[hvkumar]

Originally Posted by Harbir

I am in real difficulty here. I don't know whether I am a purist or whether I lack an adventurous spirit.

I find that if you're serious about doing this kinda thing, you ought to have a vehicle suited to this purpose.

but then I guess most people just have a life that doesn't revolve around expeditions like this and they buy cars that are suited to that life, but then are also adventurous enough to go to wild places with whatever resource they have in their lives.

hmmm.

Yes, definitely, the FUN is in saying:


"I rode to Tiger Hill in Darjeeling in my mobike"



"Or I shivered in the cold of Pangong Lake in Ladakh despite the heater working in my Matiz"




"And despite having a big brawny SUV, even Scorpios bow down like this"

[honeybee]

An exciting travelogue, I must say.

I remember HVK mentioning in one of the early pages that one would be surprised to see the FE returned by the vehicle in such conditions. Now does that have something to do with the temperatures in this region? It's well known that if you are filling your tank in colder climates you are actually getting more fuel in.

This may have been covered earlier, though I seem to have missed it, but how much did the entire journey cost, per head, on an average, including preparations, from and to Mumbai? I remember HVK mentioning one should carry at least 25k in cash on the trip itself, but how much did the preparations cost?

[no_enthu_da]

Originally Posted by hvkumar

Yes, definitely, the FUN is in saying:


"I rode to Tiger Hill in Darjeeling in my mobike"

Attachment 917497

"Or I shivered in the cold of Pangong Lake in Ladakh despite the heater working in my Matiz"

Attachment 917498


"And despite having a big brawny SUV, even Scorpios bow down like this"

Attachment 917499

also for you HVK saar : i struck off "jeepable" and wrote "MATIZABLE" on the return from Chandra Tal!

[hvkumar]

Originally Posted by no_enthu_da

also for you HVK saar : i struck off "jeepable" and wrote "MATIZABLE" on the return from Chandra Tal!

Great! I did that during my 2004 drive too!
And in my 2004 album you will see a photo at More Plains which says'
"Enjoy Ladakh when motoring" which was changed to ".....when cycling!"
Salute those who dare to bicycle Leh-Manali!

[no_enthu_da]

Originally Posted by rajeev k

One of your team member is not seen around for some time now. Had he remained with the Mumbai Roadsters' team, I feel, he also would have crossed the Such pass. He is none other than no_enthu_da aka Baby Alto. In which case it would probably been the first Alto to cross the Pass with the First Swifts ever.

that would've been totally awesome!! but my clutch was starting to give up and there were many places where i couldn't get sufficient power to the wheels. Moreover, the suspension was extremely noisy (more due to mechanical trouble than the rough terrain!)

given the condition of the car, it was prudent to take the Zojila route rather than Sach Pass!!

Originally Posted by samarjitdhar

Didn't Baby Alto go to Leh along with JeepCaptain's Bolero instead of taking Sach Pass. I forget the name of the place where they parted ways but it is a few pages back I guess.

Yes that's the route we took! The place where the two groups parted was Debring (which is at the base of Tanglang La).

Originally Posted by samarjitdhar

IMO a sound decision given the challenges reaching Sach Pass. While a human can push one's own limit through grit and perseverance the same cannot be expected of a machine. The fault tolerance level of a Swift is higher than that of an Alto and in my opinion it is a bit foolhardy to push a machine beyond limits of what it is capable of, probably unnecessary risk.

That accurately sums up the rationale behind turning the Alto towards Zojila!

Originally Posted by hvkumar

but then you have not heard the rest of his story yet even as he was setting some new benchmarks

heheh! wonder when Shibu and I will start our narration of the EPIC Leh -> Srinagar and beyond drive!!

[rajeev k]

Originally Posted by no_enthu_da

that would've been totally awesome!! but my clutch was starting to give up and there were many places where i couldn't get sufficient power to the wheels. Moreover, the suspension was extremely noisy (more due to mechanical trouble than the rough terrain!)

heheh! wonder when Shibu and I will start our narration of the EPIC Leh -> Srinagar and beyond drive!!

Finally when did you get to make your Alto back kicking fine and where?
Waiting for that story to unfurl.

[no_enthu_da]

Originally Posted by rajeev k

Finally when did you get to make your Alto back kicking fine and where? Waiting for that story to unfurl.

it was alive and kicking all the way! the only time the clutch completely gave up was the first time we reached Leh (maybe because I wasn't driving!!)..

the noises disappeared after a daylong trip to a Maruti service center in Mumbai!

[honeybee]

What was the diagnosis, if there was any? Did the clutch/tranny oil freeze in the cold or was it some other reason?

[no_enthu_da]

Originally Posted by honeybee

What was the diagnosis, if there was any? Did the clutch/tranny oil freeze in the cold or was it some other reason?

The clutch failure happened all of a sudden. It started working as soon as we started towing the Alto with JC's Bolero; that is, within 5 minutes of failing!!
So, no idea why it gave up, or why it decided to get back to life!!

The rattling noise was from the steering rack which had to be replaced. We had assumed it was from the suspension arrangement.

[laluks]

Day 22
2nd September 2011
Chamba - Khajjiar - Dalhousie - Pathankot

Before the trip I had taken two promises from HVK.

1. Take me through the Gompa Loop in Leh - which we did
2. Take me to Dalhousie

HVK tells me in the morning that my second promise is going to be met, with Khajjiar thrown in as additional surprise. Indeed that was amazing and the day looked exciting.


I saw the two Swifts, felt very very happy. Wanted to meet them, but did not want to disturb thier sleep. They are also coming to Pathankot and thought of a gala dinner to celebrate the success of the swifts and to chat about the adventure and excitement. HVK was to throw the party in their honour.

By 06:30AM we left the hotel for the drive.

HPTDC Hotel Iravati at Chamba - Good spacious rooms


From Chamba


HVK took a route via Khajjiar to Dalhousie and the views were just amazing along it.



The beauty of the place was kind of broken with man made sculptures




We saw Langurs!







continued...

[laluks]

Day 22
2nd September 2011
Chamba - Khajjiar - Dalhousie - Pathankot

We reached Khajjiar soon

Some Pictures from Khajjiar














A big meadow on the top of a hill. Ambitiously I saw a board which says Khajjiar 0 KMs, Switzerland very far!!

We move on after spending just about 10 minutes there.

continued...

[laluks]

Day 22
2nd September 2011
Chamba - Khajjiar - Dalhousie - Pathankot

We drove towards Dalhousie









Dalhousie Public School


From Dalhousie to Pathankot








Finally we reached the Plains!!!



By 10:00AM we reached Mahindra Service Station. HVK got on with the list of jobs to be done on the Scorpio and I went to the Customer Lounge and started to sort the pictures clicked in the journey. My laptop refused to boot and was throwing out an error that it could not detect my hard disk! I was completely unhappy since all the pictures were in it, if it failed all of them goes down the drain!!

I sat in the lounge unhappy and silent, with the attendant serving me nice tea once in a while to boost up my morale.

By afternoon BolBolero also joined HVK for the service.

I took some nap on the cozy Sofa till the evening.

We filled up Diesel and took some rooms in Hotel Le Kingston. A little later the Swifts also joined us. We all went to a nice dinner and our chitter chatter went on all the way till midnight!



But what happened at 01:00AM the next day morning was something which was quite surprising , and shocking too

[no_enthu_da]

beautiful clicks! would've loved to see Khajjiar and Dalhousie!

Originally Posted by laluks

But what happened at 01:00AM the next day morning was something which was quite surprising, and shocking too

to be precise, 'it' happened at 1:26 AM..

[SS-Traveller]

Originally Posted by samarjitdhar

...at least speaking for myself, I probably won't take a hatch or a sedan into this terrain. It is simply because besides human skill and a machine's capability the factor of luck comes into play big time in all this which might not be on my side every day and could turn fatal.

Alone, yes. With an all-male team including other cars, yes. With family - the wife and child(ren) - strictly no!!

Originally Posted by doctorque

...it was about time for the staff at the Maruti Suzuki workshop to get their share of Mumbai Roadsters.
Coming up next.

Waiting to read about the tolerance limits of Swifts!

[samarjitdhar]

Originally Posted by SS-Traveller

Alone, yes. With an all-male team including other cars, yes. With family - the wife and child(ren) - strictly no!!

Shamindra da, on this kind of a road trip if I made my wife accompany me, I am pretty confident that she will file for separation even before the first day's drive is completed .

Jokes apart, my point was that a hatch most of the times would need assistance at many places to be bailed out by the SUVs as we have seen here. In my view if it has to be done a lot of times and probably more in my case who is perhaps not too much of an expert driver as the members of this trip, I would hate to become the bottleneck or the impediment who slows up the entire gang. Besides that, driving a hatch in my view leaves absolutely nothing for the driver about enjoying a trip like this as a whole specially missing out on the scenic beauty of the place. The only thing that remains is the thrill of pushing a vehicle to its extremes not built for this terrain. I would prefer not to worry constantly about damaging the vehicle I drive but rather be in a vehicle which lessens such risks.

Again this is entirely my personal opinion. On second thoughts maybe the only case when I would like driving a hatch or a sedan is when I am assured of having the company of interesting co-passengers as no_enthu_da had in his Baby Sturdy Alto for some part of his trip, I'm just kidding.