[BlackPearl]

Originally Posted by Nempuguru

Lovely write up and equally good photos. Deserves 5 star.

First I quickly glanced all the photos, then I read your travelogue. What you have written in first para is hard to believe.

You have covered lots of miles in this trip driving Thar with a soft top. Any security risks (valuables, gadgets) especially on highways during late night drives?

Congrats to you both for successfully crossing 10th milestone. Hats off to you and Thar as well.

Thanks a lot Nempuguru!

Originally Posted by Jeevan Sukumar

Beautiful narration with amazing pictures. I just love your Thar. You turned my color choice black to white. Keep writing my dear friend.

Thanks Jeevan. Great to hear that my Thar changed your choice, but still a word of caution for you - The white colour on the Thar does not look the same in flesh as it comes out in the pics. I can't explain this to you, but the actual colour is a bit creamish. So it is better have a look at it before you go ahead with the White colour choice.

Originally Posted by Oreen

This is real adventure. I wouldn't attempt driving at night, or even 500 kms in the hills in one day. You and that kid have some real mettle.

You are a biker at heart, you can do 500km in a day in a bike. The car is too claustrophobic for you. By the way, the "kid" is grown up now

Originally Posted by Samfromindia

Another enriching travelogue with superb pictures. It will inspire many newbies like me to embark on this route in upcoming years.

Thanks a lot Sam. You do Kolkata-Darjeeling and back in 3 days and call yourself a newbie

Originally Posted by Samfromindia

The Club Mahindra resorts are lovely. I checked their site and they seem to have 25 years membership contract.
http://www.clubmahindra.com/membership/overview
Do you mind sharing which season package you opted for and the approx costs involved. Also is it open for all car owners or just mahindra ?

Yes most of the Club Mahindra resorts are lovely but not all. It is a 25 year membership for which you pay a lump-some of amount upfront. After that it is yearly maintenance charge which is not a negligible sum. I had taken the membership way back in 2007 and it was 1.8 lacs down at that time. Mine is a White Season package. It is open for all, you don't even need to own a car to be Club Mahindra member. Frankly speaking, Club Mahindra is best for those living in South or North India. They get a lot of options. For us from the East, there is a hardly any option other than to travel all way down South or up North. The only two resorts somewhat nearby are Gangtok and Baiguney in Sikkim.

[Jeevan Sukumar]

Hai Brother. Once again thanks for your kind consideration. Today, as per your advice, I visited Mahindra showroom, Trivandrum, to check out the white Thar. However to my bad luck none was available for the time being. The available are black beauties. But the SA offered me a call soon. Now waiting for his call.

[luckystryker]

Fellow BHPians,
I am making the most of an annual company paid holiday at a Club Mahindra resort and have made Club Mahindra Kandaghat in Himachal Pradesh my pick. I will be flying in from Chennai on 22nd March to Chandigarh and flying out on 25th.

I had planned on taking an airport car rental for the trip and some questions. Hoping folks who have made the trip recently or are locals to the region can weigh in generously. Here come the questions;

• Are there any concerns with picking up a Zoomcar rental for this trip? Any friction with local tourist cab operators?
• Is the google maps route that goes via Pinjore-Kasauli-Solan the best route? Anything to be aware of from a safety perspective? Since these are unfamiliar places, I would like to travel during day through well populated routes
• Haven't really planned too many places to go and things to do yet? Any recommended itinerary that I can follow? Any places or experiences which are not to be missed?
• I know it is a longshot but is there any possibility of encountering snowfall in or around Kandaghat? The wife has never seen snow, but cannot stand the cold weather either! So really asking if there is the possibility of a miracle here!

That is all that comes to mind at the moment. As always, the inputs from this forum has saved me on many a trips before, hoping that it does the same again!

Cheers and may the miles forever smile upon your travels!

[BlackPearl]

Originally Posted by luckystryker

Fellow BHPians,
I am making the most of an annual company paid holiday at a Club Mahindra resort and have made Club Mahindra Kandaghat in Himachal Pradesh my pick. I will be flying in from Chennai on 22nd March to Chandigarh and flying out on 25th.

I had planned on taking an airport car rental for the trip and some questions. Hoping folks who have made the trip recently or are locals to the region can weigh in generously. Here come the questions;

• Are there any concerns with picking up a Zoomcar rental for this trip? Any friction with local tourist cab operators?
• Is the google maps route that goes via Pinjore-Kasauli-Solan the best route? Anything to be aware of from a safety perspective? Since these are unfamiliar places, I would like to travel during day through well populated routes
• Haven't really planned too many places to go and things to do yet? Any recommended itinerary that I can follow? Any places or experiences which are not to be missed?
• I know it is a longshot but is there any possibility of encountering snowfall in or around Kandaghat? The wife has never seen snow, but cannot stand the cold weather either! So really asking if there is the possibility of a miracle here!

That is all that comes to mind at the moment. As always, the inputs from this forum has saved me on many a trips before, hoping that it does the same again!

Cheers and may the miles forever smile upon your travels!

Hello luckystryker, all the best for your upcoming trip! I will try to answer your queries below -
[*]Are there any concerns with picking up a Zoomcar rental for this trip? Any friction with local tourist cab operators?

There is no problem in hiring a self drive rental in this part

[*]Is the google maps route that goes via Pinjore-Kasauli-Solan the best route? Anything to be aware of from a safety perspective? Since these are unfamiliar places, I would like to travel during day through well populated routes

The route shown by Google is good, there is no issue with safety.

[*]Haven't really planned too many places to go and things to do yet? Any recommended itinerary that I can follow? Any places or experiences which are not to be missed?

There are several places to visit, Chail Palace Chhanchad House of the movie 3 Idiots), Kali ka Tibba. The view from Kali ka Tibba is fantastic. There is a Club Mahindra resort in Mashobra which is around 1 hour from Kandaghat. Did you book it as well? Here are few things to do in Mashobra - http://traveltriangle.com/blog/thing...o-in-mashobra/

[*]I know it is a longshot but is there any possibility of encountering snowfall in or around Kandaghat? The wife has never seen snow, but cannot stand the cold weather either! So really asking if there is the possibility of a miracle here!

No idea about snowfall in Kandaghat, but if you go a bit higher up to Mashobra and beyond, there is high probability of getting snow.

[Kandisa]

Originally Posted by luckystryker

[*]Are there any concerns with picking up a Zoomcar rental for this trip? Any friction with local tourist cab operators?

No concern . You will spot good no of self drive cars in this route.

[*]Is the google maps route that goes via Pinjore-Kasauli-Solan the best route? Anything to be aware of from a safety perspective? Since these are unfamiliar places, I would like to travel during day through well populated routes

Take the Himalayn expressway which starts from Zirakpur and will straightway take you to the hills. Route is perfectly safe even if you travel at night. It is pretty busy also because of tourist traffic from neighboring places like Delhi NCR, Chandigarh etc.

[*]Haven't really planned too many places to go and things to do yet? Any recommended itinerary that I can follow? Any places or experiences which are not to be missed?

As already suggested, Chail is a popular tourist destination, even more after the palace was featured in the movie "3 Idiots". You could have a day out at Shimla also, visiting the noteworthy places. If time permits you can have a glimpse of the 'Ashwani Khad' area as well.

[*]I know it is a longshot but is there any possibility of encountering snowfall in or around Kandaghat? The wife has never seen snow, but cannot stand the cold weather either! So really asking if there is the possibility of a miracle here!

Kandaghat is too low to receive snowfall. If one is lucky, during the snowfall season, the closest from where snowfall could be experienced is around Tara Devi which is close to Shimla. But this year it is surprisingly very dry and there has been very little snowfall till date. So nearest place where you could see some snow could be around Kufri & Narkanda (approx. 1-2 hours away from Shimla) but that itself is also doubtful unless there is some western disturbance in the vicinity.

[luckystryker]

Thank you Kandisa & BlackPearl! Doing a lot more homework now on the itinerary!