[hvkumar]

Snow-driving is a very skilful job, and ideally done with tyres on chains. No, I can't say I have any great experience beyond having driven in Ladakh and in Kashmir before. It is quite scary and you have to trust your vehicle totally.

[tsk1979]

I used to think that snow is the ultimate challenge, till I encountered black ice. If snow is scary, black ice is nightmare, esp at 8pm at night on the lonely Shimla Narkanda stretch. You never know when you will skid

[prabuddhadg]

Just saw this thread. It is simply amazing the kinds of distances you drive, and equally amazing is how your son also goes along. Did he get at all cranky with being confined in a car for so long at a stretch? I guess he is being brought up in such a way that in the coming years, we will get to read similarly expansive trip travelogues from him too.

Like someone already said, your travelogue is really inspiring, and I can't help feeling frustrated with my office schedule. I have so many plans for road trips, which remain on hold. So, for the time being, I am enjoying from your travelogues. Hope you can have your photographs digitised. It is quite simple these days (I am sure you know). So, I look forward to all the scenes of snow your son got to enjoy, thanks to you.

[hvkumar]

Thanks for the compliements, Prabhuddha. My son enjoyed this one thoroughly, except for one occasion when I cuffed him on the ears for something! He settled down to an easy routine on the long drive from Bombay to Delhi/Dalhousie, maintaining log books, noting down GPS points, keeping track of petrol prices, feeding me useful info on the landscape (shapes of clouds, turn offs, etc), feeding me, and after Delhi went off to sleep well on the back seat. I make up for him on the crankiness front!

Happily, the Snow Hunt trip materialised because I synchronised it with a friend's holiday in that region (planned by me for him using conmventional modes of transport), plus I threw in a small business trip to Ghaziabad/Delhi, Patiala and Chandigarh, which I managed in the last 3 days of the trip without upsetting the real holiday schedule. Plus, the timing was good - a long holiday season and my EU/US clients not complaining because they were away themselves.

[prabuddhadg]

Hey, Kumar, you have a budding navigator at home! That's great! I enjoy keeping records of my daily travel, petrol details etc. But on the long drives, my wife prefers to just sit and watch the scenery, so most of the log happens later, at breaks. Sometimes I think of keeping a dictaphone for these records, but I guess I am a little lazy.

I look forward to your next trip.

[KVS]

HV,

It is very interesting to read your log.

How did you manage driving 2100 Km non stop? During the same time I drove nonstop from Bangalore to Pune. (850 KM in a day). I started at 6 AM and reached Pune by 9:30 PM. I was tired by the time I reached Pune. My wife drove about 100 KM in between.

What are the steps/pre-cautions you take in these long drives? Normally eyes become fatigue after 12 to 14 hrs. How do you avoid falling asleep?

I am planning to do Pune - Laddak some time. Your travel is kind of inspiration and makes me feel it can be done. I can use it to convince my family.

KVS

[hvkumar]

I guess I am used to doing such long drives. I retain my concentration by not stopping anywhere except for refuelling. I also maintain a strict diet - lots of liquids, fresh fruits, dry fruits, etc all which give you enough energy but do not cause any drowsiness.

Well, we have 3 Scorpios going to Ladakh this summer from Bangalore/Bombay/Ahmedabad, expected Aug-Sep, 20 days, you are free to join us.

[breezydrive]

Originally Posted by hvkumar

I guess I am used to doing such long drives. I retain my concentration by not stopping anywhere except for refuelling. I also maintain a strict diet - lots of liquids, fresh fruits, dry fruits, etc all which give you enough energy but do not cause any drowsiness.

Well, we have 3 Scorpios going to Ladakh this summer from Bangalore/Bombay/Ahmedabad, expected Aug-Sep, 20 days, you are free to join us.

Sir, taking a cue from your style, even i have found it very convenient/ motivating to drive non- stop for as long as possible.Earlier, i used to avoid night driving, but recently did Noida - Kullu almost non -stop entire night (with dinner stoppage at Nirula's- Panipat, as we started at 7pm from noida & were stuck in panipat jam).A day after, we did Manikaran - Gurdaspur again starting 5pm & reaching 1am non-stop . A broken Bridge on NH21 between Shahpur- Kotla spoiled the party ( nobody to ask for alternate route at 11pm)
Anyway, it would be really nice, if you can shed a bit more light on the diet factor. I mean should one completely skip meals & tea/ coffee?

[hvkumar]

Originally Posted by breezydrive

Anyway, it would be really nice, if you can shed a bit more light on the diet factor. I mean should one completely skip meals & tea/ coffee?

What I try to avoid is greasy and heavy food. Typically, we have khakras, cashew nuts, badam nuts, apricots, salted pista, oranges, sweet lime (mosambi), apples, biscuits (luckily, I have no diabetes problems!), hard-boiled chocolates, water mixed with flavoured electral, Leh Berry. Sounds (and is!) very dreary but this diet keeps you noursihed, staves off hunger and keeps your stomach running well. Let me hasten to add that this sort of diet is only when we do those long non-stop drives where we don't intend to stop en route for food. While we are on those short-hop sightseeing days, we revert to normal food! I find that if you have lots of liquids, you can remain alert always. I never have tea, coffe or carbonated drinks. Never drank stuff like Red Bull in my life. Even if I stop by to have food, I stick to simple fare (rotis/chappathis, sabji, a little rice and dal). Although I love friedoil stuff like potato wafers, I avoid them totally.

No rocket science diet! No fixed meal times, I keep snacking through the drive whenever I feel like it. When we do pack conventional food, it is idlis and rolled chappathis (with sabji).

[breezydrive]

Thanks a lot, i try to do almost same stuff. But sometimes can't resist as wife & daughter accompany me mostly. However, i take lots of water which keeps me filled.

[PVS]

Hi Kumar

That was a nice travellogue and made an interesting reading!! Surely.. doing 2100 Kms non-stop, requires quite an experience!!

Thanks for sharing the trip report!!

[PVS]

One small question kumar. Which brand/type of GPS do you use? And what information do you extract out of the GPS?

[hvkumar]

I use Garmin GPSMAP60C. It has a basic map software and can tarck routes but cannot intelligently plot routes. I upload the track points to Google Earth Plus. I track points like petrol stations, turn offs and any other relevant landmarks.

[Torqy]

@hvkumar: Doesn't LOT of LIQUIDS translate to LOT of PIT-STOPS?

-- Torqy

Originally Posted by Torqy

@hvkumar: Doesn't LOT of LIQUIDS translate to LOT of PIT-STOPS?

-- Torqy

not necessarily, there is a lot of insensible water loss during travel.the more frequent problem is dehydration. of course, moderation is the key. drinking plenty of fluids does'nt mean guzzling whole litres at one go, it means sipping every 15-20 mins.

BTW, AC wont stop us from dehydrating either, it might slow down the process, but you still have to keep drinking.