To Leh From Kerala in Mahindra Bolero

[smooth rider]

we rode on there was traffic jams at many a places, as the roads were narrow and all were in a tearing hurry. so road etiquette plummeted. the scenery too changed. there was greenery every where with lots of water falls. sonam had told us to expect traffic jams and be ready for hours of delay at rohtang. but we were lucky that we lost only very little time. thats what we thought but fate had other plans for us.

 

[smooth rider]

We drove on. we saw a wall with large letters CITU - we hadn't seen any such board after leaving kerala. by 3 pm, about 6 kms from manali there was a traffic jam. the local guys were overtaking us right and left and going forward, while we waited patiently. we slowly rolled on..... well to make a long story short we took 6 HOURS!!!! to reach manali longest traffic jam in my life.and to add salt to injury there was a board right at the edge of town " thank you , visit again " we had dinner at a hotel just out side town. we wanted to leave then and there. we asked the restaurant guys about the road ahead. they told us that it was dangerous with landslide prone areas. they asked us to stay put in manali for the night. then we saw a guy in alto who had just come in. he told us that the roads were safe and night driving was okay. we decided to hit the road.

 

[smooth rider]

2 more snaps..........

 

[AR Ram]

Great pictures SR.

At last you were reaching Manali after a great adventure and expedition. The drive, the land, the nature, the weather, all these will give you a pleasant memory all through your life.

 

[Fyzy09]

SR, I am sure it was hard departing from the land of barren beauty after so many days of being with it.

 

[smooth rider]

sure fyzy was a bit sad but also the thought of going back home to god's own country......... well we were happy too.

 

[Fyzy09]

sure fyzy was a bit sad but also the thought of going back home to god's own country......... well we were happy too.

I can understand. You did a longest journey traversing through the entire country. Hats off to your dedication and spirits for taking up such a road trip. You are a hero in real sense SR

 

[appus]

Some of the snaps were excellent. Was reading all the missed part which i could not read in recent days. Hats off to you & family. A doctor with passion to drive & explore. Amazing :)

Thank you doctor for the detailed travelogue !

 

[smooth rider]

drove till half past twelve then started feeling sleepy and gave the drivers seat to suresh. he asked me to catch some sleep and drove all through the night. the route we took was MANDI - BILASPUR - CAHNDIGARH - AMBALA - KARNAL - PANIPAT - ROHTAK - JAJJAR - JAIPUR. The route had heavy truck and bus traffic at night. we reached chandigarh by 6 am and took the drivers seat.it was raining intemittently.

 

[Fyzy09]

SR, did you do a non stop run till Kerala

 

[AR Ram]

SR, did you do a non stop run till Kerala

Yes, I was also about to ask the same question. No updates, and I feel that you are busy SR, with your routine schedule.

When I was driving down from Manali, I got lost somewhere near Chandigarh, taken a short tour to some interior parts of Punjab and finally appeared in Panipet. Thanks to MMI.

 

[smooth rider]

Fyzy & ramji no we stopped at jaipur. 16-06-2013 we reached chandigarh by 6 am. we drove on. we rented aroom in a hotel past ambala and freshend up. we drove on. and at the punjab border we filled up diesel as its cheaper in punjab. reached jaipur by 6.45 pm. we had tryst with the rajasthani police. at a signal inside the city the beat cop saw our KL registration and waved us to a stop. he saw that suresh wasn't wearing the seat belt ( he had loosened it on our rendezvous with sali )he took us to an officer who let us go when suresh showed him his lawyer's ID card. we went to bapu bazaar and did lots of shopping and went to sali's home by 9.30 pm. and the party started which went on till 1 am. we were booked rooms by sali at a hotel near by.

 

[AR Ram]

Welcome back to the thread SR and thank you for the updates.

The clinic looks very attractive and tempting!!!! BTW, the shop next to the clinic 'laxmi beej Bhandar', what is it?????????

Even we were caught at Jaipur by the cops for not wearing the seat belts, and finally allowed us to go free.

 

[smooth rider]

Ramji a shop with lots of beej next to a sex clinic what more do one need ?

 

[AR Ram]

Ramji a shop with lots of beej next to a sex clinic what more do one need ?

Woh!! That's a good one SR.

One more member from Trivandrum is preparing to go to Leh with his Maruti Dzire all by him self, solo. So, I advised him to take some one along, who can be a great help in case of any emergency. What is your opinion out of your experience?