[prasadee]

Wonderful pics of an epic trip. I got to hand it to you for your guts. A day after food poisoning, 2 bottle of glucose, you could handle a hyderabadi biryani.

[Syed_Munazzir]

Wonderful stuff ! That must have been one heck-of-a-journey !!

A detailed post and eye soothing pictures to accompany it. Just Brilliant!

Rated a well deserved 5*. Cheers man

[Zahoor23]

Originally Posted by CarMind

An amazing travelogue indeed that kept me hooked till i finished. Well deserved 5 stars. To add to your writing, the pictures are worth a thousand words, those mesmerizing, magnetic hills, awesome. Your determination and craving for the roads kept you going throughout. The Cheetah served you well and looked fantastic with those hypnotic back-drops.

All the very best for your future trips.

Thank you so much! The cheetah proved to be very reliable in those hills. When the temperature was 0 degrees in Pangong Tso, it started in the first crank without any issues. Loads of torque meant handling those hills with a big smile!

Originally Posted by rajeevn

Wonderfully written and nice pictures indeed... Well done: I am itching to log off from office and start the car to head to the hills. Alas; work beckons for another 10-12 days minimum. Great T-Log.

Thank you Rajeev! Take some time out from the busy schedule of everyday life and head out the Magnificent Himalayas. Work never ends, life does..

Originally Posted by prasadee

Wonderful pics of an epic trip. I got to hand it to you for your guts. A day after food poisoning, 2 bottle of glucose, you could handle a hyderabadi biryani.

Thanks a lot for those motivating words. Anything for a Hyderabadi Biryani! I should be really thankful to the doctors in hospital for that "Quick-fix"!

Originally Posted by Syed_Munazzir

Wonderful stuff ! That must have been one heck-of-a-journey !!

A detailed post and eye soothing pictures to accompany it. Just Brilliant!

Rated a well deserved 5*. Cheers man

Thanks a ton Munazzir. Indeed, it was a marathon drive! I thoroughly enjoyed every bit of it. Thanks to this gem of a vehicle which made driving upto 1100 kms a day seamless without any signs of fatigue.

[vijaymishra]

Wonderful travelogue, felt like I am travelling all along.
Waiting for my turn, will connect back when I am ready.

[Moto_Hill]

Lost count on the number of Leh-Ladakh travelogues, that I've read. Each one feels as fresh and new as ever. Such is the charisma of place. Excellent and spirited write-up. Seeing the picture, who won't believe that these are blessed places. Thanks for sharing.

Dedicated to every Soldier of the Indian Armed Forces.

This line made every other work secondary. I can relate the feeling. I was once lucky enough to spent a day with ITBP jawans near Auli. The hard work they do even for daily necessities, made me realize the greatness. Remembering and respecting them, is the least we could do.

[Zahoor23]

Originally Posted by vijaymishra

Wonderful travelogue, felt like I am travelling all along.
Waiting for my turn, will connect back when I am ready.

Thank you Vijay! Make sure that you keep a day as buffer in your itinerary.

Originally Posted by Moto_Hill

Lost count on the number of Leh-Ladakh travelogues, that I've read. Each one feels as fresh and new as ever. Such is the charisma of place. Excellent and spirited write-up. Seeing the picture, who won't believe that these are blessed places. Thanks for sharing.

This line made every other work secondary. I can relate the feeling. I was once lucky enough to spent a day with ITBP jawans near Auli. The hard work they do even for daily necessities, made me realize the greatness. Remembering and respecting them, is the least we could do.

Thanks a ton. You got it spot-on! No matter how many pictures you see, every picture still seems unique in its own way, such is the pristine beauty of this place. Glad to know that you had an opportunity to spend some time with our ITBP jawans. The amount of sacrifices made by our jawans is truly respectable.

[GranvilleDsouza]

This is just incredible! These travelogues make me long for such trips. Unfortunately, circumstances don't allow me to have such things done. Brilliant thread, well detailed and super envious of you guys.
More power to you guys, cheers!

[vijayols]

Amazing trip Zahoor. Keep up the traveling and if possible the time and effort to document the same for the benefit of all of us.

[nda992]

Hi. Fantastic travelogue.

I am a serving officer in the armed forces and I want to tell you that it's words and thoughts like yours which keeps the morale of the Forces sky high.

I've spent 5 years of my life, albeit in 2 installments, in the pristine state of J&K, and echo your thoughts regarding the hardships faced there.

Here's wishing you all the best for your future journeys, both on the road and off it!

[vittal]

Excellent travelogue and vey well summarised trip to Leh Ladakh. You were carrying 20 lit can for diesel. Did you ever use it I this trip at ladhak ?

[Zahoor23]

Originally Posted by GranvilleDsouza

This is just incredible! These travelogues make me long for such trips. Unfortunately, circumstances don't allow me to have such things done. Brilliant thread, well detailed and super envious of you guys.
More power to you guys, cheers!

Hello Granville,
Thank you so much! I understand that its not that easy to accommodate a long trip in our busy schedule but trust me, once you try to manage it and head to the mountains you are left with amazing memories that you can cherish for the rest of your life.

Originally Posted by vijayols

Amazing trip Zahoor. Keep up the traveling and if possible the time and effort to document the same for the benefit of all of us.

Thanks a lot Vijay. The sole purpose of documenting things is to help others to plan their trip

Originally Posted by nda992

Hi. Fantastic travelogue.

I am a serving officer in the armed forces and I want to tell you that it's words and thoughts like yours which keeps the morale of the Forces sky high.

I've spent 5 years of my life, albeit in 2 installments, in the pristine state of J&K, and echo your thoughts regarding the hardships faced there.

Here's wishing you all the best for your future journeys, both on the road and off it!

Sir, Your words made my day. Thank you, I am privileged to hear this from a serving officer of the armed forces. Having done my schooling from Army school I understand the hardships faced by the Army on and off the battle field. It was indeed one of the best feeling of my life to see our Tri-color flying high amidst the high altitude mountains.

Originally Posted by vittal

Excellent travelogue and very well summarized trip to Leh Ladakh. You were carrying 20 lit can for diesel. Did you ever use it I this trip at ladakh ?

Thank you Vittal. Yes I used the entire 20 liters of diesel that was in the spare can. Half was used at Turtuk and other half at Pangong Tso. The core idea of carrying spare fuel was that I had planned to visit Tso Moriri after Pangong Tso which was later cancelled due to landslide a day before. Else, Spare fuel wouldn't be required. If you plan to carry spare fuel I strongly recommend that you carry it in 10 bottles of 2L coke instead of a 20L jerry can. It would eliminate the leakage/odour and it would also be convenient to fill the fuel.

[gurthvader]

Thanks!!! Zahoor

A very well photographed travelogue indeed, its quite a distance from Bangalore to Ladakh & back, well done. Any issues with the Cheetah after coming back, i have one but i must admit i don't have the heart to put her through such a task just yet maybe sometime later.
Did you face any hostility from the locals owing to a private car, although these locals create trouble for self drive & outside taxis but someone here posted an incident that happened to them although they were in their personal Fortuner & Thar?

[SRN]

A long pending dream of mine – drive to Leh and Ladakh!
Brilliant post Zahoor23 . Reading through it made me feel I was there. And certainly agree, our jawans, the BRO and our heros.. hats off to them.

[agt7]

What a narration, I must say, of an epic journey that is otherwise difficult to describe in words; it has to be done to be felt. But you have done a commendable job of putting this experience into black and white. This also reflects your good language skills. The experience is further enhanced by high quality pictures that are truly mesmerizing. Several of these pics are already part of my desktop background pool . With the Great Himalayas in background, your ‘Cheetah’ looks stunning. Your ability to spend long hours behind wheels needs special mention. On a related note, I would like to know how many of you actually drove during this marathon trip.
Many congratulations on successful completion of a dream that I believe, is nurtured by so many of us (myself included ) not only in the capacity of a nature lover/tourist but also as a driver. Thanks for sharing.

Wish you many more happy miles.

[ajayclicks]

Originally Posted by Zahoor23

*Headed towards Leh-Ling motors(Authorised Mahindra dealer) for my 2nd free service of the car. It was an out-of-the-world experience to get the Cheetah serviced at 11,564 Ft .

Thank you for your post Zahoor. I purchased a W8 AWD recently, and a self-drive road trip to Leh is on my bucket list for a long time. Your pictures have also convinced my wife that it is time we did it

A quick question- why did you get your car serviced at Leh. Did you check with Mahindra if it was ok to get it serviced upon return. The reason I ask is that I am in a similar kind of situation. My car has done 6K (1st service in August), and I have a planned drive to Rajasthan next month. I reckon I would have 11.5K or 12K on the odo upon my return. I could get it serviced in Rajashtan (Jaipur or Udaipur) or even Baroda (planned night halt) but it will only cut into my itinerary.

Cheers.