[laluks]

Wow, what a log. Rated 5 stars

Reminded me of my travel in 2016. I could not express the joy when I saw the picture of the doggy at Sangetsar lake. He was behind me all the while in the rains while I was exploring the place. Also the drive in search of Red Panda was crazy stuff!

It was a mega trip of some 20+ days, even drove into Burma/Myanmar

This was the stuff


Sad, I never wrote about that trip. Some day I promise.

Sharing a few pics to relive the emotion
Bum LA




Rih Dil, The heart shaped lake in Myanmar

[arun_josie]

One more excellent travelogue from you. Nice write-up with excellent pictures.

A eventful trip too. Issues with Duster, minor mishap with Avventura and then coolant leakage in Nexon. Thankfully all got resolved on-time and didn't spoil the plans. Kudos to Renault and Fiat for putting you back on track in no time.

I have bookmarked this thread and will reach-out to you when I plan a drive to this part of the world.

[Samba]

Originally Posted by hothatchaway

Very nice account and photos as usual Samba! Kudos to all the members, the camraderie among all is evident.
We drove to West khasi hills and cherrapunjee from the 8th to 17th. Was in shillong on the 13th, probably missed bumping into you!

Thanks.

Eh bad miss, else we could have met!

Originally Posted by Yogi..Reeturaj

Awesome an exhaustive travelogue Samba. Lovely pictures, it was nice finally catching up with you. Keep tripping.

Thanks & it was awesome catching up with both of you buddy.

Originally Posted by gmhossain

Get well, and keep travelling!

Thanks a lot for your good wishes dada. Hope to meet you soon in a Team Bhp meet and eagerly waiting for your next travelogue to come up!

Originally Posted by Sayata

Excellent travelogue with crisp writing and beautiful pictures as always. It was a bad miss for us, that we could not join with this lovely team this time as our son is just two months old. Will hope for the best to join this team in the next trip.

Thanks bro, we missed you in this trip. Will look forward to have you in our next trip.

Originally Posted by DriverR

Just FYI, for stay at Umian Lake (Bara Pani), Ri Kynjai Resort is a much better place, but more expensive. A better alternative is to stay at Shillong itself. Shillong traffic is bad, esp in Police Bazaar during the day, but the Night Bazaar is really good. Even if one drives up in their own vehicle, use taxis within Shillong if you go shopping. Less stress!!

Thanks. Hope to see few pics or a travelogue of your trip soon.

Yes, Ri Kynjai is no doubt the best in that area, but their basic room tariff starts from Rs 10,000 + which was over our budget.

Originally Posted by BlackPearl

Excellent travelogue as usual Samba! Rated 5 stars. Arunachal and Meghalaya in a single trip is unheard of! We did two separate trips to these places.

Thanks a ton. Meghalaya or the Shillong side was just a touch and go. Shillong deserves much more time.

Seems like BumLa roads have improved since last couple of years.

Originally Posted by siddarthab

Super travelogue !!!

As for me, after Gurudongmar this October, Arunachal beckons !!!

Thanks a ton.

After Gurudombar lake, we will love to see the pic of your white Duster beside Sangetsar lake!

Originally Posted by haisaikat

The pictures and narration are as always awesome Samba, excellent and rated 5 stars. But seriously I think you next upgrade to photography would be a DJI Mavic especially when you have such a convoy of cars.

Thanks a lot.

Lets see, in future i might take the plunge to buy a drone but still now am not sure, whether taking pics by drone are legal in border area's like Arunachal, Ladakh or parts of Sikkim.

Originally Posted by Thermodynamics

Was waiting for travelogues of Dussera holidays, what a read of the first one and what a way to start the weekend of Diwali.

I guess your shoulder pain was manageable throughout the trip and wish you get well soon.

Thanks a ton. The shoulder pain is less now & i have started to ride my bike again for short commutes.

Originally Posted by SS-Traveller

Wow... You write faster than you drive! To sort, edit and resize that many photos, as well as write the whole travelogue in one and a half days (22 Oct. 3:11 pm and 24 Oct. 1:17 am are the timestamps of your first and last posts) is a mammoth effort that only those who write travelogues can appreciate. Rated a well-deserved 5 stars.

Thanks dada.

Great observation. But if you see the last edit time, you will find it as 25th October 4 am.

The road for BumLa is far better now, than the video's you have shared.

Originally Posted by Abhinav V

It is a blessing in disguise that through t-bhp members you could get car parts in time without which, it would have been a nightmare to get stranded in the middle of nowhere, co-ordinating with Road side assistance single-handedly.
From now on, those of us with 2wd cars, can now go without any worries thanks to your detailed and descriptive travelogue.

Thanks a lot.
High Five for Team Bhp!
Yes 2wd cars can go to BumLa.

Originally Posted by nikhilthegunner

What pictures man! Samba you take brilliant photos, are you a professional photographer? Already want to download a few of them and use it as a wallpaper for my laptop. Would it be ok?

Thanks a ton & please feel free to save any of the pics you want. If you need high resolution pics, do PM me your mail Id & the pics you want, i will mail you. Now photography is just a hobby for me.

Originally Posted by sudsan

You may have included the requested info which I might have missed but would appreciate either you or anyone else taking the time out to respond and thanks in advance* for the same.

I have not been to all the places you are planning to visit. So i do not have much idea barring the places i visited.

My inputs will be-

You can get a zoom car from Guwahati.

For BumLa and Sangetsar lake you wont get permit for Zoom cars. It has to be your personal vehicle.

To enter Arunachal, you need ILP. You can apply for the ILP online from Arunachal government website.

Do avoid night drive in remote places. Start early and reach early. The places looked more or less safe but still i will suggest you to travel during the day.

Regarding hotel option's you can check out my post no 14 on page one.

Originally Posted by Iyencar

Lovely write-up. Which car did the best overall in terms of comfort, reliability and ruggedness between the Duster, Nexon and TUV? Thanks!

Duster had injector problem.
Radiator hose came lose in the Nexon.
Tuv had no issues.

So on reliability ground, the Tuv scored more in this trip.

Regarding ruggedness, i was impressed with the Duster. It literally flew over anything while keeping the passengers in utmost comfort. Plus the AWD was an added peace of mind.

I have shared the details of my Duster's performance over here-

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-...ml#post4677894 (Renault Duster AWD : An owner's point of view)

On the other had the Tuv & Nexon fared really well in terms of ruggedness & comfort too. Their respective owners can throw more light on their cars performance.

Originally Posted by debuda

Disappointed to learn about the mechanical failures in your Duster and your friend's Nexon, both cars being quite new. While the Nexon's coolant leak attributable to a failed fastener is unsurprising going by Tata Motor's present reputation, two injectors failing in your new Duster is unacceptable for an internationally successful car. Renault blaming Indian fuel quality doesn't sound very convincing because many other Indian diesel vehicles using CRDI technology are running without any injector problems for lakhs of Km. Renault India needs to carry out suitable technical modifications to obviate injector failures in the Indian Duster.

Thanks dada.

You are just spot on. Renault just can't keep blaming the fuel every-time. This is pure negligence from their part. With the same fuel nothing happened to the Nexon or the other cars. But the Duster suffered.

Ford had this issue with their earlier Figo, but since 2013 they have rectified it, but it looks like Renault is not at-all bothered to rectify their known problems.

Originally Posted by laluks

Wow, what a log. Rated 5 stars

Reminded me of my travel in 2016. I could not express the joy when I saw the picture of the doggy at Sangetsar lake. He was behind me all the while in the rains while I was exploring the place. Also the drive in search of Red Panda was crazy stuff!

[/ATTACH]

Thanks a ton.
No wonder dogs are humans best friend!

Hope to see a delayed travelogue of your mammoth trip! We all know what to expect if you pen it down! So please bring it up soon!

Originally Posted by arun_josie

One more excellent travelogue from you. Nice write-up with excellent pictures.

A eventful trip too. Issues with Duster, minor mishap with Avventura and then coolant leakage in Nexon. Thankfully all got resolved on-time and didn't spoil the plans. Kudos to Renault and Fiat for putting you back on track in no time.

I have bookmarked this thread and will reach-out to you when I plan a drive to this part of the world.

Thanks a lot.
Hope to see the pics of your gorgeous Compass on this terrain soon!

[arjab]

Fantastic scribble and pictures Samba! I got so engrossed reading it that I decided to open the desktop and savour your pictures in full 15-inch HD glory rather than peering into a 6"-inch screen!

I am wondering whether this Duster premature injector failure is due to a faulty batch of injectors finding its way into the cars and the manufacturer sitting quietly, letting things crop up and then go in for warranty replacement.
I say this because: your's is the 3rd Duster I'm hearing in recent times to be afflicted thus.
The other two were my friend's: one failed during a routine Delhi - Chandigarh run and the second one while on a trip between Chennai to Kodaikanal. Both vehicles were between 10-14 months old. Both were AWD's.
Is there more to this than meets the eye?

[DriveTrain]

A stunning travelogue Samba . Reading it on Diwali morning bought a thousand cheers and really lit up the day for me , the beauty is mesmerizing !

Many years ago over some cold December days , we had the pleasure of savouring the beauty of Madhuri Lake and Sangti valley. Could not resist sharing a couple of snaps!

It seems that comparatively the newer batches of the Duster AWDs have more problems that the earlier ones. Also the AWDs seem to have a higher proportion of niggles that that 2WD 110 PS , while the 2WD 85 PS seems to have the least of the problems ! To have a love affair with the AWD you need to embrace the niggles with open arms as well , it is a package deal

[EvilZombie]

Mesmerising pics. Brings back memories of my trip to Tawang when I was a 9th grader. Love the details shared. Did you get a chance to visit Jaswantgarh temple, its a shrine dedicated to the brave fallen hero. Its situated on the decent from Sela top towards Tawang. The stories of Sela and Jaswant Singh are stuff of pure legend. Legend has it that a guy betrayed and shared Jaswant Singhs location to the Chinese for 2 sacks of salt was caught and his entire village was named as Gaddar basti. We had gone there for Xmas in the winter of 2001, and got stuck due to snowfall for 2 weeks. I was happy as I got more time off from my studies
My uncle was posted there and we travelled in his Gypsy. Some places has absolutely no roads and also had to cross a shallow stream, carrying a full load of 4 adults and a semi adult me, and being a typical Indian family, we were packed to the brim. My uncle drove us from Bhalukpong to Tawang in one day which included a few pit stops for lunch (had to cook our food by the river, due to lack of eateries in that stretch) Sometimes I wonder that beast of a vehicle was capable of so much off roading that todays SUVs may not be able to handle.

And as for Shillong, well thats my home town so all I can say is.. Country roads take me home.

Thanks for sharing

[SouraC]

Now there are Notable people who can cover Arunachal and Meghalaya in a single trip and at the same time there are Normal people who gets exhausted by Arunachal alone.


This part of the story is of a normal person who by god’s grace meets a bunch of people with whom he shares the passion of Driving. The story started a long time back in 2014 and after more than 5 years every time we complete a trip the memory of the first trip gets renewed. Due to the distance we traveled together, our internal bonding has now become Rock (Titanium) Solid.


Now I think, by this time everyone in Team-BHP knows that we have “Sailed Through” different part of this country, but believe me the way few famous people say, driving through North Sikkim, Ladakh, Spiti or even Arunachal this time has not been smooth sailing for a normal person like me in a small hatchback. I will try to explain as the story unfolds.


Before I start sharing my Photologue, I must share that I have parted ways with my long-time companion the 2009 Swift Ldi last year November which has successfully completed all the previous trips with me.

One Last Picture of my old companion from our Ladakh trip.



Now It’s obvious that I needed someone to fill the gap, and old attraction prevails. hence let me present my new travel companion, the 2018 Swift.
I had taken it to Puri for our overnight meet in last November but it had to wait almost 11 months to see the Himalayas.



Picture Credit: Samba Sengupta


Now all set and done, I don’t want to waste any more time of yours and share some photographs taken by me and my wife during these 10 days trip.

We were the last batch of cars to join the trip and me and Rana started on 3rd afternoon. A Tea break at Azad Hind before we started our journey.



Our first stay was at Sikia Jhora and the place was excellent and the place we stayed was excellent.



The Jungle starts from the gate of this resort




Next day we moved ahead to Mangaldoi as planned for our second day stay at planes and we were eager to climb the mountains.

We started from Magaldoi for Dirang and selected Rowta Roopa route as Bhalukpong route was in bad shape with lot of stoppage time.
Here I should give a warning to fellow travellers that don’t believe Google Maps as many times in our Arunachal trip it has misguided us to wrong route and even once you select a route it gets changed automatically as it was finding Bhalukpong route as a faster option.


We reached Dirang around 4pm but decided to move forward to Sangti Valley before we end our day’s journey.
The road condition was bad and the 12 odd kms took us around an hour to cover but at the end you can be happy seeing the serene valley.





We covered around 3500 kms in 10 days, hence there were no rest days. Target next was to reach Tawang as soon as possible so that we can ensure all the cars get the permit for Bum La next day.
Me and Samba started flying towards Sela Pass and soon realized that although we were filled till brim, ours steeds might refuse to reach Tawang without a refill, hence we started managing their thirst by.

A small break at Sela Lake for few snaps.







A video of not so good roads from Sela Pass towards Tawang

https://youtu.be/PC9o844ISdg

A view of Gods own Waterfall managed from Haven.



Soon we reached Tawang War Memorial as intended but of course not before giving our companions a tank full at Jung.
We missed the Nuranang Falls because of time constraint but with a commitment to visit it at the time of return.



Details of Bum La pass is well covered in the main TL hence I am moving forward to the next day.
The enjoyment of Bum La drive was hampered by the unfortunate exclusion of Nexon from our convoy and all of us was feeling quite a bit down because of the same. Soon we realized that the nature was also reflecting the same mood and trying to hide its beauty from us by cloud and rain.

Most of the pictures below was taken on the run by my wife as we were quite late and most of the tourist vehicles has started returning from Bum La by then.










Cloud Attack (Try finding other vehicles)




3 of our cars parked at Bum La (Snow was still falling).



We were the last travellers for the day and while visiting the border we enjoyed snow fall.


Remember, I have said about not so smooth sailing part of our trips. Enjoy the video and judge, is it recommended to take hatchbacks in these roads.
You might say I have done it and don’t want others to try, but believe me quite a few times I have thought of parking my car and jump into one of the other cars in our group. The only reason I have taken the decision to continue is my team, I was confident that whatever the situations demand I have them beside me.
I would request all to take decisions rationally before taking your beloved vehicles in this type of terrain. But if you have friends like I have, Arunachal is nothing plan for Moon.

https://youtu.be/4L7Fljrzf3A

Words can’t do justice many a times and Our next stop for the day was just the proof.












Broken Team at Sangetsar Lake



While returning suddenly I found a place to capture the lake with its colorful surrounding.




Few more snaps before we say goodbye to the exotic colourful beauty of road to Sangetsar.






Another educational video which might help others to decide not to break their cars willingly. Please remember there were lot more bad roads we have covered and a single mistake or misfortune would have grounded my car.

https://youtu.be/LUQZ2nOLF-o

Rest of the Story Next...

[SouraC]

Next day was planned for Zemithang but before we start, plan was to visit Tawang Monastery.







Way to Zemithang was through Lumla, hence a visit to Tara Devi was a compulsion.





Arunachal also has its share of waterfalls and we have seen few of then in the road to Zemithang.







Now the last place allowed for civilians was till Gorsam Chorten, but our explorer mind has forced us to travel beyond and with a small permission we explored a couple of kms more.



Senior member of our team with Junior batch at Zemithang



Little Swifty is enjoying the chorten view at Zemithang



Mighty River at Zemithang

https://youtu.be/VGE-QLYZP38

We called it a day after almost 10+ hours of driving but a sadness has already started engulfing us as the trip is almost over.


But Return to Dirang was also planned with splash and dash of Nuranang Falls and a photoshoot at Sela Pass
Now I must say, a muted picture of a mighty falls doesn’t do justice, hence a video of The Nuranang Falls.

https://youtu.be/0bFaLe4DYGY

Another Waterfall before Sela Pass




A video of driving beside Sela Lake

https://youtu.be/8poZx5Oe8ao

Photo-shoot at Sela Lake






The Cars beside Sela Lake.



Coffee break to elongate the stay at Sela Pass



We reached Dirang at around 7pm and were in a Monster mood to gulp what ever great chicken dish we can get at Pemaling. It was a starving 3 days that we have spend in Tawang without chicken.


The Last day together started with a Monastery trip at Dirang and then the return journey started.

Dirang Valley





The road from Dirang till just before Bomdila is in good shape.

https://youtu.be/Rd6iS2MOJTY

We all traveled together till Magaldoi and after the evening snacks we parted our ways and me and Rana moved towards Bongaigaon for the days stay where we reached around midnight.

Next day started around 11 and continued till midnight again and this time the stay was at Malda.

A Picture of the stay at Malda (Mayaban Resort)



Avrendu was planned to start from Bagdogra the same day we started from Malda, hence I was having a hunch that we might reach Kolkata together. To increase the chance we started from Malda around 11:30 and started our return journey in a slow pace
Man Proposes and the all Mighty accepts. Avrendu caught us just before Dankuni toll and we had a final chat before we call off the Trip with a promise of uniting again for the next one.



Adios for now till we plan and complete our next Trip.

[GhostRider28]

I have never considered a trip to the NE, with an illusion that it was more of a hype than the effort involved! In fact, I have probably never explored a travelogue to the NE properly. Your travelogue has opened up the colour and beauty of the NE for me, and for many other fellow BHPians, I am sure.
Bookmarking this one for my future reference, when I am back from my hiatus of road trips! Rated your travelogue a very well deserved 5 stars.

I am probably fortunate know all the members of the impressive group here, and I must say that I admire you guys more than ever now. Keeping a cool head in times of crisis, and always being there for your fellow roadie - the essence of a perfect roadie group.

There has to be something about the Dhantola stretch to Siliguri! First Papa Bravo's Duster had an injector issue here, and now Samba's. We have to send Duster paranormal team here! (FYI - for everyone, my Duster's AWD started showing fuel pump issues around the same time). A fantastic show of help by the Renault Budge Budge service centre alone with Bongaigaon!

[SaurabhB]

What a great adventure !!! And well documented as well. Kudos to the entire team and their respective family members.

Coincidentally i also drove to Silk Route (East Sikkim) with my family (self, wife, 2 kids & mother) in our XUV 500 W11 (O) MT from 19th Oct to 27th Oct. The route was spread as below -

Kolkata - Siliguri - Rangpo - Rorathang - Rongli - Nimachen - Phadamchen - Zuluk - Zuluk loops - Gnathang Valley - Old Baba Mandir - Tukla Valley - Kupup Valley & Lake - New Baba Mandir - Hangu Lake - Tsomogo Lake - Gangtok - Seven Sisters Waterfall - Ravangla - Borong - Ralong - Lamahatta - Tukdah - Tinchulay - Teesta - Siliguri - Kolkata.

Now after going through your travellogue, i have already started planning for a trip to Tawang & Shillong.

Congratulations once again.

[PapaBravo]

Wow Samba !! What a travelogue. This was such a wonderful trip and it has been penned down by you beautifully. We did Meghalaya this year & now planning Arunachal thanks to your travelogue. We have had a virtual tour of the place, thanks to your fantastic photography. This is 6 star material (not a typo).

I remember getting a call from you early morning explaining the injector issue. Was worried for your trip but thankfully things got sorted out.

Seems like Red Express will overtake Hulk in expeditions very soon.

Keep travelling & gifting us such gems !!

Originally Posted by SouraC

I would request all to take decisions rationally before taking your beloved vehicles in this type of terrain. But if you have friends like I have, Arunachal is nothing plan for Moon.

Superb SouraC. Beautiful pictures. Kudos to you for taking such a low GC Swift to places like BumLa. It takes immense driving skill to get such a car back without any issue from such places.

Cheers,

Pawan

[gearhead_mait]

Nicely documented travelogue, Samba! Although there were a few hiccups for a few members of the group but "All's well that ends well"!

Beautiful photographs enhanced the content of the log. Pictures of Sangetsar lake stole the show. Souradeep da's short yet crisp narration with equally good pictures depicted the unknown portion of the story and made it complete.

Kudos to the team for completing yet another journey and wishing more such road trips as a team in future as well.

Rated 5*!

[Ddrive]

Great sum-up. I was following your trip photos on facebook, but this one was a nice read.

[anu007]

Very sweet travelogue. Even if I had visited all these places, seeing the same through your lens is a totally different experience. Very vibrant pictures. Keep posting.

[//M]

Great writeup and beautiful clicks, Samba da !

The Tawang sector is really beautiful, I was there during the rhododendron season and the whole valley looked picture postcard perfect with the beautiful colourful flowers dotting the mountain slopes. I was also particularly amazed to see the Shungetsar Lake to Zemithang stretch that meanders very close to the India-China border. However that stretch was in a bad condition back then but on motorcycles, it didn't really bother us.

Kudos to you to bring up detailed travelogues like this coupled with lovely pictures for the betterment of the community.

Some people, like me are just plain lazy to do so.

Here are couple of clicks from the Shungetsar Lake to Zemithang stretch.