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An Impromptu drive from Bangalore to Umling La in my Ford Ecosport

9th May 2025, 18:00 by R Patil

I had left something incomplete in Ladakh a couple of years ago and I do not like unfinished stories. The ascent to Umling La was the missing piece in my travel previously to Ladakh

BHPian jithin23 recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

"The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page.” -Saint Augustine

Well, my life has been more of a travel book at least in my circles. This year too I wanted to drive up North as the places in the southern part of India are something I've been seeing since childhood. I had left something incomplete in Ladakh a couple of years ago and I do not like unfinished stories. The ascent to Umling La was the missing piece in my travel previously to Ladakh and my third time to Ladakh. So as always, I decided to complete that portion in my own car so that I'll have mental peace. This time surprisingly I wanted to take a few people along and I had taken along a friend named Malatesh and he's the one who services my car at FASS. I wanted to take him along as opportunities for him to travel across the country are limited.

So what better time than to utilize the ridiculous notice period offered by the so-called IT giants(they want us to join immediately but will relieve us only after 2-3 months which is detrimental for an employee's progress) As usual, you know the drill (Entire closet in the boot of my EcoSport) by now but this time I was slightly prepared as I carried along a postpaid sim too (Only Postpaid works in J&K and Ladakh).

Now, let's get into the journey!

Bangalore to Mumbai

Day 1: Trunk Route
Places: Bangalore-Mumbai
Date: 24 May 2024
Distance: 1,017 kms and 15.5 hrs including 2 stops

I'm already charged up and promptly filled up the fuel tank till the brim at Nayara OMBR Layout, recharged Fastag for about 5-6k and went towards Hennur to pick Malatesh. In 20 mins we were at Esteem Mall as Vipin ettan wanted to wish us luck and treat us with some chocolates from Europe. By 7.20 we were zooming past the airport toll and took the STRR to reach Dobbespet(I avoid going via Gorguntepalya due to endless traffic and I find this route better), by 9.30 we were at Shell Sira for a quick Coffee and Sandwich break. By 11.45-12 we reached Ranebennur and met another EcoSport owner named Rakesh and went to Maltesh's place for a sumptuous Uttara Kannada style meal! We took a few jolada(Corn based as jola=corn) rotis as parcel and proceeded towards Pune via Kolhapur(Damn, I should have gone via Bijapur-Solapur) and the roads were smooth and uneventful till Belgaum except for road expansion on the Hubli-Dharwad stretch(finally!). Another bummer was that the engine oil I was carrying along had leaked on my clothes bag and half my clothes had engine oil stain :( and we took an empty can from Shell and refilled in that can. From Belgaum, it was utter chaos till Satara as the roads were being widened or repaired and traffic jams ranging to a km or two. After crossing the ghats, we reached the outskirts of Pune and here the drill is to order Mutton and bhakri which I religiously did! Within 1.5 hrs we reached Mumbai and our hostel dorms were already booked at Belgaum I usually prefer staying at hostels in most places so that one can connect with other travelers and when I'm alone, it is much more cost effective. I booked a hostel at Bandra known as Forrest Hostels and we were fast asleep. Meanwhile I got a call from a Fiesta owner whom I had helped last year pertaining to some documentation on her car and she too wanted to meet me. I left to Western Express Highway post midnight and we both ended up taking a spin in each our cars around WEH and later I called it a night. The Fiesta has been maintained well since 2007! Respect and then we bonded over our cars .

Pics from Day 1

The Send Off

At a Group Member's place in Ranebennur

The Joalada Roti from KA meets Mutton Bhakri from Pune

The Hostel in Bandra, Forrest Hostels(Crazy name :P)

Mumbai to Vadodara

Day 2: Broken Roads
Date: 25-May-2024
Places: Mumbai City-Vadodra
Distance: 450 kms and one whole day

The first half of the day we went to the Gateway of India post breakfast and after a while we met Karan as well whom I'm in contact with for a very long time(right from my blue EcoSport days). Post 2.30, we started off towards Gujarat and then I realised that Mumbai has 2 major choke points, the Virar and Vashi Creek. To cross Virar will take ages so I thought we'll go via Bhiwandi and that road too was no less than driving on a moon crater. After 3 hrs of driving, we stopped at Hotel Ahura for a quick chai(I like coffee but coffee is best at home in KA/TN ) and a big no to Starbucks coffee that's not coffee, that's an invitation for high sugar and BP..No offence to anyone tho!). Post that, I handed over the wheel to Maltesh and all I remembered next was we reached Ankleshwar by 11pm(I dozed off on the shotgun seat) to meet another fellow EcoSport owner named Sanju Sebastian. He too was keen to see my car and was inspired by my car to own an EcoSport and he too owns a Race Red EcoSport. Though we met for the first time, we exchanged a lot of stories and how we keep our cars and then proceeded towards Vadodra for the night.

Gateway of India

With a fellow EcoSport owner at Gujarat

Vadodara - Udaipur - Ujjain

Day 3: Spiritual Detour
Date: 26- May-2024
Places: Vadodra- Udaipur- Ujjain
Distance: 780 kms

After we bid bye to Sanju bro, I quickly found a stay on treebo at Vadodra and we drove towards Vadodra on the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway. Within an hour we reached out stay at Vadodra and called it a night at 2.30 am. The hotel receptionist woke us up by ringing the bell for breakfast at 10 am(we had piping hot Pohas) and within 35 mins, I was behind the wheel and in the next 45 minutes, cops flag me down at the periphery of Ahmedabad for having tint on my windows (I decided to keep a separate budget only for fines, as some cops like to see Gandhi a lot :P). We stopped at Shambu's for a quick juice break and I was thoroughly enjoying the empty roads till Udaipur. By 3pm we were yet again greeted by traffic cops for tine again :(. By 3.30 we reached Khamma Ghani(my usual spot at Udaipur for Lal Maas). Then another friend named Phani from AP had tagged along for the rest of the drive at Udaipur. We met a couple of EcoSport Owners(Jeo and Amit) near Karni Mata for sunset. The view from the hill is beautiful! Post sunset, we headed towards Ujjain which was another 7 hours from Udaipur. Since Maltesh too was there, I thought we can keep switching and reach by midnight. The drive was quite uneventful except the last 70-80 kms which was a single lane road. Our stay was sorted by the time we could reach again, credits go to an EcoSport owner.

Shade for the Dragon is scarce

Lal Maas at Khama Ghani is a ritual when in Udaipur

With the EcoSport boys in Udaipur

Indore - Udaipur - Jaipur

Day 4: Empty Expressway and a broken truck
Date: 27-May-2024
Places: Indore- Ujjain- Jaipur
Distance: 700kms

We had stayed at Ujjain the previous night and the next morning we had to pay a visit to the Mahakaleshwar temple. I parked the car about 500m away from the temple and had to make a couple of calls to go through the special darshan queue. In 15 minutes, we had a peaceful darshan and we were out of the temple and we had to meet another EcoSport owner for lunch who arranged the darshan for us. Met him and we discussed a lot of topics at length and we set off to Jaipur by 4pm. We took the Work in progress Delhi- Mumbai expressway and luckily we had filled up fuel as there was not a single bunk in the expressway stretch. By 8-9 pm ish we reached somewhere near Kota and a truck was broken down in the middle of the road. I tried to help the truck guy by starting the truck but some pin had broken due to which the truck was not moving. Then we had to drive almost at the kerb of the road for a few kilometers and we connected onto the highway. By 10pm we stop for dinner at a dhaba and then proceeded to drive towards Jaipur. By midnight we almost reached Tonk and from Tonk I decided to take a nap and Maltesh was behind the wheel. We reached a friend's place at Jaipur by 2 am.

Ujjain(sorry for the hushed up photography)

Another state, another set of enthusiasts

Day 5: RX 100 Ride and a quick service
Date: 28-May-2024
Places: Within Jaipur
Distance: 60 kms

I wake up in the morning and I do a quick check on the car and I noticed that the driver side door glass was slightly damaged but not alarming(mostly due to the heat). Then I call up Shantanu(another EcoSport owner in RJ) and he came with a surprise for me. He brought the RX 100 and I rode the motorcycle like a teenager(took me back 10 years in time) on the streets of Jaipur despite the scorching heat till Patrika gate and then we headed to KS Ford to get the car serviced. I went in and spoke to the manager and seeing my car and license plate, he immediately agreed to get it done within 2-3 hours. Post which we went to Hawa Mahal and Naharngarh fort with his boys for a chai as well as to see the view from the top of the hill and we called it a day.

All set with the Helmet and I was on a fun run with the motorcycle

Two Immortal Legends in the hearts of Enthusiasts

Hawa Mahal

Night view of Jaipur

Jaipur to Amritsar

Day 6: Udta Punjab
Date: 29-May-2024
Places: Jaipur to Amritsar
Distance: 660kms

We started off peacefully by 8.30am after a hearty breakfast at my friend's place and from his place, the highway is just a stone throw away and in no time we are almost near Haryana border. However, before we could exit RJ, again I got flagged down by cops for maintaining 100kmph speed and the cop kept on arguing( I never saw any speed limit sign but on a NH I'm aware that the speed limit is 100kmph), I paid him some money and I went on with my journey. Right after Narnaul, there's a diversion which goes via the trans-Haryana expressway(take the road via Kheri Mukkar- Narnaul and then you'll reach the start point of the expressway) and it bypasses Delhi and leads straight to Ambala. One small incident had ahappened over here. A tipper lorry with jelly stones was driving at high speed and a 3-4 stone pebbles fell on my car's roof. Fortunaately nothing happened, not even a dent on the roof. Had it been a sunroof, I would have had a cracked sunroof for the rest of the trip(I thank my stars for not picking a sunroof variant car!).3The only decent restaurant in this stretch available was Aureo Food plaza and we stopped over there for some Punjabi style parathas. The best part is that the roads are empty and we reached Ambala in 3 hours. From Ambala, we drove at a leisurely pace and took sufficient breaks to admire the loud alloy wheeel taste of Punjab :P. By sunset we checked in at our hotel and we visited the Golden Temple and had a king-size paratha with lassi at Brother's right near The Golden Temple.

Just by this wheel, we know that we are in PB!

The Ubiquitous Brother's Dhaba

That one Parantha is enough for 2 people, but I ended up finishing up the plate and Lassi

Glittering Golden Temple

Amritsar to Attari Border

Day 7: Border Parade
Date: 30-May-2024
Places: Amritsar and Attari Border
Distance: 60km to and fro

I rememberd my childhood memory when I had been to Amritsar in 2005 wherein I was lucky enough to sit in a railway engine(I'm a huge Rail Fan too) and I had witnessed the parade at Attari border when I was 9 years old. The parade memories took me back in time and I revisited that memory lane by attending the parade once again (Yet, another huge defence forces fan, especially the Indian Army!). I had booked the parade ticket online in prior and it was free of charge. Before we could head for the parade, we had to pick another friend who was flying down from Hyderabad. We picked him up and we headed straight to Jaiianwala Bagh and Golden Temple. The parade was filled with crowds clamouring for seats at both the borders and man! What a sight to see the parade in action. By 6.30 pm, the parade got over and we headed back to our hotel and parked the car as I wanted to explore the city in a more laidback manner. We took an e-rickshaw to Charming Chicken and had some amazing Chicken gravy and paratha. Had I been in Punjab for some more time, I would have gained 5-10 kgs more, heheh.

This is our group to the mountains