[busydrive]

Congratulations! Doing a ladakh trip from Bangalore is a tough chalenge and you did it! A very well written travelogue with lots of details. The road between Pangyong and Hanle is always a great confusion when you are following some track marks and then some of them goes to left and you were told dont go to left as it leads to China!
You did some of the most challenging Lakadhi experience like camping in Tso Moriri for example and driving for 12 to 14 hours at times.
For us from Bangalore the real challenge is reaching the foothills of Himalayas as that takes up 5 to 6 days. Its important to know ones limit and plan the trip accordingly. I for example never do more than 700kms in a day. However, I have seen people doing 1000 kms comfortably.
Enjoyed reading it. And thank you for penning it down for all of us.

[jasjotbains]

Wonderfully detailed trip! I am probably thinking about a solo trip on my i10 from Dharmapuri (TN) to Chandigarh, but figured out it would take atleast 6 days. Any advice that you will like to offer? (Apart from that I'm crazy thinking of doing a long solo trip)

[supreddy77]

Originally Posted by Jeevan Sukumar

I would like to know about your XUV's overall performance during the trip because I am also planning this dream trip with my XUV.

Thanks Jeevan, for the rating. XUV is an awesome vehicle, it didn't complain anywhere even in the worst of the water crossings or during the slush ride in Rohtang I felt a 4WD would have done better in the slush, with FWD, I was getting pulled towards the mountain side.

On the highways, I got a mileage around 16 kmpl with AC on 70% of time. In the hills, we switched the AC off and it varied between 8 - 10 kmpl - considering downhill must have given better mileage and the average probably got better.

Originally Posted by jasjotbains

Wonderfully detailed trip! I am probably thinking about a solo trip on my i10 from Dharmapuri (TN) to Chandigarh, but figured out it would take atleast 6 days. Any advice that you will like to offer? (Apart from that I'm crazy thinking of doing a long solo trip)

Thanks jasjotbains. Go for your solo trip!! It would be completely worth it. I would suggest to consider taking the RoutO Maps App from HVK. Some roads from Rajasthan to Punjab are in lane expansion mode and this app will help you navigate those roads more easily.

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[Laxman9192]

I was eagerly waiting to come upon a travelogue like yours, one involving a trip to Leh in a car from the south of India so I could plan for a similar trip from Goa. It was a really good read and contained a lot of information which I can surely use. Thanks!

[Vipin Kumar]

Bangalore - Leh is indeed one of the most ambitious trips a Team-Bhpian can have within India, and you have executed it perfectly. Congrats. Great travelogue too, with a great number of places covered.

One question: is there any particular reason for you to choose the Mumbai route from Kohlapur to Nashik/Dhule? Why didn't you take the straight Pune - Nashik - Dhule route, avoiding Mumbai altogether?

[supreddy77]

Originally Posted by Vipin Kumar

One question: is there any particular reason for you to choose the Mumbai route from Kohlapur to Nashik/Dhule? Why didn't you take the straight Pune - Nashik - Dhule route, avoiding Mumbai altogether?

We chose Pune-Mumbai-Nashik-Dhule because the Pune-Nashik-Dhule is a SH and the road conditions weren't that good based on the feedback from other forums on T-BHP.

[Vipin Kumar]

Originally Posted by supreddy77

We chose Pune-Mumbai-Nashik-Dhule because the Pune-Nashik-Dhule is a SH and the road conditions weren't that good based on the feedback from other forums on T-BHP.

Is it really a state highway? I thought, and Google maps show, this route via Sangamner is the NH60. Yes, I did not know about its present conditions.

[BMvW.Rajat]

Congratulations on your trip, it truly is a great achievement and looks like you had a lot of fun. I'm sure Khardongla and Chang-La would've been very memorable. I missed out the Zozila pass due to bad weather, it's supposed to be the most difficult motorable pass.
You could've hired the ATVs in Nubra, it was really good fun.

Just out of curiosity, how much did the tolls work out to be and was the total kms covered?

[vinya_jag]

Mesmerizing travelogue. This had so much, of my interest. Loved the photos of those dishes. Those places, and the route you guys took, were all just dreamy. I am one of those South Indians who has never been to North India, so it was a lesson all the way through.
Im sure, you would have had met lovely people, had lovely conversations. Please share some of those when you get time. Thanks

[DBeast]

A well-written travelogue supreddy77 and I have bookmarked this thread for all the details you provided. I have taken notes for future, as this drive is on my bucket list .

Thanks for sharing!

-DB

[paramesh3210]

Very well written Supreddy77. After reading this post, the memories of my ride to Leh was refreshed. The place looks the same even after so many years.

[supreddy77]

Originally Posted by Vipin Kumar

Is it really a state highway? I thought, and Google maps show, this route via Sangamner is the NH60. Yes, I did not know about its present conditions.

Vipin, there is another thread on Team-BHP on the Bangalore-Pune-Mumbai-Nashik routes. I found information from there. I am not sure if they have upgraded the highway recently

[supreddy77]

Originally Posted by BMvW.Rajat

Just out of curiosity, how much did the tolls work out to be and was the total kms covered?

We saw ATVs at Magnetic hills, but didn't come across them in Nubra. Maybe, missed them because of the timings.

Tolls worked out to be around Rs.1/- per km travelled on toll roads. About 6000 in all approx. We took most of the available toll roads and paid using Fasttag wherever possible. In MP, in some places, they deliberately turned off fasttags and were allowing vehicles by taking cash without receipts.

Total distance was 8100 kms - Home to home.

[supreddy77]

Originally Posted by vinya_jag

Mesmerizing travelogue. This had so much, of my interest. Loved the photos of those dishes. Those places, and the route you guys took, were all just dreamy. I am one of those South Indians who has never been to North India, so it was a lesson all the way through.
Im sure, you would have had met lovely people, had lovely conversations. Please share some of those when you get time. Thanks

Thanks buddy. Will share some of the interesting incidents and conversations we had along the way.

[Ranjith812]

Nice travelogue and pics.
You had a fantastic trip!
Thanks for sharing, keep travelling.