[scarecrow]

Awesome write-up. Please do also pen down a few points on how the Thar performed, as end of the day, apart from the driver - its the main hero

Regards
Ronald

[behaln]

Sat Sri Akal. Pleasure to read your travelogue. Read it in one go. Thar performed brilliantly in the terrain. Pictures clicked were a delight.

[parambyte]

Amazing journey! We did the same this last November from Mumbai to Spiti Valley and back! Awesome! Don't you want to go back and do it again?

[ronk]

Awesome article Navitej! It was great to meet twice, especially since it was unplanned. This ofcourse was Made possible by an easily recognizable WB registered red Thar!
Every moment in this place was worth remembering, wasnt it!?
Hope to do this route another time, in my Thar, but I have a feeling I'll be missing the duster suspension sorely!

[davidashish]

Originally Posted by navsjab

Day 11 - 23th August - TsoMoriri - Keylong

You Guys are amazing !! Hats Off to your spirit

Mod Note: Please avoid quoting the entire post when responding

[raghubhaskar]

Amazing travelogue, thanks a ton..!!

The tip on preparing a new Thar, medicines, et all, are really useful.

I'm trying my hands on astronomy pics and the photo with the points at Hunle observatory is really interesting.

Thanks again

[ramsnavy]

Congrats Navtej on your landmark trip! Truly awesome pictures. I am planning to get Leh'd in May this year. Please share some insights into the permits that were required (if any) to visit places in Leh and how did you go about procuring it.

[Red Panda]

Wow, what a detailed TL. Enjoyed the photographs, as well as the narration. Now, I cannot concentrate on my work, as my mind is wandering away to Ladakh. Rating it 5*. See you soon.

[vinitbhavi]

Hii Navtej what a super travelogue and what a way to celebrate the honeymoon period
Your writing is really crisp, detailed and makes one feel part of the journey with you. Rating it the 5* it deserves.
How is the chipped windshield and what did u do about it.Horrible to happen on a new car, speaking of which also the electronics going crazy is a known side effect of Mahindra since i own an XUV i can totally understand. I plan to do get Leh'ed in my AWD XUV as well.Looking forward to many more such beautiful travelogues of your adventures.
Vinit

[cr4nkshaft]

What a lovely drive bhai! Specially liked the focus you have put in the food pics of each day
Wish you many more such rides!

[GhostRider28]

Nice travelogue Navtej! Refreshing and fun to read, it eggs you to pack your bags and hit the road! Ladakh is trully special and your trip logs brings that out beautifuuly. The pictures are candidly beautiful and I particularly liked the snaps at Hanle (having missed this area myself); but my favourite has to be the one named "Complete Isolation"!
The Red Thar is special indeed and looks really at home with the landscape in Ladakh!

[navsjab]

Originally Posted by AJ-got-BHP

....This will always be special for you people and you will indeed cherish it for a lifetime. Rated it a well deserved 5*
.....
I just recollected my Ladakh Trip (of 2015) while I went through your travelogue and it made me super nostalgic. This calls for another trip in 2018, what say ?

Difficult to say no to such a tempting proposal. Having finally shared the the TL approximately 7 months later, the pictures were getting me nostalgic.

Originally Posted by DriveTrain

What a way to celebrate your Nupitals ! Hats off to both of you and a belated Congratulations. Loved every bit of your fantastically written travelogue.

You seem to have given the other side of Khardungla and the grand Shanti Stupa a miss , was that for paucity of time ?

Nubra valley was given a miss since it was going to be either Hanle or Nubra. Decided on the former so kept Nubra for later (hopefully )

Shanti Stupa was given a miss only because we gave resting more priority. It was actually easily do-able on the day we went to Khardung La and back.

Originally Posted by parambyte

Amazing journey! We did the same this last November from Mumbai to Spiti Valley and back! Awesome! Don't you want to go back and do it again?

No doubts about it.

Originally Posted by ronk

Awesome article Navitej! It was great to meet twice, especially since it was unplanned. This ofcourse was Made possible by an easily recognizable WB registered red Thar!
Every moment in this place was worth remembering, wasnt it!?
Hope to do this route another time, in my Thar, but I have a feeling I'll be missing the duster suspension sorely!

Haha, True that.

Originally Posted by vinitbhavi

How is the chipped windshield and what did u do about it.
Vinit

Till date I have not done anything about it. It is exactly the way it was then. However, I was looking for options that can be taken and came across a windshield repair kit. Have ordered it from Aliexpress and awaiting delivery.
Lets hope for the best.

[navsjab]

Originally Posted by timuseravan

Can you share feedback about the Thar? Was the performance sufficient? How were the comfort levels?

Originally Posted by Shivanshu

Need some more feedback on Thar, how did it performed, how was the comfort, any issues you had? Please whenever you get time, let us know. Thank you.

Originally Posted by scarecrow

Awesome write-up. Please do also pen down a few points on how the Thar performed, as end of the day, apart from the driver - its the main hero

To keep it short, I had no complains through the trip.

In details:
Performance - More than sufficient. Across the high altitudes we drove, I did not face enough loss of power, to talk about. Decent Kmpl - 9-10 through the hills. 12ish on the plains (AC full time and acceleration in plenty)

Air conditioner - Since there was nobody seated on the rear seats, I would not be able to comment on the cooling capacity there. But Bhavneet and I had no issues with the heat.

Issues faced - Apart from the 4H and 4L indicators on the console that I spoke about initially and the stone chip hurting the widshield, I noticed that the transparent layer (gives the glaze basically) on the blacks (wheel arch and the front bumper side flanges) started to peal. This was probably due to the stone chips that were hitting against it at high speeds and then the pressure washing that penetrated through the initial damage. No other problems.

Low range - There were two instances that I remember when I engaged 4L. (a) on the Gata Loops short cuts (b) when I drove onto a sand pit allowing the army trucks pass. I did not realise that the sand was fine and the Thar was slowly moving in. Once the trucks moved we saw ourselves digging deeper into the sand. 4H did not help. Eventually 4L came to the rescue.

Comfort - I have heard from many owners of the older Thar that the seating is comfortable. Well for me, you cannot be as comfortable in a Thar as you can be in any other SUV at this price range probably. But Bhavneet and me had no complaints. This could be due to the heavy rear, loaded with plenty of stuff. One mistake we made is that we filled air from a local at Allahabad while going. On the road from Pangong to Hanle we had a tough time, only to later realise that the tyres were running on higher pressure.

I hope this helps.

Originally Posted by ramsnavy

Congrats Navtej on your landmark trip! Truly awesome pictures. I am planning to get Leh'd in May this year. Please share some insights into the permits that were required (if any) to visit places in Leh and how did you go about procuring it.

There are no permits required to visit Leh. There are places in Ladakh that do need permits. Hanle for example and the route to the same requires permits. The best way to go about it is to request your Hotel management at Leh to do it. Do PM me if you need more details. I will get back to the detailing I did last year to help out.

[Madmax_SP]

Excellent Travelogue. Any trip to Ladakh is a renewal of the temptation to do the same. Informative. Thanks!

[BlackPearl]

Superb trip and travelogue Navtej! Rated a well deserved 5 stars.

Originally Posted by navsjab

Comfort - I have heard from many owners of the older Thar that the seating is comfortable. Well for me, you cannot be as comfortable in a Thar as you can be in any other SUV at this price range probably. But Bhavneet and me had no complaints. This could be due to the heavy rear, loaded with plenty of stuff. One mistake we made is that we filled air from a local at Allahabad while going. On the road from Pangong to Hanle we had a tough time, only to later realise that the tyres were running on higher pressure.

Yes, if the rear is adequately loaded the ride quality drastically improves. In Arunachal I remember giving rides to locals in order to load up the rear of the Thar as we did not have much luggage