[Locomotive]

Dear All,

My brother and I completed the greatest roadtrip of our lives. Two weeks from the 2nd to the 16th of August it was just 5000+ kms pure nirvana.

I wish to share our experience with all of you. Hope you like it and do such a trip yourself.

This journey is a must add to your bucket list. One thing is for sure. We are certainly going back for our fix of the mountains.

Cheers
Sabya

Day 1 - Mumbai - Ahmedabad

• terrible roads between Surat and Baroda. Took us 4 hours to cover this section. Mind numbing stuff.
• the Baroda- Ahmedabad road was an absolute beauty. Covered 84kms in 39mins :-)

Day 2 - Ahmedabad - Jaipur

• Ahmedabad - Udaipur - one of the most scenic roads we had drivien on till that day. after the pounding we got the day before this was an absolute treat.
• 
  Since we had progressed so well through Rajasthan (particulary after a day of driving on those miserable potholed roads in Gujrat) we decided to celebrate with a lunch at the world famous Taj Lake Palace at Udaipur. to save time we hired Yusuf (a local guide) to take us to the hotel and also show us around. To our disbelief, the hotel allowed only residents into their restaurants. We then decided to at least look around the city. when we reached the lake The Lake palave hotel did not look half as impressive as in the pics. apparently it had not rained since 2 years in Udaipur so the lake has dried up. Now why would anyone stay at 'Lake' palace if there is no lake???? seemed like sweet justice.
• 
  Udaipur to Jaipur was again beautiful roads excepting for one streach through Chittorgarh (about 2 hours) when we had single carriageway highway.

Day 3 - Jaipur - Chandigarh

• Jaipur to Delhi - fantastic highway but very boring. We found quite a few Fiesta diesels (not petrols, they were all diesels) up for a race. We did destroy them in the end but they gave us a good fight. We were quite surprised really with the Fiesta's performance
• Gurgaon and Delhi roads - absolutely fabulous - now we know where our tax money is going. When will we have such roads in Mumbai?? we deserve it yaar.
• The GT Karnal road - some bad patches but great on the whole. arrow straight but we could always find someone up for a race :-) again raced with a couple of fiesta diesels!! wonder if Pete is doing brisk business in the North.

Day 4 - Chandigarh - Manali

• 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!!

Pic1 - wet start to the journey. it was pouring
Pic2 - Baroda - Ahmedabad highway
Pic3 - Ahmedabad - Udaipur Highway
Pic4 - Dried up lake around lake palace
Pic5 - Kullu
Pic6 - Early morning in Manali


I would keep posting writeups and snaps of each day as quickly as possible. Please bear with me.

Cheers
Sabya

[abhijitaparadh]

Thrilling stuff!

More pics please.

[Locomotive]

Day 5 - Manali - Jispa

• This was where the real stuff began. Gave us a glimpse of what lay ahead :-)
• Road to Rohtang Pass was being widened to 4 lanes. (The golden Quadrilateral till Rohtang Pass :-)) But while it is being constructed, the road is absolute utter mess. We started wondering where it was a good idea to get the SX4 here. But she did well. The underbody hot hit only a cople of times. and her huge tyres ensured that we did not get stck in the mud. But the road was absolutely abysmal.
• There was no snow on Rohtang la.
• Nor were there any signboards saying that we reached Rohtang la. We realised only after we crossed over and the greens of the Manali side gave way to the drier hues of the Kokhsar side.
• the scene changed every perhaps every hour. from lush green flower laden valleys to absolutely barren yet equally beautiful mountains.
• Last petrol station at Tandi before Leh. almmost 400 Kms without another one.
• we stayed over at a campsite in Jispa (both the Hotels in Jispa were full). The view was just majestic. aftr a long days drive it was pure heaven.
• The road from Manali to Jispa was horrible. we did only 150 odd km in 10 hours!!!

Pic1 - Tanking up in Manali. we were carrying some 50lts of fuel.
Pic2 - road to rohtang. This was the better part. neared to the pass it was all eyes on the road so no photos.
Pic3 - ush greens of the Manali side
Pic4 - Immediately after we crossed Rohtang Pass. note how much drier it suddenly gets.
Pic5 - Border Roads Organisation (BRO - The mountain taimers) paving the roads. extremely difficult working environment. due to the high altitude's rarified air it is impossible to work long here. In fact these people do not work more than 4 hours in a day.
Pic6 - down in the valley after crossing Rohtang
Pic7 - I think this is just after Koksar. Really poor roads
Pic8 - see how the scenery changes. all the photos are in sequence
Pic9 - suddenly this arid cold desert appeared from nowhere.
Pic10 - Last filling station at Tandi. we were taking no chances.

[RuffRyder]

Originally Posted by Locomotive

Dear All,

My brother and I completed the greatest roadtrip of our lives. Two weeks from the 2nd to the 16th of August it was just 5000+ kms pure nirvana.

I wish to share our experience with all of you. Hope you like it and do such a trip yourself.

This journey is a must add to your bucket list. One thing is for sure. We are certainly going back for our fix of the mountains.

Cheers
Sabya

Day 1 - Mumbai - Ahmedabad

• terrible roads between Surat and Baroda. Took us 4 hours to cover this section. Mind numbing stuff.
• the Baroda- Ahmedabad road was an absolute beauty. Covered 84kms in 39mins :-)

Day 2 - Ahmedabad - Jaipur

• Ahmedabad - Udaipur - one of the most scenic roads we had drivien on till that day. after the pounding we got the day before this was an absolute treat.
• 
  Since we had progressed so well through Rajasthan (particulary after a day of driving on those miserable potholed roads in Gujrat) we decided to celebrate with a lunch at the world famous Taj Lake Palace at Udaipur. to save time we hired Yusuf (a local guide) to take us to the hotel and also show us around. To our disbelief, the hotel allowed only residents into their restaurants. We then decided to at least look around the city. when we reached the lake The Lake palave hotel did not look half as impressive as in the pics. apparently it had not rained since 2 years in Udaipur so the lake has dried up. Now why would anyone stay at 'Lake' palace if there is no lake???? seemed like sweet justice.
• 
  Udaipur to Jaipur was again beautiful roads excepting for one streach through Chittorgarh (about 2 hours) when we had single carriageway highway.

Day 3 - Jaipur - Chandigarh

• Jaipur to Delhi - fantastic highway but very boring. We found quite a few Fiesta diesels (not petrols, they were all diesels) up for a race. We did destroy them in the end but they gave us a good fight. We were quite surprised really with the Fiesta's performance
• Gurgaon and Delhi roads - absolutely fabulous - now we know where our tax money is going. When will we have such roads in Mumbai?? we deserve it yaar.
• The GT Karnal road - some bad patches but great on the whole. arrow straight but we could always find someone up for a race :-) again raced with a couple of fiesta diesels!! wonder if Pete is doing brisk business in the North.

Day 4 - Chandigarh - Manali

• 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!!

Pic1 - wet start to the journey. it was pouring
Pic2 - Baroda - Ahmedabad highway
Pic3 - Ahmedabad - Udaipur Highway
Pic4 - Dried up lake around lake palace
Pic5 - Kullu
Pic6 - Early morning in Manali


I would keep posting writeups and snaps of each day as quickly as possible. Please bear with me.

Cheers
Sabya

WoW @ Sabya...

Man, trust me dont know what to tell you..that is some intense adventure man..i mean the thrill that you get, as you mentioned would be like truly attaining Moksha...Amazing is not the word man..hope to get some more detailed specs about the FE of your car, total liters consumed etc,etc.
I am waiting for your report on Leh and the pics from that leg, as iam from Leh and it would def make my day to see some pics of my place..

p.s would keep a close eye on this thread,,,lol

Cheers..cheers:

xxxRuffRyderxxx

[Locomotive]

Pic11 - Our tent for the night :-) very very comfortable.
Pic12 - Early Morning at Jispa. check out the campsite. But this was my first encounter with mountain sickness. slight headache which was ok really. but I could not sleep well the entire night.

[Locomotive]

Originally Posted by RuffRyder

WoW @ Sabya...

Man, trust me dont know what to tell you..that is some intense adventure man..i mean the thrill that you get, as you mentioned would be like truly attaining Moksha...Amazing is not the word man..hope to get some more detailed specs about the FE of your car, total liters consumed etc,etc.
I am waiting for your report on Leh and the pics from that leg, as iam from Leh and it would def make my day to see some pics of my place..

p.s would keep a close eye on this thread,,,lol

Cheers..cheers:

xxxRuffRyderxxx

You are from Leh!! wow. what a place. Made even more spectacular by its lovely people. I would really like to thank the people I met in this journey for making it so memorable. Never felt so much at home so far away from home. One day probably I will settle down in Leh. Really really oved Ladakh.

Juley!!

[bobster]

WOW loco an absolutely dream road trip, must put it in my list of things 2 do before i die . I would also like how was SX4 after the trip? must've taken quite a beating, also did you guys use a sump guard?
great stuff guys, upload more snaps if possible.

[snaronikar]

Good pics and travelogue. Keep them coming. ;-)

[Locomotive]

Originally Posted by bobster

WOW loco an absolutely dream road trip, must put it in my list of things 2 do before i die . I would also like how was SX4 after the trip? must've taken quite a beating, also did you guys use a sump guard?
great stuff guys, upload more snaps if possible.

Thanks mate, I was prepared for some serious maintainence bill aftr the trip. but she did really will. I had not installed any sory of guards. Amazingly there is absolutely no sign that she has done a trip like this. Not a single rattle inside (even though I still do not fancy the plastics). Absolutely no underbody damage. Vittesse (who would normally advise a replacement at a drop of a hat) had nothing to change in the cars 20000km service. (But they were sure as hell wondering where all that strange light coloured muck came from). I think the 190mm GC has something to do with it

The only change (which only I can notice) are
1. the suspension has settled down a bit. The car when new had a very stiff and bumpy ride. now it has smoothened out just that little bit.
2. the engine revs really nicely. I guess resulting out of all those races on the golden quadrlateral

But this is a must do trip. no amount of words or pics can truely do justice to it!!!

[RuffRyder]

Originally Posted by Locomotive

You are from Leh!! wow. what a place. Made even more spectacular by its lovely people. I would really like to thank the people I met in this journey for making it so memorable. Never felt so much at home so far away from home. One day probably I will settle down in Leh. Really really oved Ladakh.

Juley!!

Juley to you to loco...Khamzan in aa? (hope you are fine)

Thanx for the compliment and also glad to hear that you would want to someday settle in LEh..let me know if you need any help..
keep those pics coming..

Cheers
xxxRuffRyderxxx

[ASHISHPALLOD]

this is dreamtrip of any bhpian.
keep pics coming and give all details.

[kaushik_s]

Waiting for the pics after Jispa, that's where the actual fun begins.. Leh, oh what a place it is. And probably we've crossed path sometime as we were also there at Ladakh at the same time.

Originally Posted by RuffRyder

Juley to you to loco...Khamzan in aa? (hope you are fine)

Thanx for the compliment and also glad to hear that you would want to someday settle in LEh..let me know if you need any help..

Juley, is this offer available to others also ;-) ? I mean I actually was thinking about settling down at Leh, it was just that thing called love at first sight he he. I just couldn't help but falling in love with that place. Surely be going there next year also.

[Locomotive]

Day 6 - Jispa to Pang

The most spectacular day of our journey. Unbelievable scenary all around. We were truely overwhelmed. This was also a day of high passes. Baralachla, Nakeela and Lachlungla (all above 16000 ft) were crossed on this day!!

• finally some freshly laid tramac for our poor car. relatively brilliant drive upto Baralacha-la
• we met some fellow Oriyas at the military station at Patsio. what a warm welcome we got.
• some unbelievable scenery along the way. really difficult to describe. see snaps.
• The terrain we passed through was absolutely unbelievable (almost unreal). The Dhaba stay at Pang was the toughest night of our lives. We were down with mountain sickness and it was bitterly cold outside. But it was also the most memorable night of our lives. Mainly due to the lovely people we met. There were the truck driver, a family who were stuck in Pang enroute to Leh, a tyre repiar shop owner and the dhaba wallas. All extremely warm and intelligent people.

Pic1 - Jawans setting a few metal plates right as we wait for the army convoy to pass. the army has the right of way in Ladakh and rightly so. It was nearing 14 August and the army was on high alert. Lots of check posts the way.
Pic2 - The only thing we could find in Patsio was an army base
Pic3 - The Patsio army base. Another addditon to our adventure happened here. We left our RC book insurance papers etc here!! We discovered them missing only at Leh. we had to file an FIR and then inquire at every checkpost on our way back if they had our papers. you do not want to drive up to an army checkpost with a car that has absolutely no papers!!!!
Pic4 - The yellow signboard read "When the going gets tough, the tough get going". Exquisite timing.
Pic5 - This one is for scale. spot the truck.
Pic6 - en route Baralacha-la
Pic7 - Baralacha-la, first real mountain pass :-)
Pic8 - brings a tear to my eye. this was just as much as the camera could capture!!
Pic9 - rugged beauty
Pic10 - suddely we were greeted with the grasslands at Sarchu. Spectacular!!

This section has the maximum pics. We just could not stop clicking please bear with me.

[Locomotive]

Originally Posted by kaushik_s

Waiting for the pics after Jispa, that's where the actual fun begins.. Leh, oh what a place it is. And probably we've crossed path sometime as we were also there at Ladakh at the same time.


Juley, is this offer available to others also ;-) ? I mean I actually was thinking about settling down at Leh, it was just that thing called love at first sight he he. I just couldn't help but falling in love with that place. Surely be going there next year also.

You are right Kaushik, the action begins only after Jispa!! but it was just amazing how it just kept building up. Each day was better than the one before!!

And love at first sight it indeed was!! I am also going back next year for my fix of the mountains. Cant wait to be back. Got to find a job that pays me for doing this!!

[Locomotive]

Pic1 - me and my better half at sarchu
Pic2 - camps on the sarchu plains
Pic3 - on the way
Pic4 - the signboard read "Tan Tana Tan Tan" there was nothing within a 5 km radius around this milestone. Bro does have a sence of Humor, a vryptic one indeed!!
Pic5 - on the way again
Pic6 - yet again on the way :-)
Pic7 - The Gata Loops begin here. we had heard lots about the gata loops. very very excited at seeing this board :-)
Pic8 - beautiful roads up the gata loop. freshly laid, it was serious fun to drive on these winding roads.
Pic9 - my babe on top of gata loop.
Pic10 - End of Gata loops.