[madhu33]

Originally Posted by motomaverick

What happend was at some inclines was that the revs were just not picking up despite flooring the accelerator. This happened only up there at the mountain passes where we need to watch and drive and cannot drive in momentum all the time and it did not happen anywhere else. Once the pass is over the problem does not happen.

You have to accept the fact that there will be under body hits, all you need to know is where you can afford the hits to happen. All the best and I am glad we could give you the idea of taking your car up there.

With My Stock Manza i have also observed this scenario (however only twice in 2 1/2 years)(revs not picking up despite flooring the accelerator)(The engine dies down for a couple of times and then only when you floor the pedal really hard it is able to build a momentum (clutch slipping et al) ).
Somehow as i understood/i interpret this is that it has got something to do with the fuel pipe line / fuel pump/some air trap in the diesel line due to incline position of the whole car and thereby the engine bay too. If you can relate to this theory of mine on recalling the incident carefully , do let me know.
(The incline i am referring too is very steep incline. Hardly found under normal circumstance.)

Also for the Manza Under body , can you please help me understand such spots in the under body where you need to be careful /the spots where you can be liberal while negotiating bad roads.

Sorry for a lot of queries . I know you need-to focus on your travelogue too. But still couldn't stop myself from sharing/ asking.

[motomaverick]

Originally Posted by madhu33

Somehow as i understood/i interpret this is that it has got something to do with the fuel pipe line / fuel pump/some air trap in the diesel line due to incline position of the whole car and thereby the engine bay too. If you can relate to this theory of mine on recalling the incident carefully , do let me know.
(The incline i am referring too is very steep incline. Hardly found under normal circumstance.)

Also for the Manza Under body , can you please help me understand such spots in the under body where you need to be careful /the spots where you can be liberal while negotiating bad roads.

Sorry for a lot of queries . I know you need-to focus on your travelogue too. But still couldn't stop myself from sharing/ asking.

Ok your observation on the scenario somehow does not makes sense because I have never faced this issue over here in South hill climbs or even those steep shopping mall inclines. I think it has got to do with the rarified atmosphere and how the air inlet is designed. This makes for a good fact finding, let me start on this topic as well as speaking to Tata & TOT.

For the underbody, the only thing you need to watch out for is on the driver side since that side the oil sump is located. The sump though is guarded well by the metal plate that is provided but still not good to take a hit there. Other wise the rest of the underbody is pretty clean and can take a hit anywhere. Because the jack points are lower than the actual body we are sometimes saved by these points.

The one area where I took a hit which was not on my radar is the rear stepny casing near the silencer end pipe. Though the departure angle looks high than most other sedans due to the soft shocks and weight of luggage it can get hit during departure.

[madhu33]

Originally Posted by motomaverick

Ok your observation on the scenario somehow does not makes sense because I have never faced this issue over here in South hill climbs or even those steep shopping mall inclines. I think it has got to do with the rarified atmosphere and how the air inlet is designed. This makes for a good fact finding, let me start on this topic as well as speaking to Tata & TOT.

For the underbody, the only thing you need to watch out for is on the driver side since that side the oil sump is located. The sump though is guarded well by the metal plate that is provided but still not good to take a hit there. Other wise the rest of the underbody is pretty clean and can take a hit anywhere. Because the jack points are lower than the actual body we are sometimes saved by these points.

The one area where I took a hit which was not on my radar is the rear stepny casing near the silencer end pipe. Though the departure angle looks high than most other sedans due to the soft shocks and weight of luggage it can get hit during departure.

+1 to you on the underbody and the stepney area scraping on those rare ocassions.

Please let me know when ou have discussed the issue with Tata as well as TOT.

[santoshr]

Originally Posted by motomaverick

When he spoke about the altitude adjustment remap for Manza I think he spoke before the 260NM adjustment that he did. The car was just too to drive in the plains and normal mountain roads.

What happend was at some inclines was that the revs were just not picking up despite flooring the accelerator. This happened only up there at the mountain passes where we need to watch and drive and cannot drive in momentum all the time and it did not happen anywhere else. Once the pass is over the problem does not happen.

I have not spoken to TOT as yet about this for them to give some reasons, plus I am not sure if this will not happen with other stock cars.

So let us not assume that because of the remap this has happened. Let me investigate and then come back.

hmm. nai nai I was not thinking on those lines. My question was more out of curiosity rather than to generalize remaps.

Can a remap'd car which is now taking in more air and fuel that stock run out of breath in such areas. When I was speaking to Vivek from TOT about this he was mentioning that something is different in the Manza as compared to the VW TDI engine. The VW tdi engines have some sort of internal logic for when if they run into such a situation. Let me know what happens of your discussion with Tata and TOT, would be interesting information.

Makes me wonder would it have helped have your car had a performance filter.

And b.t.w appreciate you sharing such candidly, its not easy to write about these things.

[abhijitvp]

Originally Posted by motomaverick

I have not spoken to TOT as yet about this for them to give some reasons, plus I am not sure if this will not happen with other stock cars.

So let us not assume that because of the remap this has happened. Let me investigate and then come back.

Don't worry. This is how MJD's work at higher altitude. It’s because of rarefied air. You can see it here.

[motomaverick]

Originally Posted by santoshr

Makes me wonder would it have helped have your car had a performance filter.

And b.t.w appreciate you sharing such candidly, its not easy to write about these things.

Naah! dont think a performance filter would have helped, I guess it is more to do with how the power is delivered and its dynamics. But yes, the discussion should be interesting.

Originally Posted by abhijitvp

Don't worry. This is how MJD's work at higher altitude. It’s because of rarefied air. You can see it here.

Oh! yes how could I forget your thread, I read it long back. So you slipped the clutch at small rpms meaning just around 2k is what I am preassuming since thats when the turbo opens for a MJD.

Ironically which is coming up in the next post that same section in Chang'La got me as well. It is some 2 switchbacks before the summit. So you half clutched during that section?

[motomaverick]

Day 8

Ok here is an update from the other party which went to Magnetic Hill. Since I was not there I will try to write as much as I came to know from them, the rest will be pictures.

Well Jaswant, Manoj, Chandrakant, and Neeraj were the ones who decided to proceed towards Magnetic Hill, Gurdwara Pathar Sahib, and Hall of Fame.

Neeraj looking proud, probably it worked on him


Preparing to test the phenomenon. Well obviously it did not work as it is just an optical illusion


So disappointment Jaswant gunned the SX4 for a off roading session. If you remember the introductions, I had mentioned about the off roading well the SX4 was good enough to reach almost 3/4th of the distance of the line you can see.


Reversed the car and elated with how far the car went


Poser boys


Next stop was the Gurudwara

Gurdwara Pathar Sahib, is a beautiful Gurudwara sahib constructed in the memory of Guru Nanak, about 25 miles away from Leh, on the Leh-Kargil road, 12000 ft above sea level. The Gurdwara was built in 1517 to commemorate the visit to the Ladakh region of Guru Nanak Dev, the founder Guru of the Sikh faith.

During his lifetime Guru Nanak travelled to many distant places and one such place was Tibet. Guru Nanak is well respected by Tibetan Buddhists who consider him a saint; The Dalai Lama, spiritual leader of Buddhists in Tibet, has confirmed this in his discussions with some Sikh leaders saying that Tibetans revere Guru Nanak as a Buddhist saint under the name of Guru Gompka Maharaj.

Inside the entrance


Reaching the Guruduwara


Ok here is the sign board announcing "Welcome to Leh" since we came in dark yesterday, we clicked it today


Hall of fame


After this small outing the SX4 wound up, reached the hotel and then again joined us at Shanti Stupa.

[engrohit]

Originally Posted by motomaverick

DAY 5 – Solo Drives
August 27th 9:30am
Location: Hanumangarh
Destination: Patnitop
Route: Hanumangarh – Dabwali – Bhatinda – Goniana - Bhag Purana – Moga – Nakodar – Jalandhar – Dasuya – Gurdaspur – Pathankot – Lakhanpur – Samba – Mansar Lake – Udhampur - Patnitop



Having spent close to an hour for lunch, we again fell behind the others who were almost near Lakhanpur toll gate. Around 5:15PM we crossed Pathankot and were merrily heading towards Lakhanpur. Find out.

Hey Hirak! Very gripping narration and some very nice pictures.

This particular post is very close to my heart as I belong to Pathankot (now settled in Mumbai since 4 years) and this post and some of the pics brought back memories of growing up in the midst of that greenery and scenes of snow capped mountain peaks of Himalayas (Dalhousie is 80 KM from there).

Dream to do this one day! May lord give me the courage to do this sooner!!

[HillMan]

Originally Posted by motomaverick

Preparing to test the phenomenon. Well obviously it did not work as it is just an optical illusion

You are right about the optical illusion. The straight road at Magnetic hill look like a climb but is actually a slope. Sorry for the disappointment.

The magnet on the hill was holding back the irresistible SX4

[abhijitvp]

Originally Posted by motomaverick

Naah! dont think a performance filter would have helped, I guess it is more to do with how the power is delivered and its dynamics. But yes, the discussion should be interesting.

I think it has more to do with engine and turbo characteristics. Mine being FGT, lag is massive. It was spooling only after 2200 rpm where on plains it delivers the boost from as low as 1800 rmp. And there is famous saying "No replacement for displacement!!"

Originally Posted by motomaverick

Oh! yes how could I forget your thread, I read it long back. So you slipped the clutch at small rpms meaning just around 2k is what I am preassuming since thats when the turbo opens for a MJD.

Yes. I slipped the clutch many times to avoid stall. It worked everywhere except Chang la.

Originally Posted by motomaverick

Ironically which is coming up in the next post that same section in Chang'La got me as well. It is some 2 switchbacks before the summit. So you half clutched during that section?

Exact location. There were too many big rocks all around. I heard that last year at the same location big land slide happened and many people lost their lives.

While going downhill only I started worrying about how would I going to climb this. Even at Pangong it was on mind, so started 10 mins earlier than scheduled time. It was scary to say at least. I stalled just 50 meters before where climb ends. Then I had to dump the clutch at 4000 rpm. That was scariest part of the whole journey.

[motomaverick]

Originally Posted by abhijitvp

I think it has more to do with engine and turbo characteristics. Mine being FGT, lag is massive. It was spooling only after 2200 rpm where on plains it delivers the boost from as low as 1800 rmp. And there is famous saying "No replacement for displacement!!"

+1 to No replacement for displacement and thats the exact same reason for getting a SUV to Ladakh next year or the year after. I was sitting in the Sumo for sometime and I noticed how easily it was climbing up the ChangLa especially in the sections where we were struggling, in fact the rpm needle seldom went more than 2500 in some first gear climbs, plus the added advantage of being able to take those shortcuts.

[motomaverick]

DAY 9 – ChangLa Baba Ki Jai!
August 31st 9:00am
Location: Leh
Destination: Pangong Tso
Route: Leh Hotel – Karu – Sakti – Chang’la – Darbuk – Tangste - Lukung

So today was the day when we see the world famous Pangong Tso Lake but more than the lake the center of attraction was passing over the third highest mountain pass and probably one of the more difficult ones: Chang’La. Today I would be able to test the powers of the Manza, with all the modifications done for this trip, today was the actual test day. Adding to the mysteries of Chang’La I always used to wonder why the Army gives you free tea on top of the pass, well today I was about to find out.

Woke up at around 6.30AM as usual, somehow I am never able to sleep beyond this time when on a holiday, you give me a working day and I can sleep the whole day. Strange are the ways of life, probably even Newton might not have been able to discover a principle for this phenomenon.

Anyhow, got ready by 7:15 AM, and went to have breakfast, some of our folks especially the ones who had rested the whole day yesterday were already at the restaurant having their morning fill. The tension between me and Sathya still had not died down as we were just in Hi & Hello terms, come to think about it, it is still that way and probably I would prefer it. Why I am digressing about this topic, well because all the Chennai gang was sitting in one table while Venkat and I in the other next able but there was hardly any chit chat.

Lets have a look at the early morning snow peaks


As usual with 12 people on board eating food or getting ready always takes time and today was no exception. We all finished breakfast by close to 8:30AM. It was decided that we dump our bags in the hotel itself as tomorrow again we would be staying at the same place, since Jaswant was the resident contact with the Hotel (he had apparently stayed here for more than 2 months), it was easy to keep all the bags safely. Thankfully the Manza was off the load of two 65 liters and one 100 liter bag.

Before proceeding it is always good to check the vehicle, I had done that the previous night itself. I changed the air filter to a new one, checked all the oil & coolant levels, filled air in the tires. All these rudimentary checks are mandatory when you are traveling in such roads. We also divided the permits among each of the cars as the same would have be submitted at all the police check posts. Thankfully the permit contained all the 12 names so only one copy was enough for all the 4 cars.

Here I would like to mention about a lesson that I learnt with regards to the permits. When we got the permits last night we were in for a rude shock, Turtok was scratched off, while no Hanle. So there we were with just the usual tourist places as our permits. The hotel fellow was insisting that Nubra valley permits is good enough for Turtok but I told him about the check post before Turtok what if they ask us to return, it will be waste of some 100 kms. So last night I was fuming and upset on what had happened, spent more money and did not get all the places. Next time, we would get the permits on our own and that was learnt through the hard way.

So finally with everyone aboard, off we went to first fill the cars to the brim. While filling up diesel, Jaswant comes up and informs that he needs to drop in at some mechanic place as the car is making some sounds underneath. So after the diesel, on the Leh – Manali highway, we saw a body and tinkering workshop and they took the car there. Apparently, the engine guard had come off the screw at one side and the other side there was a tear, SX4 guard is made of plastic. The tinkering fellow did some juggad which was done really well that there was no issues till Mumbai. Once all this was out of the way, it was time to finally hit the highway. After some 10-15 kms, we had to suddenly stop on our tracks as the highway ahead was closed due to some culvert construction, so there we were turning back up on the same road. We were informed to take a deviation at some model village which would bypass the highway. I was able to quickly reroute the GPS and it started pointing us correctly through some village roads and then onto the highway again beyond the construction point.

Navigating through the model village


Back on the highway some Buddhist studies institute.


Thiksey Monastery came and went and we then finally reached our first police check post. Funny thing was that while I was leading, I did not see the check post and just as I was about to cross it the fellow sititng inside a hut some 100m from the road, suddenly pulled down the boom bar. I braked in time, but Jaswant had a scare as his SX4 almost kissed the Manza but thank god that his car had ABS. From here on, whenever we see a boom bar cross the road, we slow down to see if there is a check post.

Passing below the Thiksey Monastery


At the check post Hari befriended a Kannada speaking guy. He was some ex-army person and selling hats and other knik knacs near the check post.


SX4 parked ahead after the hard braking scene


After submitting one permit and noting down all the drivers license number and car, we drove on up to Sakti. The roads were really good during this drive, along with the roads equally good were some of the quotes that the BRO puts up along the road.

Think before you pollute, not sure what they meant there, was it meant for humans or cars


Get smart use safety from the start. Goes without saying on the road as well as off it


Time is money but life is precious


Hari I think clicked a number of these sign boards, some of which were really funny. One sign board whose picture I don’t have but was repeated quite often was If you are married Divorce speed & I am curvaceous don’t try to feel me

BRO sure knows how to keep you in a good mood during these drives. After Sakti, the climb gradually starts towards the next point Zingral. Those 20 odd kms, the road just climbs and climbs, switch back after switch backs. At some portions you can actually see the next set of roads which you need to travel and those well be going at an incline straight without any bends. It was amazing to drive on this section. In fact the Manza performed so well here that I was at least a kilometer ahead of the others. But trying to maintain good speeds resulted in the RPM hovering near the 3k mark in 3rd gear more often than not.

Though narrow and bumpy still really good comparatively


Some sections are quite narrow, look at those rocks hanging on


The famous Z switch backs


Manoj doing what he does best, trying to get some good angles


You will know you have reached Zingral when you see this


Roads leading up to Zingral


At one point if you are traveling in Aug or Sept, you will see a slate of ice covered mountain, that is where Changla is


Some 5-6 kms before ChangLa the good roads suddenly disappear and you start driving or rather bouncing off big rocks and lose gravel. All this stones and rocks, coupled with the increase in the angle of inclination of the switch backs is the actual test for man and machine. Finally, after a dream run from Sakti, the Manza heated up completely with the engine temperature warning beep going off and engine completely cutting off on one of the inclines. There we were stranded in the middle of the road with rocks everywhere and that too on a incline. Gradually from under the bonnet we start to see smoke coming out and instantly I knew the coolant is blown. Since the car is off the steering does not work but somehow at that altitude (we were probably at close to 17000 ft) turn the steering and park the car on the right hand side of the road.

Slowly open the bonnet being careful not to get hot coolant spray, but thankfully the coolant reservoir and its connecting pipes were all intact, it was the coolant which was boiling. While we were doing all this, the rest of the gang arrives for help. Rajesh informs to start the car again and let the main fan run. I check the temperature needle and it was slightly below the danger mark, crank the car and thankfully it started in one crank. As soon as it started, the fan started and went on for a minute or so. In the meantime we were advised to spray water on the radiator while the car is cranked so that cool air goes in. With a small stream flowing nearby used a bottle to spray the water.

Bonnet was quickly opened to let in cool air




Next task was to see if coolant was there but the reservoir was on full boil. Somehow Manoj with the help of a cloth was able to loosen the lid of the reservoir just enough for the hot gases to pass out. The sight of the steam going out of the reservoir was something scary as I had not seen such a thing in my life. But due to the low temperature the engine cooled down to acceptable levels and we were finally able to open the lid. Opening the lid, we saw that the reservoir was completely empty, due to the heat generated all the coolant had become gas. So made another mixture and started pouring in the new coolant. The reservoir took close to 3 liters of the mixture. With the blessings of Chang’La baba the car restarted again and moved ahead towards the pass after 45 mins.

Manoj using double cloth to loosen the lid


Look at the water spraying out from the loosened lid


What do you do as a passenger when your car breaks down? Nothing really but wait


Pouring in new coolant, no it is not Kingfisher brand


Picture taken by Nariman from where the Sumo was waiting


Sumo like the others waiting for the Manza to become alright


Now let me digress on why the car heated up. Here I would like to admist my mistake of driving the car in the same manner as in plains. Keeping the car on the boil for a long time, plus we had the music playing so we could not hear the fan sound as well if it was pleading us to lower the revs. Another important lesson learnt, at that height it is always best to climb up slowly preserving the revs. From here onwards, I was following that principle to the core and had no other incident. Ok, so after a couple of more switch backs we finally scaled Changla successfully. It was a huge relief to have made it in one piece.

The sign board that you would love to see


Yes sir, huffing, puffing, billowing smoke and steam, I have brought you safely to this height


That is the sheet of snow I was referring to a few pictures back


An elated Narsi


The other healthy sedan


The temperatures must have been hovering around zero up there or there about and with the adventures with the car, the tea I was telling you about tasted heavenly. It was plain black tea, even though it was for free, I could have paid for it if asked. Two points why they serve free tea up there and not anywhere else. One the presence of an army base makes it easy. Second all the folks who drive, ride, cycle up there deserve a tea at the end of the climb. We spent around 30 mins up there. Though we should not be spending so much time that high up but it was necessitated due to a few people feeling breathless. Rajesh and Nariman were taking oxygen from the army medical camp. I think their oxygen level was lower than 65. Yes, that high up till 65-70 you are doing just fine. In fact everyone of us got the levels checked with the help of a Oxymeter. Mine was recorded at 73 oxygen & 129 pulse rate. I guess all the exercise of picking up water, cooling the car down made my heart pump blood that fast. Here a funny incident took place.


Apparently Sathya, who has BP problems, did not want to get the levels checked. He was employing the principle of ignorance is bliss. But Rajesh insisted that he should get it check to be on the safe side even though he was feeling fine. So Sathya, got the levels checked and it was a healthy 75 or so. But despite that he informed the Army personnel to give him Oxygen just in case. The army guy slashed his whip by telling him that these oxygen are meant for needy people, you are doing fine.


After all the medical issues sorted, a group photograph


With Changla out of the way, we started the downhill drive, the Manza engine had cooled down quite well the temp needle was around the 1/4th mark now. Since it was downhill I could drive at higher gears after the bad roads were over. But even on bad roads and low gear there was no accelerator input as it slow crawl downhill.

The roads after Changla were bad for a few kms. Thats the first water crossing


continuing with the log in the next post due to picture limit

[motomaverick]

The above pictures shows the first of the 5 major water crossings we faced that day. Since we were already past noon, the water from the snow capped peaks starts to flow down going over the roads. This made drive even more interesting. This is first crossing was relatively easy with a slow flowing stream and evenly placed rocks.

Duster effortlessly crossing the stream


SX4 starting the same crossing


Here is the video taken from the SX4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrqXZLe_H8s

After this first crossing, we drove on some good roads for a few kms before coming to our 2nd crossing. Now this was a fast flowing stream or more like a river. To add to the misery of the sedans, the BRO built two concrete slabs on either with rocks thrown to make an incline and decline. The running water had taken away few rocks as well. This time Venkat and Hari got down to help navigate. While we were looking at the approach and departure, an Innova taxi coolly comes and crosses it without an issue. Thanks to the Innova I could get where to put the Manza. Jaswant who in the SX4 behind comes to inform about a couple of sharp edged stones just near the approach. Saying a prayer I move the car into the water, the front goes in without an issue but the rear comes down with a thud, thankfully nothing damaging at the rear, so still running the engine I was about to move ahead when in comes another local Scorpio, which literally flew over the crossing, maybe trying to show off and intimidate but who cares. So slowly, moving a little towards the right, getting traction on the wheels and then gunning the car, came out of the middle of the flow but again due to other taxis the exit was blocked, despite seeing me approach they were reluctant to budge, and here I was again having to stop, all momentum lost. I lost patience and have a blast of the horn, thankfully they did not take time to reverse. Slipping the clutch a little making sure not to rev too high, got the car safely out of the water.

Video of the approach to the water crossing by Hari(Video is shot by Hari and reserves the copyright for distribution)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpO3_eml50w

Crossing this stream was such an elation that I literally jumped out of the car, hands high in triumph. Next the SX4 crossed the steam taking the same approach line as I did. Since its suspensions are stiffer and without the unnecessary hinders, it crossed without an issue. For the Duster this was a piece of cake but I later learnt that this was the only time when it actually bottomed out. I guess more to do on how it was driven than anything else. Probably Narsi can elaborate further.

Manza about to dive in check out the front tire.


Crossing the middle depth portion


Almost out of the water


With that water crossing out of the way, I was now more confident of crossing these streams, more so the technique that you need to adopt. After this Darbuk came where we needed to sign in with the Police check post once again. After Darbuk and a couple of downhill switch backs later we entered Tangtse. Entering Tangste we knew Pangong is not far away.

Some barren mountains enroute after Tangtse


The route from Tangtse takes you in between two mountains and here as well there were 2 more water crossings but the water was not flow and since the Sumo was in front of me now, seeing it now dip at any point I waded through these with ease. Then comes some sandy sections, these were like desert sands which was all over the road, in fact at one section it was hard to tell which was the road. Crossed the erstwhile famous Pagal Nullah without any issues, in fact now there is no madness about this Nullah anymore. I am sure Ladakh veterans like Tanveer can relate stories of their Nullah crossings way back in 2010. After you cross the Nullah, few kms down will be a sign board proclaiming the first view of the world famous lake. It is a beautiful sight as you can see a small blue patch among the brown mountains.

Here is the first view of the Pangong Lake


With every few kilometers the lake becomes more prominent


After a few kilometers one approaches a “Y” junction, one road going down towards the lake, while the other going up away. But the up road was marked with the signboard of Spangmik etc. Since we did not want to go to Spangmik, I was ahead and I took the lower road which nicely tarred. Seeing me the rest of the two SX4 & Duster followed suite. The Sumo was not there as it had gone ahead of us. After a few meters I saw the road going towards the left of the lake and then comes the sign board for “Phobrang Village” immediately I knew we were in the wrong route as Phobrang village takes you towards Marsimik’la. One pass for the day was enough for the Manza so we joked that that’s why we did nt attempt Marsimik’la.

That is the board welcoming you to another model village called Phobrang


Taking a u-turn with Manoj clicking


Finally taking the upper road, we were on the right track with the lake on our left


Reached Lukung or the edge of the Pangong Lake and saw that Sumo was already resting. In the meantime Chandrakant went ahead to check for accommodation at Pangong Inn which was just above the parking spot. The place was deserted with very few people around. Here Narsi was not feeling well and he was complaining about his nails turning black. Any how we got rooms at the Inn itself, we thought of staying in tents ahead in Spangmik but then everyone was of the opinion of staying inside solid wall to avoid altitude sickness at night. After all we were some 14000ft above sea level with nights being even colder.

The only picture where the two Tata cars stand side by side


I walk a lonely road, the only one that I have ever known


The lake showing its true colors


The 4 cars parked side by side while we waited for accommodation


After fixing the accommodation we wanted to park the car near the hotel and grab something to eat as no lunch was taken. But this mistake was too costly for me and I discovered a new mountain pass that night called the Chowmein’la.

Well how did I discover this new pass?

I happen to order Egg Chowmein for the late lunch we had, which incidentally was the only dish that I had that day which was not common with the rest of the folks. This food item did not go down well with my stomach and the worst night of my life. 12 times to the loo, 1 time vomit, no sleep. Nothing could have been worse than those long never ending hours that night.

But before all that happened it was all hunky dory as we went out to get some last minute pictures before sunset. We decided to ditch the two sedans and take the high GC cars as there might be some off-roading to do to go down towards the lake.

Rajesh wanted to get his car photo shoot, came out quote well I suppose


The Sumo gang


A good vehicle made for the Ladakh roads


Some abstract shots


Yes we were certainly Leh’d


The picture of the two drivers who drove for the longest kilometers in the entire trip.


A future vehicle for Venkat?


Sumo and the majestic lake


Love this shot from Manoj, serene, calm and peace


Came back to near Pangong Inn as it was getting dark but still had another round of photo session


A self-timed group photo though you cannot see the lake


By around 8.30PM we started our dinner to wind up early. Dinner was a simple affair of two curries, roti and rice. It was freaking cold outside but after dinner five of us Manoj, Hari, Neeraj, Mohan and I spent some time trying to take photographs of the stars.

So that was the end of an awesome day where we had all the drama and action at the same time. But then again like I mentioned the day did not end for me. Somehow I was able to cross the night taking ORS and Electrolite drinks and sleeping at the most an hour.

Distance covered: 155 kms
Time Taken: 7 hrs 30 mins
Map:

[HillMan]

Originally Posted by motomaverick

I was sitting in the Sumo for sometime and I noticed how easily it was climbing up the ChangLa especially in the sections where we were struggling, in fact the rpm needle seldom went more than 2500 in some first gear climbs, plus the added advantage of being able to take those shortcuts.

Who ever drove the Sumo knew its strong points well. The max torque for most diesels come at a low rev. You dont need to push the rpm high for a climb. The reverse is true for petrol.

Originally Posted by motomaverick

Video of the approach to the water crossing by Hari(Video is shot by Hari and reserves the copyright for distribution)
http://www.Youtube.com/watch?v=SpO3_eml50w

Thanks again for a great post. I am still reading through...

While you were at it, did you notice the mountains had an eye on your antics

[motomaverick]

Originally Posted by HillMan

By the way did you notice the mountains watching your antics?

Ah! good catch did not notice this despite seeing the video n number of times. Must be seeing and admiring that someone is bringing their family sedan here.