[sayakc]

Great to see this detailed travelogue written straight from the heart. Even though, nowadays, we have seen so many Ladakh blogs, yours stands out. Rated 5 stars.

Sorry to hear your experience with the hvk group. But please do share what kind of services are provided by them? I guess hotels on the go or the route etc. can be found from google.

Best Regards,
Sayak

[gearhead_mait]

Originally Posted by mr.sinha

A very well-written travelogue, Soumyajit. Thoroughly enjoyed, lovely pics, and amazed at Sherdil's feat - definitely carries the spirit of his owner.
5***** quality. Keep motoring!!!

Thanks mr.sinha! Are you continuing with your cycling adventures?

Originally Posted by MadTitan47

This travelogue ruined my night. I came across it while going to sleep at 3 AM and actually went to sleep at 7:30 AM, engrossed by your journey.
Breathtaking trip and marvelous writing.

Haha! Thanks a lot MadTitan47. Hope you enjoyed the journey!

Originally Posted by TheStranger

Awesome Travelogue, gearhead_mait !! ..

..I am sure that this travelogue will also become a reference for those who plan to do this circuit in the future.

Thanks a lot!

Originally Posted by dgoyle

Congratulations on the journey undertaken. Very well written out experience.
Did you need to use the Petrol Jerrycans or was the car tank sufficient? Especially from Nubra valley to Pangong Tso and back to Leh?

We carried three 10 liters jerry can. We topped up on all of the jerry cans and full tank of petrol at Manali. Then topped up again at Tandi (last petrol pump), where we found around 5 liters went in the tank. For Tandi-Leh, we didn't require any filling from the jerry cans - the car's tankful of petrol was enough along with sufficient leftover. The petrol from jerry cans were emptied at Leh.

For the Leh-Nubra-Pangong circuit, we again carried around 25 liters in three jerry cans apart from tankful of petrol. After two days at Nubra, we would have needed petrol to complete Pangong circuit, but the petrol pump at Diskit was operational. So we didn't have to touch the reserves, again.
Hope this clarifies.

Originally Posted by sayakc

Even though, nowadays, we have seen so many Ladakh blogs, yours stands out. Rated 5 stars.

Sorry to hear your experience with the hvk group. But please do share what kind of services are provided by them? I guess hotels on the go or the route etc. can be found from google.

Thanks sayakc! Regarding hvk group, I would say its just like an insurance, nothing extra. Nowadays, hotels, maps etc are readily available on the various apps. And regarding the discounts promised by HVK group, having experienced their service multiple times, I can say that its a hoax. Better deals are available on the apps and much better if you can book after reaching the place.
In this trip, HVK group said that they only have hotels in the range 1750-3000. While we booked many good hotels at much cheaper price, and many of them has the HVK tags in their reception.

Rest is your call.

[Laxman9192]

What an amazing travelogue! Thanks @gearhead mait for taking us on this wonderful journey with you!

[BehindSteering]

It was a very exciting travel. I just felt like joining you . Just one query: How did you safely store the extra fuel cans ?

[hothatchaway]

Was waiting for the TL ever since I heard you had set out for ladakh and it took so long I Thought you would never write one! Reading through it understood why it was so long coming. Your passion for driving and travelling comes through with every word written.

Wish you and your sherdil many more miles!

[gearhead_mait]

Originally Posted by Laxman9192

What an amazing travelogue! Thanks @gearhead mait for taking us on this wonderful journey with you!

Thanks Laxman9192!

Originally Posted by BehindSteering

It was a very exciting travel. I just felt like joining you . Just one query: How did you safely store the extra fuel cans ?

The cap of each jerry can was tightly sealed by using a polythene buffer. But how much you try, there would be little spillage. This practice made sure it is minimal. One jerry can was secured in place in the boot, and two of them in the footwell of rear right passenger seat. It worked!

Originally Posted by hothatchaway

Was waiting for the TL ever since I heard you had set out for ladakh and it took so long I Thought you would never write one! Reading through it understood why it was so long coming. Your passion for driving and travelling comes through with every word written.

Wish you and your sherdil many more miles!

Yes, traveling is one thing and writing about it is another. But I thoroughly enjoyed writing the travelogue. There were multiple sessions of writing the travelogue and after each session, there was a sense of happiness, like reliving the wonderful memories all over again!

[Subroto Bhowmik]

I was spell bound by your writing skills and coupled with the amazing snaps taken, I must say this is my favorite travelogue read on this forum. I took hours to read your entire story, so kudos to you for the patience and dedication involved in typing all this!! Really amazed at the lion hearts hill performance and you are lucky to have Monoshree as your life and travel mate so you can undertake such arduous trips. My wife suffers from claustrophobia and as a result we can't go for long drives.

Your blog gives me enough insight on what to expect during our upcoming Leh trip in May 2020 but we will be going with 2 more families on a tempo traveller and so will miss out on the driving part but looking forward to soak in the beauty of Leh and its surroundings.

Keep travelling and documenting more of such epic travelogues and I can only read and enjoy as my family constraints prevents me from replicating your efforts!

Cheers and all the best buddy
Subroto Bhowmik

[gearhead_mait]

Originally Posted by Subroto Bhowmik

I was spell bound by your writing skills and coupled with the amazing snaps taken, I must say this is my favorite travelogue read on this forum. I took hours to read your entire story, so kudos to you for the patience and dedication involved in typing all this!! Really amazed at the lion hearts hill performance and you are lucky to have Monoshree as your life and travel mate so you can undertake such arduous trips.

Your blog gives me enough insight on what to expect during our upcoming Leh trip in May 2020

Thanks for all your compliments. I feel privileged that the travelogue has been liked by many like minded folks, including you!

Although you would not be driving in Ladakh, but I am pretty sure you would enjoy each moment of the trip. We are missing Ladakh already, such is the charm!

[luvDriving]

Thanks for an amazing travelogue ! You virtually painted a picture of each day and kudos to the way the three of you traveled. Ladakh road trip remains on my bucket list.

I also appreciate the manner of handling the HVK incidents and the fact that you did not let it affect your morale. Lastly, as someone else has mentioned earlier, it is not the drive or the ride alone but the driver (in this case companion added) too which makes the whole road trip possible and enjoyable. Taking the Eon from Kolkatta to the Northern frontier was indeed an epic journey.

[AnandB]

Amazing Travelogue. I have today decided to go there in Aug-Sep from Raipur. As your travelogue is also one of the most recent one it will be really helpful.

[ABHI_1512]

The first travelogue I am commenting on and glad that it is by you. Superbly well described travelogue and the icing is that it is done by the wonderful car that has traversed some real bad terrains.Congratulations on a passion done right ����

[gearhead_mait]

Originally Posted by luvDriving

Thanks for an amazing travelogue ! You virtually painted a picture of each day and kudos to the way the three of you traveled. Ladakh road trip remains on my bucket list..
… it is not the drive or the ride alone but the driver (in this case companion added) too which makes the whole road trip possible and enjoyable. Taking the Eon from Kolkatta to the Northern frontier was indeed an epic journey.

Thanks a lot for your kind words! True. Without the support of my wife, it would not have been possible. Also, as mentioned earlier as well, I felt Ladakh is not appropriate for first time drivers in the Himalayas.

Originally Posted by AnandB

Amazing Travelogue. I have today decided to go there in Aug-Sep from Raipur. As your travelogue is also one of the most recent one it will be really helpful.

Thanks! Aug-Sep should be good in terms of weather. I hope that the travelogue helps you in planning the trip. Feel free to drop me a PM in case you need some additional information. Will try my best to help.

Originally Posted by ABHI_1512

The first travelogue I am commenting on and glad that it is by you. Superbly well described travelogue and the icing is that it is done by the wonderful car that has traversed some real bad terrains.Congratulations on a passion done right ����

Thanks! Do I know you? From your statement, it seems you are well aware of Sherdil's achievements. I may be wrong though!

[SourabH007]

A Ladakh travelogue is very special to everyone's heart and certainly it is actually a proud moment for me also, as a Ex-Hyundai Eon owner that this Car is capable of dealing such harsh roads. The pictures and the naration is just so perfect and fantastic. Hope one day I can also fulfill the dream of going to ladakh by road.

[SaurabhB]

Originally Posted by gearhead_mait

Capability of any car is closely intertwined with the reliability associated with it. So, the statement about one's car should not be -

And to decide on the point A, B or C, that is appropriate for the car and the driver, one needs to build a strong bonding with the car. From here on comes the reliability factor that grows with time and adds a feather to the capability index that no feature could ever match. And that way the chances of any misadventure would be significantly less.

Dear Soumyajit,

I have become an ardent fan of you and "Sherdil". You really amaze me ach and every time. I have gone through your travellogues sometimes twice & thrice just to relive the excitement.

W.r.t. your quote about Car's capabiliy and reliability i fully agree with you. My mechanic used to say that "if you love your machine and take care of it, it will also love you back and take care of you".

I also travel very widely but have never got time to pen down a travellogue. I have taken my humble Santro (now sold) to some very rugged terrains without any difficulty.

My best wishes to you for your future travel plans as well. I live in Thakurpukur and you live in Behala. Wish we could meet sometime and travel together.

[gearhead_mait]

Originally Posted by SourabH007

A Ladakh travelogue is very special to everyone's heart and certainly it is actually a proud moment for me also, as a Ex-Hyundai Eon owner that this Car is capable of dealing such harsh roads. The pictures and the naration is just so perfect and fantastic. Hope one day I can also fulfill the dream of going to ladakh by road.

Thanks a lot. All my best wishes for your dream of a road trip to Ladakh. And good to see you as a member of the forum.

Originally Posted by SaurabhB

Dear Soumyajit,

I have become an ardent fan of you and "Sherdil". You really amaze me ach and every time. I have gone through your travellogues sometimes twice & thrice just to relive the excitement.
My best wishes to you for your future travel plans as well. I live in Thakurpukur and you live in Behala. Wish we could meet sometime and travel together.

Thanks a lot and it feels nice that you liked my travelogues. Now that your are a member of the forum, you can always rewind and jot down the experiences of the road trips of the past. Will help refresh a few good old memories for you and at the same time, will give us the opportunity to read through the same.

Definitely we can meet someday. Will PM you my number.