To Leh From Kerala in Mahindra Bolero

[smooth rider]

Entered the Ankola - Hubli -Yellapur road by 4.45pm. it was drizzling intermittently. there was heavy smoke in one section on this road. i thought that some vehicle had caught fire. it was one guy who had ignited diesel spilled on the fields by the roadside. from some overturned tanker lorry.

 

[smooth rider]

few snaps i couldn't upload in my previous post

 

[AR Ram]

@SR
Good pictures

When I drove up to Manali last time I wanted to cover LEH also. But I was doubtful whether I could take my Octy to Leh considering the road condition and ground clearance. Which route is better? Via Manali or Srinagar? Which is the best time to drive to Leh, in terms of weather and road? Cars like Octavia with less GC can be driven up to there?

 

[Skay]

@SR, the TL is coming up very nicely, please don't pause for long time.

But I was doubtful whether I could take my Octy to Leh considering the road condition and ground clearance.

I have the same question in mind. Is it advisable to take Honda City there? I hope not.

But I really wanted to do this trip in a bike.

 

[smooth rider]

dear AR ram i had seen some hatchbacks- maruti alto, hyundai santro,& sedan- maruti esteem while i was there. the esteem fellow had to turn back to leh enroute to pangong tso due to deep water crossing. if you love your vehicle very much don't take the risk. i have a vento but love it very much so didn't take him there. An MUV/SUV is the vehicle for ladakh.
the srinagar route is better for going to leh as the ascent is slower and hence chances of AMS is low. so also the Zojila is far tamer than Rohtang pass any day. interms of weather and road conditions i think august - september is the best time - as the monsoon is over and the BRO would have repaired the roads by then.
skay@ taking a honda city i feel would be a high risk. i had met lots of bikers during the trip and envied them. if i had been in my twenties i would have been there on a bike. if on a bike i would suggest that you have a well planned ride. there was two bikers from rajasthan who came ill prepared. not only did they even have a puncture repair kit or a foot pump. they didn't have a route map of ladakh either. the owner of our guest house made them buy these things from leh. they met with a mishap too. on their ride back from visiting pangong tso one of the guy and his bike was caught in a swollen water crossing and was washed a few metres down. he was rescued by a taxi driver who was behind them. his bike wouldn't start and local army guys helped them out by repairing the bike the next day. they went back home the next day.

 

[pahujaamit]

Smoothrider, you have another follower to this thread now.. Me:)

I'm all set to go to Ladakh this Aug and would love to see current updates. Thanks for sharing your experiences with the group.

One specific question I have is on the roof carrier. Dis you face any problems by cops because of the roof carrier? Did you ever got questioned or fined for it when passing through different states? I read a thread recently where someone said they had been fined for having roof carrier??

 

[AR Ram]

dear AR ram i had seen some hatchbacks- maruti alto, hyundai santro,& sedan- maruti esteem while i was there. the esteem fellow had to turn back to leh enroute to pangong tso due to deep water crossing. if you love your vehicle very much don't take the risk. i have a vento but love it very much so didn't take him there. An MUV/SUV is the vehicle for ladakh.
the srinagar route is better for going to leh as the ascent is slower and hence chances of AMS is low. so also the Zojila is far tamer than Rohtang pass any day. interms of weather and road conditions i think august - september is the best time - as the monsoon is over and the BRO would have repaired the roads by then.
skay@ taking a honda city i feel would be a high risk. i had met lots of bikers during the trip and envied them. if i had been in my twenties i would have been there on a bike. if on a bike i would suggest that you have a well planned ride. there was two bikers from rajasthan who came ill prepared. not only did they even have a puncture repair kit or a foot pump. they didn't have a route map of ladakh either. the owner of our guest house made them buy these things from leh. they met with a mishap too. on their ride back from visiting pangong tso one of the guy and his bike was caught in a swollen water crossing and was washed a few metres down. he was rescued by a taxi driver who was behind them. his bike wouldn't start and local army guys helped them out by repairing the bike the next day. they went back home the next day.

Thank you so much. That's indeed a very useful information for me and other TAI members as well.

BTW do you have any picture of the deep water crossing? If so, post it in your TL.

 

[smooth rider]

@pahujaamit i never had any trouble for the roof carrier.but i had an ace up my sleeve. my friend suresh is a lawyer and all cops mellowed down after he flashed his lawyers ID card, which we had to do 3-4 times during the trip.

 

[mukesh]

@smooth rider,

Buddy where are the rest of the picture? Please complete this travelouge..

 

[Gurrala74]

Excellent trip SR, I am glued to the thread now !! Yes Leh is my dream trip always and this will encourage me more. Looking forward to see the rest of the story with lot of pics

 

[Skay]

skay@ taking a honda city i feel would be a high risk. i had met lots of bikers during the trip and envied them. if i had been in my twenties i would have been there on a bike. if on a bike i would suggest that you have a well planned ride. there was two bikers from rajasthan who came ill prepared. not only did they even have a puncture repair kit or a foot pump. they didn't have a route map of ladakh either. the owner of our guest house made them buy these things from leh. they met with a mishap too. on their ride back from visiting pangong tso one of the guy and his bike was caught in a swollen water crossing and was washed a few metres down. he was rescued by a taxi driver who was behind them. his bike wouldn't start and local army guys helped them out by repairing the bike the next day. they went back home the next day.

@SR, Thanks for the useful information. My next car would be an SUV.
In a bike, definitely I wanted to go with an organized group, I don't want to take such risks and get stranded in middle of nowhere.

We are waiting for the rest of the TL, please update us soon. Thanks.

 

[smooth rider]

entered NH 4 at 7 pm. filled up diesel . The mileage calculate came up to 12.12 kmpl. thats when the first trouble started. the right front head light wouldn't come on. removed the socket - the bulb was okay. it was loose contact. fitted the bulb back in the reflector but the rubber guard behind the bulb wouldn't fit back. tried for about half an hour but failed. decided not to fit the rubber guard.
Had dinner at belgaum and started the night drive by 10.15pm.
The night drive was uneventful. me and suresh had a long and beautiful drive. wife and kids were fast asleep i9n the back.
Reached Mumbai at 6.30 am - 1/6/2013. filled up diesel @ 56.79 INR/ litre. By passed mumbai and reached Manor at 9 am. took a room at hotel Pride India. freshened up, had breakfast at Vitttal Kamath's next door & hit the road by 10.10am.
Reached the famous traffic block just before vadodara. during my last trip to rajasthan had lost more than 2 hours there. hence had 2 options -
1) drive through Ankaleswar and Baruch towns
2) break the traffic rule and drive on the one way road against the oncoming traffic
i opted for the second as i was not sure what awaited me in Ankaleswar and Baruch & the latter was the easy way out.

 

[smooth rider]

had lunch at Hotel Le Nandini at Vadodara. called up my friend and previous owner of my Bolero and appraised him about the head light issue. he advised to get the rubber bush fittted at the earliest as it would damage the reflector if dust and water got in. so i tried once again in the parking shed of the hotel and was succesful this time around. hit the road 3.50 pm
filled up diesel. mileage calculated - 11.77 kmpl. hit the Vdodra - Ahmedabad expressway. took my boy to 140kmph. the yokohama geolandars gave a terrific confidence inspiring ride, although noice levels where on the higher side. the breaking was far better than the previous set of tyres ( Maxxis ).
reached udaipur by 9.30 pm.the first hotel we looked up quoted a price of 15000/ INR / night. they aske us to quote a price which we refused and went about hunting for another hotel. we were intrcepted by 2 youngsters who were touts out for making a quick buck. they took us to 2 hotels the latter of which we took. bargained hard and got 2 rooms for INR 1ooo/ night. ( hotel Laxmi Palace, gulab bag road, ph - 0294 2484175, 2484378, e mail hotel_udr@yahoo.com.

 

[smooth rider]

Got up by 6.30 am. had the bolero washed by the bell boy. had breakfast from hotel sankalp and hit the road by 9.45 am. first hit the chittorgarh - bhilwara - kishangarh road. planned to have lunch at kishangarh. but the place was so congested that there was no place to park. and laso there was no decent hotel in town. one hotel suggested by the petrol pump attendant at the railway station asked us to come by 4 o'clocj when it would open. we bid good bye to kishangarh with an empty stomach.

 

[smooth rider]

we bought some mangoes for lunch and ate them. initialy the kishangrh hanumangarh road was riddled with potholes and the going was slow, then the road improved. from makrana onwards the road was superb. there were several granite and marble dealers on the road side.
there were lots of people gathered by the road side . BJP leader vijay raje scindia was touring that areas and there were several political meetings. there were lots SUVs of the leaders on the road. there were boys an teenagers racing on bikes decorated with BJP flags
i had heard of the Bullet Baba ka mandir. we saw a Rajadoot baba ka mandir. we passed the holy place then made a U turn. met the care taker a giant of a man- didn't catch his name. a jolly good fellow. he told that praying there was good for drivers. well since we happened to be long distance drivers made an offering in the hundi. met 2 local guy who happened to be working in kerala. they we happy that we were from kerala. we were given prasad. we bid googbye to the care taker and hit the road.