[Sandy28]

Originally Posted by srikanthpotluri

Hello Folks.,

Had done many drives over 800 KMs or so one way., but doing a 8000 KM trip is a different ball game altogether and that too to Leh., a journey that is very difficult to pen down and show through pictures., you will need to visit to experience the beauty and journey-

We had less than 45 days to plan, original plan was to ride to Leh through Delhi taking rental bikes, however we had realized we cannot make it this time given both haven't ridden a bike in over 10 years. Hence it was car and we had decided to take the Ritz of my colleague -

Wow congratulations Srikanth for doing this dream drive to Ladhak, that too in a Ritz. I am also preparing for a road trip in mid-May and your post was quite helpful.

Originally Posted by srikanthpotluri

Overall 17 day trip went very well - without any issues, though there were few twists and turns as expected along the way.

My trip plan is also for 17 days. Your 'without any issues' comes as a great confidence booster

Originally Posted by srikanthpotluri

Day 4 - Merta to Pathankot

Started at 8:00 AM went past Hanumangarh, Bethinda, Amritsar, reached Pathankot by 9:30 PM, stayed at Hotel green, roads are excellent all the way, especially stretch from Bethinda to Amritsar was a delight

Any particular reason for taking the Mount Abu route to Merta instead of the Udaipur route which is a fantastic road? I am also planning to spend a day at Amritsar. The standard route from Gujarat is the Udaipur-Jaipur-Delhi byepass - Ambala - Amritsar route. But I am really vary of the heavy traffic around Jaipur and the nightmare of crossing Delhi. Can you share details about the Merta - Hanumangarh-Amritsar route? How is the road condition? I am travelling with wife and kids. So are there any decent hotels, fuel stations on the way? I have mixed experience of driving thru Rajasthan.

Originally Posted by srikanthpotluri

Day 5 - Pathankot to Banihal (we were booked at Srinagar though)

Experienced one of the best tunnels here, 8 KM long if I am correct. Post which nightmare started, one is traffic & two roads, we have never experienced so many trucks in our lifetime., reaching Patnitop and were heading towards Srinagar, unfortunately we were stopped by Cops before Jawahar tunnel, last point to get into Kashmir, and then after a lot of pleading they let us go only to be stopped by Military post the tunnel.

Inspite of alot of pleading the Military, no luck they just sent us back, we had to settle at Banihal for the night -

Why did the military stop you? Is it a regular practice? My plan is to drive from Amritsar to Srinagar. As it is, Udhampur is a pain point on this route. To add to it, if they stop us from moving to Srinagar, it will disturb my plans.

Originally Posted by srikanthpotluri

Day 9 - Khardungla - Nubra Valley

Following day we were excited about the mighty Khardungla, it was a tough morning given our condition at night, somehow post breakfast we were feeling a little better, drive to Khardungla is tough, especially we saw at a couple of locations where cars were struggling to pull, even ours was struggling, had almost burnt the clutch, finally reached the famous spot, post which went to Hunder dunes and retired to our spot at Tiger camp, pictures from the day -

How did you manage all the mighty passes and the water crossings in the Ritz? Really inspiring. Did you face any issues with the vehicle? Did you get it serviced after reaching Leh? I have read many road travelers comment that it is a must to get the vehicle serviced at Leh.

I will stop my questions for now. But will surely pester you with more

[srikanthpotluri]

Originally Posted by Sandy28

Wow congratulations Srikanth for doing this dream drive to Ladhak, that too in a Ritz. I am also preparing for a road trip in mid-May and your post was quite helpful.




My trip plan is also for 17 days. Your 'without any issues' comes as a great confidence booster




Any particular reason for taking the Mount Abu route to Merta instead of the Udaipur route which is a fantastic road? I am also planning to spend a day at Amritsar. The standard route from Gujarat is the Udaipur-Jaipur-Delhi byepass - Ambala - Amritsar route. But I am really vary of the heavy traffic around Jaipur and the nightmare of crossing Delhi. Can you share details about the Merta - Hanumangarh-Amritsar route? How is the road condition? I am travelling with wife and kids. So are there any decent hotels, fuel stations on the way? I have mixed experience of driving thru Rajasthan.



Why did the military stop you? Is it a regular practice? My plan is to drive from Amritsar to Srinagar. As it is, Udhampur is a pain point on this route. To add to it, if they stop us from moving to Srinagar, it will disturb my plans.




How did you manage all the mighty passes and the water crossings in the Ritz? Really inspiring. Did you face any issues with the vehicle? Did you get it serviced after reaching Leh? I have read many road travelers comment that it is a must to get the vehicle serviced at Leh.

I will stop my questions for now. But will surely pester you with more

Hi - Its good to see you are planning this amazing trip -

Reason to take Merta - Hanumangarh route was Google, at that time google showed us 1 hr less time and we just took it, later Nat wanted to visit Mount Abu and there we lost few hours due to detour, other than that - route is clear and very good roads all the way, no issues whatsoever, infact given hardly any traffic, you will probably do better here. Food and fuel isn't a concern, dhabas are there everywhere, and they have excellent food, Bathinda is a decent town to stop, depending on where you begin the journey towards Amritsar.


Why did the military stop you? Is it a regular practice?
As I had mentioned in the post, this is not a common practice, news was locals had thrashed a biker and that created a lot of security concerns for Amarnath Yatri's hence during our visit, post 3PM no vehicles other than JK registration were allowed, I don't think in coming May there should be any concerns.



How did you manage all the mighty passes and the water crossings in the Ritz?
It was tough especially couple of water crossings, but we just went along, assessed that we can do it if large vehicles can, passes were not a concern, vehicle performed beautifully, only at Khardungla while climbing there was a moment when vehicle was also feeling the lack of oxygen, other than that all clear.

Did you face any issues with the vehicle?
Absolutely Nil. She was awesome all the way.

Did you get it serviced after reaching Leh?
No - we haven't done any service at Leh, only water washing was done, infact service was done post reaching Bangalore. Nat did the service a month before our trip, so just a general check up was done before leaving.

I don't think service is needed unless there is any issue with the vehicle, you can do it once you are back.

Glad to answer any number of questions
All the best.

[Thermodynamics]

Congratulations on getting Lehd. I guess you guys had a gala time. No matter how may Leh logs come, it is always intriguing to read cuz every narration has a different perspective and you guys pulled this out in style, that even on a Ritz.

Last August I went up to Drass, more or less on a similar route like you, Started from Bangalore, onward via Mumbai and returned via Nagpur. Just like you, I was also stopped at Jawahar tunnel and had to stay back at Banihal. Thanks for sharing and kindling my memories.

[paragsachania]

Wonderful journey that is and trips like these always generates more enthusiasm to read and scroll through - As you may always have someone ask you that classic question - What car did you drive to the Himalayas? Goes to show how you only need to have the will do do it.

Loved the fact that you took different routes for onward and return. That is something I usually do too, to get perspectives and also to explore more, if you have the time and right company along with you who would not mind a different route.

I am sure you would have enjoyed the return trip on some carpet like roads between Sagar - Narsingpur and Adilabad - Hyderabad. As you rightly mentioned, one can literally land a flight here!

Congratulations for that awesomely accomplished trip!!

[mchandra13]

First of all Congrats on such a wonderful trip.

One of my colleague here tells me that he does a blr- mlr on a Nano with 4 people over the weekends, I used to wonder how he manages with such a tiny car on that beast of a road. Now reading through your trip on Ritz all the way to Leh and back, I can only confirm that its the intent that matters and not the car. All you need is a right company. I am sucker for travelogues and adventure movies and thoroughly enjoyed your travelogue and all the pics.

As someone above said, i have also read a lot of travelogues to Ladakh on this forum but every time it brings a fresh perspective.

Hope one day I will be able to make a trip of my own for that many days. This has been a long pending trip for me.

[sibi6613]

Wonderful write-up sir! I've been wanting to get Lehd for a long time! Being a college student, I can't plan it anytime soon. Hope I'll make it happen someday.

[arun_josie]

Nice travelogue with some lovely pictures.

By the way, what made you to take the Mount Abu route? Just the google maps?

[srikanthpotluri]

Originally Posted by arun_josie

Nice travelogue with some lovely pictures.

By the way, what made you to take the Mount Abu route? Just the google maps?

Yes, Mount Abu was never part of the plan, since we took the route, Nat saw this in the maps and thought he can tick this off the list.

[sam_sant2005]

After reading this thread I guess there is a lot of fresh inspiration to be Leh'd. Awesome trip guys.

Myself and my colleagues are planning a trip as well in Apr-May this year. And in fact I have picked up a Duster AMT too

Request: Anyone who finalizes a plan for this Apr-May please share the itinerary here so if possible, we can plan around it.

[srikanthpotluri]

Originally Posted by sam_sant2005

After reading this thread I guess there is a lot of fresh inspiration to be Leh'd. Awesome trip guys.

Myself and my colleagues are planning a trip as well in Apr-May this year. And in fact I have picked up a Duster AMT too

Request: Anyone who finalizes a plan for this Apr-May please share the itinerary here so if possible, we can plan around it.

Thats nice to hear, all the best for the trip, do message me if any information or help needed on anything.

I am sure there will be many who would be doing the trip during these months.

[sam_sant2005]

Has anyone done a LEH trip on an AMT? Mine is Duster 110 AMT. Just wondering if it's doable. Plz share info on anyone who has done it on AMT.