Leh - Ladakh Road Trip in Mahindra Scorpio

[AppU]

Getting the permits took an hour or so. The guy dint have the forms and had to walk to some place (some stationary shop) to get the forms. I had all the documents and photocopies ready, otherwise had to pay Rs.3 for each photocopy.

Is Own vehicle(White no. board) also need Permit??[thinking]

 

[avindu]

what happened to biker did u meet him again

Yes, will share that story today.

Is Own vehicle(White no. board) also need Permit??[thinking]

Permits are required to visit certain places like Nubra/Pangong/Hanle/Tso Moriri/Marsimik etc. There are two permits - one from the army and the other from the wildlife. It has nothing to do private or rented cars.

 

[avindu]

Continuation of the pics

Me and uncle enjoyed the snow and the snow fall



The traffic was stopped as there was an army convoy approaching the top from the other end. This made us spend more time and we were loving it.



I havent seen them before nor did I think I would require them



We went to meet the biker and it actually was a shocker. An elderly person to ride alone, all the way from Delhi and on a 125cc bike, takes a lot of courage. He surely is an inspiration.

You can read about him here : Hoodibaba is back from Hunder and Pangong Lake - Solo ride on Caliber 115 !!!! - India Travel Forum, BCMTouring



Inside the world's highest cafeteria. Btw, my office cafeteria is in the 7th floor





Me and my beast, next to the trade mark board.



Cool pose



Every time you're enjoying something, it seems to end soon (like our weekend). We were now going down on the other side, towards Turtuk.







What a view to have in the rear-view mirror, after looking at our normal day to day traffic.



Nubra Valley

K-top -> Khalsar -> Diskit -> Hundar -> Thoise -> Changmar -> Turtuk

As I had planned to take the Wari-La route, to Pangong the following day, we stopped for a while to turn around and have a final look at the K-Top from far.



Buddha Park





It was overcast and it looked as though the clouds might burst any moment





The roads are quite good, except a few bad patches.

 

[avindu]

Pics continued









It looked like it was raining..



..however as went closer, we realized it was a dust-storm





These are sand dunes in Diskit









Enroute to Hundar.



A small deviation from the main road towards the sand-dunes and to get a glimpse of the camels



Astonishing





Had to walk quite a distance..



..but, totally worth it!



Absolutely Majestic!

 

[drivetech4]

Just let us know when will the entire travelogue gets completed, want to read it once gain from start to end.

Also please post the expense details, amount of fuel burnt, and other expenses etc. I know you will do that, but cant hide the excitement.

PS: That hoodibaba was simply great and inspiring! Till now I was under impression that only foreigners are doing such adventurism things.

 

[mukeshus]

@Avinash: All the pics were excellent, especially the Hemis Monastery and its background.
And even the Hawk's pic are superb in those icy areas.

Those would have been a treat to your eyes.

Bad Road Leads to good destination is one of the best of lot.

 

[Varun560061]

Hi . Thanks for sharing this, today I went through the whole thread (in office, I was not able to control myself after seeing the pic's in the 1st page), super.. Thanks again.

Some questions: Please don't mind
*Total cost for the fuel, and other expenses,
*Total KM's travelled,
*After the trip, din't u fell stressed ? Wat abt ur scorpio ?
*I think the whole trip, the heater was on !

Last thing I want to share is, the M&M should take ur scorpio's pic's for their (scorpio)Brand Picture \ Advertisement.
(Sorry if I am wrong)

 

[mukeshus]

Hi . Thanks for sharing this, today I went through the whole thread (in office), super.. Thanks again.

Some questions: Please don't mind
*Total cost for the fuel, and other expenses,
*Total KM's travelled,
*After the trip, din't u fell stressed ? Wat abt ur scorpio ?
*I think the whole trip, the heater was on !

Varun as far as my view, once you start driving scorpio, you never feel stressed, the urge to drive more continues.
But avinash has beaten my record of driving more than 18 hours in a day.

The heater would have been used only in Leh i guess, which is not so useful for our Bangalore climate.

 

[mastersquall]

wwwhhoo at 56age doing leh trip on bike . He is great

 

[Akash]

Excellent pictures Avinash. A well deserved 5 Stars to this thread. I loved each and every pic, and i am sure you would have enjoyed driving every mile on that terrain.

 

[avindu]

Just let us know when will the entire travelogue gets completed, want to read it once gain from start to end

I'll probably finish it by tomorrow

Also please post the expense details, amount of fuel burnt, and other expenses etc. I know you will do that, but cant hide the excitement

I surely will share it, but at the end. Simply because I came to know how much I spent, only after the trip. So, will share it, once I finish with the pics. Hope you don't mind.

@Avinash: All the pics were excellent, especially the Hemis Monastery and its background.
And even the Hawk's pic are superb in those icy areas.

Those would have been a treat to your eyes

Thanks again Mukesh. It sure was a treat to the eyes.

Bad Road Leads to good destination is one of the best of lot.

Thank you.

Hi . Thanks for sharing this, today I went through the whole thread (in office, I was not able to control myself after seeing the pic's in the 1st page), super.. Thanks again

Thank you Varun.

Some questions: Please don't mind
*Total cost for the fuel, and other expenses,
*Total KM's travelled

Apologies for not answering your question right now, however I'll share it at the end of this t-log. Reason : I knew how much I drove and spent only after end of the trip. So, will cover it once I finish uploading the pics. Please dont mind.

*After the trip, din't u fell stressed ? Wat abt ur scorpio ?

Not stressed, but I was extremely tired. I took 3 days off before rejoining work.

No problems with the Scorp. He is doing just great. I have driven around 300Kms so far in our day to day traffic and no issues.

*I think the whole trip, the heater was on

I had to switch on the heater, while driving to Manali from Leh, since I did that stretch in the night. It was the coldest night and that was the only time the heater was useful.

Last thing I want to share is, the M&M should take ur scorpio's pic's for their (scorpio)Brand Picture \ Advertisement.
(Sorry if I am wrong)

I'm glad you liked it.

Varun as far as my view, once you start driving scorpio, you never feel stressed, the urge to drive more continues.
But avinash has beaten my record of driving more than 18 hours in a day

So true. Its a bliss to drive the Scorp. The combination of passion towards driving/loving your car/determination will make you feel like driving it more and more.

wwwhhoo at 56age doing leh trip on bike . He is great

Yup, he sure is an inspiration.

Excellent pictures Avinash. A well deserved 5 Stars to this thread. I loved each and every pic, and i am sure you would have enjoyed driving every mile on that terrain.

Thanks a lot Akash. Absolutely loved every bit of it, except Rohtang. It was horrendous than any other terrain of ladakh. Will share that story soon.

 

[ilango[speed thirst]]

Once again congrats ...

the pics are simply the great! hope you had the best time in life with the scorpio!!

 

[avindu]

Enroute to Turtuk - Pics continued





























We reached Turtuk around 6:30 PM and this was the final picture I could manage to take. The hill at the background is supposedly, Pakistan border.

 

[avindu]

Once again congrats ...

the pics are simply the great! hope you had the best time in life with the scorpio!!

Thanks ilango. It definitely was the best time of my life. I'm glad you liked the pics. Lot more to come.

 

[mukeshus]

I love to drive on no roads, the route you have conquered is amazing.