[soumobakshi]

Originally Posted by Maverick79

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


Until we come back with our next travelogue, this is Nagendra and Arvind signing off.

Inspired once again! We are in the planning stages for our mission next year Ex-Bangalore in a Group of Duster's. I have downloaded a copy of the excel sheet and kudos for the meticulous planning that you guys did and thanks for leaving the numbers for us to utilize

I have seen your Budget Sheet and how far were you able to stay or exceed your Budgets from the planning stages to the completion stage ? That would help us to decide on a lot of things

[Unavowed_X9]

@Maverick79. During your trip there, have you noticed anyone camping in with their own tents and admin/logistic arrangements? Is tent pitching allowed there? I personally feel it should not be an issue considering the tourism angle. What is your view about that?

[hserus]

One minor thing - I have never done roads as high as Leh let alone Khardung La but the general guidance on ghat sections is to keep the clutch pressed and handbrake on till you feel the vehicle begin to vibrate, and then release the handbrake so the vehicle begins to move forward. You can then begin to feed it accelerator.

I suppose that does not work for higher altitudes and steeper slopes so that you are forced to gun the accelerator?

[ashphil]

Hi Maverick 79,
Read your travelogue in one go. From Chennai to Leh! Man! That's one helluva long beautiful ride! Thank you for giving us access to your Excel file with the detailed information on the costs , equipment and hotels. That will definitely serve as a very useful tool for people like me who are still in the planning stage. Eagerly waiting to see your next travelogue. Rated this one 5 stars!
Regards,
Ashok

[Maverick79]

Originally Posted by 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?
It is a 4X2. I never felt I was missing 4X4 at an point in the entire trip. May be, we were lucky, the Rain Gods spared us!
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?
Yes. Only once, when a camper coming from the opposite side didn't stop and was coming into my space very fast. I was on the valley side, while he was on the hill side.
Even though I had a feet of space on my left, I was a little skeptical to use it as any dampness/ wet soil in that space would simply be a close to 300 feet free fall for us.
So was inching as little as possible to wards the hill side.
Simultaneously, the camper guy realized and started cutting towards the hill side in that blind curve, but, a little rashly, as expected.

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

Thank you and please find responses to your queries in bold italics.
Pls do start planning for your trip. Will be more than happy to help in every possible way. All the very best!.

Originally Posted by 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

Thank you alfaromeo. We were just Driving, Eating and Sleeping.

Originally Posted by 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.

I deeply apologize for that. You are correct. I should have mentioned more about our RIDE.
I should not have taken our ride for granted. Regret it. It would have felt bad if it had a heart. I feel guilty now for not introducing our RIDE properly. Here it goes.

It was a 2013 make 4X2 Endy with 5 speed Manual transmission.
It just finished its 60K service.
Except its new shoes from Michelin with OEM spec,( Cross ply which already did 10 k before this trip), everything else was stock condition.

Originally Posted by Petropolitan

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

Thank you Petropolitan.

Originally Posted by Unavowed_X9

@Maverick79. Fantastic TL. Pics are spellbinding. Thoroughly appreciate the way you have captured the patriotic fervor 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

Thank you so much Unavowed_X9. Yes. The Wagah / Kargil experiences cannot be expressed in words. Further, I was lucky to have few opportunities to interact with those soldiers, where ever we got stuck. They are so much committed to their duty and our country. I felt so proud of them.

The manual clearly mentioned about this engine check light. So, this ECU may not be from the latest breed of "re learning" capable ones. IMHO.
The warning lamp was glowing when ever we crossed 16000 feet high altitude levels, in all those three highest passes we crossed.

Originally Posted by soumobakshi

Inspired once again! We are in the planning stages for our mission next year Ex-Bangalore in a Group of Duster's. I have downloaded a copy of the excel sheet and kudos for the meticulous planning that you guys did and thanks for leaving the numbers for us to utilize

I have seen your Budget Sheet and how far were you able to stay or exceed your Budgets from the planning stages to the completion stage ? That would help us to decide on a lot of things

Except the hotel expenses in Shimla( Around INR 2k), rest all was within budget.
That too because of a landslide, we were not able to reach our hotel(in Naldhera) on the other side of it.
Hence, within an hour in the jam, we quickly found one hotel available and returned back without wasting much time.
Thank God, for making that accommodation available for us in the last moment. This made us to have a relaxed drive to Gurgaon next day and didn't use up our buffer time in Gurgaon.

If you look at the expense sheet, the major chunk is the fuel expense. So, try to be minimum three per vehicle to get this cost reduced per person.

Originally Posted by Unavowed_X9

@Maverick79. During your trip there, have you noticed anyone camping in with their own tents and admin/logistic arrangements? Is tent pitching allowed there? I personally feel it should not be an issue considering the tourism angle. What is your view about that?

Yes. There were few tents which were aloof. Mostly by foreigners.
They are very well equipped. So, no issues for camping in private tents.
But, didn't venture into their zones as they were generally a little far off the main roads.
The tents I clicked were organized by the locals there. Can share the details through private message if required.

This is a 'MUST DO' in my next trip here.

Originally Posted by hserus

One minor thing - I have never done roads as high as Leh let alone Khardung La but the general guidance on ghat sections is to keep the clutch pressed and handbrake on till you feel the vehicle begin to vibrate, and then release the handbrake so the vehicle begins to move forward. You can then begin to feed it accelerator.

I suppose that does not work for higher altitudes and steeper slopes so that you are forced to gun the accelerator?

Very true. I generally am used to play with the clutch alone in any diesel rides for initial take off. Just to exploit the raw torque available at the low rpms.
So, I did more 'Take off Halts' than my partner on the first day.

In the second day, I started using the accelerator as well, very generously, spitting heavy smoke. I regret for that.
But was left with no options to climb in those tricky, sharp turns with vehicles behind and in front of you.

Originally Posted by ashphil

Hi Maverick 79,
Read your travelogue in one go. From Chennai to Leh! Man! That's one helluva long beautiful ride! Thank you for giving us access to your Excel file with the detailed information on the costs , equipment and hotels. That will definitely serve as a very useful tool for people like me who are still in the planning stage. Eagerly waiting to see your next travelogue. Rated this one 5 stars!
Regards,
Ashok

Thank you very much Ashok. Will be very grateful, if it helps. I was not the original creator of this, to be frank.
It was also developed/ derived from old threads in Team BHP. So, wanted to contribute back.

[vikram31]

Thanks Maverick79, now I am feeling better about taking my car up there. Even though a tad underpowered to the Endy, i believe my XUV should be able to pull thourgh. just need to travel in lesser rains..praying to the gods already

[pgsagar]

Hi Maverick! No need to apologize at all. It's not like you offended anyone. I'm sorry if I sounded a bit harsh. Text often fails to convey the mood and tone of expression. That is why I put a smiley at the end , indicating it was said in a jest. Anyway, good to know what Endy is capable of. It is threads like these which help others plan things and act as motivator. Cheerio!

[Maverick79]

Originally Posted by vikram31

Thanks Maverick79, now I am feeling better about taking my car up there. Even though a tad under powered to the Endy, i believe my XUV should be able to pull through. just need to travel in lesser rains..praying to the gods already

Vikram,
The Power to weight ratio of XUV is better than Endy I guess. Need to check. So don't worry. It should pull easily. Because, the Scorpios and Innova's we saw there were pretty faster than us, in many bad stretches.

Originally Posted by pgsagar

Hi Maverick! No need to apologize at all. It's not like you offended anyone. I'm sorry if I sounded a bit harsh. Text often fails to convey the mood and tone of expression. That is why I put a smiley at the end , indicating it was said in a jest. Anyway, good to know what Endy is capable of. It is threads like these which help others plan things and act as motivator. Cheerio!

pgsagar,
Don't worry buddy, your comment made no offence to me at least(I removed your smile to adhere to two smileys per post norm, while responding back to you).
Your point is pretty valid. I missed to mention the details about our Ride.
I would have definitely felt bad if I were in its place.

[ruff]

Wonderful write up Sir. you took me there all the way once again. I will definately agree on your statement on latitude cross, having done chennai to leh and beyond twice in my scorpio. Now that I have got the new endeavour, I hope to drive to zanskar and spiti next year perhaps.

[vikram31]

Originally Posted by Maverick79

Vikram,
The Power to weight ratio of XUV is better than Endy I guess. Need to check. So don't worry. It should pull easily. Because, the Scorpios and Innova's we saw there were pretty faster than us, in many bad stretches.

Very reassuring. Thank you! Infact I am doing a Delhi/Amritsar road trip in December just to test waters on the plains. Will followup with May/Jun. Just shuddering to drive Through Rajasthan/MP in the sweltering heat!!

Thanks again for the assurance.

[soumobakshi]

Originally Posted by Maverick79

Thank you and please find responses to your queries in bold italics.



Except the hotel expenses in Shimla( Around INR 2k), rest all was within budget.
That too because of a landslide, we were not able to reach our hotel(in Naldhera) on the other side of it.
Hence, within an hour in the jam, we quickly found one hotel available and returned back without wasting much time.
Thank God, for making that accommodation available for us in the last moment. This made us to have a relaxed drive to Gurgaon next day and didn't use up our buffer time in Gurgaon.

If you look at the expense sheet, the major chunk is the fuel expense. So, try to be minimum three per vehicle to get this cost reduced per person.

Now when I look at the Expense tracker i do see that your total expenses were INR. 85129.5 and if i add another 2k to it it would be like less than 90K for 3 of you and 1 car. So approximately 30k per head.
Since we are planning in a Duster, I would expect lesser cost on fuel while others would remain constant. So a ball park figure of 30k should be decent to start with. Thank You for the details once again

[Maverick79]

Originally Posted by ruff

Wonderful write up Sir. you took me there all the way once again. I will definately agree on your statement on latitude cross, having done chennai to leh and beyond twice in my scorpio. Now that I have got the new endeavour, I hope to drive to zanskar and spiti next year perhaps.

It would be a really enjoyable one. Count on me!
All the very best!

Originally Posted by vikram31

Very reassuring. Thank you! Infact I am doing a Delhi/Amritsar road trip in December just to test waters on the plains. Will followup with May/Jun. Just shuddering to drive Through Rajasthan/MP in the sweltering heat!!

Thanks again for the assurance.

Don't worry, the heat will not impact much in Rajasthan/ MP.

Originally Posted by soumobakshi

Now when I look at the Expense tracker i do see that your total expenses were INR. 85129.5 and if i add another 2k to it it would be like less than 90 K for 3 of you and 1 car. So approximately 30k per head.
Since we are planning in a Duster, I would expect lesser cost on fuel while others would remain constant. So a ball park figure of 30 k should be decent to start with. Thank You for the details once again

Yes soumobakshi. I guess,the additional 2K in Shimla is already included in total 85 k odd figure.
Initially when we planned last year, it was coming to around 25 K per head.
At one point of time this year, when we concluded it was two of us, we thought of taking my EcoSport Diesel. The fuel costs would have reduced by 50%. However, Endy is in a different league all together.

Regards,
Maverick79.

[alphadog]

What an amazing journey traversing the length of the country.
Thanks a lot for the amazing pictures and the detailed report, that gave a feeling of being with yourselves on the journey. I am sure the pictures are nothing compared to the actual experience of having done that.

The special bit for me, in your journey, was the war memorial visits.

Hope to do something similar next year.
Keep traveling and keep writing.

Cheerio!

[--9--]

Excellent Excellent Travelogue!
Really impressed!

[virgovencat]

Thank you for sharing your experince in great detail !! Looks like you guys had great time !
I am planning for Leh next year ( Chennai to Leh) in my Scorpio 2WD
Route via Manali seems to be shorter, any reason why you guys went via Srinagar? Is Manali route motoroable in June ? How do we find that out ?