[FAIAAA]

animeshc:
We trekked till a temple before heading down via another route to Dharamkot where we planned to work through the day. Dharamkot had a very young vibe to it.

Excellent car, great Travelogue!!
Having recently been to Dharamkot in my humble BRV , via the same (shorter but steeper "local") route from Dharamshala to McLeodganj, all i can say is very brave and well done, in a low slung luxury sedan.
Re Triund trek, We infact started with the same intent - just walk from Dharamkot to Gallu devi mandir to enjoy the beautiful trail - but ended up trekking 13 kms ( 7 kms up to Triund and 6 kms down) on the same day.

[xantia]

Originally Posted by animeshc

A shell shocked reaction was what I had expected from my better(and more sensible) half and she didn’t disappoint.

And that for me was the start of several Wodehouse-ian moments in a totally cool travelogue. Well done.

[sandeepmohan]

Damn! Your red S5 looks sick! Glad to read you are enjoying the car. I could not think of a better car when you started your hunt. Its a car that stands out, as there are no cars on the road that look like it. The closest is the CLA (or the old CLS) but trust me, you have more room in an S5. The CLA is small even for a kid sitting at the back!

The Delhi Jaipur run is indeed awful. I did it way back in 2006-2007, though the other way round. I thought infrastructure on this busy corridor would have improved by now. Looks like it has not. I was assisting a friend relocate to Delhi (From Bombay). He wanted to drive his Honda Civic, instead of load the car on a truck. Other than rest room and food breaks, we drove non stop. Took turns behind the wheel. I could not tell if we were on a highway back then, the Jaipur-Delhi stretch. It was that bad. We left Bombay around 8pm and reached our destination in 22 hours! It was tiring but a memory I can never forget. I saw a part of our country I never would otherwise.

[animeshc]

Originally Posted by androdev

Awesome road trip! I think it's one of the best looking red cars in the market. I am sure you will find a good seating position after some trial and error - maybe it's not the seat but front visibility being hampered by low seat/high bonnet?

Please post a snapshot of Google maps route you took.

Thanks, yes still trying out different configurations.

This is the onward route:


Zoomed in version:


Return route till the western express highway:

Originally Posted by Dr.AD

Rarely do we see such beautiful cars being driven across the interstate drives, and even more rarely on mountain drives and challenging terrains. Kudos to you for doing that.

Thanks, your travel tales with the 320d are definitely an inspiration!

Originally Posted by Surya1

Thanks for all the beautiful pics.
I hope you get Lucifer back to the state it left the showroom soon.

Thanks, being a CBU I had to wait almost a month for the parts to arrive but it finally came back last week looking as good as new. Phew!

Originally Posted by jkrishnakj

What a log. What a car! Whew! 1700+ km of fun.

Thanks.

Originally Posted by JoshMachine

There's a thing about mountain drives and low-slung sedans!

Thanks, indeed! Hoping to do a few more next winter.

Originally Posted by sachin_cs

Kudos to you guys for taking your V6-low slung-low profile tyred car to Himachal and not keeping S5 as a garage queen. Audi S5 screems attention and rightly so, its such a beautiful car.

Thanks. Yes, it is turning out to be the exact opposite of a sleeper car.

Originally Posted by d_payne

I drove my S5 to Udaipur and back in the first week I received it and I couldn't have been happier with my buying decision. The true joy of ownership for car is on road trips and not hooliganism on city roads. Beautifully documented, happy belated birthday to you.

Thanks. I can imagine how the Udaipur drive would have been wonderful, the roads in Rajasthan are definitely more suited for the car.

Originally Posted by BhaskarG

Thank you! Your piece made my day!

I am always of the opinion that if money permits, then buy the car that gives you the kick while you are still young.

Thanks. +1 to that.

Originally Posted by benbsb29

Thanks for sharing your writeup on this trip, and the memories made along the way.
About the damage to the car, for something that wasn't in your control, glad that you decided not to pursue it and ruin your trip. Attribute it to an unplanned expense, and continue to enjoy your car.

Thanks, just hope there aren't too many of these unplanned expenses

Originally Posted by evil_grin

This cracked me up! You have an amusing writing style.
I so love the exhaust note! It's now my favourite one. Keep sharing pics and videos of the car.

Thanks. The exhaust one of the big factors during the car selection process and thankfully it hasn't disappointed one bit.

Originally Posted by FAIAAA

Excellent car, great Travelogue!!
Having recently been to Dharamkot in my humble BRV , via the same (shorter but steeper "local") route from Dharamshala to McLeodganj, all i can say is very brave and well done, in a low slung luxury sedan.
Re Triund trek, We infact started with the same intent - just walk from Dharamkot to Gallu devi mandir to enjoy the beautiful trail - but ended up trekking 13 kms ( 7 kms up to Triund and 6 kms down) on the same day.

Thanks. Doing Triund in a day is damn impressive! Will definitely try it next time.

Originally Posted by xantia

And that for me was the start of several Wodehouse-ian moments in a totally cool travelogue. Well done.

Thanks!

Originally Posted by sandeepmohan

Damn! Your red S5 looks sick! Glad to read you are enjoying the car. I could not think of a better car when you started your hunt. Its a car that stands out!

I thought infrastructure on this busy corridor would have improved by now. Looks like it has not. We left Bombay around 8pm and reached our destination in 22 hours! It was tiring but a memory I can never forget. I saw a part of our country I never would otherwise.

You had indeed suggested S5 during my initial car deliberation so thanks again for that. The infra on Delhi Jaipur route has improved but so has the traffic, looking forward to the new Delhi-Mumbai expressway that aims to reduce the travel time significantly.

[sudhirjaipur]

Nice road trips. How do you guys keep your rides clean during a multiday trip staying at hotels on the way, do you carry some washing gear or use car washes. Thanks for your help.