[Shivanshu]

Wow wonderful Anshuman, some very crisp pics of the Bold Fortuner. I will have to come in these off-road meets to experience it in person

[Rachit.K.Dogra]

Excellent Pictures as always and crisp and detailed narration Anshuman.
Rated 5 star. I have seen the trailer of the gorgeous pics you clicked on the trip.
Hooked to this. I so wish I could have joined. But someday definitely sir.

CHEERS!!

Rachit

[Ace F355]

Originally Posted by .anshuman

Day 4 Jispa-Darcha-Shingo La-Darcha-Sarchu-Pang

Also, to add to the post above... here is a small video of a stream crossing on our way to Shinku La (or Shingo La) pass.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-VgfYmp-8E

The pass itself was at approx. 5100 meters altitude (anshuman, do you remember exact altitude from your cellphone altimeter reading?). Despite knowing it was just 4th day of our trip and we were not exactly feeling well acclamatized, we managed to spend quite some time on this location, in fact doing all the hard work to reach to the top by finding alternate routes since original route was washed away in melting snow and try 4wheeling for fun!

I do have an excellent Panorama shot of the pass top, a HQ copy not available on my phone right now, will share it later on.

[sourabhzen]

What a wonderful travelogue of seemingly a fun trip! You guys are using Rohit's Fortuner to its fullest capacity.

How many kms you did in this trip and much much was the fuel used?

[mi2n]

Has to be one of the very best (if not the best) travelogue to have graced our forum. Neat and engaging write-up, opulence of amazing photos and above all, some really thrilling videos. I was wondering if the dash/action camera was mounted outside. If anything can look imposing in the backdrop of those imposing mountains and passes themselves, it has to be this Fortuner!

Thanks for sharing and waiting for more!

[karan561]

Great pictures, story & videos Anshuman, Ace

The Fortuner & Storme look so good in this habitat

BTW it seems the Yokohamas on the Storme took a beating, would you like to throw some more light on how they performed ?

[VishJ]

Just breathtaking views with the mighty Fortuner adding imposing character to each and every picture. You guys portrayed the different route with all its surreal beauty.

[Rajain]

@Anshuman and other team members

Guys this is an amazing trip. I have always wanted to go do the non touristy parts of Leh.

I had heard of the 'road' between Jispa to Padum from my wife's driver. Yeah he is a bit of motorbike nut. Every year goes to Leh on a motorbike from Bangalore. He told me they had done a Jispa to Padum. I had heard of a trek route but little knowing that there is a connection that is motorbike capable. I see that you guys went a bit distance on that. I read that you had mentioned about BRO calling it 4x4 territory. Did you have to turn back from somewhere or would it have been possible to get across?

I see the tire required some work around Chamba. And the Strome had a bit of a coolant leak. On a similar drive up via Srinagar route we had stopped at Fotu La and found our Strome also leaking coolant. Thankfully m seal never fails!

In one of the pictures (I think 20160801_151637) you guys cooking maggi on the stove. Is the 'sugar' bag that is wrapped around not flammable? The very next picture has a nice instrument which looks similar to Leatherman tool. What company is this tool and what all can it do? And in the same picture - that glass!

Fortuner has a big fuel tank advantage. 80 ltrs of a fuel tank is just what the doctor ordered for these kind of drives. I think after toying with 55 ltrs of fuel tank in a Storme the newer version has a 65 ltrs one.

The one thing I advice anyone going up the Manali-Sarchu route is to take it easy and gain height slowly. I see that is exactly what you have done. Otherwise 90% people go from plains of Chandigarh (1000 feet) to Manali (6700 feet) to Sarchu (14,500 feet) and feel the head spin.

I see the central market of Leh is now a no parking zone. Very good indeed. I think a series of measures (several from motorists like us) are needed to ensure Leh remains pristine, clutter and garbage free. In my last visit to Leh couple of years ago I had my elder brother with me. He was in Siachen in late 80s. Back in the day the world he said was very different especially with regard to the roads. A 4x4 jeep journey between Partapur (Thoise) and Leh used to take 8-10 hours. Its such a world of difference today. I have noticed that difference in the couple of visits I have had. From a time Leh had only Maruti workshop (remember that Kancha ad 15 years ago) and no sales to now when Hyundai and Maruti have sales workshop opposite each other's and service centres of Toyota, Tata, Mahindra, Hyundai and Maruti. Maybe one or two more have opened now - don't know.

This is an amazing drive guys. And full marks to the Fortuner. What imposing pictures. Finally, what all camera gear did you carry? Camping anywhere? Pity the Storme did not do the full circuit.

Great going. Waiting for more. And congratulations on such a wonderful drive.

Cheers
Rajain

[RPM1500]

Wow what a great trip!

But I have a complaint with you washing the fortuner! God, it looked stunning when it was dirty. In all those photos with it dirty, it looked right at home in those scenic off-road settings.

[.anshuman]

Originally Posted by Ace F355

I must applaud you for impeccable planning for the trip. Our choice of places for stay and overall plan for acclimatization was so perfect that we never needed any Diamox course or anything. People will discover this later in our journey we went to places where we were above 5000 meter altitude without even realizing by ourselves!

Thanks, we covered everything as per plan, except for Kyun Tso trail, which was dropped as it was too cloudy that day!

You had your little share of altitude laziness after our night halt at Pang. But all in all, thanks to your planning, we acclimatized very well for this trip.

Yes, I forgot to mention it in my post. I had a headache the morning we started from Pang for Leh, I was OK by the time we descended to lower altitude.

That's the beauty of visiting the untouched places! We did get a lot of stares on this route, even for unintended reasons, didn't we! Remember the reaction of that Polish trekker after seeing a full size axe in our truck!

We covered a lot of places where regular tourists do not go, people were surprised to see us in a strange looking(for them) Delhi registered car.

Originally Posted by Shivanshu

Wow wonderful Anshuman, some very crisp pics of the Bold Fortuner. I will have to come in these off-road meets to experience it in person

Thanks Shivanshu! You are welcome to join for our weekend outings

Originally Posted by Rachit.K.Dogra

Hooked to this. I so wish I could have joined. But someday definitely sir.

Thanks Rachit! We sure want to take you along for our next trip. For this trip we could not reduce the number of days, and I understand getting so many off days is not easy.

Originally Posted by Ace F355

Also, to add to the post above... here is a small video of a stream crossing on our way to Shinku La (or Shingo La) pass.

Thanks for posting, I missed posting this.

The pass itself was at approx. 5100 meters altitude (anshuman, do you remember exact altitude from your cellphone altimeter reading?). Despite knowing it was just 4th day of our trip and we were not exactly feeling well acclamatized, we managed to spend quite some time on this location, in fact doing all the hard work to reach to the top by finding alternate routes since original route was washed away in melting snow and try 4wheeling for fun!

It was 5063 metres as per GPS.

Originally Posted by sourabhzen

What a wonderful travelogue of seemingly a fun trip! You guys are using Rohit's Fortuner to its fullest capacity.

How many kms you did in this trip and much much was the fuel used?

Thanks, Rohit will be able to give you the exact numbers.

Originally Posted by mi2n

Has to be one of the very best (if not the best) travelogue to have graced our forum. Neat and engaging write-up, opulence of amazing photos and above all, some really thrilling videos.

Thanks, I am glad you like the Travelogue so much. Stay tuned a lot more to come.

I was wondering if the dash/action camera was mounted outside. If anything can look imposing in the backdrop of those imposing mountains and passes themselves, it has to be this Fortuner!

The Sach pass Video and one other Video were captured on Go Pro mounted on Roof using Suction cup mount, the Dashcam does not give out such nice results(have tried a few), mainly because they are mounted inside.

Originally Posted by karan561

Great pictures, story & videos Anshuman, Ace

The Fortuner & Storme look so good in this habitat

BTW it seems the Yokohamas on the Storme took a beating, would you like to throw some more light on how they performed ?

Thanks Karan. The Geolander on Storme fared fine through the Sach Pass pass + Killar-Jispa torture, rest of the route for the Storme was easier as it only covered the mainstream tourist circuit.

Originally Posted by Rajain

@Anshuman and other team members

Guys this is an amazing trip. I have always wanted to go do the non touristy parts of Leh.

Thanks Rajain, This was my 4th drive to the region, so I anyways was not keen on any of the regular routes.

I had heard of the 'road' between Jispa to Padum from my wife's driver. Yeah he is a bit of motorbike nut. Every year goes to Leh on a motorbike from Bangalore. He told me they had done a Jispa to Padum. I had heard of a trek route but little knowing that there is a connection that is motorbike capable. I see that you guys went a bit distance on that. I read that you had mentioned about BRO calling it 4x4 territory. Did you have to turn back from somewhere or would it have been possible to get across?

For motorised traffic Darcha-Padum route is only open till the Shingu La pass, only trekkers, ponies, yaks or Mountain bikes can go further. As on the day we climbed Shingu La, it will be really difficult for a motorbike to even reach the Shingu La top(last 200 metres).

In one of the pictures (I think 20160801_151637) you guys cooking maggi on the stove. Is the 'sugar' bag that is wrapped around not flammable? The very next picture has a nice instrument which looks similar to Weatherman tool. What company is this tool and what all can it do? And in the same picture - that glass!

It was far from flame.

That's a Michelin branded tool. Unfortunately we forgot to pick it from the bonnet, this is the last place we were able to use it.

Fortuner has a big fuel tank advantage. 80 ltrs of a fuel tank is just what the doctor ordered for these kind of drives. I think after toying with 55 ltrs of fuel tank in a Storme the newer version has a 65 ltrs one.

55 Litres is just too small a tank for such expeditions, even with a 80 litre tank we additional 50 Litres in cans on one of the stretch.

The one thing I advice anyone going up the Manali-Sarchu route is to take it easy and gain height slowly. I see that is exactly what you have done. Otherwise 90% people go from plains of Chandigarh (1000 feet) to Manali (6700 feet) to Sarchu (14,500 feet) and feel the head spin.

Our Altitude gain was planned, and thankfully we coped well.

I see the central market of Leh is now a no parking zone. Very good indeed. I think a series of measures (several from motorists like us) are needed to ensure Leh remains pristine, clutter and garbage free.

In in last 10 years Leh has changed a lot, some for good, some for bad. Parking in market is still a problem, but one section is completely pedestrian zone, thats a good move.

This is an amazing drive guys. And full marks to the Fortuner. What imposing pictures. Finally, what all camera gear did you carry? Camping anywhere? Pity the Storme did not do the full circuit.

Pictures are mixed from 3 different cameras:
1. Most quick photos(mostly in car photos or snapshots) are from my phone- Mi5.

2.Followed by Sony Rx-100 Mark 2, many JPEG, some processed from RAW.

3. Nikon D610, least in number, all processed from RAW.

Originally Posted by RPM1500

Wow what a great trip!

But I have a complaint with you washing the fortuner! God, it looked stunning when it was dirty. In all those photos with it dirty, it looked right at home in those scenic off-road settings.

Thanks. The routes we did were extremely dusty, as you will see in the coming photos, the Fortuner got dirty the next day itself.

[.anshuman]

Day 6 Leh-Batalik-Kargil-Tongul
Day 6 started early again, plan was to start from Leh and reach Rangdum in Zanskar valley by evening. I had done the half of Zanskar Circuit earlier in 2013 in my XUV AWD, I knew what to expect, roads till Kargil and few kilometres beyond were awesome and then non-existent all of a sudden till Rangdum.

Some pictures from our room balcony:





















A camping truck parked in Leh.



We were able to leave the Guest house by 7:30. We stopped for breakfast 20 minutes later at a local dhaba. In half an hour, we were done with heavy stuffed paranthas, and were on the route. Leh-Kargil highway was super smooth, we could keep up good pace and were covering distance. Rohit suggested to try the alternate Batalik route, his friend in Army had suggested, so we took a right from main highway and continued on the alternate route. The road was narrow but well paved and smooth, but overall quite slower compared to the main highway. This route continues along with the River Indus. It was not as scenic as suggested by Rohit’s friend. There was not much traffic, except for few Army trucks and local taxis, we were at Batalik by 12.

[.anshuman]

Day 6 Leh-Batalik-Kargil-Tongul Continued...





























There was nothing special about the route, the main highway is much better. Post Batalik we started climbing, and that’s where the trouble struck us. The A/C had tripped, it was really hot in cabin with harsh afternoon sun and the engine temperature gauge needle with higher than usual. The road consisted of small switchbacks less then every 100 metres a U turn and another climb, the climb was not steepest we had seen but the back to back climb was putting a lot of stress on the engine. In a few kilometres the needles started going towards Red, that’s where we stopped, to cool down the engine, by the time we opened the bonnet the car was already throwing the coolant out, we waited for the coolant to settle down, the engine temp was starting to settle down.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwtO9IvwWhI

Check#1 Fan Belt: OK, Check#2 Water Leak: OK, Check 3# Coolant circulation: OK. To my surprise there was no supplementary electric fan along with belt operated Fan, the puny RPM dependant fan takes care of AC as well. We referred the car manual as well, it suggests revving the engine at 2500rpm while the car is standstill, to cool it down. Now we realize the issue, a combination of few factors-
1. Back to back switchbacks and steep climb was putting a lot of strain on the engine, we were no ways able to keep rpm constant.
2. The puny RPM dependent fan and fluctuating RPM due to road condition along with thin air at Altitude was not passing enough and consistent air flow.
3. No supplementary Electric fan, to help.
4. Ironman bumper, along with the mounted winch blocks most of the lower grill. And the huge Hella Lights were blocking quite a lot of upper Grill, along with huge Roots Megasonic horns.

But the car had already had thrown a lot of coolant out, we feared there might not be enough coolant left in the engine, although the manual suggested not to mix the coolant with water, we had no other way left. So we waited for the coolant to settle down for a few minutes, slowed released the pressure and filled some drinking water.

Now to enable enough airflow, we experimented with a new driving method, to keep the revs high and it worked fine to keep the temperature needle in check. By now we were already climbing the Hamboting La, we saw many tempting shortcuts that would take us to the pass top in one go, but the car was not in good mood so we skipped. We were at the pass top by 1:30pm. We refilled the empty water bottles through a stream on the way. On the pass top we could see the Kargil town, that’s where we planned to stop to get the car checked and coolant replaced. Coming down the pass was easy and the car behaved well, after some time when the temperature was stable we even pushed the car hard and it was alright, what a relief!








View from Hamboting La top, the town in view is Kargil.







We went to the Petrol pump to ask for a good mechanic, but the petrol pump staff insisted us to go to nearby Mahindra service centre. When we were parking outside the Mahindra service centre, a mechanic guessed we had car trouble so he told us, there is a Toyota service centre at the back street, and it was a feeling of relief. There was a Toyota service centre at the back street but with no boards, it was a sub dealer kind of service centre and they were working on an Innova and few other Toyotas parked. The mechanic had a lot, we discussed what happened, and our guess was right, they confirmed cars do heat up at that stretch and a quick check later they confirmed car was perfectly fine. Fortunately they had the genuine Toyota coolant, old one mixed with water was drained, new one was filled and we bought a few spare bottles. The team at service centre was excellent.





By 04:15pm we were back on road, topped up Diesel and decided to move to towards Zanskar valley to find some accommodation on way.

[.anshuman]

Day 6 Leh-Batalik-Kargil-Tongul Continued...

We had some 2 hours of daylight to keep moving comfortably. We spotted a JKTDC Guest house board at Panikhar village, we went to the place, but the caretaker was not around we waited for another 15 minutes and he was nowhere to be seen and some other people, locals, were also waiting for him for accommodation, so we decided to keep moving, and it was a good decision. A few kilometres later we found the Tongul JKTDC, at a much more scenic and empty place, the caretaker was happy to see us. The accommodation as expected was basic, no running water, just beds for us. We could not have Lunch due to the car trouble, so the first thing we did was to heat the ready to eat Haldiram’s meals, the place did not have any provision for dinner.

[.anshuman]

Day 6 Leh-Batalik-Kargil-Tongul Continued...

Post dinner we sitting outside and Rohit spots the awesome Sky, it was surreal, so bright that we could spot the milky way through naked eyes. I clicked a few pictures on my camera. Star gazing was an awesome experience.













To be continued..Stay tuned!

[Shivanshu]

Wonderful Anshuman as usual, Toyota Dealer would be quite a surprise isnt it. And good to know the mechanics were good. But is it normal for the Vehicles to get heated in that stretch?