[etchemkay]

Excellent detailed travelogue, Gannu! Kudos to you, your friend and your GT for completing the epic road trip.

[mailtosid]

Excellent TLog Gannu!
Crisp narration and attention to detail. Also the fact sheet was quite informative. Rated this thread a well deserved 5 *s

[vgsr]

An excellently crafted and detailed report. You have covered everything right from kit packing to cost of fuel and food.
I have been planning for 3 years and never goot around to doing this. Your narrative has now really inspired me. Cant rate this thread high enough. Thanks

[Gannu_1]

Guys, thank you so much for the feedback and appreciation. When I sat down to draft this travelogue, I didn’t have the slightest feeling it would garner so much of attention! But I wanted to write down all the nitty-gritties so it would be easier for the first timers to get a feel of what to expect there and to prepare adequately before setting out. I would be glad to answer any and all queries with regard to this.

Originally Posted by mpksuhas

Glad that you did not come across much of bad weather, our trip couple of weeks before yours faced multiple issues due to landslides.

Absolutely Suhas. The weather Gods were kind on us during the trip. We were really tensed when we departed Srinagar but pleasantly surprised when we arrived at Zoji La. Not a single underbody scrape! We were told that the same stretch was in shambles with slush, water crossings etc. a week before we had arrived. I think August may be a good month to visit Ladakh for the first timers and low GC hatchbacks and sedans.

Originally Posted by BlackPearl

Please let us know when you plan to do the Sikkim trip, some of the Kolkata bhpians might also be interested to join

Definitely! Shall give you a headsup. My wife has been pestering me for some time now since she had visited Sikkim as a part of her college’s educational tour (not sure about the educational part though).

Originally Posted by LoneRidder

Non-stop I completed the journey with you and Murthy!

Thanks for the ride, though it was bit cramped in the back seat. Lovely one

Haha that was a good one! Thanks!

Originally Posted by Full_Minchingu

Note: Just curious to know how long you took to do the write-up portion of this journey!?

About 3 weeks I guess. I spent about an hour or two every day.

Originally Posted by sudeepg

I see that your projectors did a great job in the tunnel too!

Absolutely Sudeep! The projectors worked fabulously! We did a lot of night drives during this trip and never did I feel that the lighting was insufficient. The auto-dimming rear view mirror as well - helped to reduce the glare from the high beams of the trailing vehicles.

Originally Posted by amansanc

Did you face any issues related to the car being stopped by local taxi guys?

No Aman. No one bothered to stop our car at Leh or the circuits there. I suppose private vehicles with white number plates are spared.

Originally Posted by Sheel

Some of my traveler friends do not realize, that for enthusiasts like us, journey is as important as the destination or sometimes, takes precedence.

Exactly Sheel. I’d rate this journey much more than the destination.

Originally Posted by Sheel

Al altitudes/cold places, wait for the glow plugs to come on, do this twice/thrice prior to cranking up. Should help in starting w/o any hiccup and at first crank.

The issue is, since I had swapped the stock instrument cluster with the GTI one, it doesn’t have a glow plug symbol (since GTI = petrol). The workaround is to use the EPC symbol in place of the glow plug one but it wasn’t programmed to do so. I am thinking of getting this done. One has to use the EEPROM programming tool to get this done.

At Leh, I religiously followed Paragbhai’s advice and let the glow plugs be on for a couple of minutes before cranking the engine. Once the engine started, it never stopped due to the cold weather.

Originally Posted by Eddy

- A first timer can do the drive reasonably easily

Amen.

Originally Posted by Eddy

- He can do it in a small car.

Easily. We saw all sorts of cars up there - Maruti 800, Alto, Eon, Beat, Micra, Swift, i20 etc. Even the humble Nano has scaled the Khardung La!

Depending on the road conditions and the weather during the trip, it can be really easy or really hard.

Originally Posted by Nempuguru

Is it possible to explore Leh-Ladakh in Figo (limited ground clearance)?

Absolutely! The Kolkata team who had recently been to Ladakh had a Figo with them and there’s another travelogue here with the Figo.

Originally Posted by alfaromeo1984

Assuming you were the lone driver in the whole trip??

Yes.

Originally Posted by ricky_1605

I would like to know if there were any breathing or ground clearance problems you faced with the car?

No issues except for the mudflap scraping 6-7 times at some of the water crossings. The underbody didn’t touch a stone. The tacho was idling at 1200 rpm at Leh until we descended down - this appears to be normal at high altitudes.

[technicalytuned]

Fantastic travelogue .
Hats off to your courage for taking a million rupees front wheel hatch on the most treacherous roads of India.
Lots of pictures and adequate information is pushing me to make my trip to Ladakh soon.
Is there any security issues while taking ladies on a Ladakh trip?

[vibbs]

Nice Tavelogue there Gannu_1 along with some wonderful pictures.

Your Earlier travelogue to Palakkad for your wedding encouraged me to take my Punto too to Gods own Country. I accomplished that earlier this month. Hope to hit Ladakh too some time.

Thanks for the travelogue. Rating it full 5 stars.

[AZ911]

What a fantastic narration. It really felt like I was a part of your journey. The itch to undertake this trip is increasing day by day.
Did you face any problems or confrontations with the local taxi guys? I guess they would not trouble any private vehicles.

[rejeen]

Congrats Gannu!

Thanks for an entertaining travelogue that has lots of useful information to prospective Leh travelers and for everyone to plan well for a long trip. Completed reading in one go.

Love the YAK picture

[ashlok94]

Congrats Gannu! This is my first post on Team-BHP!
The Polo GT TDi is my favorite hot hatch currently in Indian market. Was surprised to see it take on J&K so comfortably.
A very well written and detailed post.

[Lij]

That's an amazing trip, great detailing, wonderful pictures making it a brilliant travelogue. This can be a guide for someone planning for this trip from the West of India.

Thanks Gannu!!!

[tiger_stripes]

Brilliant travelogue!! Liked the amount of detail provided and the pictures really top it off. Truly inspiring. The trip planning section is worth referring to for any trip.

[SKavuri]

I do not know when I started reading it, but it is now 23:56 at Singapore after a non-stop read. Verbose is unnecessary when the content is so good. Lucid writing with nice pictures and video clips can be as gripping as a Ludlum.
Outstanding travelogue, and one of the most informative. Congratulations for ticking one item off your bucket list.
I hope my lazy bum will get inspiration from this.

[Aakarsh]

What a travelogue Gannu sir. A great write up indeed. I felt as if I was there with you and moorthy sir, sitting in the rear bench of your TDI during the trip.
Various questions in my mind after reading this. When I'll complete my graduation? When I'll start earning? When I'll gift myself a ride and when I will finally drive to Ladakh?
Just feeling stunned after reading it in one go. Amazing write up sir.

Looking foreward to your drive to Sikkim and other breadth taking destinations and some fantastic travelogues.

Regards
Aakarsh

[Leoshashi]

An amazing road trip like this calls for an equally amazing travelogue!! Brilliant work, Ganesh Sir!! Rating this thread a well deserved 5 stars.

The list of items which you made, along with the narration truly touched the heart and made for a great weekend read. It really felt like I was a part of the journey.

Eagerly awaiting your upcoming Sikkim trip.

Regards

[GameOfCars]

Absolutely brilliant travelogue Gannu_1. Was just searching for threads of any Polo conquering the coveted Leh-Ladakh terrain and was surprised to see someone doing it so very recently. Amazing attention to details with a really intriguing write-up along with mesmerizing set of pictures. Will be an inspiration and a guiding light for many hatch and sedan owners who take this journey in the future. Rating a more than deserved 5 star. Your GT's picture along the famous Khardung La signboard had really got me silently clapping in admiration sitting at my workplace.

I too have been toying with the idea to do the same trip in my Polo and thankfully my starting point would be a lot closer(Chandigarh) from say where you started. Only shortfall being, its the 3 pot 1.2 TDI engine. I'm sure your GT would have pulled through almost all inclines without throwing any tantrums. Any suggestions, if the 1.2TDI could also make it without much of hiccups? And had you got any specific under-body casing or protection installed?

In 2012, I had driven my Polo from Chandigarh till a little ahead of Sonmarg i.e. Baltal which is the base camp for the Amarnath Yatra. The car did amazingly well with the under-belly scraping just once and that too inside the camp periphery where there were huge and badly constructed speed-bumps. I've got a Hyundai Creta too now and many would say it would make more sense to take that on such a trip but my heart is literally dumb-stuck to do this once in a lifetime road journey in the car I love the most, i.e. my Polo.