[Sowmya]

I believe that the Hilly Region People has still a Bigger heart They have still preserved it. I too had same exp with this people while I was in trip in Darjeeling/Kalimpong/Gangtok...

[sps]

Wonderful write up tanveer. you made me read through the entire post and it was as exciting as reading a novel. Waiting for the rest of story.

Really a nightmare to have such a breakdown in the middle of an exciting journey. But then this also counts to be an experience.

[tsk1979]

Its mid afternoon when we reach chini market. We are hungry and tired, and its a 1 km trek up the stairs to the hotel. By road its 4kms.
So we begin our slow climb, and reach the hotel. I return the phone to the guy, and they readily agree to make lunch for us.
However there is no power, and no way to charge mobile phones. Its been almost 12 hours since the power went out, and repairs are expected to go beyond evening.
We can't really do anything now, so the plan is to eat, rest and then venture out in the evening to a STD booth and call up chd customercare guy and ask about the status.

Evening we venture out. There is lot of haze in the air surprisingly, and the kinner kailash is barely visible

This is the chini village. We buy a fanta from here, and its sold at MRP. Try buying stuff at MRP in the plains from a Dhaba.

A prayer flag



At the chini village most STD booths are closed due to lack of power, but one guy is open.
First we call up chd, and the customer care guy gives me the number of JP motors solan, who are sending their service guy.
I call up solan, and they tell me that a guy called lucky has already left, and should be with me in the morning. They also give me his mobile number.
The STD booth guys tells me not to put zero before calling, otherwise it will be STD call and I will end up paying more.
Tell you what... the kind of honesty I saw in Kalpa in unparalleled!
Finally things are looking up. I call him up, and he is at shimla bus stand. Bus will leave around 8, and 5am he will be here.
I tell him mobiles are not working, but I will give him a call in the night once power comes back.


All we have to do now is laze around and wait...
Due to the fog the scenery is uninspiring


We go back to hotel and just relax. Tired frustrated and angry is all I can say about the mood.
Have dinner, take a couple of night shots, which are useless due to the fog

Another one


Its time to sleep . Tomorrow is going to be a long day, early wake up and real long 16 hours drive. Hopefully once he comes, its going to be the end of our troubles... hopefully...

[HappyWheels]

TSK,

So, you left your vehicle as MASS and went to Kalpa and that's the end? Or is there anything left in this adventure?

Or did I miss a post??

EDIT: Spot on! Guess you read my mind!

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by HappyWheels

TSK,

So, you left your vehicle as MASS and went to Kalpa and that's the end? Or is there anything left in this adventure?

Or did I miss a post??

We left our vehicle at MASS and went to Kalpa by bus. Now how can that be the end. I am sitting here typing, and I drove back from Kalpa to Delhi

[HappyWheels]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

We left our vehicle at MASS and went to Kalpa by bus. Now how can that be the end. I am sitting here typing, and I drove back from Kalpa to Delhi

Frustration can drive one to great extent! Would not be surprised even if this had happened!

[tsk1979]

Its 6am in the morning, and we hear a knock on the door. The very sleepy hotel guy has come with the phone. Its lucky on the other end. Lucky is in Reckong Peo, Lucky has seen my car parked there, and Lucky cheerfully tells me in Punjabi not to worry, he will solve whatever problem is there.
So we quickly reach chini village, trying to find some vehicle to take us down to Reckong Peo
The sun has not risen yet and the mountains are still sleeping
I think I get to see the sunrise maybe once a year? Today morning thanks to Tata we were up before daybreak

another view



However it looks as if none of the village people want to catch daybreak, so we start walking towards the junction hoping to get a lift.
Soon a Mahindra Pickup comes, and for 50rs he agrees to take us down to Reckong Peo.
We reach the MASS, and call up lucky.
He shouts that he sees us. I look up the hairpin bend and see a very thin guy with two bags.
One laptop bag, and one very huge bag, obviously full of spare parts.
Instead of coming down the road way, he takes a shortcut down the mountainside, and comes down the 4x4 way. Too bad I did not have a camera.
We shake hands, and he is cheerful, and very cold. 5 degrees is the temp, and in a rickety HP roadways bus I am sure its been a really really feezing experience.


We open the car, connect the laptop and look for the error code.
Its the temp sensor.
Well most probably case of faulty temp sensor.
Safari has 2 of these, one was changed some time back and is not giving errors. It controls the fans and fans are working. This is the sensor which is telling ECU to go into limp home mode.
Lucky opens his goody bag. It has among other things, the sensors, some other parts, and an accelerator pedal too. Safari is a drive by wire system. The accelerator pedal does not pull a cable, its electronic. This was actually a big shock for me.

We change the sensor, clear error code, and start driving towards the hotel.
Soon, the same thing happens, half level temp guage, and engine in limp home mode.
The sensor is in limp home mode.
Lucky gets out, disconnects something in the engine bay, and we start again. No problem now, car is moving, except that the temp guage has started rising towards red.
We stop the car immediately and plug in laptop, and look at raw sensor data.
Coolant temp is 115 degrees.
Fans are working, and coolant resevoir is full.
For 2 minutes we just scratch our heads. He calls up the service center and speaks to them.
They ask him to remove the radiator cap.
He does so, and jumps back, expecting steaming hot water to come out.
But nada, zilch comes out.
There is no water in the radiator.
Further inspection reveals the pipe which is supposed to take the coolant to radiator is bent.

So what do do now?
Well no problem, there is a 2L bottle in a car, and a freezing cold waterfall is flowing nearby.
3 bottles later, the radiator is full, and the car is ready to go.
We reach the hotel 15kms away, all uphill, and check coolant temp. Its 96 degrees, where it should be.
No error codes now.
Finally we can move.

So the plan is simple now. Drive to Solan, drop him, check coolant and then drive back to Delhi.
We take breakfast, get ready, and its almost 11 as we get out of the hotel.
11:30 we talk up at reckong peo, and hopefully this tankful will take us all the way to Noida 600kms away!

The ordeal is over(atleast thats what we think), and spirits are high.
Let the journey begin!
With lucky and his laptop with us, the journey to solan should be uneventful.......

[normally_crazy]

Tanveer - that's exciting stuff. Keep it going mate.

[druva]

Excellent writeup Tanveer. I read both of your threads in a single go. Sorry to read about ur situation though. you have put me in double mind about buying Safari.

Anyways one question. Can you clarify whether you clicked the photo of the donkey (the brown coloured hairy one ) during the forward journey or the return one?

Cheers

[mmmjgm]

Very exciting stuff TS, great photos too. You have your head on your shoulders in an emergency like this, that's a great attribute. Kudos.

Regards
/\/\

[PatienceWins]

Exciting stuff!! Keep it going.

[jaysmokesleaves]

@tsk> Did you take the right turn at the end of the road at Chitkul. Its full of boulders and leads to the actual end of the road which had something like a gateway of India.?
From here you can see the river flowing after drop and a lot of cultivation by the riverside. Cant find the pic, will post when I find it.
I remember driving my Safari all the way till there.

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by druva

Excellent writeup Tanveer. I read both of your threads in a single go. Sorry to read about ur situation though. you have put me in double mind about buying Safari.

Anyways one question. Can you clarify whether you clicked the photo of the donkey (the brown coloured hairy one ) during the forward journey or the return one?

Cheers

The hairy donkey was clicked on the first day. When we had gone to Sangla to stay, but had to double back to Kalpa because of water shortage in Sangla

Originally Posted by normally_crazy

Tanveer - that's exciting stuff. Keep it going mate.

Originally Posted by mmmjgm

Very exciting stuff TS, great photos too. You have your head on your shoulders in an emergency like this, that's a great attribute. Kudos.

Regards
/\/\

Originally Posted by PatienceWins

Exciting stuff!! Keep it going.

Thanks guys!

Originally Posted by jaysmokesleaves

@tsk> Did you take the right turn at the end of the road at Chitkul. Its full of boulders and leads to the actual end of the road which had something like a gateway of India.?
From here you can see the river flowing after drop and a lot of cultivation by the riverside. Cant find the pic, will post when I find it.
I remember driving my Safari all the way till there.

Yes, thats the road, I only went 50 meters. I have HT tires so did not want to risk going further.

[jaysmokesleaves]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

Yes, thats the road, I only went 50 meters. I have HT tires so did not want to risk going further.

I assume those are the same oem tires I have. They are completely useless bridgestones. However I dragged the safari right till the end scraping the bottom guard plates and what not. Half the little village of Chitkul and the ITBP gathered there to tell me that I will get stuck. BUt that stretch had to be done before I could be convinced that the safari was a capable vehicle offroad.

While the ordeal that you have endured is indeed sad one fact emerges from all this. TML has a good after sales emergency response team. If they can send an engineer all the way up in the hills to rescue you, Safari customers can sure can count on them during their escapades if at all the need arises.
Vasooli hai bhai> 2.2VTT + 4yrs warranty.

[sudev]

tsk1979 quote:
Due to lack of rains, there was too much dust all around. Downstream it gets even dirtier
endquote:

On the contrary the opposite should be true. With no precipitation (rain or snow) the water become absolutely clear and blue. If it was muddy then there must have been snow/rain upstream or some other disturbance.

That apart lovely pictures and enjoyable travelouge as usual.