[jazi.r.88]

A very interesting travelogue. Very nice photos and the narration was very detailed. Enjoyed reading it.

[Shanksta]

Originally Posted by jvm_1986

Great travelogue Shanksta and very proud to see a Chennaite driving all the way to Bhutan. Truly inspiring!

Special thanks for the Trip Stats and the Do's and Dont's sections. Very insightful and well written.

Nandri jvm_1986!

Originally Posted by dghosh80

Two back to back travelogues on Bhutan, yours and Blackpearl 's one. Excellent write up, photos and finished reading it in one go. I am also feeling very proud to see someone from South driving all the way to Bhutan, inspiring and commendable. But must be very tiring for your grandma however I assume that she had enjoyed this road trip across countries.

Also nice to green rural India, especially the green fields of West Bengal - relief for eyes and mind. Miss travelling on those roads.

Thank you dghosh80. Had a KA reg Innova for company for close to 300kms while driving through Odisha. To my suprise saw the same Innova at Bhutan on Day 1 while getting vehicle permit and on Day 3 while going to Punakha.

Grandma thoroughly enjoyed the trip and slept like a baby for most part of the long drives.

Rural India is very beautiful especially WB. We were lucky that it had rained in WB and everywhere we saw it was lush green, on our return leg.

Originally Posted by jazi.r.88

A very interesting travelogue. Very nice photos and the narration was very detailed. Enjoyed reading it.

Thank you jazi.r.88! Glad you enjoyed it.

[WAM-4]

Hats off to your effort in compiling a beautiful travelogue including some truly spectacular pictures Mr. Shanksta.

I felt as though I was travelling with you the entire time!

And last but not the least, kudos to the Toyota Innova for coming out all guns blazing making the road and weather conditions irrelevant!

[BlackPearl]

It is raining Bhutan travelogues on team-bhp! Wonderful travelogue Shanksta and that is quite some driving! Chennai to Darjeeling to Bhutan and that too till Phobjika is simply awesome. Went through each and every line of your travelogue and it made me nostalgic as I was there just 2 months back. There are quite a few places in west Bhutan that we did not visit due to lack of time. Hopefully next time will be able to visit all of them and the roads should be better by then. Thanks a lot for sharing the travelogue.
Also next time you go anywhere via Kolkata, please do let us know. We have a big group of active bhpians here and would love to meet others from different cities

[McLaren Rulez]

1 lakh km on your Innova eh? Yes, it is a good idea to go for long drives after the run in period is over

All kidding aside, wonderful narration and what a journey you have done!

[hybridpetrol]

Very commendable journey you have taken, and a wonderful write up on that too!
Its good to see that you have taken your grandma as well along with this trip. Very encouraging to take the family in long journeys!
Thanks for the tips & lessons learnt!

[STraiTDriVE]

Super travelogue ! Excellent portrayal of your journey and Kudos to Innova for being such a marvelous machine ..

In the pic you mentioned about Blaupunkt dashcam; Request a quick feedback on it such as usage, ease of use, price, etc or direct me to any thread where I will get more details about the product.. thanks.

[Shanksta]

Originally Posted by WAM-4

Hats off to your effort in compiling a beautiful travelogue including some truly spectacular pictures Mr. Shanksta.

I felt as though I was travelling with you the entire time!

And last but not the least, kudos to the Toyota Innova for coming out all guns blazing making the road and weather conditions irrelevant!

Thank you WAM-4! Extremely happy reading such kind words.

My Innova really lived up to her reputation.

Originally Posted by BlackPearl

It is raining Bhutan travelogues on team-bhp! Wonderful travelogue Shanksta and that is quite some driving! Chennai to Darjeeling to Bhutan and that too till Phobjika is simply awesome. Went through each and every line of your travelogue and it made me nostalgic as I was there just 2 months back. There are quite a few places in west Bhutan that we did not visit due to lack of time. Hopefully next time will be able to visit all of them and the roads should be better by then. Thanks a lot for sharing the travelogue.
Also next time you go anywhere via Kolkata, please do let us know. We have a big group of active bhpians here and would love to meet others from different cities

Thank you Blackpearl! You travelogue was superb and the experience you had with the landslide was scary to say the least. After reading your trip to Bhutan I yearn to visit that country once more and explore the places you went to, when I get a 4x4.

Definitely will ping you when I come by Kolkata the next time.

Originally Posted by McLaren Rulez

1 lakh km on your Innova eh? Yes, it is a good idea to go for long drives after the run in period is over

All kidding aside, wonderful narration and what a journey you have done!

Thank you McLaren Rules!
The plan was to open her up once the run-in period was done!

Originally Posted by hybridpetrol

Very commendable journey you have taken, and a wonderful write up on that too!
Its good to see that you have taken your grandma as well along with this trip. Very encouraging to take the family in long journeys!
Thanks for the tips & lessons learnt!

Thank you hybridpetrol! Was initially anxious wondering if my grandmother would be comfortable sitting through those long drives. But she thoroughly enjoyed herself and did not complain even once. Bhutan is definitely a place to see with family.

Originally Posted by STraiTDriVE

Super travelogue ! Excellent portrayal of your journey and Kudos to Innova for being such a marvelous machine ..

In the pic you mentioned about Blaupunkt dashcam; Request a quick feedback on it such as usage, ease of use, price, etc or direct me to any thread where I will get more details about the product.. thanks.

Thank you STraiTDriVE! Happy to know you enjoyed the travelogue.

Almost a year and a half back this Blaupunkt BP2.0FHD was on sale in Snapdeal for ₹2200. Many BHPians bought it. Check out this thread (The Dashcam / Car Video Recorder (DVR) Thread) for more details. Now though this model has a successor BP3.0FHD. Check that out.

[krcustoms]

Great thread and congrats on a wonderful journey. This is one of my dream journeys.

Couple of questions, I know Indian passport holders have no issues but what about US citizens? Secondly are the roads good enough for a BMW 3 series? I would love to do it this coming summer.

[Shanksta]

Originally Posted by krcustoms

Great thread and congrats on a wonderful journey. This is one of my dream journeys.

Couple of questions, I know Indian passport holders have no issues but what about US citizens? Secondly are the roads good enough for a BMW 3 series? I would love to do it this coming summer.

Thank you krcustoms! US citizens have to get Visa to enter Bhutan.

A BMW 3series can be driven there. But other than gingering it over the usual speed breakers and potholes, you also need to be careful descending steep gradients in Thimphu, due to the long nose the 3er has. Road to Thimphu and Paro are definitely doable. But any further than Punakha is risking it.

IMHO if I had a 3 series I wouldn't take it, cause it would bottom out a lot. Plus you wouldn't have good support there incase something goes wrong. I remember seeing only a handful of sedans in Bhutan, they were mostly hatchbacks, crossovers, minivans or pickups.

EDIT: Do go through BHPian Samba's travelogue! He did it in his sedan. Though that car has atleast 10mm more GC and a 300mm shorter wheelbase. Another BHPian also did Bhutan in his Civic.

[behaln]

Awesome travelogue buddy. Worth mentioning that you accomplished in a 7 year old innova. The car truly lived up to its reputation for serving you without any niggle throughout the journey.

[Shanksta]

Originally Posted by behaln

Awesome travelogue buddy. Worth mentioning that you accomplished in a 7 year old innova. The car truly lived up to its reputation for serving you without any niggle throughout the journey.

Thank you behaln! Yeah no trouble from the Innova, lived up to its name.

[Mad Max]

Amazing travelogue. Thanks for sharing.

I am impressed that the older folks in the vehicle took the ride so well. And Innova, what can you say? It's the workhorse that puts a smile in everyone. Thanks for listing the tips as well. Will come in handy for the rest of us who daydream and may do this some day.

[alphadog]

What a wonderful travelogue. Thanks a lot for all the amazing pictures and succinct narration. Bhutan and the seven sisters seems to be the places to go to, gathering from the interest seen in this forum and others.
It is good that the elderly folks could do a trip like this and good to hear that it went ok without any major issues.Also, another feather in the cap for the Innova too, I guess.
Five stars from me.
Keep traveling and keep it coming.
Cheerio!

[centaur]

Amazing thread Shanksta. I loved the thread so much that while reading it I got a call from my friend and ended telling him about this thread which got him intrigued as well. Hes isn't a member but I am sure he will read it as well.

6000 kms in 15 days is a really big number if you ask me. I think one of the reasons to be able munch so many miles was the mile muncher - the Mighty Innova. I can say this because our year old Innova is already tipping the odo north of 50k kms.

Hope to do a trip like yours sometime and yours would be one of the thread I would surely refer for details especially around the permits. Thanks for sharing and hope you have many more such miles.