21 Jimnys go on an expedition to Spiti Valley and set a new record!

Komic is the highest motorable village in the world and it is the only reason we went there. The drive was fantastic and at some of the hairpin bends, there are short cuts too, that were possible only for 4x4 vehicles.

BHPian hemanth.anand recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

Many a little makes a mickle

This is my travelogue of a record-setting road trip between 23rd May 2024 and 02nd June 2024 to Spiti Valley I took part in with 20 other Jimnys.

Before we begin

This is a travelogue of my experiences of taking part in a group expedition. Any opinions are strictly mine and not of any other participant in the drive. Even though I have made sure to write the most up-to-date information to the best of my knowledge, I make no claims, representations or warranties of any kind (expressed or implied) about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability of any information, Especially when it comes to current prices, addresses, opening hours, phone numbers, travel information and website addresses, please double check.

I've tried to use my own material (written, multimedia or graphic) but copyrights to some of the material used here lies with their respective owners. Under no circumstances will I be liable for any loss or damage (including without limitation indirect or consequential loss or damage) whatsoever arising from loss of data or profits arising out of or in connection with the use of this travelogue. I also am not responsible, but very sorry, for any comments in my blog that hurt any of your sentiments.

Prelude

Somewhere around the last half of March, my wife Shwetha and I were contemplating a road trip during the summer holidays of our daughter. After our Ladakh trip in 2022, we were craving for another trip of such proportions.

As usual, I shared this with my friend and BHPian avinashsg - it was March 21 precisely. There were two options…A week-long trip to Pench for Tiger safari…a bucket list item for Avinash, my daughter and me. The other option was a trip to Dharamsala…a dream for Avinash’s wife Shilpa, my wife Shwetha (to visit the Shakti Peethas) and Avinash’s son Kshitij (to visit the Cricket Stadium). At a certain point of time, we were even thinking of two separate trips with the ladies and kids going to Dharamsala and another trip with just Avinash and me driving to Pench.

Preparation

On March 8th and 9th 2024, Avinash and I took part in the Rock and Road 4x4 masters Bengaluru qualifiers. It was a two-day competition where I learnt about the true off-road capabilities of me and my Jimny. Apart from that, the other best thing that could happen was I met a lot of new people from whom I learnt many things about 4x4s.

On the second day, I met a gentleman Mr. Manik Ahuja who asked me if I was part of Simply Jimny. Till that point, I did not know what Simply Jimny was. I got to know more that this was a group of Jimny owners and he asked me if I would like to be part of it and I agreed. He asked me If I use Telegram app. I told him I don’t use although I had created an ID some time ago (when there was this #uninstallwhatsapp thing going on).

He sent me the joining link the next evening, and I joined the group. Telegram was not so easy to use initially or I was not used to it I should say. I was checking the app only once in 3-5 days probably.

On April 2nd, I saw on the Simply Jimny Telegram group that they were planning a group drive to Spiti Valley and the planning for this expedition had begun from March 19th itself! When I read more, I understood that it would also get an entry in the India Book of Records as the “First convoy of Jimnys to cross Asia’s highest Suspension Bridge”! It was communicated that on April 9th, full details will be provided and slots will be open for booking.

On April 8th, Avinash and I met for Lunch and I informed him about this expedition to Spiti and checked with him if he would be interested in this. I had never taken part in road trips in big groups but Avinash had participated in large group biking trips. We spoke all about the pros and cons in comparison with planning the trip ourselves - Like how we had done previously. I was very busy at the office lately and I didn’t have too much time to spare for studying and planning. Hence, we concluded that we should seriously consider this group trip and check with a larger WhatsApp group of friends too.

On 9th of April, when I got more details, the initial plan was for 10 cars. We were told that an Excel sheet will be shared and the slots will be on a first come first serve basis. I was keeping a close look at my phone in the midst of the Ugadi festivities. After a good festival lunch, I took an afternoon siesta only to wake up at 17:30. When I took a look at the messages, I saw that at 17:00, the excel was posted and within 10 mins, all the 10 slots were closed! Talk about timing! However, the organizers asked interested people to still go ahead and fill up the form saying that if possible, they’ll try to accommodate more cars.

At 18:00, I asked in the Whatsapp group of my friends, friends who were part of the Zanskar trip in 2022, if anyone would be interested. Apart from Avinash and his family, nobody else was able to join during those days for various reasons. So, it was the two families (4 adults and 2 kids) only.

The next topic was that the Jimny is strictly a four-seater even for short distances and for such a long trip there was no way that all 6 of us would be able to travel in my car. I reached out to the Expedition Lead Mr. Manik and informed him about my problem. He informed me that there would be some people who would be travelling alone and we could share their car for the expedition. He informed me that once the final list is confirmed, he can connect me to a suitable participant. Sounded like a good idea and we agreed.

Two days later, on April 11th 2024, there was a good message in the group that 10 more cars could be accommodated. When I filled up, my number was 19. When the number reached 23, the organizers informed us that they would not accept any more as this is the maximum they can manage to accommodate.

Later in the day, All the confirmed participants were added to a separate sub group on Telegram. We were given more details of the route, itinerary, costing and other details. Along with the itinerary, the group had also planned for some goodies like caps, jackets and travel bags. We were asked to fill up details regarding that as well. The Expedition would start in Gurugram and End at Manali. Any plans before and after was left to the individuals. This was what the itinerary looked like:

The Itinerary

Planning

Agenda

I made our plan around the group’s itinerary. Avinash and I would start our drive from Bengaluru on 23rd of May and reach Gurugram by 25th May and the rest of the family members would fly in to join us there. After the Organized expedition culminates at Manali on 30th May, we would start our return drive on 31st May and our family members could fly back on 31st May.

Vehicle

There were many participants including the expedition lead Mr. Manik who were from Bengaluru. So, there were optional arrangements made to transport the vehicles from Bengaluru to Gurugram via trucks a week before the start of the trip. But if anyone wanted to drive to Gurugram, they were free to do so too. I made a quick comparison of the cost of Transport+Flight vs the cost of Fuel+Food+Stay. It pretty much worked out the same. While driving the car would take 4 extra days, Transporting the car would mean that we would be left without a car in Bengaluru for a week before the trip and a week after the trip. Weighing the pros and cons, I felt that there was not much difference. Additionally, being the kind of person I am, driving was always going to be the preferred option.

Mr. Manik later connected me to a fellow participant Vikram Reddy who would be travelling alone from Bengaluru and who would be willing to accommodate 2 of us in his car. Everything was now falling into its place!

However, the ladies were interested in having a sightseeing trip around Manali and asked us to start our return drive one day later. This was because many others who were part of the expedition were having similar plans. Looking at how commercial Manali has become, Avinash and I had ZERO interest in that plan.

So, we finalized that the ladies and kids can stay a day additional for their sightseeing and fly back in on the 1st of June and we drive back on 31st May itself.

On 13th April, Vikram and I had a fairly long discussion on understanding each other’s plans and preferences. I understood that he was transporting the car in the truck. His plan was also to stay back in Manali for an additional day, start to drive back from Manali to Gurugram on 1st June and then fly back to Bengaluru on 2nd June. We decided that we will share 50% of the Car transport and Fuel expenditures of the Expedition.

Flights

Soon after that, I started looking for flights for my family members. I initially looked for flights on 1st June from Kullu. It was too expensive I felt. By this time, since I knew Vikram’s plan as well, I also looked at evening flights from Gurugram. Flight ticket prices were reasonable but then the arrival time by road from Manali to Gurugram would be late in the evening. If the family takes the flight on 1st itself, then one, they would reach home very late in the night and two, it will be really tiring. If they decide to stay back in Gurugram and fly on 2nd, it would unnecessarily add a day’s time and whatever I save in flight tickets (by booking in Gurugram) would be offset.

I then got an idea and I decided that the Ladies and kids could fly out from Chandigarh instead of Gurugram. This way, they need not travel all the way to Gurugram for nothing, flight tickets are not too expensive compared to flights from Gurugram either. I communicated this to all of us including Vikram and everyone was ok with this. Finally, on April 16th 2024, I booked the flights for four.

Meanwhile, all participants in the expedition were asked to make an advance payment of 50%. I made that payment immediately.

Route plan

With the itinerary set, I started with the detailed route planning for Avinash and myself. I discussed this at length with DBHPian paragsachania and made a plan. Initially, the plan was to start on 22nd May, take the Mumbai-Delhi Expressway, cover some places around Mumbai (Bademiya Kebab, newly opened undersea tunnel and Trans harbour link), and reach Gurugram on 25th May.

But later, Avinash told me to plan it with as less leave days as possible and take the fastest route to Gurugram. I also understood from Parag that the Mumbai-Delhi Expressway is complete only in bits as of now.
So, the plan changed to Bengaluru-Pune, Pune-Udaipur and Udaipur to Gurugram.

Later, I came to know that on 25th May, after all the cars reach Gurugram, they need to get washed, get stickers pasted and get ready for an introductory briefing. With my above plan, we would reach late in the night on 25th and we wouldn't have time for all the activities that have to be completed.

Finally, we decided to stick to the N-S corridor. The plan was Bengaluru-Nagpur on Day 1, Nagpur-Agra on Day 2 and Agra-Gurugram on Day 3 which was very similar to our Ladakh drive of 2022. This way, we would not only have enough time do all the necessary activities but also get some time to relax as well.

The return after completing the expedition was also on the same route: Manali-Agra, Agra-Nagpur and Nagpur-Bengaluru.

Accessories and Merchandise

• Q: What happens when a group of people who love their cars and who love to travel come together?
• A: Everyone spends more than what they would’ve spent alone!

That is exactly what happened here! Someone was purchasing something for the trip, they used to post it on the group, and 10 others bought the same

Roof boxes, Fog lamps, underbody guards, sand ladders, long haul cans, radios and the list went on… I had a lot of things already...I still made quite a few purchases! One of the important purchases I made was a pair of long-haul fuel cans. It was purchased by almost all participants and hence we got a good group deal too. We were informed that when we reach Gurugram on 25th April, the cans will be installed during the application of the Expedition Stickers.

Long Haul cans. Picture taken somewhere near near Narkandha

Continuing my car accessories, I got the Bimbra roof Carrier installed on the 20th of April. I had no plans of loading the carrier but just in case we need, I had it installed.

Bimbra Rooftop carrier

Meanwhile, on April 30th All the people were required to make the full payment and we made it.

For this trip, one other thing I wanted was a rock slider/sidestep. I had seen quite a few in the market but they were not strong enough. All were mounted on bolts near the wheel and they were more aesthetic than functional. I had seen a couple fall off too. Swastikfabs had a rockslider that was mounted on the chassis and it was really strong. However, it was not a side step. I was following up with the owner Vijay for quite some time but he was tied up with other things and he was unable to spend time to produce this as it involved some research and needed some development time.

However, I told him that I needed it before my trip. Beginning of May, I was not in town and I left my vehicle with him for 4 days. This gave him sufficient time to develop the rock slider/sidestep. Finally, on May 13th, it was ready and installed on my car.

Rockslider/Footstep

Footstep

Additionally, the carrier was making a lot of wind noise while driving. I checked with Vijay if we can solve this issue and he said that I need a wind deflector to cut this noise. He had a nice design in mind and he said he will take care of it. He made a very neat-looking wind deflector too and added it to my carrier.

Wind deflector

On May 14th, we received the goodie bags for the expedition which had a duffle bag for the adults, A cap and a jacket for every participant, including kids. All items were from Decathlon. They were embroidered with the Simply Jimny logo.

On 16th May, I got the Bimbra rear parcel tray installed which would help us in packing the luggage in the boot better.

Rear parcel tray

On 18th May, I purchased a pair of license-free walkie-talkies for the trip. A member of the Jimny group was selling it owing to less usage and I picked it up from him.

Brutforce License-free walkie-talkie

Then I went to Swastik fabs, purchased their Antenna mounts and installed Ram mount 1” balls at different places on the car. Along with RAM mounts, these points could be used to mount Gopros, Insta 360 and phones.

Internal RAM Mounts

Use Cases

External RAM mounts

On the same day, the convoy rules were circulated and everyone was supposed to go through it thoroughly. Along with that, the convoy number for each of the cars was also allotted...I got the number 007!

Weather

While everyone was preparing for the trip, we all had an eye on the weather too. Specifically, in Chadrataal, there was unusually high snowfall for this time of the year. The forecast, and the local info all had the information that it is fully blocked and "might" get cleared just in time for our trip.

On May 22nd, A day before Avinash and I were to start our drive, and 4 days before the start of the expedition, Mr. Manik convened an urgent meeting at 20:00 to discuss Plan B in case the Tabo-Chandrataal-Manali route doesn’t open up.

It was communicated that if the Chandrataal route doesn’t open up in time, we will stay at Losar instead of Chandrataal. If the Losar to Manali route is also closed, then we will return from Losar and stay at Kalpa and return via Shimla. He informed everyone that the plan can be quite dynamic considering the weather conditions, and asked us to be prepared.

A day before

Avinash and I were doing the final preparations for our drive – warm clothes, snacks, camera gear, tools, tow strap, were all in the vehicle. Additionally, we had 2 bags of our family members so that they can travel light and later shift that to Vikram’s car in Gurugram.

In the meeting, I came to know that another member Siddharth and his wife were driving to Gurugram from Warangal in AP. We connected over the phone and I understood that he would be leaving Warangal only in the afternoon and he wanted to meet us midway and drive along with us. Considering the times, we decided that we could meet somewhere after Hyderabad. He requested me to book hotels for him also if I’m booking. So, I added an additional room when I booked a room for Avinash and myself.

After my dinner, I went out and filled petrol in the fuel tank and air in the tyres at a fuel station nearby. Then packed my bags and kept them in the car, called up Avinash at 22:00 and informed him that I’ll pick him up at 05:30 the next morning and I slept.

Continue reading about hemanth.anand's expedition for BHPian comments, insights and more information.