7th June 2016, 23:20
| #1 |
| Newbie Join Date: Jun 2016 Location: Navi Mumbai
Posts: 22
Thanked: 67 Times
| XUV500: Karwar/Goa to Leh Ladakh Dear BHPians, Had been meaning to start posting my experiences on the trip and finally started today - almost a week after becoming a part of the BHP community. So here goes! A long pending dream was to drive on my own car to Leh Ladakh. This dream had two major hitches, The first was that my profession keeps me close to the southern coast of India, with Mumbai being the northern most I've been posted. This meant that I needed nothing less than 25 days of leave for the kind of trip i had in mind. The second issue was to do this trip in a car suitable for such a drive. The last issue was overcome first - in Apr 15, when i finally bought my XUV500 W8- Dolphin grey colour! My first car was a silver Wagon R LxI, which i bought in 2006 after my wedding. Did lots of long drives on that one too - including Mumbai - Kochi trips. The car is still with me, and my wife is more than happy to have it as her own now. Well the long anticipated leave came this year - when i got almost a month off , the timing of which also coincided with my childrens' summer vacations. i was beside myself, and would send a small prayer up everyday while planning, that no service exigency should land up now, leading to cancellation of my leave. The plan had four major Phases:- (a) Karwar to Chandigarh - start 09 May 16 (b) Chandigarh to Leh/Nubra - start 15 May (c) Leh/Nubra to Chandigarh - be back at Chandigarh by 28 May. (d) Chandigarh to Karwar - yet to commence (tentative 20 Jun) It was planned such as Chandigarh is my hometown, as also my wife's. In my next post, I start with Phase I - which covers our journey from Karwar to Chandigarh via Pune- Mumbai- Ahmedabad-Ajmer-Jaipur(bypassing Delhi). Phase I - Karwar to Chandigarh This trip was covered in four legs. Ill cover trip summaries at the end of each Leg. Leg 1 - Karwar to Mumbai Well, all preparations for the long trip including getting the car ready were in place. Work had kept me from starting over the weekend itself, so we finally set sail on 09 May 16, Monday for the first leg till Mumbai. We departed home on the epic tour at 0515 hrs with the ODO on the Cheetah reading 14809 km. My daughters, aged nine and five, were all excited and couldnt wait to get on the road! Like i mentioned in my intro post, I'm fortunate that my wife as also both the girls share my enthusiasm for the road, and are fairly road hardened as far as long drives and negotiating ghats are concerned. Our first long drive after our daughter was born, was a Mumbai to Goa trip, way back in '07. That time we took the NH17 coastal route and came back in two days, as the trip was for official reasons. But since i was to be away from my family for long after that, i decided to take our wagon R and take the wife and kiddo along. It was a wonderful trip and my daughter was very comfy on the road. She was less than a year then. Later in Jan 2009, I drove on the Wagon R from Mumbai to Kochi with the family, again from NH17, stopping enroute at Ganpati Pule, Karwar, and Cannanore. It was a great drive. Then in May, i drove back to Mumbai, this time via Coimbatore- bangalore and NH4. This was the first time i took this lovely road. In 2010 we drove to Coonoor from Kochi for a long weekend, with my second daughter only three months, and in the car seat! So she was also initiated early to the roads. Getting back to the drive, I had loaded the major suitcases and other stuff in the car the previous evening to save on time in the morning, and make good headway in the cool hours of the day. The route - head south till Ankola- get on NH 63 - cross Yellapur- SH1 after Kalghatgi - meet NH4 at Dharwad- cruise through Belgaum, Kolhapur, Satara and Pune - arrive Kharghar (my sis-in-law's place). For those unfamiliar with this route, it is a fantastic drive all through. NH 63 is two lane without divider but has less traffic. Barring the 10 KM ghat stretch, one cruises between 60-80 KMPH average. The SH1 stretch is also two lane very good road, with minimal traffic. The NH4 thereafter is awesome, with the only exception being after Kolhapur, when there are diversions till Satara owing to the construction work in progress on the NH. However, this only lowers your speed due to the traffic to avg of 40 KMPH, as the road condition is still very good. The diversions are not long, just frequent for about an hour plus. One gets to cruise through Pune on both sides, with some of the city traffic on the NH to avoid city congestion. Then you get on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway all the way till Mumbai. The timings - 0515 - started from home 0640 - crossed Yellapur on NH63 0750 - first break at Ramya Residency ( this is the place where you come round and get on the NH4 from SH1). A quick breakfast and coffee there. 0825 - on the road again. 1130 - small tea/loo break 1425 - PUNE! 35 min Lunch break on a highway dhaba (totally forgot to record the name, but good food) 1500 - hit the road again 1630 hrs - reached Kharghar, Navi Mumbai. Total Distance Covered - 695 km Time on road - 11 hrs 15 mins. Issue: One issue with this road is the woeful lack of eateries on the entire stretch till Kolhapur. Actually all the way from Bangalore this highway has very few places one can plan a pitstop. Situation only improves after Belgaum and Kolhapur, so one can consider being suitably prepared. Some Images of the trip:- Photo 1 - the SH1 from Kalghatgi till Hubli, good road, very little traffic  Photo 2 - On hitting the NH4 at hubli  Photo 3 - while negotiating through Pune on NH4 - flyovers in good shape, lots of traffic but good speeds.  Photo 4 - Mumbai Pune Expressway  This concludes the Leg 1. Leg 2 was Mumbai to Ahmedabad. Coming up next! Leg 2 – Mumbai to Ahmedabad, Tuesday 16 May 16 Well, after a refreshing break at Mumbai with relatives, it was time to set sail next morning for the second leg of Phase I. The route planned was Mumbai to Ahmedabad via Vapi-Valsad-Bharuch-Vadodara (bypassing all cities). We departed at 0630 hrs and moved towards Ghodbunder Road, crossing Thane. The weather was pleasant and the roads were relatively empty considering the time of the day. Things were going well till about 0800 hrs, when after covering about 80 kms, and just getting on the interstate highway, we encountered a massive traffic jam. I slowed down seeing few cars turning back and heading back the wrong way. I stopped and asked one of them and they indicated that there was a massive traffic jam due to an accident on the road. I followed suit and turned around, Meanwhile we saw a small column of cars moving on the other side of the divider in the opposite direction, led by a police vehicle. We quickly joined the column crossing over to other side through a break in the divider. We moved about a kilometre and saw a massive column of big trucks piled up on our side of the road. After about a km, the police vehicle stopped, and started stopping the oncoming traffic to get us on to our side of the road and back into the jam through a break in the divider. We thought that the jam would end soon as we were ahead now. However, it was not to be. Over the next 1hour and 15 minutes, we moved about two kilometres, surrounded on both lanes with mostly truck traffic.  In between we encountered the sources of the jam , three big truck accidents spread over 2 km.  Some construction material on the highway (probably kept for some flyover work – which I could not figure out) also added to the trouble. We finally saw some light at about 0900 hrs, when the traffic finally started moving on the otherwise excellent six lane highway. Tired with the proceedings of the last couple of hours, we decided to take a break and at 0910 hrs we stopped at a lovely and huge Kailash sarovar Food Highway.  The Highway Hotel  The Beast along the direction of advance A half hour break, as the kids were also awake by now, and we hit the road again at 0940h. Excellent highway throughout, though there is a significant amount of truck traffic on this highway. This is not unusual, considering this is an arterial connect of Mumbai to Northern and Western India. Well, we continued to cruise through and the next break was at about 1300 hrs, when we stopped at a “Hotel Royal Inn” for a refreshing buttermilk break. Started again at 1320 hrs.  Next break was for lunch at “Sugar n Spice” just short of the Bharuch-Vadodara toll plaza. This stretch of the highway all the way from Mumbai to Ahmedabad has lots and lots of good hotels and huge dhabas, and one does not run short of options, much unlike the Bangalore- Belgaum stretch of NH4, where one is at a loss as to where to take a break to eat. Lunch break was 1425h- 1515hrs, whereupon we set sail again for the last stretch, which was incidently the best.  Crossing a Vadodara Stretch  The Highway thereafter After Vadodara, we hit the expressway to Ahmedabad. Though just a four lane with divider, this road had minimal traffic and we covered the last about 120 km in just over one hour.  A view of the Expressway Reached our place of stay at Ahmedabad at 1730 hrs. Leg Summary:- 0630 - Departed Mumbai(Kharghar) 0745 - Encountered Traffic Jam 0900 - Got out of traffic jam 0910-0940 - Breakfast Break 1255-1320 - Buttermilk break 1420-1515 - Lunch break 1730 - Arrived Ahmedabad destination Total Distance - 550 km Time on Road - 11 hours Refreshing tea in the Cantt, birds chirping their evening choruses, albeit hot weather. Wrapped up for the night after dinner by 2200 hrs. The kids also conked off by 2130 hrs, notwithstanding the fact that they had been sleeping through the day too in the car. Overall, after the early morning traffic jam, it was a great drive. Coming up next – Leg 3: Ahmedabad to Ajmer! Leg 3 - Ahmedabad to Ajmer, Wednesday 11 May 16 For this stretch, Google maps shows the route via Mount Abu as the default route, but the route I took was via NH8, through Himmatnagar-Udaipur-Beawar-Ajmer. This is the route to be taken, though I've not seen poor reviews of the Mount Abu road. Well, on this day we were up early, thanks to the timely lights out the previous evening. The kids were woken up just 20 minutes before cast off time, and they were also ready to hit the road. In any case, 10 minutes after starting, they again slept off. We started at 0500 hrs, and had hit the highway by 0520 h. The road was two lane for first 10 km or so, after which the road was proper 4 lane with divider. Well I can summarise the route right here; it was an excellent road all the way to Udaipur and beyond till Ajmer. We had initially planned to hit Jaipur on this day, but we wanted to visit the Dargah at Ajmer, hence the earlier halt. There was a 15 minute break at the Rajasthan- Gujarat border for fuel and stuff. Kids woke up at about 0900, by which time we had already hit Udaipur! THis called for a breakfast break, after which i took a detour into town to see the Lake Palace. We spent some good time and took some pics there before hitting the road again at 1045 hrs. at 1110, we hit NH8 via Nathdwara. Another 20 minute break inbetween, after which we reached our place of stay at Ajmer, in very comfortable time by 1520 hrs. The odds and tidbids we had been having in the car had precluded a lunch break, as there were some sandwiches and other stuff which had filled everyone. A quick tea break and we kept our stuff, after which we headed for the Dargah in the centre of town. I can cover the dargah visit separately later; suffice to say that while the sanctum sanctorum was worth the visit, everything else that we encountered on the way to the dargah was a totally forgettable experience. Total commercialization of religion and emotions, you get swamped for every thing, right from car parking to buying chaddars to prasad to even keeping your footwear. Anyways, it was an experience I wanted the family to have. I had visited this place as a 12 year old, but the memories were not very vivid. We came back to our guest room by 2000hrs, where we had dinner and tucked in for the night, in preparation for the last leg of Phase I of the trip, Ajmer to Chandigarh! Trip Summary 0500 - Started from ahmedabad 0520 - Hit the highway 0925 - Breakfast break at Annapurna@ Udaipur 1045 - Departed from Lake Palace Road, Udaipur 1520 - Arrived destination at Ajmer, with a 20 min break inbetween on the lovely highway across the desert Total Distance Covered - 527 km Time on Road - 10 hours 20 min Some pics of the Leg: The Beautiful Desert Sunrise  The Roads   The Lake Palace, Udaipur    Road along the Desert - Picturesque  The Dargah Road - with the Darwaza in the distance Leg 4 - Ajmer to Chandigarh, Thursday, 12 May 16\ Excitement levels were very high the next day, as hometown was the next destination, and two sets of parents cum grandparents were waiting. We hit the road the earliest at 0430 hrs today, in preparation for the longer 670 km drive. Kids had slept off again within 5 minutes of hitting the road. The Jaipur highway is more than adequately covered in the forum, so here again i need not dwell much. I just want to highlight one surprise on this highway - the May heat had melted the tar on the fast lane in the 6-lane highway, and almost all along the stretch the tar had accumulated to two uneven heaps along the tyre marks of fast vehicles. This meant that one had to be a little careful when at a high speed on this lane. We headed into a beautiful desert sunrise at 0600 hrs. Few toll plazas inbetween, and before we realised, we had bypassed Jaipur. At 0710, we took a breakfast break at Dayal Restaurant, at Lakher along the highway. Started again at 0735 hrs after having tea and packing aloo parathas, as kids were still sleeping. At 0930, we reached Rewari after crossing Neemarana, where there is a prominent left turn to the newest highway (NH 71 and NH71A) which bypasses the entire Gurgaon Delhi Murthal stretch and straightaway meets the Delhi Chandigarh highway at Panipat. Shows as the default route on Google. Awesome 4 lane highway, with surprisingly minimal traffic, we continued on the road which bypassed Rewari, Rohtak, Jhajjar and Gohana. We stopped for a quick fuel break inbetween where this time i did not top up the tank ( I always otherwise go tankful to tankful). Well, Panipat came and we joined up with the beautiful NH1. Spirits were high, and the gas paddle was low, with us already having planned that lunch will be with parents at home. At 1425hrs, the girls were shrieking and ringing the doorbell, and they were met by equally excited grandparents, who could not wait to hear about the details of the trip. I had two days of break at home, where I had planned to get servicing of the car done, and some other shopping in preparation for the Leh drive, which was to commence on Sunday, 15th May. That comes up in the next section.... A word on the next two days: the car ODO was at 17500km, but at the workshop we decided to complete the 20 k KM free service which included engine oil, oil filter, fuel filter replacement. Additionally, I got all tyres removed, rotated, checked brake pads, clutch plate and topped up other fluids. I also bought another accessory, the black carrier for the car. Looks awesome in my opinion - pics will come up in the next section. Meanwhile, the trip summary of Leg 4 0430 - started 0710 - 0735 - Packed breakfast and had tea 0930 - Hit NH71 1430 - Chandigarh and home for lunch! Total Distance covered - 648 km Time on road - 10 hours Pics of the last leg of Phase I:-  Another Beautiful Sunrise  Jaipur-Delhi highway, with some tar issues on the fast lane..  NH 71, the highway takes you straight through to Panipat  The beast hits the 17K mark!  Chandigarh Ahoy! Thats it folks for the Phase I of the trip... Phew! that was one good drive..probably took me more effort though to pen this travelogue.. but totally worth it! Hope to hear from you all before I park my Phase II memoirs - Chandigarh to Leh and beyond.......  Well, well. I was hoping to get the travelogue up and running till this point while i worked on penning the Phase II. However, I have received directives to go ahead and reach Leh before this goes to print.... and directives are to be complied with. So here goes! Well, Chandigarh saw a flurry of activity over the next two days, ie 13th and 14th May, where the car received some special treatment, and we picked up eatables, Cup-o-noodles, juices and lots of other stuff in preparation for the high altitude trip. {By the way, cup-o-noodles and a flask of boiling water (which i used to prepare every morning before departure) has proved to be a lifesaver in these trips for me. I have two narrow neck bottle type flasks which hold water REALLY hot upto a full day. This really works well, when we want to have a cup of tea in a picturesque lonely location or a bite of lunch where there are no decent places nearby.} A word on the plan hereafter. Our friends from Mumbai, a couple with a 6 year old son had also been planning to join us in the trip. They had been planning to fly down to Chandigarh so we could drive on together. My original plan was as follows: drive up via Jammu-Srinagar-Kargil to Leh, so one could take advantage of gradual acclimatization, and drive back to Chandigarh via the Sarchu-Rohtang-Manali route. But the issue was that Manali route had not opened. So finally on 10th May, we had taken a call to go and come back via the Srinagar route itself. This was also to cater for my friend's plan who was not able to squeeze in more leave. So now they planned to fly directly to Jammu from Mumbai, where we would pick them up and continue up. On the way down, they would fly out again to Mumbai from Jammu, thus saving two days. And this was our final plan which was implemented. Phase II - Chandigarh to Leh/Ladakh and back Leg I - Chandigarh to Jammu, Sunday 15 May 16 In addition to the eats and other preps, we picked up our woollens and were ready for the trip. A major development had taken place over the last two days however. Both our daughters, who were so far gung ho about the trip, suddenly changed plans after meeting their grandparents. I'm not sure how and from where suggestion cropped up, but somehow the idea of the girls staying back at Chandigarh with both set of grandparents appeared, and with every passing hour grew more real and rigid untill a final declaration came from both kids that they were staying back at Chandigarh. The woollens also served to steel their resolve to an extent, as both of them are absolutely averse to winterwear. And so it was, that it would be I and my wife, along with our friends and their son. The moment my friend heard of these developments, the couple did their best to sell the idea to their son to stay back with his grandparents, but he would hear nothing of it! So it was to be family time for them, and a sort of second honeymoon for us... We had also planned to pick up a post paid sim card BSNL at Jammu. We ended up picking up the spare number of our relatives with whom we stayed at Jammu. It was our only point of connection for the next fortnight. Anyways, we finally set off at 0755 hrs on 15th for the most delightful phase of the long trip. The route: Chandigarh-garhshankar-Hoshiarpur-Dasuya- hit NH1A-Pathankot-Lakhanpur-Kathua-samba-Jammu. You can expect to lose network on your prepaid mobiles around Lakhanpur. The roads: two lane broad SH till Dasuya, and four lane NH1A till Jammu thereafter. The SH is beautiful and one makes good 70+ KMPH here too, with decent amount of traffic. One crosses 100KMPH on the NH1A thereafter, barring when in proximity to the cities. The timings:- 0755 - Started 0955 - Garhshankar crossed after a 15 min traffic congestion (this is the only town one has to negotiate on the SH, every where else it bypasses.) 1020-1045 - Lassi break at a highway dhaba 1145 - hit NH1A after Dasuya. 1415 - Reached destination at Jammu Total distance covered - 340 km Time on road - 6 hours 15 min while in transit, we heard from our friends who were flying Air India Mumbai to Delhi, and had a connecting Indigo flight to Jammu. Awesome AI had kept them in the aircraft on the tarmac for 2.5 hours at Mumbai, and now they were likely to miss their connecting flight. THis would put our entire plan ahead in disarray. Anyway, in a while we lost network. On reaching Jammu we got the news: they had missed their flight. Air India washed their hands off completely, and they had checked into a hotel. Further planning, and they re-booked themselves into the next morning Indigo flight, which would reach Jammu at 0945. Our modified plan was to pick them and move straight ahead to Srinagar on 16th. The State Highway through Punjab  The NH1A after Dasuya  Leg 2 - Jammu to Srinagar, Monday 16 May 16 Well, we woke at a decent time in the morning, had breakfast, packed up, bade goodbye to our relatives and drove to the airport. The security check at the airport for cars is very strict. We could get through comfortably view good liaison, but one needs to keep in mind if picking up people at the airport. Well, excitement was at an all time high when we met our friends, who were to accompany us in this memorable lifetime trip. We quickly decided to move, as it would be a long drive till Srinagar. The NH1A continues throughout till Leh. Till Udhampur (60 km from Jammu, the highway is 4 lane, and reverts to two lane thereafter. We started at 1020 h from airport finally, with our first break for 10 mins, straight at 1330h for fuel etc. The road was good and one starts the first climb after Udhampur till Patni top. then the decent to another valley starts. We reached Peerah at 1515 hrs, where we broke for lunch of the famous rajma chawal with ghee and anardana chutney. It was yum. The mountains were gaining height and the weather was becoming more pleasant. We got on the road and crossed Ramban, where we slowed down at about 1630 hrs to negotiate a landslide, where work was in progress. At 1810, we crossed the Banihal tunnel after which the actual change in weather takes place and one views the snow capped mountains. We took a quick 10 min break at the viewpoint, and moved on. We finally reached our destination at Srinagar almost at 2200 hrs. It had been a long day, but the adrenaline made up for it. A quick hot dinner and we hit the shack for the next day's trip. The Jammu Srinagar distance, though only about 300 km, gives one a good primer of mountain driving. Some fine negotiating through narrow roads with oncoming traffic takes place here. We witnessed some gruesome accidents with trucks and buses at valley bottoms. The Chenab flows along the road, and at places the drop to the valley gives a good view. There are places named Khooni Nallah, precisely because of the number of trucks that have gone down at night there. Matter of fact, we too spotted the wreckage of one lying at the bottom when we passed through. The remains of this trucks had been recovered and were on the roadside when we were on our return leg. The road condition is average at places but by and large its a good but slow drive, which is to be expected considered the traffic volume. Trip Summary 1020 - Started from Airport. 1330-1340 - break for fuel 1515-1550- lunch break at Peedah 1810 - Banihal tunnel 2200 - Srinagar Total Distance covered - 300 km Time on road - 9 hours 45 min The Road going to Verinag  Leg 3 - Srinagar to Kargil, Tuesday 17 May 16 We got on the road after breakfast at 0850 hrs, which was OK considering that the previous one had been a long day. The distance to Kargil is 210 km, but this leg involved one of our biggest challenges that we faced during the entire trip - the mighty Zojila. We started comfortably, rounded the Dal Lake road, did some photography by the lake, crossed Shalimar and Nishat Baghs, saw Shankaracharya and hazratbal in the distance and hit the highway. The initial 20-odd km till one leaves Srinagar had lots of traffic and narrow road. Thereafter its a good stretch of road till Sonamarg, from where the convoy for Zojila starts. Here we were lucky and reached in good time, by 1030 hrs and the up convoy towards Drass had already started. Before we knew what we were getting into, we were moving in the column, with a big army convoy, civil trucks and many many tourist vehicles carrying passengers to zero point on the other side of Zojila. Later we got to know that its better to be at the beginning of the convoy, as one evades the mad rush and the mental pressure of vehicles that are following later. Anyways, we were where we were. The JK regd local tourist guys carry their lives on the tips of their bonnets and move, taking every chance possible to overtake. What one feels pity for are the tourists which are in these vehicles. Most drivers i felt had no distinction between human passengers and poultry. The ghats make things worse. So throughout the trip the common sight was: A tourist SUV will overtake you at breakneck speed, and zoom off. After 5 minutes, you will cross the same vehicle, which is parked in a corner with three humans (read tourists) doubled up with their faces down, puking. After another 5, the same vehicle zooms past again, only to repeat this cyclic process. However, in their minds, these drivers are satisfied that they are doing the best possible speed and making the most possible money. Getting back to Zojila. The road was miserable, with huge potholes and large rocks. What made matters worse was the water on the road from the melting snow. You had no idea where you were going, and the pressure from the column of vehicles behind precludes any option of taking time to witness how the vehicle ahead is negotiating the patches. So its just keep praying and moving. Here is where one of our worst moments of the trip came. I had a small truck ahead of me, and an army vehicle behind. While playing between clutch and pedal on a steep incline, i thought i smelt burning. The vehicle ahead had not been able to go up and was sliding back. Quickthink, i too rolled back, honking furiously. All this incidently was with minimal millimetric margins. Anyways, there was a pause in the movement as another vehicle which was coming from the opposite side had blocked the way and was being taken to a corner of a cliff, so the convoy could resume. Meanwhile, i found that my clutch play had suddenly increased to 75%. i switched off ignition and started again as the traffic started moving. Horrors! My clutch was down all the way and the gear could not engage. Trying to figure out what was wrong, i switched off again and got out. Immediately, furious honking started. I indicated to the fauji driver behind to hold on and that something was wrong. Not knowing what to do, i got in again and started the car, put a foot under the clutch and pushed it up. This worked and when i pressed it again, i could engage the gear and we moved ahead, though the play was still almost 90%. With four prayers going up in synchro, we continued negotiating the Captains bend (considered dangerous) and after what seemed like eternity, started descending towards zero point. Here, snow was piled three storey high on both sides and we were passing through. a large number of tourist carriers were stopped on the narrow road on one side, and tourists were playing in the snow. The condition of the road however continued to be abysmal, with huge potholes full of snow water for another at least 10 km. By the time we crossed all this, it was 1600 hrs, and felt drained with the fatigue. A maggi lunch with hot tea at a dhaba there refreshed us and we were on our way again at 1620 hrs. The road thereafter till Drass was kutcha with gravel and stones, but there was no water and no potholes like before. We crossed Drass at 1730 hrs, after which the highway is black top beautiful road all the way till Kargil. We reached our destination at 1850 hrs, tired and hungry, but immensely satisfied and with a sense of achievement. In hindsight, the pass opened in March and only gets better with time as the snow gives way and GREF gets time to work on the road. But every year this story repeats, as the first snow clearance also clears away the road below, and the cycle starts. GREF and BRO is doing an amazingly fantastic job here, no doubt. One of the riskiest and toughest jobs in the world. Not much to summarise here 0850 - started 1600 - Maggi break after Zojila 1730 - Drass 1850 - Kargil Total distance - 212km Time on road - 10 tiring hours ! A View of the Road Cut Through The Snow - Zojila  Leg 4 - Kargil to Leh, Wednesday, 18 May 16 Well, the day we were to land at Leh had finally arrived! After getting well rested the previous evening and having a good breakfast, we packed up and hit the road at a comfortable 0930 hrs. The distance to Leh was about 200+ km, with black top good two-lane tar road, except for the first 14 km after exiting Kargil, where its kuccha road. The road is good and extremely picturesque all along, with the beautiful Indus flowing along the road for most of the distance. The river changes four colours in the year, going from muddy brown, to emerald green, sky blue and almost transparent. We were lucky to see the river flowing bright green, gushing along the valley as we were driving along.We took a couple of photo breaks during the drive, and reached Nurla at 1345 hrs where we broke for lunch. It was a long break, and we set sail again at 1645 h for Leh. At 1845, we stopped short of Leh at Patthar Sahib gurudwara, where it is believed that Guru Nanak Dev ji sat and preached to the people during his return from China. The gurudwara sahib is looked after by the Indian Army, and has a langar running everyday from morning to evening. The langar is open to all tourists. Tea and prasad snacks are served round the clock to visiting devotees and tourists. We departed from the gurudwara at 1930 hrs, and reached Leh at 2030 hrs. While the adventurous journey had commenced very long ago, the thrill of reaching Leh certainly merited a toast, which we raised together that evening! The Beautiful Indus...  Leh Ahoy!  We chatted late into the night, as the next day was reserved for local sightseeing at Leh, and we were in no hurry to get up, after long. I also had planned to show my clutch plate issue to the Mahindra service centre at Leh. The clutch had given no issue whatsoever, after the scare at Zojila, but i wanted to be absolutely sure before i took on Khardungla and Changla...... PS: I wanted to add more pics on the Chandigarh Upwards trip, but the restriction of 30 pics is already invoked... will post more pics as a subsequent post, and as part of the next phase being compiled. Last edited by injunRD : 28th June 2016 at 21:41. Reason: Continuing with Travellogue |
|  (12)
Thanks
|
| |
|
28th June 2016, 09:40
| #2 |
| Newbie Join Date: Jun 2016 Location: Navi Mumbai
Posts: 22
Thanked: 67 Times
| re: XUV500: Karwar/Goa to Leh Ladakh Leh Arrival The next day we got up late, after a long time. The ladies went shopping (Lamo Pearls is a great place to shop at Leh) while i went to the Mahindra service Centre to check on the clutch. The senior mechanic took a test ride after hearing all about the incident, and gave an absolute clean chit to the car, which was good news. The next day we were to head to Khardungla, and he told me to get in touch if i faced a problem. With that settled, we were free to roam around the rest of the evening, though dinner was back in the guest rooms.. some more pics of the beautiful Leh.. The Indus Along road to Kargil  The Terrain towards Leh    The Story of Patthar Sahib  Leg 5 - Leh to Nubra (across Khardungla), Friday 20 May 16 We set off after breakfast for Nubra valley at 0845 hrs. The plan was to stop for the night at Khalsar, which is one of the first places one reaches after crossing Khardungla. The ascent from 11,000 to 14,000 feet is amazingly picturesque, with a breathtaking view of the terrain and Leh on the way to the pass. The road was good till South Pullu, and became dirt track from South Pullu to North Pullu, which is on the other side of the pass. The traffic here is two ways, so no issues of starting early in the morning. The legendary maggi shop at Khardungla has been closed now, as people were spending longer than required at that high altitude, and getting acutely sick. Well, the summit to 18355 feet is a high in every sense of the word. We stopped for about 35 mins, a tad longer than recommended, because of which i had a terrible headache after we reached the valley. Similar thing had happened with me when i was descending from 19000 feet (Ring Contour at Sikkim) couple of years ago. Anyways, that was sorted out by evening. however, it is recommended that one pays attention to the signs of the body, and in any case, try to keep the stop shorter than 30 mins. On the way down, we stopped for some snow frolicking at a point, after which we stopped at Khalsar, where we were to put up with an old friend. The evening was spent at Khalsar, next to the Nubra river. There were no flowers at this time in the valley, and it was to bloom in full splendor by July. Oxygen - There are Army medical posts at south Pullu, The pass and again at North Pullu, where one can be administered O2 in case required. So I do not think carrying a tank is required at all. unless one already has access to one. Note: A word of caution; the Taxi union at Leh has a barricaded checkpost at the commencement of the climb to Khardungla. They check the vehicle RC and your identity, and just do not permit a vehicle without its owner to go up. I had a Xylo ahead of us, who was arguing with them that this was his father's car, and was trying to prove the same with surnames, but the guys were absolutely rigid on this. Perhaps this is one way for them to ensure more movement and business for their taxis during the short tourist season. While the legality of such actions is highly questionable, it is evident that the administration is with the association in this move, and one can only be prepared accordingly. Trip Summary Distance - 130 Km Time on Road - 6 hrs 15 mins The Road to Khardungla    Khardungla - At the Summit  Nubra Valley    Leg 6 - Khalsar to Diskit/Hunder, Saturday, 21 May 16 On this day, we again had a leisurely breakfast, and set off after a early lunch to Diskit and Hunder, which was a 30 km journey. We did some ATV riding on the dunes, and double hump camel ride at Hunder, after which the night was spent at Hunder. Towards Hunder  ATV Rides  Diskit  Hunder - Sand Dunes  Double humpback camels  Moonlit night at Hunder  Leg 7 - Hunder to Pangong Tso to Leh, Sunday, 22 May 16 This day saw one of the longest drives and also the most scenic of the Leh trip. We set off at 0630 from Hunder, and had a brief stopover at Khalsar to pick up some supplies. Thereafter we set off towards Tangtse and Pang through a road along the Shyok river. It was hide and seek with the river for more than five hours, and one of the most adventerous rides. Very desolate road, we had just about three/four vehicles cross us in more than 4 hours. The road is dirt track and stones, but all negotiable. We crossed Tangste at 1230 and were at the beautiful Pangong Tso an hour later. Lunch was at the lake side. Well this is where plans changed. While we were having lunch, my friend's son suddenly puked, which got us worried. Though he was fine thereafter, i realised that all said and done, we were at 14000 feet plus. So while our accomodation was planned at Tangtse that night, we took a call and decided to head back to Leh via Changla the same day. So around 1450 hrs, after lunch and photos at Pang, we headed towards the mighty Changla. My main consideration was that one should not get stuck there after sunset, as that is not advisable in unknown terrain. But we made good headway despite the roads, and were at the road to Changla in two hours or so. Another one hour, and we made it to the other side, through supposedly one of the most treacherous passes of the world! Well here again the traffic was very sparse on this day. There were a few bikers all along the route to Pang, as there is very easy access to hired bikes for as low as 700 bucks (for an Enfield) at Leh. This has become a very attractive option for adventure enthusiasts who fly in to Leh and then hire bikes for the touring at Ladakh. On this route too, heavy snow was melting and we encountered some fast moving water across the roads. Negotiating a couple of them took some time and thinking, but there were no major issues. We crossed Karu and were at Leh town just after 1900 hrs. The road after Karu is black top 4 lane road again, so the last stretch into Leh was comfortable. We were tired, and wanted to sit and chat in the room, so we packed dinner from one of the restaurants at the town and headed back. Road towards Tangtse - road straight towards Changla  PangongTso First View   Road To Changla    The route we took is a high point of this trip, and road lovers must consider taking the Shyok route to Pang if possible. While staying at Tangtse/ PangongTso may be considered depending on the time available/ health state/ adults and children in the group, it is definitely possible to go and come back from Leh in one day to Pang, and makes for a great trip. The next day was again spent at Leh, with local sightseeing and lunch at the town. For local/ chinese cuisine, Chopsticks restaurant is highly recommended, and they make really awesome Thupka as also Momos. Parking at Leh is a big issue. Paying money and parking the vehicle in a closed parking is the most recommended option, particularly if the vehicle is non- J&K registered. While we experienced no issues at all during our trip, its not wise to give a chance for an altercation however minor, as it spoils the holiday mood more than anything else. Even if you have to walk long, its worth the trouble. Not to mention that the best way to enjoy the sights and 'little trinkets' shopping is while walking. Carwash at Leh  Leg 8 - Leh to Drass, Tuesday, 24 May 16 Well, it was time to start the journey back. Till this date we had anyways got information of Manali road opening up. In any case, our plan was predecided to head back same route considering that our friends were taking the flight out from Jammu. We got up, had breakfast and hit the road by 1100 hrs. This time the road was familiar, and we knew where to stop for photos and tea breaks. We crossed Futula pass at 1350 hrs and Namikla pass at 1450 hrs. Things were going well, and we planned to reach Drass Transit Camp before nightfall. We had a stopover at Kargil War Memorial. It is a must stopover for any Indian, and the men from the Army unit deployed there explains the war that took place to all tourists. Hard to keep eyes dry at that place. Though Im biased being from the fraternity, the bravery of Indian troops is beyond compare in the world. After this stopover, a series of incidents took over. About 18 km short of Drass, we encountered a massive traffic jam. Bad news was received regarding a terrible accident that had taken place. A PB registered Bolero with 7 on board, had crashed into the river sometime in the morning. The Army was intimated and the recovery vehicles had arrived at that time. I met the officers in charge of the operation. It was a terrible site. The car had washed almost 400 meters downstream because of the fast current. Two bodies had washed away, and others were actually visible in the car. One by one they pulled out the bodies after hooking on to the car. It was a good two hours before the traffic started moving, in which time the line was kilometers long on both sides. It was sad to imagine that the families would not even know of the whereabouts of the men inside. The accident was all over the news the next day. We somehow pushed the incident out of our minds and pressed on with the journey. When we were crossing the police check post at Drass town, another surprise! The guys got our car parked to the side and said we cannot proceed. I told them we were staying at the Transit Camp which was a few km beyond, on which they said I was to deposit my car docs with the check post. The reason for this was revealed later. It was primarily prevent some fools from pushing on and trying to cross Zojila at night/ during onward traffic times. In March, there was an incident where two truck drivers pushed off after probably paying some money at the last check post. After a while, their trucks stopped because of overloading. They stopped the truck, and after a while the diesel froze. They decided to pack up in the truck cabin for the night, and the next morning their frozen bodies were pulled out. So we handed over the RC of the car and pushed on, but by now it was dark and the last 6-7 km road was bad. We reached the coldest transit camp of the world at 2100 hrs, and had a steaming dinner, during which we discussed our plan with the other present there. At about 2130, surprise no 2. A messenger came to our room to pass a message that Zojila had three landslides and was closed for all traffic the next day. We confirmed the same, and resigned ourselves to our fate.. which was telling us to enjoy another day at the second coldest inhabited place in the world (after Siberia). The next day was by the far the most leisurely one of the trip, with absolutely no agenda, in the freezing cold summer month . We chatted, took photos, played games and lounged around. The day here also meant that we had lost our buffer day which was originally planned for sightseeing at Srinagar. But that was all part of the trip. Trip Summary Total Distance - 286 km Time on Road - 10 hours Futula and Namikla   The terrible accident - the car is visual  The road onwards to Drass  Leg 9 – Drass to Avantipora, Thursday 26 May 16 I with my friend set off at 0545 hrs to collect our RC copy from the check post, which was in the opposite direction. At 0630 hrs, we set off for Zojila and to join the convoy. When we reached, we realised that there were already enough vehicles ahead of us, and the convoy had not yet started moving. It was almost an hours wait there before the convoy started moving. The road to Zojila was no different from when we had crossed before, with mud, slush, potholes, boulders, and narrow areas making the experience memorable. We crossed at 1030 hrs, but made the mistake of stopping for a loo break before crossing the other check post at Sonamarg. The result was that the heavy vehicles coming from behind piled up in front of us within a span of 10 minutes. The result was that we ended up wasting almost an hour and half there, before we could clear Sonamarg. Our plan was to have lunch at Srinagar, take a Shikara ride time permitting and break for the night at Avantipora, which was an hour ahead of Srinagar. Things went off well, and we had lunch at 1530 at Hotel Paradise, next to Dal Lake. We got on the road and reached Avantipora at 1830 hrs, where we stayed the night. The road from Srinagar to Avantipora has kesar fields on both sides of the road, and it’s a good drive, albeit with traffic. Trip Summary Total Distance - 166 km Time on Road - 12.5 hours  Leg 10 – Avantipora to Jammu, Friday 27 May 16 The last leg of this trip for our friends had arrived, and we were still in a daze with all the beauty we had witnessed. Nubra actually seemed like a dream, and when we were looking at the photos, it felt as if it was in another life! This trip with friends had also given us the unbeatable opportunity to bond and talk and catch up with each others lives and ideas, as we had not met up for long. We finally started after breakfast at 1000 hrs, which was very late for this journey. The road back had not changed at all, except for the truck at Khooni Naala which had been pulled out ( I spoke of this in an earlier leg). We paid the price for the late start with traffic jams all through. At Anantnag, the highway was blocked and we had to take a detour through Doru Shahbad and Verinag, after which we joined the highway at Banihal. Again massive truck traffic, and all this chaos went with us till the ascent to Patnitop. We finally reached Jammu at 2200 hrs at night. The next day our friends were to take their flight out at 1530 hrs, and we planned to head for Chandigarh in the morning itself, as now even we could not wait to meet the children after a long break. Trip Summary Total Distance - 275 km Time on Road - 12 hours Leg 11 –Jammu to Chandigarh, Saturday 28 May 16 It was the day of goodbyes and we were all starry eyed with the lifetime experience we had been through. After a leisurely breakfast, we said our byes to our friends and our relatives with who we were staying, and started for Chandigarh at 1000 hrs. A break at Mc Donalds at Mukeria enroute was the only break we took, and reached Chandigarh in 6 hours. The children were overjoyed to see us, and could not wait to see the pics of the trip. They did confess that they had an awesome time with both sets of grandparents pampering them to no end. So it had actually been a memorable experience for everyone including our parents, who for the first time got lone time with their grandchildren….. A very significant part of our long trip had concluded, incident free and full of memories. The next weeks were at Chandigarh itself, which was to be followed by the last phase – Chandigarh to Karwar. I had different plans for this trip, which will figure in a subsequent post.. Last edited by Rehaan : 21st April 2017 at 12:47. Reason: Correcting dates |
|
| (20)
Thanks
|
|
29th June 2016, 07:56
| #3 |
| Team-BHP Support  | |
|
|
|
29th June 2016, 08:02
| #4 |
| BHPian  Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: Goa
Posts: 968
Thanked: 1,293 Times
| re: XUV500: Karwar/Goa to Leh Ladakh Brilliant! Waiting for further updates. And btw I stay quite close to your workplace  |
|
| (1)
Thanks
|
|
29th June 2016, 11:04
| #5 | |
| Newbie Join Date: Jun 2016 Location: Navi Mumbai
Posts: 22
Thanked: 67 Times
| Re: XUV500: Karwar/Goa to Leh Ladakh Quote:
| |
|
|
|
29th June 2016, 11:36
| #6 | |
| BHPian Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: Goa
Posts: 968
Thanked: 1,293 Times
| Re: XUV500: Karwar/Goa to Leh Ladakh Quote:
| |
|
| (1)
Thanks
|
|
29th June 2016, 14:17
| #7 | |
| BHPian  Join Date: Oct 2014 Location: Pune
Posts: 91
Thanked: 126 Times
| Re: XUV500: Karwar/Goa to Leh Ladakh Quote:
BTW, nice travelogue  A closer look at the damaged vehicle. Unfortunately no one survived. Last edited by Aficionados : 29th June 2016 at 14:29. | |
|
| (3)
Thanks
|
|
29th June 2016, 15:26
| #8 |
| BHPian  Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Vancouver
Posts: 744
Thanked: 827 Times
| |
|
| (1)
Thanks
|
|
29th June 2016, 16:49
| #9 |
| BHPian  | |
|
| (1)
Thanks
|
|
29th June 2016, 19:53
| #10 | ||||
| Newbie Join Date: Jun 2016 Location: Navi Mumbai
Posts: 22
Thanked: 67 Times
| Quote:
Quote:
As for Karwar. Im a 6th gen fauji. So you know what i mean Quote:
Kargil Memorial, Leg 8 refers. It is a must stopover no doubt. I was more keen as i had a lot of buddies in the battle there. Quote:
Also gives one incentive to plan another trip! Mod Note: Please use multi quote feature when responding to multiple posts. Also please avoid typing like.... this..... Last edited by ampere : 29th June 2016 at 20:06. Reason: Back to back posts merged | ||||
|
|
|
29th June 2016, 21:33
| #11 |
| BANNED Join Date: Apr 2016 Location: India
Posts: 74
Thanked: 59 Times
| Re: XUV500: Karwar/Goa to Leh Ladakh Amazing travelogue. What a drive, right from Karwar to Chandigarh & then Leh, Ladhak & back to Chandigarh. How has the clutch been performing after that horrific experience? Hoping you would have completed the travel without any other problems though Mahindra have worked extensively on the XUV 500 and sorted out all the niggles. Awaiting your write-up of the final phase of your journey back to Karwar.  |
|
|
| |
|
29th June 2016, 21:44
| #12 | ||
| BHPian  Join Date: May 2014 Location: Asansol
Posts: 215
Thanked: 1,471 Times
| Re: XUV500: Karwar/Goa to Leh Ladakh Quote:
 And here goes my Travelogue http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...ire-amaze.html Quote:
| ||
|
| (3)
Thanks
|
|
29th June 2016, 22:07
| #13 | |
| BHPian  Join Date: Jul 2015 Location: 30°N 76°E
Posts: 461
Thanked: 1,288 Times
| Re: XUV500: Karwar/Goa to Leh Ladakh Quote:
Just a couple of days back read an excellent travelogue on Ladakh by a fellow BHPian and now the whole adventure is on the offing again from a different perspective. Well written mate and the photographs are also great. Can't wait any longer to read the complete story. Keep pouring. | |
|
| (2)
Thanks
|
|
30th June 2016, 06:22
| #14 | |
| Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jun 2015 Location: Chicagoland
Posts: 2,986
Thanked: 6,859 Times
| Re: XUV500: Karwar/Goa to Leh Ladakh Very detailed and well written TL injunRD. Eagerly waiting to see the rest. Quote:
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/owning...ml#post3008648 A lot of not-so-good things have been said about the Ladakh taxi mafia. There have been lot of discussions on the matter in our forum. Hopefully, you weren't troubled. http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/street...vate-cars.html http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/street...axi-mafia.html | |
|
|
|
1st July 2016, 08:00
| #15 | |
| BANNED Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: bangalore
Posts: 655
Thanked: 724 Times
| Re: XUV500: Karwar/Goa to Leh Ladakh Quote:
Stage-1. XUVs and Mhawk Scorpios are having integrated clutch slave cylinder at bottom where it used to be a big time failure in earlier days by rubber boot giving way and fluid drains off during high temperature/dusty/continous usage which was a night mare for the users.For replacement car has to be towed back to ASC. Stage-2. Later M&M introduced dust caps,improved the quality of the rubber boots inside the slave cylinder which reduced the break downs drastically. In your case due to continuous usage of clutch temperature has raised inside the transmission which made the clutch slave cylinder spring tension to loose and rubber boot to stick inside by holding the pedal.After few minutes it released itself by drop in temperature. Stage-3. From last 10days M&M has introduced a high temperature resistant golden color grease sealed and packed inside the clutch slave cylinder which will make rubber boot not to stick. So please get the clutch slave cylinder replaced with new version (May not be in spares for some time) with newer kit and use clutch very selectively Rajith. Last edited by Rajith : 1st July 2016 at 08:02. | |
|
| (2)
Thanks
|
 |
Most Viewed