[SamuraiJack]

Truly a beautiful place



It's an unbelivable sight from this bridge, all four sides is a different but mind blowing views



See the town in the background, mountains/river.. sigh!



The place was seriously out of a movie



To reach the bottom of the waterfall itself was a climb



Locals seem to use this as their water source, we tried to fill a bottle.. trust me you would not want to take a sip.



Cool spot..

[fast_elegance]

Wonderful pics there Sam. Just loved them.

[SamuraiJack]

Yeah guys, this is where our journey ended. It did not take us much to decide on our return. I was not getting enough information on what lies ahead and after ROHTANG I did not think I wanted to risk it more.

Here are some famous words "Yes, Rohtang is the worst pass, followed by the Tanglang La, but even that is nothing compared to what Rohtang throws at you" - TSK


Was I happy- ofcourse!
Will I do it again- Hell Yea!- same time next year.

Here are a couple of suggestions for the first timers.

- BEWARE OF ROHTANG- observe my post, I have spelled the name in capitals always, this road is a salute to Man's willingness to conquer nature, keeping this route open itself is a task forget tarring it.

- I would not suggest to drive down with your family

- If for the first time, I would suggest travelling in one car, more cars means more chances of things going wrong.

- What's the perfect vehicle:- There is no perfect vehicle for this drive, here is why, only the last 500KM (if you are doing Leh) a 4WD would help, and there are places the road is so narrow you wish you had an Alto, there are points when you wish you had a truck too.. doesn't matter what vehicle you will face challenges. Though a Scorpio seems to be the best vehicle that comes to my mind so far, but trust me ROHTANG will beat this one out too.


Any changes the next time I go- I think shovel and gum boots/gloves is still a good idea, there are times when you hit a stream crossing the road and you really want to get down and know which route to take and here is where the gum boots will help.

If D is going to be there the next time I may remove my bumpers when I reach Manali, cause by the time I got back I saw my bumpers and my tail lights were being pushed out of the holders, when you climb over boulders the bumpers tend to get pushed and a chain reaction causes your taillamps being pushed out as well.

I had burnt a lot of rubber spinning in ROHTANG, had clonked my bottom a million times, most of the time you are driving in half clutch, there was a point D started shuddering when I released the clutch giving clear indication of a worn out clutch, for some reason the problem vanished, but I will get it checked in my next service.

I really was not sure how far D could take it. I was happy with what I saw for now and the experience surely helped me get a good picture on what to expect the next time I go there.

In the same breath, I would also like you to make note that getting back to Manali was not as difficult, we left Sissu by 8 in the morning and were there in Manali by 12, there was less traffic and this helped me take my time when driving. So- make sure you start early to avoid the traffic.

This is between Sissu and Khoskar


Clean sometimes


Broken suddenly


Really broken...

Is that the Pagal Nullah? I checked around, there are two streams that run between Sissu and Khoskar, one of them is supposed to be the Pagal Nullah.




The Dhaba I spoke about.


Khoskar


Some more postcard pics on the way back

[SamuraiJack]

I drove back from ROHTANG and took D straight to the MASS, set in a beautiful backdrop. I had D's bumpers and taillight fixed, had him washed- I even looked under to check for damages, there was none watsoever!, the only damage that can occur is if a boulder hits your exhaust, the exhaust is the only part that sticks out.

It cost me 200 bucks to get D back is shape- I was really happy.

I asked M to take over once we had D cleaned up, a valid request considering I done the two and fro and M had clearly refused to do this strech and insisted on getting us back to Chandigarh from Manali instead.

We stopped to fill air, when the second mishap occured... M reversed into a wall. Taillight broken/Bumper scratched. Probably M had lost touch, how could you not see the wall on the driver side M!!

Anyway- took over D again, and this time we did not want to stay in Manali, we wanted to stay in 'Parvathi Valley', PV is on the other side of Beas and here is where Manikaran also lies. This place is has a beauty of its own and I guess this is how Kullu and Manali were like years back.

If someone asks you to take a small bridge (only one car can pass) to get to PV... don't, take the longer route as its very difficult to get through this road once you cross this bridge.

We stayed in Kasol (approx 70KM from Manali) and the next day visited Manikaran and this out of the world village called 'Tosh', this village is out of a picture book or a fantasy story.

The only way to enter the village is by walk, a cement path runs through the village which is place on a uphill, magnificient views once you go up.

We met a guide here who also owns a shack/hotel, trust me the pizza and lazania we had here was hundered times better than what we get in best of the joints in cities, the best part of this joint was that it had a tandoor as a heater running in one room and wide glasses allowing you to enjoy the view outside, no chairs and tables- you sit on the ground on beds, Awesome!.

The guide showed us some of his pics, it seems it snows in this part of town, the pictures were mind blowing!, but I figured the places he will take you to can also be travelled by car- so did not enquire much about the cost of trekking etc.

I still had not got the taillights fixed as there were no parts available in MASS. for the three days we stayed back we would go to Manali every day to shop and I did the most of the driving here.

We headed back that evening, drove around hundered KM from Kullu and stopped- hold on guys, do we really want to go, considering we saved some time as we did not make it to Leh... I think we should go back, all of us grinning went back to Kasol.

Spent another day and checked out Manikaran, nothing great about this place the hotsprings that everyone spoke about gave us a different picture, but once we went there its a temple town, and you have hot water pipes running everywhere, the hot springs is like your local public mass bathrooms...

On the last day, asked M to take over this last piece of our Manali journey... not sure what was with M by this time, we had travelled say 20KM from the hotel, I was lying down at the back and I could see a road roller getting close to us as we were turing into a curve that was going down, the roller was coming up, "Macha.. aa gaya na inne.." before I could complete the sentence I heard a thud and scratch, I could not imagine the extent of damage that could have happened. M and B got down, I did not have the heart to see it. Asked M to hand over the wheel and did not say a word until we reached Delhi, the time we left Kasol was around 3 in the afternoon, reached Delhi only by 6 in the morning, the roads were not great by any means.

I was dead tired by the time we reached Delhi, was keen on seeing the Taj Mahal and was looking for directions to Agra. B continued to sleep, M woke up when I was asking for Agra and checked to know if there was anyway we could head back to Mumbai as he wanted to get back soon.

I was not keen on anyone driving anymore considering there have been three mishaps and at some point I checked the damage, it was not too much but needed paint work and a new bumper.

Stopped outside Delhi for a two hour power nap and drove until Jaipur, checked the city out, was dissapointed- you really need to hunt for the pink in this city. Shopped, had lunch and left for Udaipur, this time making sure to divert to Chittaurgarh... beautiful roads, if someone asks me what time of the day would you want to drive? if it is Rajasthan then daytime is the best time.

We reached Udaipur by 6:30 and stayed put in a hotel called 'Govindam palace'- guys, this hotel is a must visit if you go to Udaipur, the hotel is probably one of the tallest building, next to the city palace. Breathtaking views from the terrace and has amazing rooms, the rooms are designed as palace rooms, with detailed art work on the ceilings and walls and the best part is the window area which sticks out of the building and has beds for you to sit and check Udaipur out! must visit again. The price was 1K if anyone is interested.

We also checked Daman on the way back, wanted to see Diu but apparently is 800KM from Daman by road.

M and B- Thank you for making me realize on of my long term dreams. I have no regrets.

D- you too good man! just be prepared to do it all over again.

Souvik/Sen/MC/Ramkya/F&S/WDM/Majic- Thank you so much for reading through this- I hope I did not dissapoint you by not travelling all the way to Leh- but I will be back with a new thread next year and by god- you will not be dissapointed.

TSK/Rehaan- Thank you so much for accepting my apologies.

Drive Safe!

Happy Times!


Yes please, honk like hell!



Sheperd Dog, check how hairy he is! we even saw jackals following the sheep as we went up, the sheperds carry guns around here and they have a good reason why.



Rajasthan roads.



Not sure what this guy was transportting! Lambo?


Rajasthan again


Daman, funny place, has petrol bunks all over the place, we even saw a bunk that can fill boats as well as regular vehicles at the same time.. that was nice.

[sen2009]

Never mind if you couldn't make it this year. You've seen how it is so next time you'll be better prepared. Though Rohtang is the toughest section, road surface wise, but aggregate conditions would be more harsh later.
We shall wait for the full story next year.
Like I said, impromptu is not the best method for Ladakh, it needs planning. And still you get all the fun of tackling unforeseen variables.

A cool story nevertheless. I wish a speedy recovery of "D".

[pjay_in]

Can someone tell my why Pagal Nullah is called so? What is pagal about it?

[bantejas]

it used to be known as "Ganesi" in Kanpur !

Originally Posted by RuffRyder

The strange looking ricks are know as "Marutas" in those parts..

[schitre05]

Wonderful journey...
As a traveller i would always say "destination is not important but the journey is".
great pics and a very nice narration... i hope D is all well by now.
Cheers!

[Souvik]

Hi SJ,

Don't worry about not going further past Rohtang. To be honest, for the first time, that was great. Loved each word and got stuck to a lot of things you said. I am sure that will help a lot of first timers going to visit the place.

I am sure we will see you there next year again. Also, would be great to catch up over some weekend in Bangalore to go over even more in details. I will PM you.

And oh yes (if I may), convey my love and regards to D! I am sure "he" has been through a lot and have taken everything you have thrown at him.

Souvik

[WDM007]

Nice Travelogue dude!

Enjoyed it very much. All the best for the next outing.

[Majic]

Wow, SJ i think that this trip was really an eye opener for the many more travels that you would be attempting,nice photos and really peppy narrations! Would be following you for more post and traveling. Travel Safe!

[advaitlele]

Congratulations SJ. You took me to ROHTANG (as you would like to put it) and back. Awesome.

That would prepare me for my next year trip. And Wish D a quick recovery. He is a Hero of the trip.

[yamraj]

Nice narration there. Quite a few of those places looked familiar. In fact, we have some snaps from the same locations :-).

Am sure you will be able to make it to Leh next year.

A question: why don't you need a sump guard on the SwiftD? Does it already have one? We had one fit on the Palio as well as the WagonR for our trip to Leh and believe me, it was very useful. The roads (or lack of them) between Keylong and Leh are pretty torturous for most cars.

[SamuraiJack]

I have enjoyed writing this log and what kept me going is your interest in it, its truly an amazing drive... I would compare such drives to life itself cause you tend to experience so many things.

Sen- I know what you saying but I'm not sure what more preparation, ensure the ride is ready, have the maps, cash in hand, ropes/cans.. not sure what more, it would surely help if you can give us some directions, would surely help the guys who are planning.

pjay- Supposedly a stream that runs through the road and makes it very difficult to cross.

Thanks Schitre

Thanks Souvik/WD/Majic/advait

Yamraj- that's a cool title, and I belive in your one liner too!, infact I read your story as well- awesome narration bro!. as for the gaurd you are talking about- to think of it now, I think its a good idea and will kinda give you more confidence, but when I looked underneath after I returned from ROHTANG I did not see a scratch anywhere, like I said, exhaust is the only part that is not sealed, and the chassis does protect the exhaust unless you hit a boulder right in between, there are high chances of this happening.

[yamraj]

Originally Posted by SamuraiJack

IYamraj- that's a cool title, and I belive in your one liner too!, infact I read your story as well- awesome narration bro!. as for the gaurd you are talking about- to think of it now, I think its a good idea and will kinda give you more confidence, but when I looked underneath after I returned from ROHTANG I did not see a scratch anywhere, like I said, exhaust is the only part that is not sealed, and the chassis does protect the exhaust unless you hit a boulder right in between, there are high chances of this happening.

Thanx

The guard is useful for protecting the sump. There are chances that you could put a hole in your sump if a stone gets thrown up by one of the tyres and hits the sump or if the car bottoms out at the wrong place.