Undeniable presence
e. The chiller between the rear seats is very useful


In India I feel 99.9% of Q7 owners will never even dream of taking their vehicle off the road to places like these. I guess this data point coupled with the very powerful and torquey engine justify the road biased shoes that the car comes factory fitted with.

[//M]

Dear Bhpians,

I have planned a family holiday with my parents (in their 50's) in our Honda City to Kashmir from June 7th-20th ex-Ranchi. The current planned itinerary is:

7th: Ranchi - Kanpur

8th: Kanpur - Delhi

9th: Delhi - Katra

10th: Vaishno Devi Temple

11th: Katra - Naushera - Mughal Road - Srinagar
Is it doable in one day in a sedan? If not Srinagar, any accommodation options in Shopian? Any permits required for this?

12th: Srinagar - Gulmarg - Srinagar

13th: Srinagar - Bandipora - Gurez (Davar)
Any permits required? Accommodation options?

14th: Gurez - Bandipora - Srinagar
How far can one drive upto beyond Gurez? Inner-line permits required?

15th: Srinagar - Pahalgam - Aru - Pahalgam

16th: Pahalgam - Aru - Sinthan Top - Kishtwar
Doable in a sedan?

17th: Kishtwar - Doda - Udhampur - Delhi
Doable in one day in a sedan?

18th: Delhi - Varanasi

19th: Varanasi - Ranchi

20th: Buffer Day


We are comfortable driving 800-900 kms a day in normal highways, have done it on previous occasions. Any assistance regarding accommodation options would be really helpful.

There are no JKTDC hotels in Gurez I believe. Any other basic accommodation options available in the Gurez Valley?

@Mods: I had posted this query on the Kashmir route query thread, but did not get any assistance. So posting it in a separate thread as Gurez, Mughal Road and Sinthan Top are still relatively unknown and the route queries might benefit other members later.

Regards,
Arunabh

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by //M

11th: Katra - Naushera - Mughal Road - Srinagar
Is it doable in one day in a sedan? If not Srinagar, any accommodation options in Shopian? Any permits required for this?

Easily doable in a day in a Sedan. We did Sonamarg - Srinagar - Shopiyan - Peer Ki Galli - Naushera - Jammu starting at 6:30am and reaching Jammu City around 8:00pm on the same day. This was in a Linea and in the month of September (2014).


While the entire Mughal road starting from Shopiyan all the way till Bafaliaz is a beauty with almost zero potholes and wide roads (almost resembling Leh-Kargil), the real pain is after Bafaliaz till Rajaouri.

Super narrow roads in certain sections and a very slow progress due to potholed stretches quite often.

When we drove last September, this was an alternate for Srinagar-Jammu NH (thanks to floods and relief vehicles using this highway) and hence we witnessed very heavy traffic comprising of mostly local traffic in Taveras and Sumos bullying you and throwing you off the road.

With the regular highway now open for traffic, I think you will be spared this season when you drive.

Post Rajauri all the way till Jammu the roads are excellent.

On Hotels, having passed Shopiyan and seen the place, I would perhaps suggest you stay in Srinagar itself as its a matter of 30 minutes between these 2 places.

[//M]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

Easily doable in a day in a Sedan. We did Sonamarg - Srinagar - Shopiyan - Peer Ki Galli - Naushera - Jammu starting at 6:30am and reaching Jammu City around 8:00pm on the same day. This was in a Linea and in the month of September (2014).


While the entire Mughal road starting from Shopiyan all the way till Bafaliaz is a beauty with almost zero potholes and wide roads (almost resembling Leh-Kargil), the real pain is after Bafaliaz till Rajaouri.

Super narrow roads in certain sections and a very slow progress due to potholed stretches quite often.

When we drove last September, this was an alternate for Srinagar-Jammu NH (thanks to floods and relief vehicles using this highway) and hence we witnessed very heavy traffic comprising of mostly local traffic in Taveras and Sumos bullying you and throwing you off the road.

With the regular highway now open for traffic, I think you will be spared this season when you drive.

Post Rajauri all the way till Jammu the roads are excellent.

On Hotels, having passed Shopiyan and seen the place, I would perhaps suggest you stay in Srinagar itself as its a matter of 30 minutes between these 2 places.

Thank You sir. So Katra-Srinagar via the Mughal Road will be done in one day. Now hoping that the Kashmir valley remains peaceful and all these roads are accessible.

I also read a fellow bhpian's travelogue about the Kishtwar-Daksum road and he drove down his SX4 in that road. I believe with some caution the City will also be able to do this road.