[pariwar]

Motomaverick,

A couple of questions:

1. You chose to take a hired vehicle (SUV) for doing the KhardungLa segment. Why?
2. If you had got permissions for Hanle what would have been your planning (dep time, sights stop, time spent, kms driven, stay over etc.) to complete that segment too. How easy/difficult would the segment have been for the Manza?

[behaln]

one of the best leh travelogue til date , especially when it involved the multiple vehicles , great photographs only added icing on the cake.

[motomaverick]

Originally Posted by pariwar

Motomaverick,

A couple of questions:

1. You chose to take a hired vehicle (SUV) for doing the KhardungLa segment. Why?
2. If you had got permissions for Hanle what would have been your planning (dep time, sights stop, time spent, kms driven, stay over etc.) to complete that segment too. How easy/difficult would the segment have been for the Manza?

1. We hired a Innova as we got info from the hotel folks that the Khardungla roads were similar to Changla if not worse and we had more than 3k kms drive back so to preserve the sedans, also coupled with the fact that I could not drive due to stomach upset previous day. But in reality when we reached Khardungla we realized that the roads were far better than Changla so it is very much doable, we missed it royaly but there is always a next time.


2. As per our itinerary, if Hanle permission was there then we would have spent a night at Hanle, move to Tso Moriri the next day and back to Leh after 2 nights. Roads to Hanle are good all through is what I gather and mostly on high planes. No mountain passes.

[motomaverick]

DAY 6 - SONAMARG

Hotel Name – Hotel Snowland
Hotel Address – National Highway 1D, Sonamarg, India
Phone - +91-194-247-2591
Tariff – 1800 per 3 sharing (off season)
Website - http://www.snowlandresorts.com/
How was the booking done? – Onsite booking
Amenities? – Parking, Restaurant
Our Rating – **

Our Take :
Another wooden room with an excellent view of the river flowing behind the premises. The hotel also offered electric blankets, we did not try. This is was room rent only without breakfast. The only downside was no hot water despite saying so during book. The reason being the hotel was under renovation in preparation for the upcoming season after the winters as during winters it snows out and no work can be done.

Recommendation: Recommended for family or individual

Map:


Hotel Picture



==============

DAY 7, 8, 10 - LEH

Hotel Name – Hotel Omasila
Hotel Address – Changspa Road, Leh 194101, India
Phone - +91 98 58 060770
Tariff – 2000 per double room (off season)
Website - http://www.hotelomasila.com/
How was the booking done? – Onsite booking
Amenities? – Parking, Free wifi, Restaurant, Laundry, Travel Desk
Our Rating – ****

Our Take :
This was our home for the time we were in Leh. It is one of the upmarket hotels in Leh and features as #9 in tripadvisor. Definitely a good option to stay here as the hotel offers parking and other amenities. There are quite a good number of rooms but it would be advisable to book them in advance as they usually run full.

Recommendation: Recommended for family or individual

Map:



==============

DAY 9 – PANGONG TSO

Hotel Name – Hotel PANGONG INN
Hotel Address – Spangmik Road, Pangong Tso, Ladakh, India
Phone - +91 09906971808
Tariff – 1000 per double room (off season)
Website - NA
How was the booking done? – Onsite booking
Amenities? – Parking, Restaurant
Our Rating – ***

Our Take :
The hotel USP has to be its location. Overlooking the magnificent Pangong Tso. It has ample parking space, though getting to the parking lot requires some skill. The rooms are basic but does provide soaps and towels in the bathroom. The room just had a bed and blankets. But one of the better options as it provides 4 walls.

Recommendation: Recommended for family or individual

Map:


Hotel Picture


==============

DAY 11 – LEH

Hotel Name – Hotel Mogol
Hotel Address – Changspa Road, Leh, Ladakh, India
Phone - +91 1982 253439
Tariff – 2000 per double room (off season)
Website - http://hotelmogol.com/
How was the booking done? – Onsite booking
Amenities? – Restaurant, Free wifi
Our Rating – ***

Our Take :
A small hotel but once again offers a good option to stay as it’s on the main Changspa Road. The only downside is there is no parking facilities, we utilized one empty garage just below their restraint to park the cars. If someone is traveling without their vehicles then definitely a good place to stay.

Recommendation: Recommended for family or individual

Map:



==============

DAY 14 – AMRITSAR

Hotel Name – Hotel Randhawa International
Hotel Address – J & K Road, Amritsar-143001, India
Phone - +91-183-5002571
Tariff – 1500 suite room (off season)
Website - http://www.hotelrandhawainternational.com/Home.html
How was the booking done? – Onsite booking
Amenities? – Parking, Restaurant, Free wifi
Our Rating – ****

Our Take :
The hotel is right on the main road which is reached once you enter Amritsar from Pathankot side. The rooms are neat and clean with good facilities. Since it was off season we had the luxury of getting to stay in the suite room for half the rate. The suite room has sitting area and a large bathroom. Only flipside is that the Golden Temple is some 5 kms away from here but there are numerous auto rickshaw services if one does not want to take their car.

Recommendation: Recommended for family or individual

Map:


Hotel Picture


==============

DAY 15 – AJMER

Hotel Name – Hotel Paradizzo Resort
Hotel Address – Jaipur Rd, Ajmer, RJ 305007
Phone - +91 9610002111
Tariff – 1800 per double room
Website - http://www.paradizzo.in/
How was the booking done? – Onsite booking
Amenities? – Parking, Restaurant, Free wifi, Travel Desk, Conference room
Our Rating – *****

Our Take :
Paradizzo was probably the best hotel we stayed in this entire trip. It is a luxury resort probably of the 4 star variety but since the rooms were empty and we had barged in, we were able to get good rates. The rooms are luxuries with clean bathrooms. The extra bed which was provided was with a cot and not just a mattress. Even if you are not visiting Ajmer, this is definitely a good stay option since it is located very close to the bypass road.

Recommendation: Recommended for family or individual

Map:


Hotel Picture (taken from TripAdvisor


==============

DAY 16 – MUMBAI

Hotel Name – Garden Hotel
Hotel Address – Plot No. 66, TPS - 1, Panvel
Phone - +91 22 27455696
Tariff – 3500 per double room
Website - [ihttp://www.hotelgardenpanvel.com [/i]
How was the booking done? – Onsite booking
Amenities? – Parking, Restaurant,
Our Rating – **

Our Take :
This hotel was a forced stay in Panvel after having driven through the night. This was probably the most expensive stay we had in the entire trip. The rooms are pretty small with a clean bathroom. However, for the tariff that they are charging it is definitely not a value for money. A definite avoid if you could. Plus the cashier blokes goofed up with the checkout bill by adding some other rooms dinning rates.

Recommendation: Not Recommended for family or individual

Map:



==============

DAY 17 – BELGAUM

Hotel Name – Hotel Milan
Hotel Address – Plot No. 66, TPS - 1, Panvel
Phone - +91 22 27455696
Tariff – 3500 per double room
Website - NA
How was the booking done? – Onsite booking
Amenities? – Parking, Restaurant,
Our Rating – **

Our Take :
A very basic hotel and strictly an over nighter. The hotel is pretty old and hence, the rooms look pretty old, but the bathrooms were clean.

Recommendation: Not Recommended for family or individual

Map:



So this rounds up the views of the hotels that we stayed during the trip. If any of my team members have some more additional comments I will welcome that.

Next up will be a log of the preparations done for the car and the things taken

[windiesel]

Originally Posted by motomaverick

Thanks so see that you enjoyed the logs. More coming soon..



Slush was not a problem for the Manza, because of more torque it was able to pull out easily, but if there are stones in the slush then under belly scrape is inevitable. My funda was simple, if a under body hit has to happen then make it happen at a place where it will not pose a serious damage. In fact after the slush-fest the engine guard was bent and it was straightened out in Srinagar.

Does the Manza come with an engine guard or did you have one retrofitted?

[motomaverick]

Originally Posted by windiesel

Does the Manza come with an engine guard or did you have one retrofitted?

No for my car it came from the factory, mine is a Sept 2011, I guess they started giving the metallic sump guard since that time as now its also available as a spare part.

[windiesel]

Originally Posted by motomaverick

No for my car it came from the factory, mine is a Sept 2011, I guess they started giving the metallic sump guard since that time as now its also available as a spare part.

Thanks man! I'll check mine too. After reading your travelogue I'm brimming with confidence!

[TaureanBull]

Simply awesome! Took few days to read the entire TL in detail. Well planned and well executed.

"Baaki ki picture is still awaited!"

The logistics, planning, permits, tolls etc.

I would say a summarized performance of each vehicle including the FE figures and running costs would be an icing!

A well deserved 5* and rated so.

[motomaverick]

Happy New Year folks, I know this last installment in the travelogue is coming quite late, but as the wise ones say “Better Late than Never”

Let me jot down what kind of preparation, logistics and cost for my car, I would encourage my fellow travels in this trip to jot down about their cars individually as I do not have any info.


Car Preparation

• The first thing that was done to the car was to stiffen the suspension and increase the GC. For this, I got rubber spacers installed in the springs of all the four wheels. This also ensured that with load the car would not sink lower than its factory GC of 165mm at the lowest point.
• Next up was an upgraded remap from T-O-T, I got this done since I was already running a remap and tweaked it for additional torque.
• Service was done in July about a month before the start, to ensure if the TASS folks goof up anything I still have time to rectify their mistakes. However, thankfully, TASS did more than a commendable job with the car, I had told them that I would be taking it to Ladakh.
• Increased the headlight illumination but fixing a relay wiring and 80w lights for both hi-lo. On hindsight, this was a good decision as we ended up driving after dark on most of the days.
• Another big change I did was I removed the aftermarket alloys and fixed the OEM steel wheels. This was done to save the alloys as well as it is easier to hammer out a steel wheel if in case it bends. Thankfully, all the wheels came back properly with just one wheel having a small bend.
• I did not change the tires as mine were just 30k kms old and Bridgestone are tough tires so they age gracefully. I still got them on my car and no issues after the trip. However, it is recommended that we take new tires preferably hard compound if the current set has done more than 40-50k kms as after the trip the tires will lose 70% of their life.

LOGISTICS

Car
I took the following things for the car, now most of them might not be used but it is still good to be over prepared than under.

• Engine oil I took around 3 Liters. I bought Mobil Delvac 1 fully synthetic. Used only 500 ml.
• Coolant – I took around 500ml of coolant and it was all used up during a overheating issue while climbing Chang’La
• Brake oil
• Power Steering oil
• Silicon bond adhesive
• Grease can
• Empty 2 10L water cans, completely dried up for filling extra diesel.

Food
We had taken food items as well, in case it was required in some situation and I must say it did come in handy the day we reached Leh

• Packets of ready to eat MTR
• Maggie packets
• Dry fruit mix. This was really handy on the days we did an early start and had to skip breakfast.
• Energy drink power
• Tropicana powder
• Chocolates
• 20 L water can

Documents
I had two copies of all the documents listed below

• Car RC book
• Pollution certificate
• Insurance certificate. Both old and new as mine was expiring during the trip
• License
• Owner’s manual
• Maps and other hotel info

Personal Items
All the below items were packed into a 60L backpack. The backpack was cylindrical so it was easy to keep in the boot.

• 2 jackets, one thick and other normal ones. At night especially in Pangong it becomes really cold.
• 1 woolen skull cap
• Sunglasses
• Spare spectacles
• Camera with extra memory cards and battery. I did not carry a camera but my fellow mates had these on them
• 12 pairs inner wear and vest (You cant expect to wash clothes daily)
• 4 shorts, 2 jeans and around 6 tees
• 4 pairs of socks including 1 woolen army socks
• 1 heavy duty shoes (woodlands), not essential but a good padded shoes will keep your feet warm

Medicines
Taking medical supplies is very important, in fact we missed on some of the tablets which we had to buy later. A rough list is given below.

• Diamox or some non-sulpher based AMS tablets if you are allergic to Sulpher.
• Domstol
• Tablets for fever
• Motion sickness tablets
• Sprays for aches and sprains
• Bandages and other plastering material for the body and eyes

So there you are roughly the above preparations should be good enough, yes some are specific to me so might not be applicable to you.

Next I will post the expenditure part as I will have to look into the book of records we were keeping each day. In fact, we had a designated treasurer in our car who was handed over 10k each at the beginning of the trip and replenished during the trip. This made it easier to keep track of the spending.

[mithundubey]

Any possibility that we can catch up to get a few questions answered for me as I have the plan for this August with just 10-12 days in mind for the whole journey...

[motomaverick]

Originally Posted by mithundubey

Any possibility that we can catch up to get a few questions answered for me as I have the plan for this August with just 10-12 days in mind for the whole journey...

Sure we can catch up, If you are in Koramangala, HSR area even better. Just send me a PM since I am unable to send you one. Or email me hirak.das@gmail.com

[A.G.The Rambler]

Originally Posted by motomaverick

Car Preparation

• The first thing that was done to the car was to stiffen the suspension and increase the GC. For this, I got rubber spacers installed in the springs of all the four wheels. This also ensured that with load the car would not sink lower than its factory GC of 165mm at the lowest point.
• Next up was an upgraded remap from T-O-T, I got this done since I was already running a remap and tweaked it for additional torque.

Thanks Hirak for the update, this is really useful stuff. Couple of questions from my end :

1) From where did you get the rubber spacers? How much did it cost?

2) Are you using Dieseltronic tuning box?

3) Did you install any under body protection ? If so, how much did it cost you?

[motomaverick]

Originally Posted by A.G.The Rambler

Thanks Hirak for the update, this is really useful stuff. Couple of questions from my end :

1) From where did you get the rubber spacers? How much did it cost?

2) Are you using Dieseltronic tuning box?

3) Did you install any under body protection ? If so, how much did it cost you?

Hi AG, my answers in-line below.


1) From where did you get the rubber spacers? How much did it cost?
I procured it locally from a tire center here in Bangalore. But you get for the same price of 4000 bucks (set of 4) from Autorunners as well. The size is b2

2) Are you using Dieseltronic tuning box?
No, I have a remapped ECU from Tune-O-Tronics

3) Did you install any under body protection ? If so, how much did it cost you?
No I did not install. After closer inspection at TASS, the default OEM plate protects the vital parts of the engine properly. The metal is 2-3mm thick. It proved during the trip.

[dass]

Just finished reading the 14 pages over the last 3 days and man was it some achievement and some detail in which it was documented. Hats off to you and the group.

[motomaverick]

Originally Posted by dass

Just finished reading the 14 pages over the last 3 days and man was it some achievement and some detail in which it was documented. Hats off to you and the group.

Thanks Dass, nice to see folks still reading this trip, it sure was one heck of a trip and cant wait to do it once again