[Maverick79]

It was One Epic Trip, to say the least. Here are some interesting facts…..


1) On some days, we were fortunate to have our 3 meals in 3 different states and 3 different traditional cuisines too!!. Case in point – 6th August – Breakfast in Maharashtra (Poha), Lunch in Karnataka (Jowar roti) and dinner in TamilNadu (Idly and dosa). Could not get more multi-cultural. Another day, another time – Breakfast in Amchi Mumbai (Idly vada….not Mumbai enough…but still), Lunch in Surat (Gujarati Thali) and dinner in Udaipur (Rotis and dal makhani). Still another day – Breakfast in Gurgaon, Lunch in Ajmer and dinner in Ahmedabad.

We hope to get the opportunity of having 3 meals in 3 countries very soon and that has to be on a road trip too!! Something in Europe seems very tempting to say the least.

2) Now some facts and figures. We crossed 9 states and drove 8797 kms. Paid Rs.7956 as toll. Filled 756.25 litres of diesel. Our best fuel economy was from Kotputli to Ahmedabad, where we hit 12.6 kmpl. The worst one was on the last day, when we drove 950 kms in 12 hours, as expected. We hit 10.44 kmpl on the last stretch between Tumkur and Chennai. Overall, our FE never dropped below 10 kmpl through the entire trip, even up in the mountains. Who says Endy gulps diesel? 10kmpl for a 2.5 tonne beast is definitely more than 'just good' in such driving conditions.

3) We never ran out of fuel, although we carried 2 cans of 20 ltrs diesel each, as a precaution. Fuel stations were meticulously mapped out in our route and near our stay locations, before our journey, to avoid any unforeseen issues to the best possible extent.

4) We never had any technical issues with the vehicle. No blown fuse, no fused out bulbs, no overheating complaints, no power steering fluid leak, no brake fade, no hill starting issues, no wiper issues. Not a single one. We consider ourselves extremely lucky for having been through this entire trip without a single problem. THANK GOD!
We did complete our 70 k kms service in time for the trip and had a detailed check list of checkpoints to make sure nothing failed.
All essential parts were inspected at great lengths to make sure they would last this distance.
Precautionary replacements were made as well.
Speaks volumes on the reliability of the vehicle. Yes. Proved once again - Fords are reliable stuff.
Any questions.. Pls reach us.

5) The biggest one is this - Not a single puncture through the entire route. We would place the credit solely on excellent Michelin Latitude Cross tyres.
Had them changed 6 months ago, in anticipation of the trip and ran them for 10k before starting the trip. The tyres had amazing grip, never aquaplaned in any depth of flowing or stagnant water on tarmac. Took on all the passes, streams, rocks and bad patches across Leh with aplomb. Even on dry roads, the grip was phenomenal. There was never a close call on braking, due to the grip levels on the tyres.
No blisters, sidewall cracking at all. We indent to write a letter to Michelin, thanking them for the great product that they have.

6) Something even bigger than the one above……is the fact that apart from a landslide in Ramban district and curfew hold back in Srinagar, we never got delayed through our entire route. We had heard stories of huge traffic jams especially in the mountain passes due to varying weather conditions, vehicle fatigue or other natural/man-made reasons in earlier travelogues. We sailed past everything with absolutely no delay anywhere. All our hotel reservations were on schedule and we managed to honor every one of them, without having to reschedule due to a delay.(Except in Shimla due to landslide)

A big thank you goes out to the Team BHP community for inspiring us to make this drive. We feel very obliged and committed to assist other Team BHPians who are planning to make this trip with any and every possible piece of information we have.

Another round of gratitude towards NHAI and BRO for building such wonderful roads across the nation that makes such travel possible, so effortlessly. HATS OFF TO YOU GUYS!

Every penny of toll paid was absolutely worth it. More power to them to build more roads like this and connect every nook and corner of our great nation. The BRO especially needs a special mention here for maintaining the roads in Leh. Humanly impossible working conditions, coupled with altitude, the logistical nightmare of moving heavy machinery. None of this matters to BRO as they have surmounted all of these challenges and laid roads worthy of gold.

Last but not the Least, we want to THANK OUR FAMILIES who have been a big pillar of support in our Endeavor to do this trip in an Endeavor. Not once, they doubted our abilities to get this done. Their confidence in us only reinforced our own and added determination to complete this wonderful drive.
Until we come back with our next travelogue, this is Nagendra and Arvind signing off.

[.anshuman]

Note from Moderator: Thread moved here from Assembly line section. Thanks for sharing

[Sheel]

Read it in one go and loved it.

Never knew the engine malfunction lamp can light up because of altitude.

Has the necessary details. Thanks for sharing

[ssambyal1980]

@Maverick79 Way to go sir!!! Excellent travelogue with beautiful photographs. I too returned from a road trip to Leh on Swift Dzire a couple of days back. Went from Manali side and returned via same route. Would be sharing the experience on this forum soon.

[sjcherian]

@Maverick79 - Amazing write up and loved the photos as well. Glad to hear your trip went off without any issues. Also happy to hear the Endeavor fared so well for the trip disproving all the theories of them having issues at higher mileage.

Only complaint I have is - you didn't tell me about these plans would have loved to join you ! Well - maybe next time OK ?

[i20ian]

Nice detailed write up. Enjoyed reading it. You are certainly an inspiration to take up such a road trip. I was thinking of going upto wagah but you proved that it is more than worth to go further up. Hoping to see your dream of having food from three different countries on the same day coming true.

[hserus]

The "for your tomorrow we gave our today" is a lovely quote - from the battle of Kohima in WW2 where Indian soldiers joined British, Australians etc to fight off many times their number of invading Japanese troops.

That is the epitaph on the Kohima War Memorial. Attributed to JM Edmonds https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Maxwell_Edmonds

Congratulations - nice ride and lovely pics.

You didn't have issues with local taxi drivers trying to ban private vehicles?

[vdm295]

Congrats on completion of such a wonderful trip to Leh from Chennai that to without facing any problems with the car. I was just hooked up on this thread till I finished reading it in one go. Amazing write-up with those beautiful pictures taken.

[haria]

Very nice photos! I never get tired seeing photos of kashmir! Lovely!

Very detailed planning in the list of items to be taken! Good that the car could take all that easily! If more passengers were there, this might have been a bit tight!

I am sure you had a wonderful drive! It was good going thru your travelogue.

[Maverick79]

Originally Posted by .anshuman

Note from Moderator: Thread moved here from Assembly line section. Thanks for sharing

Thanks Anshuman.
Only after you mentioned, I was able to recollect crossing you in that Black Fortuner.

Originally Posted by Sheel

Read it in one go and loved it.

Never knew the engine malfunction lamp can light up because of altitude.

Has the necessary details. Thanks for sharing

Welcome Sheel. Yes. That was designed so to ensure you don't go out of control at such a height even by mistake. Its a kind of safety measure.
Like, by mistake if you let the clutch suddenly, the ride will not jump with its peak performance like in normal condition. This will help especially when you are driving in roads/ no roads with pretty tight tolerances at that height.

Originally Posted by ssambyal1980

@Maverick79 Way to go sir!!! Excellent travelogue with beautiful photographs. I too returned from a road trip to Leh on Swift Dzire a couple of days back. Went from Manali side and returned via same route. Would be sharing the experience on this forum soon.

Wow! Awaiting for your travelogue eagerly.

Originally Posted by sjcherian

@Maverick79 - Amazing write up and loved the photos as well. Glad to hear your trip went off without any issues. Also happy to hear the Endeavor fared so well for the trip disproving all the theories of them having issues at higher mileage.

Only complaint I have is - you didn't tell me about these plans would have loved to join you ! Well - maybe next time OK ?

Thanks Sushil. I was regularly following our 'The Ultimate guide for Leh, Ladakh and Zanskar" thread for almost two years. But was having a direct conversation with TSK. Hence, didn't share those plans frequently in the open thread other than once or twice I guess.

No issues, we will make one more trip soon together..Still lot of places to see there!

Originally Posted by i20ian

Nice detailed write up. Enjoyed reading it. You are certainly an inspiration to take up such a road trip. I was thinking of going upto Wagah but you proved that it is more than worth to go further up. Hoping to see your dream of having food from three different countries on the same day coming true.

Thank you i20ian. I would say Wagah is just the starting point. Like a small tip of the ice berg. Plenty of things to see, experience rather. Entire one week may not be sufficient. IMHO.

Originally Posted by hserus

The "for your tomorrow we gave our today" is a lovely quote - from the battle of Kohima in WW2 where Indian soldiers joined British, Australians etc to fight off many times their number of invading Japanese troops.

That is the epitaph on the Kohima War Memorial. Attributed to JM Edmonds https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Maxwell_Edmonds

Congratulations - nice ride and lovely pics.

You didn't have issues with local taxi drivers trying to ban private vehicles?

Luckily no issues with any of the taxi drivers. In fact, there were not rude as well. Equally accommodating in the tight turns in going back and allowing us to move forward few times. May be we were too lucky this time.

Originally Posted by vdm295

Congrats on completion of such a wonderful trip to Leh from Chennai that to without facing any problems with the car. I was just hooked up on this thread till I finished reading it in one go. Amazing write-up with those beautiful pictures taken.

Thank you. It was really tough to choose from some 5000 pics. Hence it took a lot of time to organize them. Then reducing all of them to less than 3MB size was another mammoth task.

Originally Posted by haria

Very nice photos! I never get tired seeing photos of kashmir! Lovely!

Very detailed planning in the list of items to be taken! Good that the car could take all that easily! If more passengers were there, this might have been a bit tight!

I am sure you had a wonderful drive! It was good going thru your travelogue.

Thank you. Another two passengers might not be a tight fit at all. A little more bit of reorganizing things would have created space. The second row was having only three cartons containing water and juices. We storing the things so lavishly even in the boot by removing the third row seats all together. Yeah, but the extra spare did occupy a lot of space there.

[vikram31]

Dear Maverick79, what a wonderful post. Easily the best part of my day today was to go through the excellent pictures and details.

I am planning a similar road trip in May next year as I have been told May-Jul is the best time to do Leh.

Few questions:

1. Was your vehicle 4x4? If no, did you miss 4x4? If yes, where all did you engage 4x4?
2. I have done a trip to North and East Sikkim before and we covered some narrow lanes and passes. Roads and bridges were ranging from awesome to very bad but by XUV 4x2 worked through them with comfort barring 1-2 spots. Did you experience any roads where you had a heart in mouth moment or felt you may not be able to get through?

Thanks a lot for sharing your experiences. I am doubly excited to finalise my plans now!

[alfaromeo1984]

dear Maverick79

what a super log. I loved the details about every meal you had eaten. I can really relate to u. I wish we could do a long trip together across India just to explore different cuisines. Super pics and super narration as well..

cheers

[pgsagar]

Sorry to say this but so many pics and so much narration about every other thing along the way yet no description of vehicle. Was it a 4x4 or 4x2? Manual or automatic? Please give some introduction about the vehicle which took you through all this.

[Petropolitan]

Congratulations on your epic tour. It literally transported me to Leh and back. Will 'endeavor' to do it some day!

[Unavowed_X9]

@Maverick79. Fantastic TL. Pics are spellbinding. Thoroughly appreciate the way you have captured the patriotic fervour at Wagah and the overwhelming feeling at Kargil War Memorial.
About the engine check light you mentioned, I was reading the following thread on tbhp: http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techni...elearning.html
May be of some help.
Wishing you more travels ahead!
Warm regards
Unavowed_X9