[Samfromindia]

Amazing road trip with friends & family. The pictures are really great and makes me long for Sikkim drive even more. I am sure your kids will cherish all these memories for a lifetime. This TL will really help future motorists planning for a drive to Sikkim and also for those who are skeptical about driving with young kids. Rated a well deserved 5 stars !

[SouraC]

AJ as usual the Travelogue is fabulous.
I should also mention, you always have a picture to fit into your story and that is an additional merit that you have.

I request you to start writing travel stories in your free time and I am sure one day you will become a celebrity writer.

Of course there is no doubt that Your family is super supportive and from the picture it seems that the Team has enjoyed every bit of this trip.

Wish you many more enjoying trip with your Family and Friends in the days to come.

[adg_andy]

Awesome writeup Arav- along with the beautiful photos. You(along with many others in the forum) keep the travelling itch in us alive . Looking forward to seeing you in person at the Kolkata meet

[Samba]

Congrats to MJ-got-Bhp for successfully completing his maiden road trip & that too, to the Himalaya's in style!
(MJ is Mivann Jalan if anyone think i made a typo!)

Brilliant travelogue with stunning pics and great narration. Rated 5*

The narrow place beside the broken down Mahindra aka James Bond looks scary. Specially in monsoon we never know how hard the soil is, when we have to negotiate out a vehicle from the edge. Even if we walk prior to taking the vehicle, it do not give us full confidence as a vehicle weighs more than 1.2ton where as a person hardly weights 70-90kg! We cant gauge how solid is the soil underneath. Plus the driver driven Innova from your group had a narrow escape.

Greetings from Pelling in early morning!

[reverse_gear]

Excellent trip, congratulations! Especially with a 3-month old. Never too young (or too old) to go on a driving holiday.

Originally Posted by AJ-got-BHP

I thought I saw a sparrow with some strange colours (correct me if I am wrong) :

Let me help you here - this looks like a rufous-backed sibia. It's not a sparrow, it's a kind of laughingthrush.

[peterasn]

Fantastic TL AJ-got-BHP. Rated well deserved 5 Star. Your photography skills are amazing. I have been to most of the places that you have visited. It must have been exhilarating experience with families, friends, and kids.

I will need your advice for route selection for road trip to Dooars and Cooch Behar (from Asansol, WB) during Durga Puja vacation.

[BlackPearl]

Fantastic travelogue Arav. Rated a well deserved 5 stars. I recently drove a Figo for more than 1000 kms and was bowled over by the handling and the brakes. It must be an immense fun vehicle in the hills.
Two questions -
1. What is the meaning of Mivann?
2. When will the next trip happen and what vehicle?

[vdm295]

First of all congrats on the arrival of the new member in your family. What a lovely travelogue. Just enjoyed reading every bit of it accompanied with lovely pictures. Whenever I am going to visit this place I would be referring your log or may be even consult you for it. Going to give this 5 star.

[mi2n]

Thoroughly enjoyed the travelogue. You have guts of steel Arav! Here I am, so apprehensive to take my 18 month old daughter on a short escapade to the hills planned for next month. Your log inspired a lot of confidence.

I must say, there is something pleasantly different about this travelogue. I dont have words for the feelings which rushed through me while going through. Maybe because it covered places I've driven to, maybe the thoughts of taking little Mivann bothered me too much, or even the eerie moments of making way across stranded James Bond. It all culminated into a different feeling than what I have while reading other t-logs.

Stay happy always!

[anirudh_85]

It is times like these when I feel there should be a few extra stars available to rate outstanding travelogues like the one you have compiled over here. The pictures, the descriptions, the places are all superb. Take a bow, Sir!

[arindam_xeta]

Excellently put down, started reading it and was almost teleported to those beautiful surroundings. From insects to birds and monkeys, last but not the least the flowers, captured to perfection. Loved the Figo and how it looked! All looked fresh and Happy!
Would be interesting to know how the professional drivers reacted after reaching Kolkata, were they fresh and happy? or just business as usual?

[behaln]

Awesome thread buddy. Many congratulations on birth of your son. May god bless him with a long and healthy life.
West Sikkim is definitely on my list of getaways and after reading your thread the urge to drive has definitely increased.
After your leg drive your figo again proved it's worth on the non existent roads.

[AJ-got-BHP]

Originally Posted by PapaBravo

Your narration is perfect & pictures even better after all you are the official photographer for HULK.

Attaching two pics of my erstwhile companion, Brio in the same places as in your photographs.

Thanks Pawan and glad that my Travelogue made you relive your memories and itches you to do another trip yet once again.

What Luck and what coincidence !! I saw your Brio in pictures today and in person. I was in Wellington today, crossing the road on Rafi Ahmed Kidwai Road and saw a Brio No.2771 speeding towards me. As it went past, saw the LTD Sticker on the Rear RHS of the bumper !! Recollected "arre yeh toh Pawan ka Brio hai". Cheers Mate !!

Originally Posted by GKMahajan

As and when I take my family there, I think - I will bother you for tips!

Thanking you for the beautiful report and thanking you in advance for the help which I will take from you for MY TRIP!

Hello Girish !! Sikkim is beautiful and has lots to offer. Though covering all that it has to offer in one road trip is close to impossible. Glad you liked the travelogue. You can always PM me whenever you feel the need to. I will be more than happy to be of any help to a fellow BHPian.

Originally Posted by Samfromindia

The pictures are really great and makes me long for Sikkim drive even more. I am sure your kids will cherish all these memories for a lifetime. This TL will really help future motorists planning for a drive to Sikkim and also for those who are skeptical about driving with young kids.

Thanks for the appreciation Sam !! Mine is a boring white Figo and I would love to see the pics of your EcoSport in Sikkim. Plan up soon and let me know if i could be of any assistance !!

The reason why the travelogue is in such detail is that I wanted to pen this down for my kids as a reference in the future. I believe that all Travelogues should be helpful and aspiring for the community and not just self proclaiming the feat.

Originally Posted by SouraC

I should also mention, you always have a picture to fit into your story and that is an additional merit that you have.

I request you to start writing travel stories in your free time and I am sure one day you will become a celebrity writer.

Of course there is no doubt that Your family is super supportive and from the picture it seems that the Team has enjoyed every bit of this trip.

On a holiday, all you need is either a steering wheel or a camera or 'something' which cannot be spoken about in this Forum. Thankfully I had both the wheel and the camera to play with which captured most of the cherished moments. I just wish I could be celebrity - driver, writer, businessman anything. But, unfortunately such celeb stuff does not come my way

Yes, my family has truely been very supportive towards my passion and I am really thankful to them for this. Also, the friends joining in for this road trip has motivated them further for undertaking future trips which is nice. The bug has bitten them after having all the fun.

Originally Posted by adg_andy

Awesome writeup Arav- along with the beautiful photos. You(along with many others in the forum) keep the travelling itch in us alive . Looking forward to seeing you in person at the Kolkata meet

Thanks for the compliment !! Will be good to catch up definitely for some good times. Cheers !!

Originally Posted by Samba

Congrats to MJ-got-Bhp for successfully completing his maiden road trip & that too, to the Himalaya's in style!

The narrow place beside the broken down Mahindra aka James Bond looks scary. Specially in monsoon we never know how hard the soil is, when we have to negotiate out a vehicle from the edge. Even if we walk prior to taking the vehicle, it do not give us full confidence as a vehicle weighs more than 1.2ton where as a person hardly weights 70-90kg! We cant gauge how solid is the soil underneath. Plus the driver driven Innova from your group had a narrow escape.

I got confused after reading the first line initially. The disclaimer solved the riddle Mivann was fuss free all throughout the trip and there were a number of changes we noticed in him after reaching our destination. I guess he understood that my father is a BHPian !! Glad that you liked the travelogue and loved your picture of the Kanchenjunga Range that you have shared. I wish I could be half as good as you are w.r.t. photography skills.

The risk was a calculated one and having a spotter was a blessing, in that situation. What is remembered most after coming back from a trip, are these narrow escapes which make us smile thinking about them.

Originally Posted by reverse_gear

Excellent trip, congratulations! Especially with a 3-month old. Never too young (or too old) to go on a driving holiday.

Let me help you here - this looks like a rufous-backed sibia. It's not a sparrow, it's a kind of laughingthrush.

Glad you liked the Travelogue and thanks for naming the Bird !! I was clueless.

Originally Posted by peterasn

Fantastic TL AJ-got-BHP. It must have been exhilarating experience with families, friends, and kids.

I will need your advice for route selection for road trip to Dooars and Cooch Behar (from Asansol, WB) during Durga Puja vacation.

It was a brilliant experience; specially for the first timers. Glad you liked the travelogue. Just PM me in case you need any help/ advise - though there are many more in the Forum who keep frequenting to North Bengal and could guide you better.

Originally Posted by BlackPearl

Fantastic travelogue Arav. Rated a well deserved 5 stars. I recently drove a Figo for more than 1000 kms and was bowled over by the handling and the brakes. It must be an immense fun vehicle in the hills.
Two questions -
1. What is the meaning of Mivann?
2. When will the next trip happen and what vehicle?

Thanks Sumitro !! The Figo is the best handling hatch that I have ever driven and is extremely addictive; specially on those hairpin bends on a hilly terrain.

Coming to the questions :
Ans 1 - Mivann means "Sun Rays from God"
Ans 2 - The next trip will happen in October most probably with my ETIOS Diesel as it can fit in more luggage. Though will need to make some subtle Mods to the ETIOS before the that trip.

Originally Posted by vdm295

First of all congrats on the arrival of the new member in your family. What a lovely travelogue. Just enjoyed reading every bit of it accompanied with lovely pictures. Whenever I am going to visit this place I would be referring your log or may be even consult you for it. Going to give this 5 star.

Thanks for the kind words. I am elated !!

Originally Posted by mi2n

Thoroughly enjoyed the travelogue. You have guts of steel Arav! Here I am, so apprehensive to take my 18 month old daughter on a short escapade to the hills planned for next month. Your log inspired a lot of confidence.

I must say, there is something pleasantly different about this travelogue. I dont have words for the feelings which rushed through me while going through. Maybe because it covered places I've driven to, maybe the thoughts of taking little Mivann bothered me too much, or even the eerie moments of making way across stranded James Bond. It all culminated into a different feeling than what I have while reading other t-logs.

Stay happy always!

Appreciate the fact that you sincerely liked the "Dil Se" written travelogue which I guess makes that difference you are talking about. Travelling with kids is an awesome experience whereas leaving then behind and travelling alone will bother you more, mentally.

Waiting to catch up with you at the Team-BHP MOnsoon Meet of the Kolkata Chapter. We'll take our discussion ahead there over a hot cup of tea.

Originally Posted by anirudh_85

It is times like these when I feel there should be a few extra stars available to rate outstanding travelogues like the one you have compiled over here. The pictures, the descriptions, the places are all superb. Take a bow, Sir!

Thanks Anirudh !!

Originally Posted by arindam_xeta

Excellently put down, started reading it and was almost teleported to those beautiful surroundings. From insects to birds and monkeys, last but not the least the flowers, captured to perfection. Loved the Figo and how it looked! All looked fresh and Happy!
Would be interesting to know how the professional drivers reacted after reaching Kolkata, were they fresh and happy? or just business as usual?

Good that you loved the Travelogue to the core. The driver of the leased Innova was shit scared and it meant "just business" for him as usual. He was sometimes pretty irritating. However, Abhisekh's Driver was initially apprehensive about driving on the hills. However, as time passed by he enjoyed every bit of the trip and thanked me after the trip for the experience which is self explanatory.

[streetfighter]

One of the fantastic travelogues ever read, too good ! Reading this was like "re-living" those moments. The fantastic photographs and the smiling faces added to the fun and excitement. Great one.

I totally agree that kids acclimatise better to situations when they are young as I had a first hand experience of he same when I had visited Sikkim with my 2 year old. She had most of the fun in the chilled environment and even at the Nathu-La heights.

I've been itching to take up a trip, write a travelogue... and this post is really inspiring !

[AJ-got-BHP]

Originally Posted by behaln

Many congratulations on birth of your son. May god bless him with a long and healthy life. After your leh drive your figo again proved it's worth on the non existent roads.

Thanks for the wishes and the blessings for Mivann. Good to see you remembering the Figo's Trip to Ladakh so distinctly Yeah, the Figo is making it a habit to negotiate and overcome bad roads pretty well. I guess it's been trained and tamed well by it's owner.

Originally Posted by streetfighter

One of the fantastic travelogues ever read, too good ! I totally agree that kids acclimatise better to situations when they are young as I had a first hand experience of he same when I had visited Sikkim with my 2 year old. She had most of the fun in the chilled environment and even at the Nathu-La heights.

I've been itching to take up a trip, write a travelogue... and this post is really inspiring !

Good you found the travelogue to be a valuable read !! The Forum inspires us for lots of things and we all are just a part of it complimenting the purpose.

One thing I would like to ask you is that how long were you at the Nathula Pass which has an altitude of over 14,000 Fts with your little one ? No troubles is good to know as I plan to do a Zanskar Valley trip sometime in 2018 with my kids whereby my son would be 2 years old then. Advisable ?

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sharing a couple of time lapse videos taken from the Dash Cam of my friend Abhisekh's Innova. Though it is a little rushed (with some bad editing from his brother) still sharing it :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpcRUv8p93U

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnV_S0Ta5hA