[Shakensoul]

Absolutely fantastic illustrative travelogue.

And it takes guts to venture out on a journey like this. The Delhi-Leh journey is also on my wish list and must-to-do list. However the only thing that is stopping me is my car, WagonR. I love to travel and drive myself, but I don't wish to hire a cab and do the journey, I want to do this journey in my car. I love my car more than anything else, and I will not be able to forgive myself if the car breaks down on the way.

[naman]

Great, awesome, miraculous, adventurous, ... I don't have enough words, such great is the travelogue and the place you are describing.

As with many, the trip is in my wishlist as well. If everything goes normally, should be doing this trip in early next season .

OT: Even, I'm worried doing it alone. Shakensoul, may be we can combine the program. Infact, we can make it a tbhp trip from Delhi-Manali-Leh-Srinagar-Delhi. It'll be awesome traveling in a convoy on such an excursion. I know its far far away, but dreaming leads to one day achieving it.

Naman

[harry10]

@ LOCO - Amazing pics and really kool guts to do this mindboggling journey. This is one adventure which is due for me and i hope will be done next year! BTW which camera you used as really nice pics?

@ Rudra - Xtremely good shot. Seems you are a Pro at this this. Same q - Which camera used?

[Shakensoul]

Originally Posted by naman

Great, awesome, miraculous, adventurous, ... I don't have enough words, such great is the travelogue and the place you are describing.

As with many, the trip is in my wishlist as well. If everything goes normally, should be doing this trip in early next season .

OT: Even, I'm worried doing it alone. Shakensoul, may be we can combine the program. Infact, we can make it a tbhp trip from Delhi-Manali-Leh-Srinagar-Delhi. It'll be awesome traveling in a convoy on such an excursion. I know its far far away, but dreaming leads to one day achieving it.

Naman

Sorry Locomotive, this is my last OT post in your thread. I will not take the thunder out of your lovely thread anymore. Infact we all just got inspired to take up this challenge.

BTW, what do you think, will the WagonR be able to survive the ordeal ?

Naman, count me in for next year when the season starts.

[Locomotive]

Originally Posted by Shakensoul

Sorry Locomotive, this is my last OT post in your thread. I will not take the thunder out of your lovely thread anymore. Infact we all just got inspired to take up this challenge.

BTW, what do you think, will the WagonR be able to survive the ordeal ?

Naman, count me in for next year when the season starts.

I have seen Altos and santros on the way. I dont see why you could'nt do it, as long as you stick to the road and dont go on off road. Also nobody can predict the state of the roads. This year there was a lot of work going on for the widening of the road. If it is ready by next year you might just have some great roads.

Also I think it is woth going later in the season, maybe in Sept (you should get the opinion of more experienced travellers on this one). The BRO build these roads quite fast. the roads on our way back were a lot better.

But the point is that you must go. It is beyond words and will stay with you for ever.

[naman]

Lets discuss this elsewhere !! Otherwise, such a beautiful thread will be hijacked. Kudos to you Loco !!

Last OT : However, shouldn't be a problem for a Wagon r IMO. The main Leh sector is definitely doable but not the excursions around Leh. Its actually low GC sedans which might cause problems.

Naman

[govigov]

Awesome travelogue loco.... added to my to do trips. hope to do it realistically in the next 5 years.

[BlackPearl]

awesome pics @locomotive.
This trip has been on my wish list for very long, but I dont have the car nor the means to do it. Hopefully I will be able to do this trip in 2010-11.

[Locomotive]

Pic1 - Nakeela pass. one of the lesser known pass. had never heard of it before we were passing over it
Pic2 - Lachlungla - By now we were a bit bogged down by altitude sickness
Pic3 - road to Pang through the cool comforts of our car
Pic4 - one of the more famouns landmarks
Pic5 - I will later put us an album of just these.
Pic6 - strange rock formations
Pic7 - Closer view. were we on Earth??
Pic8 - Unreal
Pic9 - Just nearing Pang
Pic10 - beautiful. couldnt stopped clicking

[Locomotive]

Originally Posted by BlackPearl

awesome pics @locomotive.
This trip has been on my wish list for very long, but I dont have the car nor the means to do it. Hopefully I will be able to do this trip in 2010-11.

You know this trip can also be done on a shoestring budget. there are lot of groups that do this trip. You could easily join one of these groups. It will be mush better than even backpacking in the Alps!!

[Locomotive]

Day 7 - Pang to Leh.

Pang was unbelievably cold. It was -3 in the morning so must have been about -10 at night. we were wearing all our woolens, fleece jacket, cap, gloves, socks everything and yet we were cold. but due to mountain sickness we did not sleep the whole night. Only thing that helped us through was our hosts warm hospitality.

Early morning we just headed straight for Leh, only 6 hours away. all we wanted was a hot shower and a warm bed. we were so cold that even after turning on the car heater at 26 degrees we did not take our warm clothes off for almost 2 hours!!

just 30 minutes after Leh we suddenly hit the More plains, a vast 40 km long platue (at some 15300 ft) surrounded by mountains. It was a sight to behold. But we were not feeling well enough to take snaps. So this phase has gone undocumented (we did get a lot of snaps on our way back though).

Next up was Tanglang-la pass. The most trecherous pass on our journey. Very poor roads on this section. Also we had never seen such desolation in our lives. it was indeed a desert, a cold desert. It was spectacular, dont get me wrong, but i doubt if we could have survived a day here. Our mountain sickness reached a crecendo here. It was getting difficult to concentrate and we slowed down to a crawl with all 4 eyes on the road.

As we decended down towards leh things got better. The road got better, the surrounding got greener, the mountains took this strange maroon hue (just like amchi Maharashtra) and we saw people around.

I got the honour of taking the wheel for the last lap to Leh, this trip was my baby after all :-) what a feeling it was. Just 7 days back we were battling the daily Mumbai traffic and now we are 2500 kms away from home, at some 11500 ft above sea level and had just seen some of the most spectacular places on earth. what a feeling it was!! want to live it all over again.

The approach to Leh was just beautiful and so was the road leading to it. what a drive it was :-) The SX4 finally got to stretch her legs :-)

Pic1 - our tent at pang. shared it with some 10 people.
Pic2 - frost on our car the next morning
Pic3 - Our most gracious Hostess.
Pic4 - Sanju, the local tyre repair guy with his friend. Both gave us excellent company the previous night. very warm people.
Pic4 - Tanglang-la
Pic5 - Not really up for a snap but this had to be done.
Pic6 - Ladhaki kids. this photo was in exchange of all the chocolate in our car. absolutely worth it.
Pic7 - Bikers paradise. These guys, as we discovered later, were making a documentary for NDTV good times and had a full crew taking shots of them from 2 scorpios. dont be surprised if you see on NDTV, a picture perfect stop of bulleteers being ruined by two dimwits in a red car waving wildly at the camera.
Pic8 - The last lap. were we happy or were we happy. suddenly mountain sickness meant nothing.
Pic9 - Pornografitti - manna for the one track mind!!
Pic10 - the pills that keep us alive. combiflam + paracetamol with lots of water to counter mild sickness. We had the more serious stuff but luckily did not have to use it.

[Locomotive]

Pic11 - the pills that keep us alive. combiflam + paracetamol with lots of water to counter mild sickness. We had the more serious
stuff but luckily did not have to use it.

[adc]

Great travelogue and pics. and oh yes liked this statement much!!!

first ever sighting of the mighty Himalayas :-) for likes of us who have just been fed on a diet of the Lonawalas and Matherans, this was indeed an eye opener. what a mighty range of mountains. and we had seen nothing yet!!

[kaushik_s]

You've not used Diamox? It's supposed to be of quite help to not to have AMS.
BTW lovely shots, specially the last shot on Post 39, others are also nice but that one is special.
Just one request, please add the comments along with the photographs itself instead putting the list at top following by the pics.. It's bit difficult to scroll up and down to view the photo and then read the comment.
And you've also seen those bikers ? We found them on all the places we went, first Khardung La(but not in Nubra), then at Panong Tso. At Tso Moriri also have seen few but not sure if those were them. And there were two lady riders too in that NDTV group. Actually have to confess, my ego was little bit hurt when I've seen them riding around Ladakh and myself being driven around. So much wished that I was also driving/riding myself.

[Locomotive]

Days 8 - 9 Leh - Khardungla.

I think all we did in leh was to rest and eat. Lovely food in the market particularly in the german bakery and a Pub close to it. Loved the Godfather beer available in Leh.

Unfortunately we did not explore too much. This was when we discovered that our car's papers were missing. we had to spend one precious evening in the Leh police station to get the FIR done!!

What caught my attention in Leh was the brilliant roads. On one han we have Mumbai, the economic powerhouse in India, with such disguisting roads and on the other hand was Leh, a tiny town high up in the mountains but with beautiful roads.

I am in complete support for BRO to replace BMC. after all Mumbai is also technically a border.

Khardungla was the very pinnacle of our journey. Highest motorable road in the world. Closest to God one can get in a car :-)

From there onwards the return journey began.

Pic1 - It was raining all morning. when the clouds cleared we saw this strange halo around the sun. Here even though its cold, the sun is incredibly harsh. It is said that if you sit in the sun with your feet in the shade you could theoretically get both a sunburn and a frostbite at the same time!!
Pic2 - Prayer stones at Thiksey Monastary.
Pic3 - trying my hand at some wildlife photography
Pic4 - Thiksey Monastary
Pic5 - Lush green fields in the village surrounding the Monastary.
Pic6 - I dont remember what this was but it had some sort of a religious significance.
Pic7 - Roads leading to Leh.
Pic8 - I vote for BRO for MUmbai
Pic9 - I dont understand how these houses are embedded into the mountain
Pic10 - Welcome to Leh.