[hvkumar]

DKG, another thought would be to start from the Northern Himalayas (sadly, no Ladakh) and end up in the Eastern Himalayas, via HP, UK, Nepal, WB, SK, Bhutan (BT) and AN.

[DKG]

Originally Posted by hvkumar

DKG, another thought would be to start from the Northern Himalayas (sadly, no Ladakh) and end up in the Eastern Himalayas, via HP, UK, Nepal, WB, SK, Bhutan (BT) and AN.

For this would Delhi be the starting point?

[hvkumar]

Yes, DKG, Delhi is the ideal starting point and could end in Calcutta. You could do the entire or part of this route, but you will need more than 30 days to do any justice to the it comprehensively. Places you could possibly cover are, apart from Himachal, Uttarakhand & Nepal are:
Darjeeling, Gangtok, Thimphu, Jakar, Trashigang, Tawang, Ziro, Pasighat, Tezu, all in North East India.
These places are best during autumn/winter once the rains end.

[simply_sunny001]

DKG, taking a self drive 4x4 from Avis is not a bad idea considering the reliability of these old jeeps, though i am not sure how reliable your cj3b is, and then on top of that part availability.

But then for a month you will be raking in bills around 70-80k for rental so its not advisable for 1 month trip but for a shorter trip like 5-6 days its a nice idea.

so please dont mind to plan for at least Preventive Maintenance at regular intervals/places while you plan your Himalayan Sojourn with your CJ3B.

cheers

[SS-Traveller]

Originally Posted by DKG

...my annual vacation
...friends from Chennai, Bangalore, Pune and Bombay join in
What say guys ? Lets have some fun up north !!

Originally Posted by DKG

For this would Delhi be the starting point?

@DKG: ...and you would plan to exclude friendly footloose folks from Delhi from your vacation, while starting it from their doorstep. I like that...

...not at all!!!

[r_nairtvm]

Originally Posted by DKG

let the ideas flow in. I am completely open, truck, container, drive all the way, hotels, camping I am game.

Deepak and Others,

Most important question

Stags or with Better Halves? I think I am game for either.

Deepak do explore the Car Carrier option. I think Shibu (Jeep Captain) did this for bringing his latest buy - Defender 90 - from Sikkim to Delhi

Best Regards & Ride/Drive Safe

Ram

[DKG]

Originally Posted by r_nairtvm

Stags or with Better Halves?

No reason why family shouldn't join in. If I air the idea at home my 81 year old mother will be the first to insist she comes along !!

Originally Posted by SS-Traveller

you would plan to exclude friendly footloose folks from Delhi from your vacation

Arre nahi bhai !! The idea is for all the folks down south to come up and meet you !! Besides this is your backyard - how could we possibly exlude you

Originally Posted by simply_sunny001

plan for at least Preventive Maintenance at regular intervals/places while you plan your Himalayan Sojourn with your CJ3B.

I've done about 9000 kms of highway driving so far in my CJ3B and the breakdowns are two fan belts broken and the mechanical fuel pump failing on me in summer. So now I have a electric fuel pump and I carry fan belts in spare. For the Himalayan trip I will equip the Jeep with dual coils, dual electric fuel pumps and a spare set of plugs.

But yes I do agree that one must have these old cars well sorted out before one attempts a marathon journey

Originally Posted by hvkumar

These places are best during autumn/winter once the rains end.

HVK can I request you to please recommend three circuit options starting from Delhi, Chandigarh and any other place you feel is a starting point. We'll plan a three week road trip leaving one additional week for those who may wish to drive up from south.

Please recommend the circuits with average of 50 kmph for plains driving and perhaps a slower speed for the mountain sectors. We could also plan to make towns as bases for two three day circuits. That way some who wish to chill out in town and skip a leg can do so and join up with the rest of the group as we move to another town.

I do realise that the entire Himalayan foothills may take years to explore. So perhaps we could start in what you feel are the most scenic sectors and year on year move to other sectors eventually covering from Kashmir to Arunachal Pradesh

[SS-Traveller]

Originally Posted by DKG

Arre nahi bhai !! The idea is for all the folks down south to come up and meet you !! Besides this is your backyard - how could we possibly exlude you

Good - then we can explore my backyard together (en famille) the coming summer.

Originally Posted by DKG

...one must have these old cars well sorted out before one attempts a marathon journey

And who knows better than you about sorting them out?

[JeepHyde]

Originally Posted by DKG

Sometime next year I plan on taking my annual vacation exploring the Himalayan foothills over an entire month.

That is a terrific plan!
It is my long cherished dream to journey by road from Hyderabad to Leh. You have plucked those chords... I am all too excited for you.

If I have your permission I would love to join you in the adventure. (By the way I am hunting for a used Gypsy as of now and hopefully have one by Summer). If I come, it will be a great learning experience for me just being with fellow Jeep lovers apart from the sheer fun and excitement of being in the mountains.

Originally Posted by hvkumar

Let me try out a route plan, covering some nice places in both HP and UK:

Chandigarh-Pathankot-Dalhousie

Dalhousie-Chamba-Jot-Dharamsala-Baijnath/Bir-Mandi-Manali

Manali-Manikaran-Aut-Shoja-Jalori Jot-Sainj-Rampur

Rampur-Powari-((Spello-Nako-Sumdo-Tabo-Kaza))

((Kaza-Tabo-Sumdo-Nako-Spello))-Powari-Kalpa-Powari-Karchcham-Sangla-Chitkul-Sangla-Karchcham-Jeori-Sarahan-Jeori-Rampur

Rampur-Rohru-Hatkoti-Chakrata-Kalsi-Musoorie-Dhanaulti

Dhanaulti-Chamba-Tehri-Deoprayag-Pauri-Srinagar-Rudraprayag-Karnaprayag-Gwaldam

Gwaldam-Baijnath-Kausani-Bageshwar-Binsar-Almora-Ranikhet-Corbett Park

Corbett Park-Ramnagar-Moradabad-Gajraula-Hapur-Ghaziabad-Delhi

The trip profile has mountains, mountains and mountains. If weather conditions are right, you could quickly also cover the following places:

Sach Pass, from Dalhousie to Udeypur/Keylong
Kalsi to Yamunotri/Gangotri

Another option would be to concentrate on a small region and explore it entirely. I have really no ideas for nay such region that will keep you occupied for 20-30 days.

WONDERFUL routes, all of them; beautifully picturesque and I am sure, delight for jeepers. I have been to a few places mentioned by hvkumar, mostly by a hired taxi or bus. And always wishing and hoping to return one day in my own Jeep or Gypsy.

Good Luck and best wishes for your forthcoming vacation.
P.S. Do consider my request.

[DKG]

Guys lets get this going. Jaggu, Shahnawaz, Tejas, Arka, Behram, Sharath and Vinod lets get the expedition going this June/July what say? BD we can call it the Mahindra Heritage run. A huge expedition starting from Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Bombay, Indore, Delhi up into the Himalayas

[shekaran]

am joining with my wife in my MM540 friends. excited to know that we jeepers can make the trip a huge sensational and successful one.

[pdev29]

@DKG

this sounds good, let us know if you need any help from our side.

lets do this for sure.

Cheers
Devang

[DKG]

Good so lets get groups to coordinate from within each location and once we have atleast three from each location then we'll freeze the route and make other plans?

We have Chennai, Hyd and Bombay

Bangalore?

I'll start getting a few guys to join in from Hyd and revert shortly

[BolBolero]

Originally Posted by hvkumar

Let me try out a route plan, covering some nice places in both HP and UK:

Chandigarh-Pathankot-Dalhousie

Dalhousie-Chamba-Jot-Dharamsala-Baijnath/Bir-Mandi-Manali

Manali-Manikaran-Aut-Shoja-Jalori Jot-Sainj-Rampur

Rampur-Powari-((Spello-Nako-Sumdo-Tabo-Kaza))

((Kaza-Tabo-Sumdo-Nako-Spello))-Powari-Kalpa-Powari-Karchcham-Sangla-Chitkul-Sangla-Karchcham-Jeori-Sarahan-Jeori-Rampur

Rampur-Rohru-Hatkoti-Chakrata-Kalsi-Musoorie-Dhanaulti

Dhanaulti-Chamba-Tehri-Deoprayag-Pauri-Srinagar-Rudraprayag-Karnaprayag-Gwaldam

Gwaldam-Baijnath-Kausani-Bageshwar-Binsar-Almora-Ranikhet-Corbett Park

Corbett Park-Ramnagar-Moradabad-Gajraula-Hapur-Ghaziabad-Delhi

The trip profile has mountains, mountains and mountains. If weather conditions are right, you could quickly also cover the following places:

Sach Pass, from Dalhousie to Udeypur/Keylong
Kalsi to Yamunotri/Gangotri

Another option would be to concentrate on a small region and explore it entirely. I have really no ideas for nay such region that will keep you occupied for 20-30 days.

@HVK, Sir with your permission.
A slight tweak in the Manali route, why not go from
Manali- Rohtang - Gramphoo - KunzumLa - Losar - Kaza. (A detour to Chandrataal, short visit to Kibber, Kye, Dhankar) and then continue to Tabo, Nako and rest of the route as mentioned.
This way you do not travel twice towards Kaza and back. Only problem is covering the Manikaran-Aut-Shoja-Jalori Jot-Sainj-Rampur sector. This again is a not to be missed drive.
Sir any idea of covering this route in conjunction with the above plan?

Originally Posted by DKG

You've given us something to chew on ! I think the ideal itinerary should allow those who cannot do the entire leg to do some sectors at their convenience and time availability

Lets try to post pictures of some of these places as it would lure more enthusiasts to explore the region

Sir I am attaching a few pics of the roads I traveled on. Hope that it generates some enthusiasm.





















More to follow.

[hvkumar]

BolBolero, the problem with adding Kaza (and Lahaul-Spit Valley) is that it is a seasonal road, and the rest of the tour plan can be done anytime during the year, regardless of the snow blockades on Rohtang & Kunzum la passes.