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Old 29th October 2009, 22:25   #61
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When it comes to Leh, every pic & every trip has a story to tell. Keep shooting, it gets better as you climb higher, the wonders of this mountain paradise.
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Old 29th October 2009, 22:46   #62
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Cool Travelogue

It's really a cool story!

All Leh tavels are accompanied by much planning, designing, consulting... plenty of lead thought.

But you went in impromptue! (Barring the shovel and gamboot... I don't know what would one do with shovel! You can't simply shovel off Baralacha la outta your way!)

Great story! Keep writting.
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Old 30th October 2009, 10:59   #63
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SamuraiJack View Post
Rohtang is the first pass you come across, its at a height of about 5000mts,
That doesn't sound right - its about 4000m. Great journey though!
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Old 30th October 2009, 14:20   #64
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Let me introduce you to the "Troopers"

I think what I pen down from now on will help you decide/prepare for your journey, for all you boys who want to drive down with your folks, this piece is a must read.

But before I go ahead with the journey, I think its good to throw some more light on the characters, this may help you compare/analyze your rides/freinds and their expected behaviour :-)

M- A long time freind of mine, I would not have the confidence to do this if it was not for him. Your regular cosmo guy, loves brands/ drives fast/ wants to live life on the edge, sings along with Snoop/Dre! but I do know he had the capacity to go into safe mode when the need be, on the other hand there are times its hard for him to control his natural instincts (aggression).

B- Organized/knows his Cam/Comp/techie and dreams of making it big in movies (backend though), knows his music/loves to party.

SJ- Regular working guy, wants to see the world in his car and being a capricorn natural instinct is safety first, will not step into things unless I'm sure about it.

D- hmm, where do I start- great bud, he is 10 months young, has clocked 34K on the odo, has been serviced at regular intervals at Kalyani ( I like these guys), drives like a dream. I always disliked swifts and my initial plan was to get a getzd. Rite now bud, I have enjoyed every moment with you. His turbo gives me a different high every time I drive him. I have not had an accident per se with him, just a nut case who reversed into him when he was parked in front of the house. He runs on 195/60 Michellin Energy "15" HR. ICE is sony completely amp/woofer/speakers. I love spending time on him and can wash/wax/vaccum him for hours on weekends.

I hope my girl does not read this but there have been times when I have placed him above her, basically I'm one of those obsessed types! have always been with my bike and cars.
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Old 30th October 2009, 14:30   #65
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SamuraiJack View Post

D- hmm, where do I start- great bud, he is 10 months young, has clocked 34K on the odo, has been serviced at regular intervals at Kalyani ( I like these guys), drives like a dream. I always disliked swifts and my initial plan was to get a getzd. Rite now bud, I have enjoyed every moment with you. His turbo gives me a different high every time I drive him. I have not had an accident per se with him, just a nut case who reversed into him when he was parked in front of the house. He runs on 195/60 Michellin Energy "15" HR. ICE is sony completely amp/woofer/speakers. I love spending time on him and can wash/wax/vaccum him for hours on weekends.
I thought D would a she rather than he. SX4 is he.

Anyways 34k In 10 months, was this before or after the trip? In any case thats some serious mileage and in serious contention of the prize for maximum Kms in a year
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Old 30th October 2009, 14:42   #66
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You think ROHTANG is over?

The pics you saw (traffic blocks), this is where the peaceful part ends, up until here there is enough tarmac to be able to drive in second for most part of the journey (say 60:40 ratio of second and first). When I looked up from the first block I could see way above us there was another block, this basically gave us a direction on where we would be stuck next. The strech between what I saw and where we were was probably 20KM or maybe less.

Have you realized, in all the posts you read to prepare for your journey.. there are hardly or no pics of the journey to Rohtang- has anyone wondered why?

I will tell you why- cause this is where the mayhem starts, wheels spinning, bottoms clonking, slipping and sliding... you name it, for the next 3 odd hours it was pure chaos. The magnitude of danger and damage increases not because of the road but due to traffic, you see.. there is constant traffic and its not tourists driving but our good old cabbies/truckies/campers and it is a everyday routine for them, if you are thinking "WTH, this guy has done it in a swift or someone else did it in a Matiz" yes, you can... but ROHTANG is the point when all your doubts will rise, even the ones you did'nt have.

Picture this- Think of the worst road you have driven (ofcourse no tarmac) which is just about enough for two vehicles to pass by and I'm not talking HTV or even HTV and a car... I'm talking maybe a tempo traveller kind and a camper kind can squeeze through without needing to wait, not everywhere but for most part of it. on your left (wrong side) are huge drops and there are little or no baricades, you can't drive too much to the edge also as the weather is or was moist and mud slips at the edges, and now you have a cabbie behind you honking or showing his frustration on your careful manuevering, you have to keep pace with the traffic in front and this is where your vehicles will suffer most.

Now you prorbably know why you dont see too many snaps of this strech, you cant help it, for first timers- you will be gripped to your seats not knowing what is hitting you- its ROHTANG buds.

So- I continue driving, feeling everything D is going through.. then comes a point where we slowed down behind another vehicle, a BRO guy asked us to hold back and let the vehicle in front go (I think was a qualis and was blocking my vision). As the vehicle moved slowly what lay ahead came to my view.... my blood froze, I broke into a cold sweat and everyone is quite...

Last edited by SamuraiJack : 30th October 2009 at 14:45.
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Old 30th October 2009, 15:31   #67
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A neatly written travelogue. Keep going, i'm all ears.
BTW a 4 star rating from my side.

Last edited by akas_chauhan : 30th October 2009 at 15:32.
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Old 30th October 2009, 16:33   #68
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Hi SJ,

Come out of the blood freeze state. What did you see? What happened? My hands are sweating now. Tell fast.

Also a question: Did you have under body cover fixed to D before you took him?

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Old 30th October 2009, 16:38   #69
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Sen- I had to look up "impromptue!" I will take it as a compliment for now, unless you confirm otherwise. As for the shovel and gumboots- how come it makes sense when a jeep has a shovel for offroading! And I'm really glad that guys like you are enoying this story.

Amip- Hello M'am!!! I think the shovel idea came from one of your pics where you actually have captured ROHTANG... If you observe the posts, I'm not too much of a number guy, what I'm trying to accomplish here is to give a picture of what to expect for the first timers.

Akas- Thank you bud.. really appreciate it, it gives me much needed motivation to go on.

MC- This trip was a less than 10K (don't want to give the correct no rite now) , yea.. I know its a little too much, but I just can't help it. My bike and cars have been my second home.

Souvik- I hope you are reading the most important part here.


Mods- I'm not able to double quote, the page simply hangs on me and is allowing only single quotes.

Last edited by SamuraiJack : 30th October 2009 at 16:48.
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Old 30th October 2009, 17:17   #70
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Hey SJ, nice pictures and narrations looking forward to more!
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Old 30th October 2009, 17:22   #71
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Now, don't just hang in there. Tell us what you saw. Pour in your log.
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Old 30th October 2009, 18:03   #72
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Is this it? Can we move on?

No, I really don't want to go through this- up until now, it was D who was taking a beating and now it looked like we are putting our dear lives in danger.

God.. are you watching? can I head back please, I think God was grinning now, this is what you asked for Jack, this is what you asked for...
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Old 30th October 2009, 18:31   #73
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You cant head back guys, remember- its just a one and half lane road and taking a U turn "IMPOSSIBLE".

BRO was letting just one vehicle go at a time, from the point we stopped the road broadened into probably a three lane, but there is a problem- 2+ feet black slush filled this whole area for the next 250 mts.

By now the drop is on my side (right), if Amip says ROHTANG is at 4K mts.. then I'm sure we were at 3250 mts atleast at this point.

My hands are sweaty just looking at what lies ahead. Everyone is trying to dig their wheels in "one" path that was probably made by a bigger vehicle on the right end of the road (very close to the drop), I can see the underbody of the vehicle in front scraping the slush as it moved forward.

The vehicle in front managed to cross, my turn now...

I can see on the other end a BRO guy waving and asking me to move forward- there is a line of vehicles behind me waiting to cross now. I put it in first and release the clutch half, under normal city conditions he will move and needs no accelerations... but here I can feel he is dying on me, I'm scared to throttle in half clutch now cause he may spin out of control if he picks up accelaration suddenly, press the clutch some more and throttle a little.. he moves into the slush, I can hear the slush hitting D's underbody but he is chugging along at a very slow but constant speed, minimal throttle and I can feel D is swaying from side to side, I start to sweat more and then he suddenly dies on me, this was the worst of my fears, I turn the ignition on again but no response. I'm bang in the middle of this strech!
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Old 30th October 2009, 19:28   #74
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Wake up D


Oh No! Then what happened? Don't stop. Go on, please.

F5... F5... F5

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Old 30th October 2009, 19:28   #75
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[quote=MileCruncher;1557183]I thought D would a she rather than he. SX4 is he.

MC- If its a DDiS, it is a "He".. I dont think a chick car will move the way a SwiftD does, thoughts?
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