[JASMEET MATTOO]

Amazing and breathtaking pictures Rajiv. Must admit the pictures were one of the finest I have ever seen.

All the best!

[rohin4110]

Lovely pictures. Leh always leave you with an open mouth with its beauty and you just can not get enough of it

[rkbharat]

Thanks all

Originally Posted by Soumyajit9

Phew ! Breathtaking pictures !! Just inspires me more and more to go and enjoy the nature there.

Originally Posted by shazikon

Beautiful pictures. Which filters did you use for those landscape shots and number ?

I use Lee 100X150 GND hard .9

Originally Posted by JASMEET MATTOO

Amazing and breathtaking pictures Rajiv. Must admit the pictures were one of the finest I have ever seen.

All the best!

Originally Posted by rohin4110

Lovely pictures. Leh always leave you with an open mouth with its beauty and you just can not get enough of it

[rkbharat]

Day 4 : Kargil to Panikhar

As it was just a 70 km drive for us today, there was no hurry and we thought of taking it easy, not aware of what lay ahead for us. Breakfast was prepared by the caretaker and we licked our fingers to the end. Plan was to leave Kargil by 10 Am and lunch at Panikhar JK Tourism guest house. While we were packing, Vipin started feeling uncomfortable and we decided to wait.

Luckily a friend posted in Mulbekh came over to meet us, suggested to visit Army hospital. Vipin and his wife went to hospital along with the caretaker, while we stayed at guest house, keeping kids busy and engaged. It took them around 2 hours as doctor was not there yet and there were few more patients already waiting for doctor.

We heard the good news from Vipin over the phone that everything is fine and they are coming back to guest house. We were prepared for the worst and moving back to Srinagar from here, but luckily all went well. Vipin was all charged up again.

Finally we started from Kargil around 1 PM, filled up the fuel tank and a Jerry can, heading towards Sankoo. Drive towards Panikhar was smooth as its all tar upto Panikhar. On the way we checked at Purtikchey Guest House, but there was nobody there, we moved ahead. Finding JK Tourism guest House at Panikhar was easy for me as we stayed here in 2011. Again there was nobody at guest house, but then somebody appeared from the house near by, looked a familiar face, and it was a friendly caretaker Bashir who hosted us in 2011, He could recognize me as not many tourist stay here.

He gave us two wonderful rooms, but no cook, as cook retired recently and getting a cook is a pain, No problem, a fully loaded kitchen was at our disposal, we will cook ourselves. We cooked, Pulao, Chilla, omelette, Pakoda and what not. Feast in one word.
Could not click much pics this day.

Three Musketeers


Around Kumbathang










Thoda Profile pics




On the way


Finally at Panikhar






JK Tourism Bunglow





Views around guest house

[vittal]

Excellent photos Rajiv.

Waiting for further updates on your travelogue.

Did you face any issues to cross the Nala. Do share your experience on "nala crossing" and if it was flooded with water (the main cause that I had to revert back from Kaza - Shimla - Delhi during my recent trip this month to Spiti Valley)

[AAK]

Amazing snaps! Relived the trip, Thanks to you!!


I think one of your lens is ultra-wide angle...Can you share what lenses you were carrying?


Mod Note: Please quote ONLY the relevant bits of a post. Quoting a full, long post inconveniences our mobile readers.

[rkbharat]

Originally Posted by vittal

Excellent photos Rajiv.

Waiting for further updates on your travelogue.

Did you face any issues to cross the Nala. Do share your experience on "nala crossing" and if it was flooded with water (the main cause that I had to revert back from Kaza - Shimla - Delhi during my recent trip this month to Spiti Valley)

Thanks
No issues with flooded nallas. I generally wait for other cars to cross and watch their tracks. Sometimes I get down and get into the water to plan the crossing.

Tapri section and 5 KM around Shontong bridge, Powari section is very very bad, may more than what you get in Ladakh. You have to be very careful

Originally Posted by AAK

Amazing snaps! Relived the trip, Thanks to you!!


I think one of your lens is ultra-wide angle...Can you share what lenses you were carrying?

Thanks
I was using
Nikon 14-24 F2.8 and Tamron 24-70 F2.8 on Nikon D800
Nikon 70-200 F2.8 on Nikon D7000 and sometimes on D800, used Teleconverter TC-17 sometimes.
Fuji X-E1 with Fujinon 14mm F2.8

I also carried 50mm F1.4 G, but didn't used it much

[abirnale]

Its an amazing photologue Rajiv!

I was eagerly waiting for this blast of photos ever since you started releasing them one by one on your facebook wall! And I came to this travelogue with whole lot of your photos just in time to drive away monday blues!

Keep them coming and wish you many more miles on the beast with smile

[mobix]

Way to go Rajeev, amazing pics & write-up as usual.

Thanks to your travelogue's I am also planning a Kashmir trip in coming months with my family, your pics helped a lot in convincing my parents of the trip thanks mate.

Looking more closely at your pic, I realized that we have crossed each other's path a few times in Tower-B lift, next time will introduce myself.

[motomaverick]

5 times? Well I gave a shocked icon but I am not surprised. You are probably the only Ladakh veteran who has traveled in a sedan in almost all the seasons except of course during the winters.

I have just one question, how many kms has been done by the SX4? Plans to change it? I also saw picture of Rangdum, how was the Zanskar valley managed? Nothing serious for the car to get stuck anywhere?

Oh and lovely pictures especially of the Dal lake.

[stormerider]

Dear Rajeev
Amazing pictures as usual. I saw your SX4 parked in Leh, while we were going to Shanti Stupa on 16June. I recognised and wanted to meet up and hence stopped while going up and coming back. Also the network was so bad that I couldnt pm you. May be some other day, keep the images coming.

[rkbharat]

Originally Posted by mobix

Way to go Rajeev, amazing pics & write-up as usual.

Thanks to your travelogue's I am also planning a Kashmir trip in coming months with my family, your pics helped a lot in convincing my parents of the trip thanks mate.

Looking more closely at your pic, I realized that we have crossed each other's path a few times in Tower-B lift, next time will introduce myself.

Wow, small world, I am in UCP on monday and tuesday, lets catchup sometime soon

Originally Posted by motomaverick

5 times? Well I gave a shocked icon but I am not surprised. You are probably the only Ladakh veteran who has traveled in a sedan in almost all the seasons except of course during the winters.

I have just one question, how many kms has been done by the SX4? Plans to change it? I also saw picture of Rangdum, how was the Zanskar valley managed? Nothing serious for the car to get stuck anywhere?

Oh and lovely pictures especially of the Dal lake.

Thanks
SX4 is at 91K km now, not planning to change it, but looking for a 4WD, in all probability a used Grand Vitara 2.4
Zanskar valley is amazing. Luckily there was road upto panikhar this time. In 2011 it was only upto Sankoo. Beyond Panikhar its all broken treks all the way to Padum.
Nothing serious, never got stuck anywhere. Had three underbelly hits, at Parkachik, While coming down from Changla and While getting down from Zozila.

The main problem is when you are descending, the front over hang is painful

Dal is my favorite as well

Originally Posted by stormerider

Dear Rajeev
Amazing pictures as usual. I saw your SX4 parked in Leh, while we were going to Shanti Stupa on 16June. I recognised and wanted to meet up and hence stopped while going up and coming back. Also the network was so bad that I couldnt pm you. May be some other day, keep the images coming.

We were staying at Shanti Guest house, though it does not have parking inside, parking outside is all fine. This was 4th time I was taying at this place.

Missed catching up with you, next time

[rohan.xj]

Hi rkbharat,

Superb pics, your collection of cameras and lenses is enviable! As a budding amateur photographer, I can only hope to take such pics in future!

I have been inching to take my Honda Civic to Leh (Srinagar route), is it advisable? The car is in excellent condition and my mechanic had raised the GC of the car during the last service (placed two blocks of sufficient height in the rear suspension) after which the car's bottom has not scraped even once!

FYI, I have never been to Leh, have significant mountain driving experience in Himachal and Sikkim!

Currently staying in Mumbai, so the trip will be Mumbai - Leh - Mumbai.

Thanks in advance

Regards
Rohan

[rohin4110]

Originally Posted by rohan.xj

Hi rkbharat,

Superb pics, your collection of cameras and lenses is enviable! As a budding amateur photographer, I can only hope to take such pics in future!

I have been inching to take my Honda Civic to Leh (Srinagar route), is it advisable? The car is in excellent condition and my mechanic had raised the GC of the car during the last service (placed two blocks of sufficient height in the rear suspension) after which the car's bottom has not scraped even once!

FYI, I have never been to Leh, have significant mountain driving experience in Himachal and Sikkim!

Currently staying in Mumbai, so the trip will be Mumbai - Leh - Mumbai.

Thanks in advance

Regards
Rohan

Hi Rohan.

I have driven to Leh thrice from Delhi, once in my Ritz and twice my Swift.
Both the cars did very well in the drives to Pangong, Nubra, Tso Moriri and back to Delhi via Manali.

Some advice if planning to do the trip in Civic:

1. Civic is known for its low GC and a deep overhang of the bumpers, which will definitely give you trouble in the rough terrain from Khardungla to Nubra, Chang-La, Zing Zing bar nallah under Baralacha-La, Keylong to Rohtang and Zojila Pass.
2. Increasing the GC will not help much I believe, as the bumpers will surely scrape on the above mentioned stretches.
3. Civic has an issue with the wheelbase too, wherein, even an improved GC may not help.
4. ASS in Leh for Honda is scarce. I had my Swift's oil sump split wide open at Tso-Moriri and had to call for help from Leh and resultantly had to extend my trip by two more days, thanks to two days getting wasted to get the vehicle up in running.
5. Try not to load the vehicle with a full load, then you are surely heading for trouble. 2 to 3 passengers with their luggage, would be good.

Barring the issue with the wheelbase, which unfortunately doesn't have a solution, I think Civic should easily make it, as it has the power and the torque to do the steep stretches.

On a positive note, I have had friends, who have taken on Leh in their Skodas and VWs, and got back without any fuss, so surely it is do-able in a Civic too, with some caution being exercised.

Cheers

[rohan.xj]

Originally Posted by rohin4110

Hi Rohan.

I have driven to Leh thrice from Delhi, once in my Ritz and twice my Swift.
Both the cars did very well in the drives to Pangong, Nubra, Tso Moriri and back to Delhi via Manali.

Some advice if planning to do the trip in Civic:

1. Civic is known for its low GC and a deep overhang of the bumpers, which will definitely give you trouble in the rough terrain from Khardungla to Nubra, Chang-La, Zing Zing bar nallah under Baralacha-La, Keylong to Rohtang and Zojila Pass.
2. Increasing the GC will not help much I believe, as the bumpers will surely scrape on the above mentioned stretches.
3. Civic has an issue with the wheelbase too, wherein, even an improved GC may not help.
4. ASS in Leh for Honda is scarce. I had my Swift's oil sump split wide open at Tso-Moriri and had to call for help from Leh and resultantly had to extend my trip by two more days, thanks to two days getting wasted to get the vehicle up in running.
5. Try not to load the vehicle with a full load, then you are surely heading for trouble. 2 to 3 passengers with their luggage, would be good.

Barring the issue with the wheelbase, which unfortunately doesn't have a solution, I think Civic should easily make it, as it has the power and the torque to do the steep stretches.

On a positive note, I have had friends, who have taken on Leh in their Skodas and VWs, and got back without any fuss, so surely it is do-able in a Civic too, with some caution being exercised.

Cheers

Hey Rohin (almost namesakes )

Thanks a lot for the advice. you are absolutely right about the wheelbase! The only thing that seems to work in my favour is that after my mechanic raised the GC of the car by a few cm, the relentless bottom scraping has stopped! Over the last 7 months, not a single scrape on potholes or bumps and (tried with 6 passengers in my car)! That alone gives me confidence that it can be done!

As far as your point on ASS is concerned, I guess I will have to risk it!

Now, I think I will have to scout for like minded individuals who can partake in this 'expedition'!

Cheers

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