[rejoycjohn]

This trip is not anything new to the world of team - bhpians, but this was something which we were longing for over 6 months.

we always had trips , happen always overnight without any planning- but just get on to the vehicle with a couple of t shirts
and a jeans . We had trips which we set out without even knowing the destination - but deciding them on the way .
Gone were those days in our Engg College!!

Couple of my friends have office shutdown and forced leaves on year ends and they just utilize them to roam around North India .
And for the past 2 years , I missed them as I hardly get leave to join them . But this year I just decided to be part of
the trip no matter what .

As my friends had visited most of the places like delhi - jaipur - jaisalmer-Manali-Mussorie , we were left with places much more
up north . Most of guys would have guessed the destination by now . Yes its 'Destination Leh ' .

We the lazy guys , who always had unplanned trips were a bit sceptical about reaching there , as there werent anyone whom we know
went till up there. But we wanted that to happen at any costs,so for us to take the things seriously we asked my friend to book
the flight tickets from Blore to Delhi . We have heard that the roads are closed during winter , so decided not to go in december but in
peak summer . July .Quick decisions , booked the flight to delhi for 16th night and hoped to be back on 27th night.

Everyone was busy convincing the managers for the leaves and on wondering how to get vehicles ( self driven to Leh ) .
Some net searches got contacts of Leaseplan.co.in , but they demanded corporate billing which we wont be able to get it .But those
floks were very help ful and gave us some other contacts of Eco car rentals .We got options to choose the vehicle from Ford Endevour , Toyota Innova , Honda Crv .Well we were 7 in total , so again the choice
was easy .Any guesses ??

Before going further with the travelogue , I would like to thank all the team bhpians who had written their travelogue to Leh Ladakh.
( posted before July - as I hadnt find as many of them as I see today in the forum ) .I thank Mr Sha personally for his advices , his directions , his tips on what all require and what not . Thank you so much Mr Sha.
A phone with him made us so confident and got something similar to a blueprint of the routes.Thanks again.
Some teaser pics..

[rrahul_2778]

Wow rejoy!!! One never gets tired of seeing pics of Leh. Now your thread gets added to my list of must read till you reach the end. More More......

[Majic]

I think you have made your point with the teasers and good spirited narrations,i think this would be the first LEH travelogue for the year. Do bring in those goodies you have my undivided attention!

[srikanthpotluri]

Great trip!!!as Rahul said one never gets tired to Leh.

Looking forward for a wonderful travelogue.

[pulsar56]

That's a wonderful start for the travelogue.
Waiting eagerly for the story to unfold.

[rejoycjohn]

Thanks Rahul , srikanthpotluri , pulsar56 and Majic for those encouragements .
Let me continue without making much delays :-)

Day 0 - 16th July 2009
Our flight to Delhi was scheduled at 4 from Blore , reached Delhi at around 8 after some delay in landing.
Delhi treated us well , I felt like thrown into a furnace . The peak summer was doing its duty perfectly on us .
And as a matter of fact , I feel that all Blorians are pampered by its climate. The climate back at my hometown also make me uncomfortable,and any comment on
that would end up being whacked by my friends / relatives .

We had asked Eco to get the car to the airport with a driver . Dint find much difficulty in getting the driver . He took us to the
vehicle , well I had given a chance to guess the vehicle out of the Toyota Innova , CRV and the Endevour .
But I think that point was not very well communicated to you guys - Anyway let me disclose the vehicles of our choice .It was Ford Endevour.
Guys we were just WOW when we see that Mammoth !!!That was the first time I am seeing it so close , the size just took the breath from all of us.

The driver took us to their go-down , gave them the advance.Did some random checks if the Oil was adequate and 2/3 Kms long test drives to get a feel
of the vehicle . The tyres were fair in its condition , but the spare was a new one . The vehicle had covered over 1.3 Lakhs ,but dint feel
that old .Wen to my Juniors house and stayed there for that day

Day 1 - 17th Jul
Planned to start at 5.30 , but as usual ended up getting into the vehicle at 7.30am .Our plan was to reach Manali by the end of the day .
I got into the drivers seat , crawled through the Delhi traffic , and reached NH 1 .There were some trucks , but the traffic wasnt very heavy .
Floored the accelerator - was njoying the Turbo when its gets kicked in . With full load we were cruising comfortably at 80-100 .
I was enjoying the highway to its best . That was the time when i tried reaching 140 once , and it did manage to and was asking for more from me .
But I could hear my friends asking from the rear seat to decrease the speed as the ride was getting real bumpy at teh 3rd row seat.
As a matter of fact , I dint like the driving position much . The position wasnt fair for a so called SUV . The visibility was bad , I couldnt see the corners up front
as I would be expecting from a similar sized Pajero / Safari .

Had a break somewhere in the NH 1 , before reaching Chandigarh. The steering wheel was handed over to my friend . I crawled to the 3rd row seat .
As they had mentioned , the ride was real bumpy out here unlike the much comfortable upfront .The signal free Chandigarh was a delight to our eyes , we were only
exposed to the crawling trafic in the Inner Ring road or at Hosur Road .

Gods own country is famous for a couple of things . Its natural beauty , its backwaters , the world famous Mal accent while speaking any other language and last but not least
the revenue that this state generates by selling Alcohol . We were no different , if I can mention here , the rates were similar to those we give to
buy Drinking water in Bangalore :-P.

We continued our journey , this time it was the highways that welcomed us . The road was not so great , and so we had to slow down ( again thanks to its bumby ride )
Again a break for tea somewhere before kulu . It was getting dark and so we decided to end the days journey at Kulu .It wasnt very cold , but a lot better from delhi .

Some more pics

[rejoycjohn]

Day 1 , we dint get much time to take snaps , rather we dint take much as the terrain was something similar to what we see every day .

Day 2 started with a tyre puncture .But the spirits didnt die , as couple of us made the effort to change the punctured with the spare one .
We reached almost a Kilometre before Manali to find a tyre repair shop . We had the break fast from there while the tyre wala was repairing our gaadi .

Oh I forgot to mention - Pronouncing Ford Endevour was kinda difficult and so we gave a nick name to our gaadi ' KADAVAAVAR ' .Well one of our friends in college used to
call this charecter 'Kadaavar ' in the computer game 'Quake' as ' KADAVAAVAR '. So from here on Endevour shall be mentioned as ' KADAVAAVAR '.

Started off , we reached Manali and did some shopping . Got some dry fruits / chocolates from there . The traffic was real heavy and the roads were narrow , our vehicle was
so huge for those single laned roads. We started climbing up , the roads had tarmac and the view was just superb . Green everywhere and at times we see mountains with ice
cladded peaks. Well I am not so good in explaining that beauty in words , so more description will be by the pics themselves
The peaceful drive didnt last much , we saw a big traffic Block after some half or an hours climb .
We had no clue whats happening , and were really bothered as we heard rumours that the traffic wont be cleared for the day and hence we would need to go back to Manali .
That was the last thing that we wanted to do . We saw many taxi guys returning back to manali .
The only thing that gave us hope was those trucks that we saw coming down.

That was a sight first of its kind in our life , the rear wheels were half outside the road . We wondered how those guys managed to drive in that route . Hats off to their spirit and
courage!!

After a couple of hours, we started moving , there was a landslide and that caused the block .
The road was filled with Slush , loose mud and melted iced .Our kadavaavar though cruised them with ease. The thrill that I was having at that time cannot be expressed in words
For the first time in my life ai an doing something similar to an offroading . Wheelspinning , that too just the adequate amount for us to just get a thrill and
not any serious problem , plunging through those slush..It was real good fun guys.
We had a pitstop on the way up and eventually reached Rohtang .
Yes we are passing through the first pass in our trip . And the first time any of us crossing a Pass !!

All of us posed for some pics and had a tea. Our destination was Keylong for the day . The road wasnt good and so we had to literally crawl down , we could see those taxi guys with
rushing their way through those roads . We were wondering on the state of the guys travelling inside .

Reached Keylong by night .Got into some decent lodge.After having a round of apetizing we were off to sleep !

[rejoycjohn]

More Pics .. of day 2

[Cheeronwheels]

Good Pictures ! And a crispy travellogue too.

[LongDrive lover]

amazing pics. keep them coming

[Ardy]

Rejoy,

Lovely pictures and travelogue. I am planning to do this mother of all trips this year around the time for Ladakh festival.

QQ: What were the rentals for Endy?

Cheers.

[sami316]

Hi Rejoy,

The pics have come out really good. Well, if is Leh you are bound to get good quality pics. Looking forward to the rest of the travelogue. Keep it coming.

[shipnil]

Hey Rejoy, keep it coming man. don't stop.

BTW, can we change the name back to Ford Endeavor. I find the other word quite difficult to pronounce. Or if you don't mind, call it Kandahar.

[sachinj12]

Originally Posted by shipnil

Kandahar.

LOL

Simple and straight forward writing. Subscribed to the thread. Keep dishing out more.

[rejoycjohn]

Cheeronwheels Good Pictures ! And a crispy travellogue too.

Thank you , I shall try not to drag much :-)

amazing pics. keep them coming

sami316 Hi Rejoy,

The pics have come out really good. Well, if is Leh you are bound to get good quality pics. Looking forward to the rest of the travelogue. Keep it coming.

Thanks again ,
As Sami mentioned , its very easy over there , just turn the camera to any where even if the vehicle is moving and click , you just get an awesome pic !
All thanks to the place and also as we went on a peak summer , we could capture the real colours of all those Mountains > those must be cladded with snow and Ice in Winter and early summer .
Some of my other colleagues who had gone mentioned that it gets boring when its completely filled with snow . Becomes monotonous , we talking about period of 10 days .

don't mind, call it Kandahar.

Well point taken , mallus are good with tongue twisters , so we got used to it.
I shall mention both the names from now on ..

Simple and straight forward writing. Subscribed to the thread. Keep dishing out more.

Thanks Sachin , I shall post more in the evening ..