[ac 427]

Guys,

The ingredients : 3 guys bored of city life + mahindra Scorpio Mhawk + 15 days of freedom.

The itinerary :
Mumbai
Chandigarh
Narkanda
Kibber
Karchamm
Kalpa
Sumdo
Tabo
Pin Valley
Kibber
Losar
Gramphu
Manali
And then Driving back to mumbai.

Will keep you guys posted about the trip with pictures and a detailed travelouge.

We will leave on Sunday Morning, just wanted to know how the weather is up there

cheers
AC

[Indizen08]

Sounds good! Looking forward to the trip reports.

[hellstar]

sounds very promising , and do remember to spice this up with all the pictures you can upload

[B.R.S.Rao]

Wish you a happy journey. Looking forward for detailed reports...
Regards.

[sami316]

Hi,
Wish you a great and safe journey. Awaiting the trip details and the pics with bated breath. Sometimes I really envy you guys as here I am not even getting the permission to take my car out of Bangalore.

[ac 427]

Hey Guys,

The final preparations are on :
1) Car papers checked
2) Car spares checked
3) Food cans packed
4) Tents packed
5) Medicine Kit ready
6) Charging Laptop / cameras
7) The itinerary checked
8) Personal Documents in place.
9) Emergency equipment checked

Only problem is that we were 3 friends first, now we are only 2 of us going for this trip, so guys please pray and wish us good luck.

We are leaving Sunday 4. A.M

Will keep the team updated with the car performance and small nuances of the trip and definately pictures too.

cheers
Ac

[KishoreC]

Wish you good luck. Be safe and have a gala of a time.

[vijaythacker]

ac, wishing you safer journey with some blasts added with your pictures.Keep them coming.

[HappyWheels]

Wow, another marathon ride!

All the best AC427 and have a safe trip!

Hope to get regular updates.

[ac 427]

Day 1 :
Mumbai – Ahemdabad – Himmatnagar – Udaipur.

Guys we started our trip @ 5.30 a.m on 13th Sept. The mood was upbeat; me and my friend had lots of packing to be done as we were planning to go camping on the banks of the river Sutlej. Lots of baggage, lots of packaged food, but it was not a problem, as we were only 2 of us in the large Mahindra Scorpio Mhawk.

Anyways here is the day 1 report:
We did 800 Kilometers today from 5.30 a.m to 6. Pm., with stops for break fast, lunch and afternoon tea. The drive was a scenic drive through Gujarat and entering Rajasthan. The road conditions were perfect and we encountered very few pot holes all throughout till Udaipur. Especially the expressway between Baroda and Ahmedabad was exceptional; the road surface quality was immaculate, traffic was less, very few trucks encountered on the that particular strip, Even the Surat Baroda road is a very easy drive road.
The drive between Himmat Nagar and Udaipur was a scenic drive, with some mild ghats encountered. What was surprising was the quality of roads and the way the SUV Scorpio handled high speeds. I also found a hidden feature about the car : the cruise control, set the speed and just control the steering, the cars computer will ensure that the set speed would be adhered to.
Breakfast break was @ kamats lunch was @ a dhaba (pics attached) and dinner was @ Udaipur (sadly no pics as the camera was put for charge). I highly recommend the dhaba where we had lunch, some really spicy daal and sabji.
Few doubts I had
1) While going downhill is it advisable to use cruise control ?
2) What brakes does the cruise control use ? the Engine brakes or the Normal brakes.
3) The plan for tom is Udaipur – Jaipur – Chandigarh. I want you guys to suggest me a route which by-passes delhi, but keeps me for the most amount of time on the Golden Quadrilateral.
Pics will be uploaded tomm as my Reliance broad band is not working; this has been uploaded via mobile.

[Dragonov]

@ ac 427 - Please use the teambhp editor to type your log otherwise the text is not in proper readable format. It also display unneccesary tags.

While going downhill is it advisable to use cruise control ?

If its a gradual downhill, you can use the cruise control ofcourse if there are no vehicles in front of you and you have clear sight.

What brakes does the cruise control use ? the Engine brakes or the Normal brakes.

If I am not wrong it uses engine brakes.

And yes all the best for your journey further up north. Drive safe

[ac 427]

hi,

as promised, see some of the interesting pictures we have uploaded on day 1, i.e. 13th sept. 09.

finally got a decent internet connection using airtel. DO NOT USE RELIANCE NETCONNECT!!!! [

[ac 427]

Day 2 - 800 kms, States covred, Rajasthan, Bit of Haryana, and Delhi (Union Territory)

Day 2 was a day of extremes. Extreme happiness, surpise (postive ones) to Extreme frustration and extreme anger.

Route : Udapiur - Chittorgarh - Ajmer - Jaipur - Kot putli - Narnaul - Mahendargadh - Rewari - Half way up to Rohtak - Back to rewari - Bawal - Gurgaon - Delhi.

The day began a little late, we started at around 7.30 a.m, post which we had our nashta (the worlds best kachori, pics attached) post which the original plan was to cover rajasthan, and reach chandigarh.

The Road from Udaipur to Bhilwara was beautiful beyond words, the surface was brilliant, but what added to the beauty was the scenary. My friend who is with me for this trip commented that these roads remind him of the european roads. But be adviced there are certain aspects of the Indian road ways that even the Europeans cannot copy :
a) Local villagers going on these roads in the OPPOSITE direction.
b) Cattle on the road, You might be whoever in the world, you might be driving whichever car in the world, but you CAN be stopped by the single cow / calf / donkey / ox / buffalo on the road. They walk, rather stand in the middle of the expressway as if it is their own field.

Anyways continuing we were planning to reach chandigarh, we stuck on to the golden quadrilateral all the way till Ajmer, where we took a detour as that happens to be my friends birth place. We finish Ajmer, continued to Jaipur on the GOlden Quadrilateral, but our troubles started when we took a detour at kot putli, as we wanted to reach Chandigarh but wanted to by pass Delhi.

As we took the left @ kotputli to Narnaul and then to Mahendargarh, mind you the roads were horrid but it was only becase of the scorpios unique suspension which made do some speeds on that stretch too, From Mahendar Gadh we reached Rewari, and from rewari we wanted to reach Rohtak, but there was a huge jam @ Rewari in which we were stuck for around an hour, frustrated and tired we turned back, we reached Bawal from Rewari, from where we continued to Gurgaon and NOw we are in Delhi.

The drive from Bawal to Delhi was the most tiring drive ive had, as i was sleepy but we had to reach a city as we did not want to risk spending a night @ a small town. The road conditions as soon as we left the Golden Quadrilatera were absymal, also we had an interesting experience @ rewari.

While we were stuck in the traffic jam, the car infront of us which was a maruti 800 had 2 haryanvi Jats, and they both were extremely drunk but still were driving, they started talking to us, and started talking things about Mumbai, and how they used to sell drugs @ kufri in HImachal, the conversation went from Drugs to one of them being a MLA for that region to them every 2 minutes apologizing as they were drunk, to how good the scorpio was. one of them kept brandishing a iron rod. It wasnt a pleasant experience at all.

We reached Delhi @ 2.30 AM and now i am sitting in the hotel room and writing this experience before i forget.

Today I HAVE TO REACH MANDI(Himachal) and because of yesterday we have not yet started (@ 10.00 A.M) .

ANY SUGGESTIONS ON BEST ROUTE TO MANDI?? Also, now that we are in HImachal, any weather updates will be useful, as i have been hearing of rains in the region. looking forward to suggestions and comment

Pics will be uploaded shortly.

cheers
AC

[Hoopoe]

Great stuff AC427! I wish you had taken the Udaipur-Ajmer road that is smaller and very scenic, passing through Aravalli hills. It is slow but very beautiful (if you like the slow, rhythmic drive). Anyway, you can try that on your way back, in case you are following the same route.

The manali-Leh route is the most beautiful during this time so I am sure you guys will have a fantastic time.

I have heard that mHawk takes a bit longer to start in cold high altitudes due to lack of glow plugs so please crank the engine sufficiently and give it time to warm up after initial start when beyond Rohtang.

[ac 427]

Day 3 - 15th - 570 kms
Delhi - Panchkula - Himachal - Solan.

After day 2 exhausting drive, we crashed into a hotel in Delhi, and as expected we started driving late, we started around 11.30 and exited delhi around 1.30, a good 2 hours drive.

We were planning at least to reach shimla by evening fall. The drive from Karnal to ambala was a very scenic drive.

There is nothing much to write about except for the fact that we reached Himachal Pradesh and stopped at a place called solan, which is around 60 KM from Shimla. ANd currently we around around 1500 meteres about sea level. Slowly slowly climbing up will help us acclimatize.

By the way today was the first time I felt the incredible torque of the Mhawk. This car

pulls like crazy from any gear, i was negotiating the steep bends and curves in the third gear. Looks like all the power is between 1500 rpm to 2500 rpm. This car is a dream to drive on ghats like this.

Something about Solan, Solan is a small quaint town, warm people, small narrow lanes, and a very good small town feel. We have put up in a hotel called 'Paragon' .

But if anyone comes to Solan, the thing that SHOULD NOT BE MISSED is the Mushroom Soup of Chanakya restaurant. And by the way Solan is also called the Mushroom Capital of INdia. ALso for a city slicker like me the beauty of this place is beyond words, this is just the beginning, hoping to catch some really more beautiful pics.

Today we are planning to reach Mandi hoping catch some really interesting pictures and some interesting stories.

Pictures attached. Let us know the conditions up there in the mountains, we are taking local help also but if any of you are from this area, let us know we can catch up too.

Cheers
AC