[abhii176]

Wonderful travelogue Kandisa, the pictures have captured the stunning landscape beautifully. And boy oh boy, your machine looks like a real brute. The V-Cross is a really capable machine for those hill drives isnt it!

This is one thing i miss the most about the north - the fact that these stunning mountain landscapes are just a few hours away and a perfect getaway from places like Delhi.

[Kandisa]

Thank you all for liking the trails and the truck.

Originally Posted by mukulrathi

An awesome travelogue Kandisa, as always. Happy motoring and many more such trips. It indeed was a pleasant surprise meeting you near Chail in your new vehicle.

What a pleasant surprise Sir, welcome to Tbhp and thanks a lot. I think our meet-up in the road was destined to happen and I can still recollect the feeling of spotting you around the bend.

Originally Posted by siddarthab

Wow !!! Splendid travelogue and superb pictures taking us along with you on this spectacular journey. The V-Cross has been made for you it seems
Warm regards,
Siddhartha

Actually this was one vehicle where I could get 'that' sort of feeling from the driver's seat as I used to have in my Jeep. The only other vehicles where something similar happened was Scorpio & Storme. But there were few factors (coupled with the inherent desire to own a pick up some day) which went in favour of the Vcross although there was this fear that whether the purchase decision was being made in a haste. Post few road trips, the fear is thankfully put to rest and the positives are good enough to take care of the very few shortcomings. Hope it will be our road companion for a good amount of time in future.

Originally Posted by hikersoul

Awesome itinerary, nice choice of trails for the vcross. Looking forward to more such trail searchings by the silver beauty.

This was a long trip done after quite some time and unlike many short trips in between, some good amount of time was involved in planning for the few places we always wanted to be. Also thankfully few back up routes were chalked to take care of any uncertainties. Overall this was a route which really satisfied us in terms of exploring fraction of the enormous beauty of Himachal.

Originally Posted by VishJ

A great travelogue which for me is simply " India Redefined ". Not to forget the V Cross too. It has really changed the way one can tour around India. Wonderful pictures also turned to be an eye candy. Crunch more miles with the truck.

Indeed we are blessed in terms of residing in a country with such a diverse natural topographies. And after residing in NCR for close to 13 years I had been able to see only a part of the two beautiful neighboring states Uttarakhand & Himachal. It will be an achievement to explore and see even a small fraction of the whole of India in a lifetime.

Originally Posted by Ace F355

Excellent vehicle, excellent gateway and brilliantly written travelogue, Kandisa. From a old school Jeep to a proper lifestyle 4x4 vehicle! That's quite a turn of tides there. Trust me you are going to enjoy the places more and more with V Cross. This vehicle's ability to take you to off-beat places, yet being practical, safe and comfortable long distance cruiser is hard to beat.
Loved the write-up, thanks a lot for sharing.

Yes the V-Cross is indeed in a different league altogether from the Jeep. But fundamentally there are few things which are common and that probably is the reason to switch to the V-Cross than anything else. Most importantly the urge to drive the vehicle every day is as strong in present time as it used to be during the Jeep days. And yes it does cover an optimum set of useful features of all segment in a single model and that is a big USP of Isuzu.

Originally Posted by tazmaan

Looks like you had a lot of fun and it can be seen in the pictures. I am happy you are enjoying every bit of the V-cross and wish you many more memories with the Vcross.
I see you have changed the OEM tires, what have you upgraded to?

Thanks again for giving the confidence. Yes tires have been changed to Maxxis, the 771 series of 255/65 profile. I wanted an A/T tyre just to have some added confidence but was severely sort on budget. So after a lot of survey, went for this one as this was way too cheaper compared to the other common choices. Although lost a fraction of height in the process. Had the bighorns, again from Maxxis stable in my Jeep and they performed flawlessly during the entire tenure under my custody.

Originally Posted by raghubhaskar

Sir -
I've seen a lot of pics in many travelogues, but this is simply amazing.
Would you have google route maps? If maybe I would want to do this some day :-) The B/W pic of the V-C is beautiful.
Are the roads good enough for a sedan to make it through?

Those are really humbling words about the pictures, credit mostly goes to my brother who is an avid bird photographer. If you dig through the old travelogues in this section, you will find the actual stalwarts of photography in the forum.
Few of the routes don't exist properly in google maps. Rest could be easily found if you note the day wise destination. Just drop me a PM if you plan to travel through this zone, I will give you all the pointers.
Except one or two patches (e.g. road to Daranghati) rest is doable in Sedan but one needs to be cautious with the ground clearance. Preferable to have an engine sump protection.

Originally Posted by behaln

Absolutely brilliant travelogue and many congratulations for the truck. It's indeed quite imposing. In fact my fortuner looks puny in front of it. Awaiting your updates on putting the canopy on the rear.

Yes the stance of the truck is indeed massive but I think in stock condition it can't overshadow the Fortuner, at least not mine Off-course there are quite a few with lift, up-sized tires and off-road bumpers and those really look like monsters. Some trials were done at Classic Motors Noida, the place which have been supporting my vehicles for last so many years. And thankfully after a lot of effort from their entire team, a reasonably good solution has been done. Will share about the same shortly.

Originally Posted by nishsingh

Pretty sure the views would have been amazing, but all I could see in the pics was your V-Cross! That is a gorgeous machine!

Wishing you more miles and smiles on it!

Ha ha it used to happen in our Jeep days also. The vehicle always gets the center stage of attention and I did warn about the same in the beginning! Also being the first trip, most of the times the focus was on the truck. Will share some more pictures of the flora & fauna.

Originally Posted by abhii176

Wonderful travelogue Kandisa, the pictures have captured the stunning landscape beautifully. And boy oh boy, your machine looks like a real brute. The V-Cross is a really capable machine for those hill drives isnt it!

This is one thing i miss the most about the north - the fact that these stunning mountain landscapes are just a few hours away and a perfect getaway from places like Delhi.

You said it. Even for me the only motivation of living in Delhi NCR is definitely the proximity to the hills & jungles. One can always land into some beautiful places after a day's drive.
V-Cross is definitely an optimum long distance touring vehicle and could re-define the way one travels. However for the hills specifically, a bit of more grunt in the 2nd & 3rd gear would have been great. Although when this journey was done the engine was fairly new, I was not fully conversant with the gearing & response and didn't push it much either. Now that the engine is opening up, need to be in the hills again to see how much the improvement has been for hill drive. But the fundamental issues with the turbo-diesel in hill areas remain just like most of the other counterparts. Off-course there is always the remap/ tuning box solution to improve the response to a certain extent.

[blacklist]

Wish you a very nice and soothing experience in your V Cross brother! It surely is an enthusiast vehicle and most probably my next daily drive after I'll complete 100k on my beloved S Cross.

[nvldvr]

Wonderful travelogue and amazing pics. Thanks for sharing.

Also, good to see you have fun with the V Cross. How would you rate the rear seat comfort ? Is it good enough for 3 and comfortable enough for long full day drives? From what I have read on various reviews, the back rest is a little steep. How did you find it over these extended drives?

[Sheel]

Just like what I want my travelogues to be, full with the pictures of the truck, this makes this t'log special.

Thanks for sharing your memories with us.

^ Your t'log misses just one aspect, food pics

[Kandisa]

Originally Posted by blacklist

Wish you a very nice and soothing experience in your V Cross brother! It surely is an enthusiast vehicle and most probably my next daily drive after I'll complete 100k on my beloved S Cross.

Thanks & all the best. Once you get the hang of it, it is not very difficult to use as a daily drive, though parking in hugely congested areas might give you few hiccups . And off-course it is an enthusiast vehicle, defying few of the common logical points of a so called 'car'. Be prepared to answer the long list of questions including 'Why do you need the space at the rear'! Although you will immensely enjoy the bewildered expressions from people on the road and the friendly chats with the commercial pick up drivers who will be more than delighted to see a gentleman driving a 'daala-wala gari' (a vehicle with a pull down tail gate or dala)! For us, it is the versatility of the vehicle which is the winning point and we are loving every bit of it.

Originally Posted by nvldvr

Wonderful travelogue and amazing pics. Thanks for sharing.
Also, good to see you have fun with the V Cross. How would you rate the rear seat comfort ? Is it good enough for 3 and comfortable enough for long full day drives? From what I have read on various reviews, the back rest is a little steep. How did you find it over these extended drives?

Thanks. Well the rear seat comfort, as i read earlier, was supposed to be an issue and off-course I did check that out carefully while having the TD as well. Based on my experience and feedback of my brother and wife, who had traveled in the rear seat for quite some distance on this drive, the rear seat is not as bad as it was projected to be. There is a fine contouring which helps a lot and if you compare to the likes of Xenon, it is much much better. In empty condition, there is bit of bounce but once it is loaded moderately things are much more settled. This is my pool car for the office also and two of my colleagues travel in the rear seat on a regular basis. They also don't 've much complaint except the undulations on the bad roads. In a nutshell, the rear seat comfort could be compared to a decent hatch and with a bit of improvisation in the seat cover, it could be enhanced further. Mine is without any seat cover as of now.

Originally Posted by Sheel

Just like what I want my travelogues to be, full with the pictures of the truck, this makes this t'log special.

Thanks for sharing your memories with us.

^ Your t'log misses just one aspect, food pics

Yes i know it is an overdose of truck pictures but I did warn in the beginning itself Let me search, there should be few food pictures as well but nothing very exotic though.