[sudev]

@MileCruncher: what tsk1979 is suggesting is even before Samba take a right and bye pass Samba/Mansar and join the same road before Udhampur. As I would be travelling at night/dawn around this area I will take a call which road to take. Either way will bye pass Jammu.

@tsk1979: Did you take Samba Mansar road either up or down? Just curious about quality of surface on that one as vis Dhaliya road. Last time I found Dhaliya road was quite potholed but that was in 2007.

[rkbharat]

Originally Posted by MileCruncher

I hope you'll be taking the road through Kathua / Samba without going into Jammu.

that is one wonderful bypass and a very scenic road, just a km little bad stretch, but will be nothing for you.

BTW one suggestion, instead of going all the way toSamba, you can take a right turn at Dayala Chak, around 40 Km after pathankot and you by pass a hell lot of mess, This route meets in the middle of samba-Udhampur road, this right turn is hidden in the mess of shops, and you might feel like going wrong way, but the moment you pass the 50 meter bad part, rest all is smooth

[hvkumar]

Both the Dayala Chowk-Challam-Manwal/Mansar-Udhampur as well as the Samba-Mansar/Manwal roads are in good condition. My friend went via Dayala Chowk onward and returned via Samba, said that the Manwal-Samba road was faster.

[sudev]

Thanks for the input guys. As I mentioned both routes are know to me and travelled upon. Tanveer has given me the GPS tracks for the Dhaliya route so no chance of missing. It was just that I'd be passing that area rather early in the morning and so would like to keep options open to choose which one to take "at the moment" of turn".

Just hoping to avoid humongous traffic snake on the main highway.

Query: Is the tunnel open 24 hours or is there some timings to it?

[alka]

Originally Posted by deky

...And Alka, no ways Sudev would have used a Zen for rallying, Did he really??

Oh boy did he??!!

A pristine new bright red car was coloured yellow to match the colours of sponsors. Inside everything was ripped apart and roll cage etc. installed. Rally seats, belts and what not spent upon.

During this phase we would go to Delhi in this car with few cushions at the back for our sons to sit on. It was real fur them to egg on dad to go faster and hear roar of modified silencer.

Thank god A/C was left in - not as courtsey for us but since A/C coils can also double up as additional radiator. I remember him telling me how they would drive in rallies before this in M800 with heater full on in hot weather so as to keep the engine cool even if it meant the passengers were being roasted.

And then he got involved in homologating Zen since Maruti did not do it. All this between February and March. Completed all that in April and then drove to Mumbai for the MASA rally....

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by sudev

@MileCruncher: what tsk1979 is suggesting is even before Samba take a right and bye pass Samba/Mansar and join the same road before Udhampur. As I would be travelling at night/dawn around this area I will take a call which road to take. Either way will bye pass Jammu.

@tsk1979: Did you take Samba Mansar road either up or down? Just curious about quality of surface on that one as vis Dhaliya road. Last time I found Dhaliya road was quite potholed but that was in 2007.

Follow my GPS track. We took it while coming from Srinagar to Pathankot.
While going to Srinagar we took Samba.
Samba one has more traffic, and some landslides which are tricky with lots of rocks.
Dhaliya road is narrow, but hardly any potholes.

[sudev]

Originally Posted by alka

......Completed all that in April and then drove to Mumbai for the MASA rally....

..And I was promptly disqualified to take a start!!!!

On the technicality that homologation is effective 90 days after issue and so he could rally only from July onwards since homologation was issued in April.

One cause of sad state of rallying in India is intense rivalry between Yellow' (Team J&K) and Red's (Team MRF)s which was at its peak then. This led to rally becoming games of rules interpretation than a sport. Since there were only two sponsorship brands you were either with one or the other. It used to be referred as "laal peela hona"

So I did best under the circumstances. On that one blistering hot day in May 1994 drove back from Bombay to Delhi via Nashik-Indore-Gwalior. It took just 19 hours non stop but for fuel and lunch. Those were the days.


@tsk1979: WILCO just keeping options open

[harishnayak]

Originally Posted by sudev

So I did best under the circumstances. On that one blistering hot day in May 1994 drove back from Bombay to Delhi via Nashik-Indore-Gwalior. It took just 19 hours non stop but for fuel and lunch. Those were the days.


@tsk1979: WILCO just keeping options open

WHOA!! Bombay - Delhi in 19 hours. How were the roads then?? it's tough to do that even today with better roads. Hats off to you.

[MileCruncher]

Originally Posted by harishnayak

WHOA!! Bombay - Delhi in 19 hours. How were the roads then?? it's tough to do that even today with better roads. Hats off to you.

It may not be possible on the NH-3 but is definitely possible on the GQ. HVK does it in 18.

[hvkumar]

Originally Posted by harishnayak

WHOA!! Bombay - Delhi in 19 hours. How were the roads then?? it's tough to do that even today with better roads. Hats off to you.

sudev has done it on NH3. In those days, its was fully 2-laned and through the Chambal Valey (AGra-Pholpur-Moprena-Gwalior) 1-laned! Roads used to be very bad approaching Indore, there used to be massive traffic jams in the ghats after Dhulia and the Kasara Ghats down from Nashik to Bombay were awful to say the least. Doing in 19 hours was a fantastic achievement by sudev, the only way you could do it was because of the lesser traffic, a fast car and a determined driver. I have done the Delhi-Indore-Bombay twice non-stop in those days, it took me 24 hours in my Mahindra Commander and Matiz. Even today, you will take the same time, if not more, since the road has already improved - except that it is 4-laned in many places (Agra0-Gwalior, Dewas-Damnod, Dhulia-Nasik-Bombay).

[sudev]

LOL - Determined I was ( and in retrospect foolish too) but when you have gone all the way and are denied a start. Summers, early morning 3 am from Mumbai and blistering pace from Indore onwards.

I would not advise myself to do this again ever ;-)

[sudev]

New amendment to regulations arrived today which effectively put 25% additional penalty if navigation is done using GPS. So I am going to be brave and not use GPS at all.

[alka]

Sudev has just covered the (non)event at Mumbai MASA rally. "My Car" sat through the Delhi summers without an A/C as by this time the "compressor" was taken out to enhance speed and pickup. So essentially the birthday gift was mine but useless.

After fretting through the summers and 90day wait the Cochin rally happened. Again it was driven all the way to Cochin. On day one of the rally a tyre went off the car in to the jungle and they drove back to night halt on three tyres. And then trucked back to Delhi.

My car was being abused thoroughly!

[tsk1979]

Good you are spilling all the beans Alka. Next time Sudev tells me "you should not drive on lonely tough stretches blah blah and be careful blah blah, I will dial your number and give the phone to him"

[harishnayak]

Originally Posted by MileCruncher

It may not be possible on the NH-3 but is definitely possible on the GQ. HVK does it in 18.

I agree i've done the same stretch on GQ twice. Once a non-stop 26 hours in my alto a couple of weeks back and once in my spark with a pit stop in Udaipur.

Originally Posted by hvkumar

sudev has done it on NH3. In those days, its was fully 2-laned and through the Chambal Valey (AGra-Pholpur-Moprena-Gwalior) 1-laned! Roads used to be very bad approaching Indore, there used to be massive traffic jams in the ghats after Dhulia and the Kasara Ghats down from Nashik to Bombay were awful to say the least. Doing in 19 hours was a fantastic achievement by sudev, the only way you could do it was because of the lesser traffic, a fast car and a determined driver. I have done the Delhi-Indore-Bombay twice non-stop in those days, it took me 24 hours in my Mahindra Commander and Matiz. Even today, you will take the same time, if not more, since the road has already improved - except that it is 4-laned in many places (Agra0-Gwalior, Dewas-Damnod, Dhulia-Nasik-Bombay).

I did the NH-3 on my way back from Goa in 2008 and the roads were in no better condition even then and what with me crossing the Chambal valley at around 12 in the night.

Originally Posted by sudev

LOL - Determined I was ( and in retrospect foolish too) but when you have gone all the way and are denied a start. Summers, early morning 3 am from Mumbai and blistering pace from Indore onwards.

I would not advise myself to do this again ever ;-)

I've sworn never to take this route back to Delhi. The worst experience of my life was driving on this Highway.