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As the title would have hinted this is a very unique travelogue, you need to read till the end to realize how adequate the title is. The nation is locked down for 21 days and people are dying to find a work to engage themselves, I decided to share my experience here with fellow BHPians. I am very bad at expressing myself both orally and in written as well, could not score well in school because of this very reason . I'll be A- Accurate, B-Brief and C- Clear in penning down this Great Experience. This travelogue will be informative but boring and will give an insight into planning a trip in a tight time period. Let's start with the title itself-
Four Idiots

From left that's Pratham, Mohit, Nitish and yours truly.
Dzire

LEH

God's Grace - You'll come to know subsequently.
Introduction
Ladakh is a dream destination for every college going person in India, some turn their dream in to reality during semester break while others take leave from offices. We did make a plan during the last semester of our Bachelor but realized that the roads are closed in Feb, so we headed to Goa instead. Seven years later Pratham and I are again discussing Ladakh over the phone in March 18, he could manage a week's off in May so that left us with 9 days(including two weekends). Nine days are too less for Ladakh, we knew it but still decided to give it a squeezing shot. Mohit and Nitish joined very comfortably, we also had a fifth person in the plan who never made it(we are still thankful to him).
Planning
Plan was to leave on Saturday early morning, my Dzire was the default choice as Nitish and Mohit both had 8 year old Dzires and Pratham had Maruti 800. We had to be extra cautious because of our choice of vehicle, chose the Srinagar route for going as well as coming back. My car was brand new, got it serviced(second) a day before leaving.
We had to pack light and tight. I was taking care of tools and Medical, Pratham packed snacks and plank(Fatta), Breakfast was Nitish's responsibility and Mohit took care of Cosmetics and other items. I'll not dwell upon Innerline permit, Google is overflowing with information over it. Our itinerary was-
Day 1 - Palwal to Srinagar (Very optimistic, I know)
Day 2 - Srinagar to Leh (I am not a pessimist. Period)
Day 3 - Leh City
Day 4 - Leh to Nubra
Day 5 - Nubra to Pangong
Day 6 - Pangong to Kargil
Day 7 - Kargil to Jammu
Day 8 - Jammu to Palwal
Day 9 - Rest at Home sweet Home
Ek hota hai hamara plan aur ek hota hai Bhagwan ka.
Read on to find were we able to convert our optimism in to reality and the reason for choosing the last two words of the title.
God's Grace 1- Goldy backed out at the last moment because of some spiritual program planned by our family,I gave it a miss. We kept thanking our stars and Goldy for the entire trip, boot was full and we had to keep atleast one luggage on the rear seat all the time. No way we could have made it with five guys onboard.

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The Journey
I loaded my luggage and started at 2 AM from my home in Palwal, picked up Pratham From Rashtrapati Bhawan in Delhi. The moment we had Pratham's luggage in the boot it was almost(70%) full, we realized the gravity of the situation and thanked Goldy for backing out from the trip. Picked up Nitish and Mohit from Burari Chowk, one bag had to be kept on the rear seat.
Tanked up the car in Delhi and by 4 AM we were out of Delhi and cruising on NH1, leaving early helped a lot. We were cruising effortlessly on an almost empty highway, I decided to cover maximum distance before 9 AM in order to reach Srinagar by day's end. Had B'fast in Ludhiana and Lunch near Udhampur. The moment you start climbing hills you will notice a lot of Xylos and Innovas plying as Taxi, when you honk for side they will politely give you way by indicating(turning on the indicator) the side they want you to pass, its other way round here in the plains . The lunch was a forced one as our car's Check Engine Light started blinking. We pulled over, opened the hood and checked everything. All wires, pipes, turbo everything was in order visually. I decided to ignore the warning and continue the journey until we find a restaurant/ dhaba. Luckily a dhaba was only one Km away, we ordered our lunch and I disconnected the -ve terminal of the battery. Took good 45 minutes to have lunch and rest. Connected back the terminal and continued the journey without any fuss, MAF sensor must have given faulty signal because of thinner air in mountains. Road construction was going on at some places between Jammu and Srinagar which caused some Jams/ Delays, the road just before Srinagar is a breeze and as good as Highways in plains.
“Gar firdaus bar-rue zamin ast, hami asto, hamin asto, hamin ast.” “If there is a heaven on earth, it’s here, it’s here, it’s here.”
Enroute Srinagar

Reached Srinagar Sharp at 8 PM. End of Day 1.
Woke up early on Day 2, had quick B'fast and commenced our journey towards Leh. During our short stay in Srinagar, one thing was pretty clear "Log galat nahi hote, halaat galat hote hain". Sonmarg and Zoji La both are natural beauty and you will be forced to appreciate nature for sometime no matter you are in a hurry or not.
Had Lunch in Kargil, it is the only big town after Sringar. Tasted Kahwa for the first time.
Enroute Sonmarg

Zoji La


You'll encounter long Army convoys on the entire route, be patient. The drivers are Cooperative and will give way when space is available.
Horse

Road or Glacier

Look at the Curves



Craters on Road or Road in Craters. Be ready to scrape.
She needs care

Kargil Restaurant

Reached Leh at 10 PM, not a good time. The city was silent and sleeping, not even dogs were out. Found a Hotel after a long search, otherwise we were mentally prepared to spend the night in car (God's Grace 2). End of Day 2.
Met Youtuber Gagan Chaudhary in Leh Market on day 3, Went to Shanti Stupa as well.
Leh City

Shanti Stupa

Planning to trek from Leh to Khardung La

Met VJ Bani while coming back from Shanti Stupa.
Having Lassi in Leh Market

Day 4, Commenced our journey by car to the Mighty
Khardung La, met the entire cast of Tarak Mehta Ka Ulta Chashma there.

and
Diskit


Four Idiots Again

Some Masti time

Greatest Invention of Mankind, The WHEEL

Nubra Valley

Decided against riding these helpless Animals, took a stroll instead.


Something Great happened just after this

No, I did not fall in the stream, someone called me from a nearby parked vehicle. He was having a folder in his hand. I recognized the folder, it had our Innerline Permits and copies of documents; but why was it in a stranger's custody? I went to have a word with him, he found it lying on road near the check post. We thanked that guy and realized that Pratham kept the Folder along with water bottles on car's roof after returning from check post. He sat in the car without collecting either item (God's Grace 3). The guy who handed our documents could identify me because I had photo on Aadhar Card in Uniform and I was wearing my Indian Navy hoodie that day.
Stay at Diskit Monastery.

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Day 5, had B'fast at Monastery and decided to leave for Pangong via Shyok.
Had to cross many streams like this

On the way to Pangong



Sometimes this was the road

But the Dzire never complained.
First Glimpse of the mighty Pangong


Yak

Mohit is Levitating


When we were in Pangong I got a call from my parents that they were leaving for somewhere and I had to be back at my home by day after tomorrow as my wife would be home alone. That meant there were only two ways to make it, a Leave right now, b Leave tomorrow morning and drive non stop till Palwal. Everyone opted for the second option. Stayed at Pangong.
Day 6-Left Pangong at 4 AM, had to maintain slow speeds as the route from Pangong to Leh was under construction. Had Lunch in Leh, reached Kargil in the Evening. The moment we reached Kargil something was off about the city, traffic was very less and Trucks were parked on the road. Something big was awaiting and we didn't know what.
Traffic towards Zoji La was stopped at Kargil, which justified our observations. Zoji La was closed for last three days because of Land Slide, it was opened today itself but authorities were clearing the traffic which was already stuck at the pass. We were stuck and did not have any idea about the time it will take for the traffic to resume. Decided to park our car and walk to the restaurant where we had lunch earlier. Filled our stomach and reached the parking spot, luckily traffic operations were allowed from Kargil when we reached there(God's Grace 4). Zoji La was in mayhem, we could understand; people were stuck for three days without any facilities. Spoke to a group of bikers, they had to spend nights in Trucks.
We crossed Zoji La at 3 AM with a flat tyre, replaced with spare wheel in Sonmarg.
Locals helped us when our car refused to climb a steep incline, three of us and four other guys pushed then only we could climb. Reached Srinagar in the morning, had B'fast in Ramban; Lunch in Jammu. Reached home late in the night.
Total Days - 7, Budget - 8k per person.
I have mentioned God's Grace four times, in all these situations either we acted stupidly or the variables were not in our control but still we were lucky.
Would I visit again - Definitely, but with 2 weeks at disposal.
Dzire again? - May be, but I'll prefer a tall hatchback/urban SUV.
Route - Himachal - Leh - Srinagar.
Photos can't do justice to the pleasure which you have watching nature out there. It is a must visit location, after being there I believe it is under hyped. Please prepare in advance before starting the trip, Keep a good First aid kit. Planks helped us at two locations. Nature is unforgiving, have some spare days in your itinerary. Ladakh is a Desert, keep yourself hydrated and at the same time use water wisely. Keep your trash in Car/ Dustbin, we were happy to see a clean and pristine Pangong; Let's keep it this way for generations to come.
The road construction between Jammu - Srinagar and Pangong - Leh would be over by now. I do not recommend our itinerary to any one, we were very lucky at certain edges.
5 seater - seat 4
7 seater - seat 5/6
Some pics -








Regards
Mayank

[BlackPearl]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Travelogues Section. Thank you for sharing

[Maverick Avi]

Kudos to your optimism! You were originally planning with 5 folks and their luggage for 8 days in Dzire . It now has one of the lowest ground clearances in its segment. Any serious underbody hits or other damage while pushing or pulling on those inclines? I have a hard time finding a sweet spot to push any maruti car as they tend to dent from everywhere. No offences but that has been my personal experience on quite a few occasions with all my Maruti possessions. And I still own one.

[itsmb]

Originally Posted by Maverick Avi

Kudos to your optimism! You were originally planning with 5 folks and their luggage for 8 days in Dzire . It now has one of the lowest ground clearances in its segment. Any serious underbody hits or other damage while pushing or pulling on those inclines? I have a hard time finding a sweet spot to push any maruti car as they tend to dent from everywhere. No offences but that has been my personal experience on quite a few occasions with all my Maruti possessions. And I still own one.

Yes we were planning with 5 guys, but as I said we were plain lucky at certain occasions, including this one. I was aware of the (in)capabilities of Dzire, especially GC. As mentioned in the travelogue we used planks at two occasions, also 3 of us used to disembark the car wherever we had any doubt regarding car not making it safely. We did scrape at some points but nil serious hits. Only major damage during the entire trip was a puncture, which was later diagnosed as a burst tyre.
Let me reiterate again, I do not recommend anyone to follow our itinerary, rather take our experience as a learning. We did not face any problem, but a better vehicle would further enhance the experience. I won't mind visiting again in Dzire.
Our planning also included speaking to several guys who made it to Ladakh in i20, Santro, Nano, Swift and Esteem safely; so we were quite confident.

[itsmb]

Mohit has made a video of our Journey in Ladakh. It can be seen here.

https://youtu.be/2-0iLJGdRWg

[Rehaan]

Hello Idiots

Just wanted to inform you that your Travelogue was shared on the Team-BHP Facebook page and it received a PHENOMENAL response...

In fact, it holds the current record for most-seen post on our Facebook page, reaching over 1.15 Million people's newsfeeds!

Link to post

[itsmb]

Originally Posted by Rehaan

Hello Idiots

Just wanted to inform you that your Travelogue was shared on the Team-BHP Facebook page and it received a PHENOMENAL response...

Thank you Mods for sharing the travelogue on Facebook and Thank You Rehaan for pointing this.
Facebook has a great response but response on TeamBHP remains dull.

[pensive_07]

That is one amazing Travelogue, Should make a special mention of the title, that is what made me read it in the first place.
Should commend your optimism and also the ability to reflect that to the readers.

[Blacktop]

Originally Posted by itsmb

Thank you Mods for sharing the travelogue on Facebook and Thank You Rehaan for pointing this.
Facebook has a great response but response on TeamBHP remains dull.

Yes indeed - Though under-appreciated, its very well written and a great read. Tossing the folder with the ILP on the car's roof top and driving away only to be found and returned by someone sharp enough to locate and identify you is incredible!