[suman]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

Can't blame BRO for the horrible condition of the roads. They have to make do with whatever material is available.
If the govt will give then enough money to lay an all weather concrete road, they will lay that.

You guys may be missing my point - I'm referring to those stretches (and trust me, there are hundreds of kilometers of these) where there are just sand, loose stones or boulders. I'm not commenting on the quality of repair of the "already" tarmaced roads (which is the example that you have given).

I'm not even cribbing about the approach to most of the passes (say, 5-10 kms each way) which there is no point repairing because of the continuous melting snow. I'm referring to plain & simple stretches where there is no snow & neither is any repair work happening. Period.

[gd1418]

You didn't want to trigger a debate, but it started anyhow. Let us stop dissecting the work of BRO and start enjoying the narrative and the pictures...

[anupmathur]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

Can't blame BRO for the horrible condition of the roads. They have to make do with whatever material is available.

No one is blaming the BRO! Nor the poor Bihari or Tibetan road worker with tattered shoes and minimal clothing!
It is the system; the system of which we are all a part.
It IS very much worth asking why things are at such a sorry pass (at the passes, LOL)!

[sudev]

Suman ....where art thou?

[akroy]

Suman da, TBHP is back now. Aab Chalu ho jao fir !!

Abhi

[SAHIR.KITTUR]

Suman, With ref. too the road permits required, is there a restriction with respect to any class of a vehicle. for eg. is Omni issued a permit ?

[vijaythacker]

great travelogue with perfect pictures describing everybit of your tour along with your beast, surely you would be my guide for my next trip to this place, wait for my PM's sir, excellect trip.

[Sha]

Originally Posted by suman

• From the plains of Gurgaon to the highest motorable road in the world - Khardung La at an altitude of 18,380 feet

Khardung La may be officially world highest motorable road but its not true the world highest motorable road is Marisimik La near Pangong Tso lake just conquered few days back its really worth trying with slush, ice, stream and big boulder with no oxygen for vehicle, it will be announced in 2 years time. Khardung la is cake walk road with no fun climbing.

[MileCruncher]

Originally Posted by Sha

Khardung La may be officially world highest motorable road but its not true the world highest motorable road is Marisimik La near Pangong Tso lake just conquered few days back its really worth trying with slush, ice, stream and big boulder with no oxygen for vehicle, it will be announced in 2 years time. Khardung la is cake walk road with no fun climbing.

Some more info on the same line extracted from Wikipedia

Khardung La is widely, but incorrectly, believed to be the world's highest motorable pass. There are higher motorable passes at Suge La, west of Lhasa, 5,430 m (17,815 feet), and Semo La 5,565 m (18,258 feet), between Raka and Coqen in Central Tibet. Both these elevations are supported by GPS and SRTM evidence and the latter was also measured by the Catalans and supported by the CIC, see above. Vehicles have been driven over the 5,582 metres (18,314 ft) Marsimik La, in the Indian Karakoram to the north-east of Khardung La, but it is debatable whether this pass should be considered to be motorable.

Source Khardung La - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[lordofgondor]

Originally Posted by Sha

Khardung La may be officially world highest motorable road but its not true the world highest motorable road is Marisimik La near Pangong Tso lake just conquered few days back its really worth trying with slush, ice, stream and big boulder with no oxygen for vehicle, it will be announced in 2 years time. Khardung la is cake walk road with no fun climbing.

+1 to that. Furthermore, the road at K-Top is not at the mentioned height. It's the dirt track, on the pass, that is at the mentioned height. The road must be a few hundred feet below. But yeah, Marsimek La is the highest and plenty of vehicles have gone through it. Don't know when lesser mortals (read sedans) will be, with difficulty no doubt, able to traverse it though.

[sudev]

There is a travelogue by a biker at 60kph site about his travails of getting to MasimekLa. After reading that its become my target destination. I believe even 4x4 have problems going up that pass!!

@Suman : Not fair...where art thou?

[Sha]

Originally Posted by sudev

There is a travelogue by a biker at 60kph site about his travails of getting to MasimekLa. After reading that its become my target destination. I believe even 4x4 have problems going up that pass!!

Same site made me to target marisimik la. final 1.5 KM is really tough to climb with no oxygen. need to have low gear ratio without that it's impossible to climb. will post photos in few days.

[tsk1979]

Actually it is cakewalk for modern SUVs with i high ground clearance.
Carb vehicles and non turbo vehicles will struggle, but otherwise except for a few sandy climbs its easy, atleast thats what I could gather from all the SUV guys who have done it.
If you want challenge, walk to it or do it by bike

[govigov]

awesome travelogue suman. waitin for the continuation. i have a doubt. when you say that you have to get permit, what exactly do you mean ? how many permits did you need to get in total and what are the proceedures for obtaining the same?

[suman]

Originally Posted by SAHIR.KITTUR

Suman, With ref. too the road permits required, is there a restriction with respect to any class of a vehicle. for eg. is Omni issued a permit ?

Originally Posted by govigov

awesome travelogue suman. waitin for the continuation. i have a doubt. when you say that you have to get permit, what exactly do you mean ? how many permits did you need to get in total and what are the procedures for obtaining the same?

No restrictions on class of vehicle. You need to apply (your Hotel or travel agent can also do it for you) to the DC's Office in Leh (its next to the Polo ground), mentioning the places that you want to visit. A less than half a day affair. The normally visited places that need permits are - Khardung La, Nubra Valley (actually Panamik), Pangong Tso & Tso Morori. One permit is issued mentioning all the places that you apply for & you have to make multiple copies since you have to submit at numerous places.

Originally Posted by Sha

Khardung la is cake walk road with no fun climbing.

You are absolutely correct about it being an easy climb (which I've mentioned). However, it was still a thrill for all of us since we were not looking for any off-roading challenge as such & it is still the highest that we have ever been on.

There are a few debates going on already on other forums about what constitutes "motorable" & what doesn't. So I will not add to that debate here