All-India road trip in a Ford Endeavour: Plan, queries & suggestions

The journey will cover around 14,000 km & 22 states & would be completed in about 60 days.

BHPian XtremeTorque recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Hello folks, my name is Jijo and I am planning a pan-India road trip.

I am planning to set out for the longest drive of my life on April 20. Along with 3 other friends, taking our faithful Ford Endeavour 3.2 4WD (2019 model) on a 14000 Kms round-trip covering 22 states and almost all historical landmarks.

We have a lot of time on our hands, so not planning a hasty drive, but an expedition drive exploring all places with time to spare. Will possibly take about 60 days to complete the trip and we are starting from Kochi.

The route plan is as follows:

Kochi - Mangalore - Udupi - Gokarna - Karwar - Goa - Mumbai - Surat - Vadodara - Ahmedabad - Udaipur - Jaipur - Chandigarh - Shimla - Manali - Leh - Ladakh - Shimla - Dehradun - Delhi - Agra - Lucknow - Nepal - Dargeeling - Shillong - Nagaland - Manipur - Guwahati - Siliguri - Kolkata - Cuttack - Visakhapatnam - Vijayawada - Chennai - Pondicherry - Rameshwaram - Kanyakumari - Kochi

Yes, visiting Nepal is in my plans and planning to drive through Nepal for about 3-5 days.

Since this is the first attempt of us doing a pan India trip, need some precious inputs from valuable members here who had done this already.

Have a few queries to sort out:

• Is our route plan correct? Is there a better choice to cover most places?
• How bad is AMS considering that we are all adults above 30 and had never been to such high altitudes before? What all precautions should be taken for the Shimla - Manali - Leh - Ladakh route to avoid high altitude health problems and what medications to be carried along for the same?
• Are there any problems or restrictions in our chosen route for taking a KL registered private car?
• Any pitfalls to avoid?

We will be driving during daytime only, usually from 8 am to 5 pm and will be staying and exploring for extra days at significant places like Rajasthan, Shimla etc.

Preparations done so far:

• Vehicle serviced and added new battery and tyres.
• Bought all essential items for the car like a tyre inflator, jumper cables, tow rope, spare fuses, jerry can, car fluids etc.
• Checked for good budget hotels for night stay, while didn't pre-book anything as our dates are flexible.
• Clothes, Medical kits and processed foods are in order.

While our preparation is done at a novice level, we would like to have suggestions and inputs from experts who had done long drives.

Here's what BHPian ColAjayDrives had to say about the matter:

I'm feeling the most jealous!

• From Jaipur, suggest following this route: Jaipur - Delhi - Pathankot - Srinagar - Kargil - Leh - Manali - Shimla - Chandigarh - Dehradun - Delhi.
• From Darjeeling, suggest following this route: Darjeeling - Gangtok - reverse to Siliguri - Kaziranga - Dimapur - Shillong - Guwahati - back to Siliguri - Kolkata.
• AMS. If you are driving up via the route I suggested (gains altitudes slower compared to the anti-clockwise route), you needn't worry about acute mountain sickness. But do spend a night at Leh, it will help reduce AMS.
• There is no medication for AMS other than acclimatization or reversal to lower altitudes. You can carry Praceptamol if you feel like (for headaches).
• No restriction on KL number, just keep a couple of proofs that you are a transit traveler, like hotel bills etc.

Enjoy your journey!

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.