[venki.bala]

Yamraj,what a journey, we felt like seeing the places through the snaps and your narration. Amazing snaps and beautiful narration. Great Travelogue Congratulations.

[yamraj]

Originally Posted by KSM-Vtec

Oh ya it sure was i so badly wanna take that drive again... are you planning to do Ladakh again this year??

Much as I would love to, I don't have any plans yet. Maybe some other part of the Himalayas if I get the leave .

[mpksuhas]

Yamraj : You were saying about the walkies during your travelouges. Can you tell how much it costed and from where did you buy it. It would be real helpful in keeping in touch with with diffrent vehicles when on a trip.

[yamraj]

Originally Posted by venki.bala

Yamraj,what a journey, we felt like seeing the places through the snaps and your narration. Amazing snaps and beautiful narration. Great Travelogue Congratulations.

Thanx a lot. Glad that you like the travelogue

Originally Posted by mpksuhas

Yamraj : You were saying about the walkies during your travelouges. Can you tell how much it costed and from where did you buy it. It would be real helpful in keeping in touch with with diffrent vehicles when on a trip.

I had picked a pair of walkie talkies from costco a couple of years ago when I was visiting the US. They cost about $20. Although pretty decent, these are basic models that help over a short distance of a couple of kms at max. There are other better models available but those cost a bit more.

[akaushik]

Simply nostalgic and glued , your thread will held responsible for delay in my few projects ;-)

[srikanthpotluri]

I agree with Kaushik. Thoroughly enjoyed the trip. Congratulations

[yamraj]

Originally Posted by akaushik

Simply nostalgic and glued , your thread will held responsible for delay in my few projects ;-)

Originally Posted by srikanthpotluri

I agree with Kaushik. Thoroughly enjoyed the trip. Congratulations

Thanx for the compliments guys. Glad that you enjoyed the write up

[unoczar]

Great trip.. Great T-log... wonderful.... been reading this for 3 days now...

about the walky-talky... i bought a pair in the local market for 200rs. hehe... but they just have a range of about5-10 mts.

anyways,

one Q: what is alphaQ, and why were you offended? if i may ask?

-------
you have inspired many....!

[yamraj]

Originally Posted by unoczar

Great trip.. Great T-log... wonderful.... been reading this for 3 days now...

about the walky-talky... i bought a pair in the local market for 200rs. hehe... but they just have a range of about5-10 mts.

anyways,

one Q: what is alphaQ, and why were you offended? if i may ask?

-------
you have inspired many....!

Glad that you liked the travelogue :-).

Try pronouncing AlphaQ - it comes out as I'll f**k you.

[sfilinto]

Yamraj, Congrats & Great writing skill i must say. I too own a Palio and have been wanting to do a similar trip for some time but doubted if the ground clearance of the car would be a hindrance. much more convinced that its possible in a small car after reading your travelogue.
some Questions for you:
1. Did you service the Palio anytime during the trip ?
2. Did you have to spend anything on spares / service after the trip ( both WagonR & Palio )?
3. Did you research the Tata-Fiat Service centres on the route who would service Fiat ?
4. Was Ground Clearance a problem anywhere on the route ?
5. What GPS Receiver did you use ?

[yamraj]

Originally Posted by sfilinto

Yamraj, Congrats & Great writing skill i must say. I too own a Palio and have been wanting to do a similar trip for some time but doubted if the ground clearance of the car would be a hindrance. much more convinced that its possible in a small car after reading your travelogue.
some Questions for you:
1. Did you service the Palio anytime during the trip ?
2. Did you have to spend anything on spares / service after the trip ( both WagonR & Palio )?
3. Did you research the Tata-Fiat Service centres on the route who would service Fiat ?
4. Was Ground Clearance a problem anywhere on the route ?
5. What GPS Receiver did you use ?

Sorry for the delayed reply - was a bit busy with work.

See my answers inline:

1. Did you service the Palio anytime during the trip ?
A. I got it serviced in Meerut where I had stopped for a couple of days. The only reason I got it serviced was because I had some spare time and also because I managed to whack a pothole really hard and screw up the alignment.

2. Did you have to spend anything on spares / service after the trip ( both WagonR & Palio )?
A. Not really. Just the regular servicing would be sufficient except for the fact that I cracked an axle boot when I whacked the car into a pothole at high speeds. Otherwise, I wouldn't have had to spend anything much more than what the regular servicing would have demanded.

3. Did you research the Tata-Fiat Service centres on the route who would service Fiat ?
A. I didn't bother too much about that.

4. Was Ground Clearance a problem anywhere on the route ?
A. Nopes. I had a sump guard installed and was confident about it protecting the engine and sump in most cases. There are times when you would scrape the undersides but then that's nothing more than what happens when you go over really bad speed breakers (as long as you have the sump guard installed). Besides this, there are times when stones do bounce up and hit the underbody but I didn't find it to be a problem anywhere.

5. What GPS Receiver did you use ?
A. I have a garmin etrex vista cx.

[sfilinto]

Yamraj,
Some more questions for you.
1. Sump Guard !! Details please. Been looking for something which works without causing any problem.
2. Could you also tell me how much ( % age would do ) of the route had mobile coverage.
3. What Maps did you refer to Electronic / Physical.
Been digging on many websites ( Google,Yahoo,bing, etc ) for a good one. But all of them have their positives & negatives.

[yamraj]

Originally Posted by sfilinto

Yamraj,
Some more questions for you.
1. Sump Guard !! Details please. Been looking for something which works without causing any problem.
2. Could you also tell me how much ( % age would do ) of the route had mobile coverage.
3. What Maps did you refer to Electronic / Physical.
Been digging on many websites ( Google,Yahoo,bing, etc ) for a good one. But all of them have their positives & negatives.

1. I bought my sump guard from Green Tracks near Silk Board. It's a steel plate with slits and holes in it. I've attached a snap I took with my cell phone when they were installing it.


2. There is hardly any coverage beyond Manali till almost Leh.

3. I took help from India Travel Forum and Community, BCMTouring.com . The folks there have some pretty useful maps. I do have some ttk maps of HP as well but was using the bcmt ones more.

[Harshavarthan]

I'm planning LEH - Chennai trip with my friends in june. Will be doing it with three or four guys in my i20. The problem is, none of us speak Hindi. Will it be very difficult or can we manage with English itself?

[hvkumar]

Originally Posted by Harshavarthan

I'm planning LEH - Chennai trip with my friends in june. Will be doing it with three or four guys in my i20. The problem is, none of us speak Hindi. Will it be very difficult or can we manage with English itself?

Hindi is the language anywhere en route, English is not widely spoken except in restaurants and places like that. But this is India, you can manage.