[Raaj*]

Being in Chennai, i had never imagined a road trip to Bhutan in a sedan, that too a single person drive! Excellent travelogue Ramesh, appreciate your courage. More than planning, its great to see the way you had handled twists in the trips. picturesque photos, adventure drive, a little off roading. Even you made us feel the pressure of driving through gangtey and trashigang with your narrative. Great to see your family have responded well to the tiresome trip and night travel.
Good that you had presented the travelogue in chapters with quick links. I slept after coming back from Kaziranga National park and straight clicked on 13th chapter link to visit Chirrapunjee wity you.
Deserves 5 *

[rameshnanda]

Originally Posted by Thermodynamics

The tablet trick works like a charm with kids, I also buy some activity things like painting book, highlighters, play doh etc.,

Originally Posted by coolmind

I seriously could not understand how you manged to drive (alone that far!) and that too with family and 2 kids.

Tablet helped to some extent. Other times, my wife managed to keep them engaged. She shifted between front passenger seat and back seat throughout the trip.

Originally Posted by coolmind

Any information of total cost incurred sir?

I did not document all expenses in detail. However, I would have spent around 1.5L (Accommodation, Food, Fuel Expenses, Other expenses).

Originally Posted by swami

The condition & width of some of the roads that you have posted must have required real guts to go through.

Even with these my kids stay quiet for some time. After a couple of hours (at best) the sheer monotony gets to them! Am sure your wife would have had a tough time keeping them entertained.

Very well documented thread - rated it 5 stars.

Thank you so much for your appreciation, Swami.

Originally Posted by Sathya_sc

Testimony of what a Linea is capable. A masterpiece I must say.. For those who have owned one will agree. As you know, I drive a BMW now and sometimes I feel, Linea was as much fun as a BMW in dynamics. Doesn't have the outright power but show the Linea those curves and she will gun it without breaking a sweat. I still wonder how FIAT managed to give us that fantastic steering and razor sharp handling, all packaged at 10L! Kudos to FIAT. Deep inside my heart, I still love her and cherish the days I spent with her.

Thanks Sathya. True that. This is exactly my thought as well. Now that I am in USA and driving a Subaru, I miss driving my Linea.

Originally Posted by Sathya_sc

Coming back, this travelogue reminds me of my Ladakh trip, but this seems 100% more fun and at the same time more thrilling. This is in my bucket list but with a 4 wheel drive.

Great travel and a fantastic read

I felt young and refreshing after reading this.

We should plan to do a drive together. That will be even more fun.

Originally Posted by sbanerjee

Is the insurance that you have for your car valid in Bhutan? As in if something happens to the vehicle will the policy that we generally take cover it?

Originally Posted by Surprise

There was a post in HVK's page about an accident of KA regd Hexa in Bhutan & as a first comment Jay Mishra has pointed out, Insurances are valid only within India & for any travel outside India, we need to extend the Insurance by paying additional premium for the period we wish to cover.

Never thought about this. Thanks for the information.

Originally Posted by Raaj*

Being in Chennai, i had never imagined a road trip to Bhutan in a sedan, that too a single person drive! Excellent travelogue Ramesh, appreciate your courage. More than planning, its great to see the way you had handled twists in the trips. picturesque photos, adventure drive, a little off roading. Even you made us feel the pressure of driving through gangtey and trashigang with your narrative. Great to see your family have responded well to the tiresome trip and night travel.
Good that you had presented the travelogue in chapters with quick links. I slept after coming back from Kaziranga National park and straight clicked on 13th chapter link to visit Chirrapunjee wity you.
Deserves 5 *

Thanks a lot, Raaj for your appreciation.

[lordvader]

Congratulations on completing the trip! I'm still reading the travelogue but couldn't wait to complement you on the amazing shots that you have clicked.

I'm not an expert in photography but those are some really well framed shots. What was your weapon of choice?

[arun_josie]

A lovely travelogue, Ramesh! Complemented with beautiful pics and loads of information. I felt like traveling with you and even got a feel of those under body hits :-). This is a real adventurous trip especially with two kids in tow and the kinds of roads you passed, some real tough roads there.

And this travelogue has come right when I am thinking if I can take my Linea to NE. Nice to know that you have got some fantastic support from Fiat. Also hats off to the trucker who helped you to get out of the slush and others who helped you in various situation.

Regarding the check engine light, did you find the exact cause?

Also, how old was the clutch when you started this trip?

[Revvglider]

Awesome travelogue, informative with nicely composed pictures!
You were 'mr. unstoppable' in this trip, so many odds were thrown at you from the start of the trip, yet you seem to just brush them off the shoulders and move ahead. Driving on those slushy deserted stretches of Bhutan on a sedan with family, sometimes even after dark, needs some serious nerve. Kudos!!

[rameshnanda]

Originally Posted by lordvader

Congratulations on completing the trip! I'm still reading the travelogue but couldn't wait to complement you on the amazing shots that you have clicked.

I'm not an expert in photography but those are some really well framed shots. What was your weapon of choice?

Thank you so much. Most of the shots are done using Nikon D800 with 24-70 or 70-300. And also used Sony A6000 (by wife) and iPhone 6s for some shots.

Originally Posted by arun_josie

A lovely travelogue, Ramesh! Complemented with beautiful pics and loads of information. I felt like traveling with you and even got a feel of those under body hits :-). This is a real adventurous trip especially with two kids in tow and the kinds of roads you passed, some real tough roads there.

And this travelogue has come right when I am thinking if I can take my Linea to NE. Nice to know that you have got some fantastic support from Fiat. Also hats off to the trucker who helped you to get out of the slush and others who helped you in various situation.

Regarding the check engine light, did you find the exact cause?

Also, how old was the clutch when you started this trip?

Thank you so much, Arun.
The car's odo now stands at 1.2L. Never got that light back after that incident. It could be due to the heavy downpour. Some sensors might have come in contact with water.

The clutch was replaced at around 66,000 kms. It was running on its second set of Clutch. However, had to replace the clutch again at 115000.

Originally Posted by Revvglider

Awesome travelogue, informative with nicely composed pictures!
You were 'mr. unstoppable' in this trip, so many odds were thrown at you from the start of the trip, yet you seem to just brush them off the shoulders and move ahead. Driving on those slushy deserted stretches of Bhutan on a sedan with family, sometimes even after dark, needs some serious nerve. Kudos!!

Thank you so much for the appreciation.

[Ramsagar]

Wow. You really have GUTS MAN!!. I think Twice, no Thrice to plan a family trip that too with Two children. Hats-off to you GURU.
You are instrumental in taking a Linea. I would never ever dare to take a sedan in such treacherous conditions.

[jkrishnakj]

I managed to finish this in one go today, awesome one Ramesh.

I chanced upon this because i was planning a visit there myself during April 2019. I am split between
1. Fly to guwahati, rent a car and do the Cherapunjee etc..
2. Fly to Bagdogra, rent a car at Siliguri and drive to Bhutan

I would love to drive from bangalore, but i only have 7 days with me and therefore thought it best to fly and self drive.

Would love to hear what makes sense - Bhutan or Meghalaya. Secondly, if i rent a Zoom car from Siliguri, can i take that inside Bhutan ?

[prasanna_indaje]

Excellent drive and travelogue Ramesh.
I too am a partner in crime .Drove from Bangalore.

Originally Posted by jkrishnakj

If i rent a Zoom car from Siliguri, can i take that inside Bhutan ?

I doubt the possibility of this. I have overheard that self drive rentals are not allowed in Bhutan. And during my drive from Bangalore, I did not see any self drive vehicle in Bhutan.
However, yellow board taxis were plenty. May be you will have to hire one from Siliguri or even Jaygaon.

[rameshnanda]

Originally Posted by jkrishnakj

I managed to finish this in one go today, awesome one Ramesh.

I chanced upon this because i was planning a visit there myself during April 2019. I am split between
1. Fly to guwahati, rent a car and do the Cherapunjee etc..
2. Fly to Bagdogra, rent a car at Siliguri and drive to Bhutan

I would love to drive from bangalore, but i only have 7 days with me and therefore thought it best to fly and self drive.

Would love to hear what makes sense - Bhutan or Meghalaya. Secondly, if i rent a Zoom car from Siliguri, can i take that inside Bhutan ?

Sorry for the late reply. And Thanks a lot for your appreciation.

Regarding Zoom car, they won't let you to cross the border. I did think about this and enquired with them on this. And even in Bhutan, they allow only personal vehicles.

For you to choose between Meghalaya and Bhutan, I may first recommend you Bhutan. Not sure how Cherrapunjee would look before the start of monsoon season.

Originally Posted by prasanna_indaje

Excellent drive and travelogue Ramesh.
I too am a partner in crime .Drove from Bangalore.

Thanks Prasanna.

[accentgiri]

Hai Ramesh Nanda,
I would like to congratulate you for an excellent travelogue with superb photos. I was hesitating for a drive upto Annavaram, near Vizag. After going through you travelogue, I am planning to do it by road.
Its great that you as a solo driver along with your family done a trip covering more than 1000 Kms per day, hats off to you and your family especially to your kids….
Hope you remember me, its Giridharan, current owner of your Punto 90 HP

[rameshnanda]

Originally Posted by accentgiri

Hai Ramesh Nanda,
I would like to congratulate you for an excellent travelogue with superb photos. I was hesitating for a drive upto Annavaram, near Vizag. After going through you travelogue, I am planning to do it by road.
Its great that you as a solo driver along with your family done a trip covering more than 1000 Kms per day, hats off to you and your family especially to your kids….
Hope you remember me, its Giridharan, current owner of your Punto 90 HP

Thank you Giri. Good to hear that you still own 'my' Punto.
Its really in safe hands.

We halted at Annavaram for breakfast on our first leg of journey to Bhubaneswar. You should be fine to drive to Annavaram. Roads are mostly good.