13th May 2009, 14:38
| #46 |
| Distinguished - BHPian   | |
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13th May 2009, 14:41
| #47 | |
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13th May 2009, 14:45
| #48 | |
| Team-BHP Support   | Quote:
They say his name is similar to one of the models which Skoda sells worldwide. | |
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13th May 2009, 14:47
| #49 | |
| Senior - BHPian  | Quote:
You know I am just hooked on to my Laptop sitting here at hospital, waiting for the next lot. I guess I deserve some concession with you posting the pics fast | |
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13th May 2009, 14:53
| #50 | |
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13th May 2009, 14:57
| #51 |
| Team-BHP Support  | Day 4 - Rohtang, here we come Its past 5:30pm, the light is fading, and storm is looming, and we are on the road to Rohtang! Yay! Talk about elation. Persistance pays. We got Third time lucky. The happiness is too much to express. I can barely hold the steering straight! The road rises steeply, and we can faintly make out the settlement of Kothi down below. In the pic below look at the bottom left  At first its slushy and slightly wet. Sun played hide and seek, but soon snow starts showing. Till now its only on the sides  The weather is also intermittent. Occasionally its snowing also, and the winds are so strong that every gust the car shakes  As we gain altitude, the snow gets more and more  The track is slushy, however no 4WD needed till now. there is no sign of the zen. Did they go all the way up? The way the road is I pity the cars suspension. MUV/SUV is okay, but taking a fully loaded low GC car on this stretch is stretching a little too much  On the way a qualis is coming down. Its a local taxi. The guys tell us. Sadak Kharraab hai. Gaadi upar nahin jayigi, sirf neeche aayegi(Bad road, you can come down, but can't go up). But we carry on. Till now the track is not even challenging Shortly afterward we spot the Zen. Its coming down, at breakneck speed. I can see both front wheels bouncing up like crazy over every bump! The literally slide to a stop next to us, and tell us "Band hai". Well the white elephant makes it own road.. and we carry on. The road get snowier, and now all that remains is slush mixed with ice. Kind of like chocolate milkshake  Snow walls start towering on our heads. right over hear we cross a sumo. There is not enough place to pass, and some reversing is required. I can see the sumo wheels slipping as he reverses, ditto for me. He tells me, uphill it won't go, where do you want to go. I tell him 4WD hai, mazaa karne jaa raye hain. He tells us "Bahut Barf hai. Jao maza karo! and waves us on! Translation : Lots of snow ahead, go have fun. Well we are already having fun  There is lots of snow on roads, and I can feel the rear wheels slipping. Now I know why the zen turned back!  But the white elephant marches on. The snow gets deeper and the road gets snowier. The last time I saw so much snow was 20 years back. Ditto for my wife. Its such an amazing experience  The winds are howling, and there is light snowfall happing. The ruts made by other vehicles are disappearing fast. Its time to rock and roll. Time to stop, flick the switch and put on 4L. Second gear 4L, we march on. There are stages where I can feel all four wheels spin, and then engage on the powdery snow. My only worry is if another vehicles comes, I will have to reverse a km!  the weather also remains bad! Yipee. The winds grow stronger, and lightning is cracking the sky. But even thunder seems muted as compared to the howling winds. The Alpine plays the sound of silence, and the only other sounds are the clatter of the 2.2 and the whistle of the turbo, on full spool at 2500rpm  Its a paradise, and we are the only inhabitants. We are climbing the cold mountain!!!! ___CONT___ |
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13th May 2009, 15:03
| #52 |
| Senior - BHPian  Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Gurgaon
Posts: 5,968
Thanked: 4,642 Times
| Awesomes. That is pretty bad lighting and you got some great pics. Lots of PPin there eh? @Sam Kapasi - Next time, intimate me when you come to Delhi - shall have you shot at sight on landing  (with a canon! ) |
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13th May 2009, 15:07
| #53 | |
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13th May 2009, 15:10
| #54 |
| Senior - BHPian  | |
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13th May 2009, 15:17
| #55 | ||
| Senior - BHPian Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Bangalore
Posts: 4,106
Thanked: 537 Times
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 But talk about the tea pot calling the kettle black! (or is it the other way around!!!) | ||
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13th May 2009, 15:18
| #56 |
| Distinguished - BHPian | |
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13th May 2009, 15:18
| #57 |
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13th May 2009, 15:25
| #58 |
| Senior - BHPian  | Shades of Alistair Maclean! Keep 'em coming |
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13th May 2009, 15:27
| #59 | |||
| BHPian  | Quote:
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Ok next round please.... I'm wonderfully utilizing my Ideal time during the recession.. Still I'm waiting eagerly. ( Shhhh hope my PM in not reading this.) Last edited by sinner : 13th May 2009 at 15:33. | |||
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13th May 2009, 15:33
| #60 |
| Team-BHP Support | Day 4 - Rohtant.. Cont.. Its time to stop again, and have fun in the snow! And time to have a snowball fight. Snow is falling from the top, and falling from the sides due to the strong winds. There is snow everywhere. We are not exactly in winter clothes, just simple plains winter clothes like jackets, but in the excitement, who cares about catching a cold. There is snow in my hair, the camera is covered with snow  Its time to have a snowball fight!  After some quick fun we trudge on and on. Rohtang is I think 1km away. No idea. With so much snow all signboards are covered. The winds are howling, and the storm is intensifying. I decide to start searching for a place to back up. No mood to go back 1 km in reverse to the hairpin bend! But how do you back up on a track as wide as the car. As we move on the snow gets thicker. The front bull bar has become the bulldozer. The wheels are spinning, but the white elephant marches on. Finally I spot a place where some snow has melted and start reversing. The technique is simple. Turn steering fully and accelerate. First the car goes forward, due to the center high rut, the wheels won't climb. With wheels turned, on 2L I am actually going straight, but then ice breaks, and she is over the rut. Next step is to dig in the front bullbar into the ICE wall. And ditto for rear bumper. After a 10 point turn, we turn back. We went almost till the top. If the storm had not intensified, we would not have turned back. Since from now on its the same snow fall scenery anywhere, there is not much sense in going forward Look at the snow on the rear footstep. Part of it is from hitting the snowwall. With the rear I was gentle, Last thing you want is a cracked bumper!  The front bullbar however can dig in more  A closer look.  The winds are intensifying, and we are enjoying every bit of it! There is barely any place to stand!  The snowfall lightens as we go down again, and we park again,  the machine which clears snow  All around there is snow. And pure white clean snow. the kind you make into snowballs!  Incoming!!! The canon is a great tool to stop snowballs. First you shoot the snowball. If it does not stop, the camera will stop it you see  We are having fun, and I can barely contain my smiles!  Its been 20 years since I have rolled in snow like this. The clothes are wet, the shoes are drenched. But who cares!!!!!!!!!!!  But soon nature catches up. And we are feeling brrrrr. Time to head back? We have to go wayyy down there  But not before a couple of pics!  Another one  As we drive down as cross the same qualis we left down. I ask him permission de di. He just mumbles something, and asks me "Woh chado, agge daso ki hai". I laugh and tell him lots of snow. Where he can't go up, some pushing will help. Since they are 5=6 guys with the driver, I am sure they would also have a blast, but not before some pushing and shoving After that we drive down to the checkpost. Snowfall turns into sleet as we reach the checkpost. I shake hands with the BRO officer and he asks me whether I met the second set of "Bhagodas". I laugh and tell him yes sir. I ask him about the zen, and he gloomily informed me that they tried to stop them, but "they ran away". But he is cool about it all, and tells me once in a while they get such cases, and always laugh about it later. Most of such cases come running down when they see Rohtang. We are the first ones he has seen who can't hide our grins! And with that ends our day, and in the twilight we head down to Kothi. Even the white elepthant is feeling happy. Infact so happy that she blinks her disco lights multiple times in glee. Thankfully she does not want to camp at Gulaba in the night, and we come down to our Yak cafe, and have a quick dinner. Tomorrow we have to start back to Delhi.Since we are planning to stop at our farm on the way, we plan to leave by 6am, and beat the morning rush. So we have an early dinner. and go off to sleep, keeping our stuff packed... Tomorrow is going to be a long day! So yet again, with Rohtang in our dreams, and satisfied, we go off to sleep __CONT__ |
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