2007 Ladakh

 

 

 

 

 

The thought

 

In the summer of 2006, our visit to Ladakh was marred by the heaviests of rainfalls that this area witnessed in many decades. We were caught right in the middle of the downpour and had to cut short our trip limiting to only Manali-Leh-Manali (see Ladakh 2006 on this Website). On our way back to Delhi , we (me and Rudra Sen from Bangalore ) had decided to complete this trip in 2007.

 

Unfortunately, Rudra could not join me on this trip due to prior commitments, so I decided to do this trip alone.

I picked up a guide from Manali to accompany me as I had promised my wife not to do this trip alone.

 

 

 

 

 

The preparation

 

The Gypsy King 1.3Liter (make April 2006) was serviced (Odometer at about 15000kms). I just got it washed and cleaned since the last service was done only few months back. The radiator fluid was changed in full concentrate without any water-mix. Further, due to A/C radiator and fan being in front of the main cooling radiator, I installed additional circuit Switch which operates the A/C radiator fan even when the A/C is not running. This gives the benefit that on high altitude, the A/C fan together with the radiator fan gives more than enough cooling even at 5600mtrs. Never had a cooling problem anymore.

An addition to my check-list was Solar-powered 7500mAH battery for extensive usage.  I could keep it switched-on for the whole evening to have enough light without any problems.

I went through my usual over 200 article check-list to ensure that nothing is forgotten.

 

 

 

 

 

The roads

 

The road conditions throughout this trip was very mixed, from non-existant to extremely good in parts. At many places the roads were either being repaired, broadened or newly made.

There is a new stretch of road under construction between Darcha and Padum as also between Leh and Padum. These additions mean that Padum will be easily accessible from Lahaul valley and also from Leh. One will not have to go via Kargil. Furthermore, once the tunnel of Rohtang starts functioning, also Rohtang Pass can be skipped. In other words, from Manali, you can skip Rohtang Pass as well as all the three passes of Baralacha, Nakeela and TaglangLa on way to Leh. Only time will tell if this new stretch will be interesting enough for Off-roaders. But a huge fact will be that Padum and Leh will be more easily accessible for a longer period of the year.

 

 

 

 

 

The Passes

 

I covered in all 12 passes. Only 3 passes were not crossed twice i.e., Nakeela, LachulungLa and TaglangLa pass as we came from Leh to Keylong via Tso Moriri and Tso Kar. So in all we crossed 21 passes to cover this entire journey. That’s a lot of passes, I guess…!

I have mentioned the names of the passes on each route for your reference.

 

 

 

 

 

The Photographs

 

I came back home with over 2700 photographs in RAW format (3456x2304x48bit). I was using Canon350D with two L-series Lens 24-105mm and 100-400mm. The idea to shoot so many pics (about 40GB Harddisk space) was not only to capture some nice moments but also capture a photographic record of the entire stretch. Out of this collection, I prepared some 170 pictures which cover most of the stretch and the places that I visited.  I did not get inside many Gompas as in most of them photography is not allowed and after seeing few Gompas, I could bypass others. There is also a collection of 10 panoramic views which gives a better idea of the area, terrain and the mountains. By the way, the extreme colors in photographs especially Tso Pangong and Tso Moriri are actual colors. I have tried best to keep the original colors at the time of shoot without trying to influence them.

 

 

 

 

 

GPS logging

 

Throughout the journey my Garmin 60CS was active and complete stretch has been logged. On the basis of these loggings, all pictures have been Geocoded.

The average speed included various halts in between and does not indicate the actual average of the moving vehicle. The actual moving average will be slightly higher (only by few kmph). On the entire trip the normal speed went around 18-25kmph with exceptions of going down as low as 8kmph to as high as 60kmph.

 

Something about elevation loggings by GPS. Garmin units record elevations by calculating on the basis of minimum 4 satellite data. Usually, the GPS elevation in consumer units have an error factor. I noticed on my unit that as I went higher up, the error became larger. Infact, on KhardungLa pass, my logging showed 5370mtrs whereas the original height is around 5600+mtrs. All distances are shown from my Hotel and are not from the City Center .

 

 

 

 

 

The 5 weeks Journey through Ladakh Lahaul Pattan Spiti and Kinnaur valley

 

I am not mentioning the journey between Delhi-Manali-Delhi except GPS details.

I have also inserted elevation profile for this trip which shows the distance and the respective elevation of the stretch giving you an idea of the ups and downs w.r.t. covered distances.

 

 

 

 

10th July 2007

Delhi – Mandi (till Hotel Valley View)

 

Start 07.03hrs. Finish 17.36hrs. Distance 446kms. Time 10h 33m. Avg 42kmph

Overnight: Hotel Valley View about 9kms before Mandi

 

The sudden height gain above is as you get into Bilaspur area.

Accommodation: Hotel Valley View 9km before Mandi ca.1500INR for A/C room. Meals separate.

 

 

 

 

11th July 2007

Mandi (from Hotel Valley View) – Manali

 

Start 09.26hrs. Finish 13.06hrs. Distance 117kms. Time 3h 40m. Avg 32kmph

 

Accommodation: Nirmala’s Guest House ca.1000INR for room. Meals separate.

 

 

 

 

13th July 2007

Manali – Keylong ( Rohtang Pass )

 

Start 10.13hrs. Finish 16.26hrs. Distance 111kms. Time 6h 13m. Avg 18kmph

 

The peak is Rohtang Pass. After Koksar, most of the road is being broadened and repaired.

Accommodation: Hotel Snowland ca.1000INR for room and meals per night.

 

 

 

 

14th July 2007

Keylong – Triloknath – Udaipur – Tandi (Petrol pump) – Keylong

 

Start 09.54hrs. Finish 17.04hrs. Distance 121kms. Time 7h 09m. Avg 17kmph

 

This part of the valley is very beautiful and roads are not bad at all. The temple of Triloknath is much smaller than what I had imagined. There is another Gompa in Udaipur which I visited.

The lowest point in the elevation is the bridge which needs to be crossed to go to Triloknath Temple .

Slides: IMG_0848, IMG_0874, IMG_0878

 

 

 

 

15th July 2007

Keylong – Sarchu ( Baralacha Pass )

 

Start 09.03hrs. Finish 13.15hrs. Distance 88kms. Time 4h 12m. Avg 21kmph

 

After Darcha, the climb for Baralacha pass (around 5000mtrs) starts. We hit the bad weather at Baralacha pass which is famous for very fast deteriorating weather conditions. The visibility was quite limited but we did not have any problems. The 2nd night in Sarchu I felt the height and for the next 2 nights I was really worthless. The 2nd night I took an Aspirin which helped me and from the next day onwards and I never had the AMS problem on the entire trip anymore. A piece of advise – if you feel the height, don’t go for Diamox but rather take an Aspirin. Diamox delays the AMS symptoms which may reoccur later in the trip. If you still have AMS problem, then you must extend your halt till you feel alright. In worst case, you must go back to lower heights as for AMS there is no medical cure as such.

Accommodation: Raspian Camp. Tent with meal ca.1800INR per night.

Slides: IMG_0885

 

 

 

 

17th July 2007

Sarchu – Leh (Nakeela, LachulungLa and TaglangLa pass)

 

Start 08.04hrs. Finish 17.10hrs. Distance 252kms. Time 9h 06m. Avg 28kmph

 

On this track, you pass NakeeLa (above 4900mtrs) , LachulungLa (above 5000mtrs) and TaglangLa (above 5300mtrs) passes. In fact, TaglangLa pass is the second highest pass after KhardungLa pass. You also go through Moré Plains on this track. The roads were being made and many places you are fully in dirt track, at places you need to be very careful unless you want to get stuck for good…!

Accommodation: In Leh there are plenty of Hotels. I paid ca.2800INR for A/C room and all meals. But you have plenty of choice here. In peak season you may have to hunt a bit but I don’t think that you will land up spending night in the open.

Slides: IMG_0902pan

 

 

 

 

20th July 2007

Leh – Kargil via Alchi and Lamayuru Gompa (FotuLa and NamikaLa pass)

 

Start 07.41hrs. Finish 17.45hrs. Distance 218kms. Time 10h 04m. Avg 22kmph

 

The terrain is a lot of muddy mountains and roads full of dust. The roads are being broadened and at many places you may have to wait till the section is cleared for traffic. Just around Nimu where Zanskar and Indus rivers meet, there is a diversion (under construction) which will lead you straight to Padum avoiding the long stretch via Kargil. It may take few years but I saw that the mountain blasting and road construction are in full swing. This track gets very narrow all along Zanskar river where many winter trek take place on the frozen Zanskar river. The road built in the rocks near Alchi and Lamayuru are very narrow and you need to be very slow as there is no 2nd track. Just after FotuLa pass (above 4000mtrs), there is another pass NamikaLa (above 3800mtrs) which probably is not considered a pass anymore !! As you go down, the green valleys are a pleasure to eyes. Areas of Mulbekh and Durkit are full of green.

Accommodation: Hotel D’Zojila room ca.1000INR. meals separate.

Slides: IMG_0927, IMG_0937, IMG_0949, IMG_0951, IMG_0960, IMG_0978, IMG_1005, IMG_1010, IMG_1033, IMG_1045, IMG_1051, IMG_1060, IMG_1080.

 

 

 

 

21st July 2007

Kargil – Padum (PenziLa pass)

 

Start 08.02hrs. Finish 21.40hrs. Distance 226kms. Time 13h 37m. Avg 17kmph

 

When you start from Kargil, you don’t know what is waiting for you. The road condition gets bad and bumpy almost till Partek. Then the bumps get less but the road condition is practically village road all the way till Padum. That’s why you see the stretch of 226kms in over 13hours. There are two peaks on this track Nun and Kun. I do not think that Nun (above 4600mtrs) can be spotted from the road but in reasonable weather you can see the majestic Kun (above 6300mtrs) and some of the Glaciers (Fariabad glacier in IMG_1130) which comes down to melt in the river. The sights are worth the trouble of driving conditions. The flat plains around Ringdom Gompa sitting on a hillock looks grand from a distance. The area is full of stone pebbles and swamps. Then comes the pass of PenziLa and the fantastic sight of Durung Drung Glacier makes your day. The rest of the journey is along Doda river all the way to Padum. For us it was soon to be dark and I had to switch-on the big Hella lamps mounted on the roof-top. There after I could drive reasonably well all the way to Padum. When we reached there in the late evening, there was no electricity. It was a chaos till we finally found a Hotel (highly priced ca.800INR for the night). The next day we changed the Hotel.

Accommodation: Hotel Ibex ca.350INR per night. Meals separate.

Slides: IMG_1083, IMG_1103, IMG_1106, IMG_1112, IMG_1123, IMG_1130, IMG_1145, IMG_1147, IMG_1163, IMG_1164, IMG_1165, IMG_1176, IMG_1181, IMG_1207, IMG_1223pan.

 

 

 

 

23rd July 2007

Day Excursion around Padum area

 

Start 10.02hrs. Finish 16.11hrs. Distance 70kms. Time 6h 9m. Avg 11kmph

 

The visit to Sumchum and Karsha Gompa are worth a visit. Sumchum is hidden in a valley and Karsha is overlooking the grand valley of Padum . The view from Karsha Gompa is extraordinary as you can see almost the entire valley of Padum which is spread over Kilometers.

Slides: IMG_1235, IMG_1261, IMG_1308, IMG_1316, IMG_1320, IMG_1338pan, IMG_1379.

 

 

 

 

24th July 2007

Day Excursion around Padum area

 

Start 10.37hrs. Finish 20.00hrs. Distance 136kms. Time 9h 23m. Avg 15kmph

 

The above 9h 23m include 1h 30m lunch-break before we went to Burdun and Mune Gompa. In the late morning, we went to see how far the construction of the road between Padum and Leh is completed. Well, we could drive upto 50kms on this road almost where the rocky part starts and the rock blasting is being done. And then in the afternoon we went to see Burdun and Mune Gompa. The road to Burdun and Mune Gompa are still worse. From Mune Gompa we turned back, not because of the road but the terrain seemed to be similar to what we had seen.

Slides: IMG_1382, IMG_1394, IMG_1408, IMG_1432, IMG_1433, IMG_1436, IMG_1443, IMG_1454, IMG_1464, IMG_1485, IMG_1507, IMG_1513, IMG_1533, IMG_1552, IMG_1558, IMG_1565, IMG_1585.

 

 

 

 

25th July 2007

Padum – Partek (PenziLa pass)

Start 08.39hrs. Finish 17.59hrs. Distance 171kms. Time 9h 19m. Avg 18kmph

The elevation profile is similar as on the way from Kargil to Padum

Instead of driving uptill Kargil, we stopped on way at J&KTDC Rest House at Partek (or Partichek). The full clear view of peak Kun was just great.

Accommodation: Jammu & Kashmir Tourism Development Corp. Rest House. Room with meals ca.300INR

Slides: IMG_1600, IMG_1606, IMG_1621, IMG_1665, IMG_1681, IMG_1702.

 

 

 

26th July 2007

Partek – Kargil – Leh (NamikaLa and FotuLa pass)

Start 07.16hrs. Finish 17.53hrs. Distance 259kms. Time 10h 37m. Avg 24kmph

The elevation profile is similar as on the way from Kargil to Leh

The way back to Leh included few stops for road clearing and it was dusty all the way. The worst is when you come behind a truck which is throwing dust like a blower.

Slides: IMG_1789.

 

 

 

 

30th July 2007

Leh – Nubra valley ( KhardungLa Pass )

 

Start 09.00hrs. Finish 14.47hrs. Distance 105kms. Time 5h 47m. Avg 18kmph

 

For Nubra valley it’s just all the way up and then all the way down. And as you can see, it’s over 2000mtrs climb in about 45kms. The roads are slightly better and were being repaired. The view of Leh from top is extremely nice especially getting a glimpse of a large portion of the valley. The KhardungLa pass is full of day-return tourists. I will not be surprised if they open Malls there and in few years you may even do some shopping there. The descent is equally steep. The distance to Nubra is not so much compared to what we already had behind us.

Accommodation: Tirit Tents. Tent with full meal ca.1800INR per night.

Slides: IMG_1809, IMG_1817pan, IMG_1853, IMG_1859, IMG_1865, IMG_1878, IMG_1904.

 

 

 

 

31st July 2007

Day Excursion in Nubra valley

 

Start 08.49hrs. Finish 16.34hrs. Distance 143kms. Time 7h 45m. Avg 18kmph

 

The valley of Nubra is like ‘Y’ shaped and you get into it from the tail-end. At the main road junction in the valley, on right you goto Tirit and Panamik along the Nubra river where in Tirit you get the tents for overnight. On the left you follow Shyok river and goto Dishkit and Hundar. The road towards Panamik, you come across small villages and some hot springs whereas on the left of the valley, you come across Dishkit Gompa and Hundar Gompa. On this side, with some luck you can also spot the double-hunched camels which were originally used during the old silk route and are now roaming around the valley. Here you can also go for a camel ride on the sand-dunes which are peculiarity of this area.

Slides: IMG_1937, IMG_1972, IMG_1993pan, IMG_2021, IMG_2047, IMG_2077, IMG_2096, IMG_2101, IMG_2119.

 

 

 

 

1st August 2007

Nubra valley – Leh ( KhardungLa Pass )

Start 07.25hrs. Finish 11.21hrs. Distance 103kms. Time 3h 56m. Avg 26kmph

The elevation profile is similar as on the way from Leh to Nubra valley.

The climb to KhardungLa pass from this side is quite steep and I had to change quite frequently from 2nd to 1st gear. The road construction and the road blockage can also delay you quite a bit. We were lucky to just get past before getting blocked.

Slides: IMG_2138.

 

 

 

 

3rd August 2007

Leh – Tso Pangong ( ChangLa Pass )

 

Start 08.00hrs. Finish 14.12hrs. Distance 155kms. Time 6h 12m. Avg 25kmph

 

Near Karu you take a left turn if you are coming from Leh to goto Tso Pangong. The journey to ChangLa pass (above 5400mtrs) and afterwards is quite interesting. You can see the military presence due to closeness of the Indo-China border. The valleys are quite nice to drive and the road leading to Tso Pangong is also reasonably good. The J&KTDC accommodation is the only good option for overnighting there. It’s bare basics and you need to reserve in advance to avoid problems on the spot. Tso Pangong can be very blue and with the light changing, one can have different views all the time. You can do little bit of driving around but your permits are controlled quite well by the army post there.

Accommodation: J&KTDC Rest House. Full board ca.1800INR per night.

Slides: IMG_2154, IMG_2176, IMG_2178, IMG_2182, IMG_2188, IMG_2201, IMG_2230, IMG_2244, IMG_2260, IMG_2280, IMG_2304, IMG_2314, IMG_2321, IMG_2345, IMG_2346, IMG_2382, IMG_2497, IMG_2504.

 

 

 

 

4th August 2007

Tso Pangong – Leh ( ChangLa Pass )

 

Start 08.53hrs. Finish 14.26hrs. Distance 155kms. Time 5h 33m. Avg 28kmph

 

The elevation profile is similar as on the way from Leh to Tso Pangong.

Slides: IMG_2570pan, IMG_2582, IMG_2590, IMG_2599, IMG_2606.

 

 

 

 

6th August 2007

Leh – Tso Moriri ( NamchangLa Pass )

 

Start 08.03hrs. Finish 15.44hrs. Distance 210kms. Time 7h 40m. Avg 27kmph

 

The route is to basically follow the Indus river all the way till Mahe bridge. The drive through the valley is pretty nice with reasonable roads. At places though we also saw severe land-slides. You need to cross Mahe bridge and the road takes you through very a nice valley to village Sumdo where the road gets devided with left road going to Tso Moriri and the right towards Tso Kar. The climb to NamchangLa (above 4800mtrs) is not that dramatic. The road then winds down to Tso Kiagar and further to Tso Moriri. The road till Tso Kiagar is actually quite well (newly repaired) but Tso Kiagar onwards its only raw road and the vehicle shake is quite a bit. After Tso Kiagar, the road turns left and you slowly approach Tso Moriri. Like Tso Pangong, the water and the surroundings keep changing with the light condition. Tso Moriri also has in addition, a migratory bird sanctuary but I can say that a lot is lost here than what it used to be. I am not well updated on the current activities of WWF India (I am a life-member) as far as Tso Moriri is concerned but last year I did read a full report of Tso Moriri ecology (almost 300 pages) while preparing for this trip. The Sanctuary has been fenced but I can see that it is not very effective.

Accommodation: Tented overnight. Ca. 1800INR per night. You may also get bare basic overnights (ca.500INR) in Korzok village. There are quite a few tents which have popped-up recently.

Slides: IMG_2637, IMG_2660, IMG_2671, IMG_2677, IMG_2684, IMG_2692, IMG_2717, IMG_2721, IMG_2734.

 

 

 

 

7th August 2007

Day Excursion Tso Moriri

 

Start 16.55hrs. Finish 18.29hrs. Distance 6kms. Time 1h 33m. Avg 4kmph

 

A little further (ca. 1.5kms) from Korzok village there is one very decent point on a hill-top from where one has almost complete view of the lake.  The weather can change here quite fast, so I recommend you taking pictures without loosing time. In the afternoon, there can be quite strong wind and temperatures can go down quite fast. Depending upon the weather, the clouds, the sunlight, the wind, the temperature and yourself, Tso Moriri can become very interesting even for a bit prolonged stay (say 3-5 nights) depending upon what you have on mind.

Slides: IMG_2772, IMG_2774, IMG_2811, IMG_2851, IMG_2867, IMG_2878, IMG_2892pan, IMG_2921, IMG_2942, IMG_2956, IMG_2985, IMG_3040, IMG_3051, IMG_3071.

 

 

 

 

8th August 2007

Tso Moriri – Sarchu via Tso Kar (NamchangLa, PolokongkaLa Pass )

 

Start 08.32hrs. Finish 18.34hrs. Distance 212kms. Time 10h 1m. Avg 21kmph

 

From Tso Moriri, we crossed NamchangLa pass and came back till village Sumdo to take the diversion road to goto Tso Kar. This road from Sumdo village till PolokongkaLa pass (above 5000mtrs) is quite bad and I guess after bad weather it can be quite a challenge. After the pass, till this road meets the main Leh-Manali highway, the road is being done. It’s bumpy dirt road anyway but I saw quite a repair work going on. We did not overnight (although we carried our tent and cooking gear) and drove along Tso Startsapuk and Tso Kar halting inbetween for photographs. There are salt deposits everywhere and at places its all white due to salt. Wild asses were also spotted which are unique feature of this area. After Tso Kar the road slowly turns left to merge on the main Leh-Manali highway. Some the route here is still not define and after rainy season, it can hold you up for quite a while.

Slides: IMG_3106, IMG_3109, IMG_3115, IMG_3121, IMG_3124, IMG_3145, IMG_3183, IMG_3197, IMG_3226, IMG_3231, IMG_3246.

 

 

 

 

9th August 2007

Sarchu – Keylong ( Baralacha Pass )

Start 08.23hrs. Finish 12.27hrs. Distance 97kms. Time 4h 3m. Avg 24kmph

The elevation profile is similar as on the way from Keylong to Sarchu.

 

 

 

 

10th August 2007

Keylong – Kaza ( KunzumLa Pass )

 

Start 07.59hrs. Finish 17.25hrs. Distance 187kms. Time 9h 26m. Avg 20kmph

 

The diversion for going to Spiti valley is about 6kms after the Koksar bridge if you are coming from Keylong. The road starts with a downhill drive all the way till the valley level and after a while the road is not good at all. Approaching Kunzum pass (above 5000mtrs) can be very dusty as its all mud and earth mountains with small pebbles. Also the road is quite narrow till Kunzum pass. Afterwards, it gets slightly better till you come down to the valley level again. Thereafter, its all metal road till Kaza and beyond. I have the impression that the road conditions and the maintenance in HP area are superior to that of J&K. I also saw that PWD is very active in the HP area. As we approached Kaza, the weather changed suddenly and it rained quite heavily for a while but then finally it stopped. The Spiti valley is long and the road winds through one side of the valley till you cross the Spiti river to go on the other side to Kaza. Kaza is reasonably big and most of the facilities exist here, including petrol pump.

Accommodation: Hotel Banjara Retreat ca.3200INR with all meals per night.

Slides: IMG_3249, IMG_3265, IMG_3275, IMG_3288, IMG_3290, IMG_3299, IMG_3315, IMG_3327, IMG_3341, IMG_3373, IMG_3387.

 

 

 

 

11th August 2007

Day Excursion around Kaza

 

Start 14.07hrs. Finish 16.04hrs. Distance 40kms. Time 1h 57m. Avg 20kmph

 

We went to see Ki Gompa which is extremely well situated on a hill. Further, the road leads to Kibbar which we did not visit. On way back to Kaza, we wanted to goto a hilltop for even a better view of the mountains but then the weather changed again and we could see the mix of hot and cold air in the valley raising a huge dust strom up into the clouds. Then I said to myself that the fine weather travel uptill now is over and we now need to brace ourselves for few weather surprises. Promptly, the next morning, we heard that the road to Nako is closed due to land-slide. There was another land-slide about 10kms before Jilang on Kaza-Manali stretch. So, we were now in between with both sides blocked due to land-slide.

Slides: IMG_3398, IMG_3402, IMG_3441.

 

 

 

 

13th August 2007

Kaza – near Nako – Kaza

 

Start 08.02hrs. Finish 16.33hrs. Distance 223kms. Time 8h 31m. Avg 26kmph

 

As planned originally, we left Kaza to continue our journey to Nako and beyond. We were told that the road to Nako is blocked but we decided to take chance or at least see the condition of the damage in order to decide how long we need to wait it the road could be cleared. We had to miss Pine valley National Park as the road was closed due to land-slide. Further on way we went to a steep climb to Dhankar Gompa. The last bit of the road at the end of the hill was broken and we had to turn back from about half a kilometer before Dhankar Gompa. The elevation peak above tells you that the height gain is 1000mtrs within 10kms. The road to Tabo, Hurling and then towards Nako goes along Spiti river all the way with black mud and stone hills on both sides. There was a constant rumbling of pebbles falling on the road. The way goes through few villages on the river side and Tabo and Hurling being the biggest till Nako. And then after a climb through very narrow mountain road we finally reached the site where the road was washed away.  This particular zone is known for land-slides. The mountain hill is basically loose stones and boulders sticking together with mud and small pebble. A slight disturbance makes them fall and the gathering boulders become a massive land-slide. It has been going on in this area for few years and every time a new road is made. It seems that the authorities are now seriousely making a more stable road on the other side of the hill. Anyway, we now knew that this land-slide will take at least a week before traffic is at apossible. This you can also see from the Images. We had no option but to return back to Kaza and hope that the other side is open for traffic.

Slides: IMG_3453, IMG_3477, IMG_3494, IMG_3513, IMG_3539, IMG_3542, IMG_3562, IMG_3570pan, IMG_3587pan, IMG_3590, IMG_3591, IMG_3600, IMG_3605, IMG_3610.

 

 

 

 

14th August 2007

Kaza – Manali – Mandi (KunzumLa and Rohtang Pass )

Start 08.06hrs. Finish 20.09hrs. Distance 319kms. Time 12h 02m. Avg 27kmph

The elevation profile is similar as on the way from Rohtang to Kaza, Manali to Rohtang and Mandi to Manali.

After an overnight in Kaza, we heard that the other side is opened. There are always these unconfirmed reports from mouth to mouth. So we decided to take a chance and in worst case, we could also overnight in a nearby village or even in our own tents. On the way back, we saw many other tourist taxis and buses also heading that direction, so we were quite sure that the road was opened as the police check-post after Kaza also confirmed the open traffic. The last slide of these Images is the place (presumably Pagla Nallah or similar) where I parked the Gypsy to take a shot of the road which otherwise seems so harmless.

Slides: IMG_3615, IMG_3626.

 

 

 

 

15th August 2007

Mandi – Delhi

Start 08.46hrs. Finish 18.38hrs. Distance 451kms. Time 9h 52m. Avg 46kmph

The elevation profile is similar as on the way from Delhi to Mandi

Between Mandi and till after Bilaspur, I had to go through a horror scenario with at least 50 land-slides and pouring rains with lightening and the day turned into night. I kept on driving in the safety of the Gypsy. No cars were in sight and most of the trucks were parked. Only few were still plying the road at a snails pace. The visibility was like 10mtrs, the wipers at full speed and still I could not see much. This stretch of about 35kms took me about 1.5hours. The Gypsy goes through all these without any problems and I was glad that I was sitting in such a reliable vehicle. Soon afterwards, with the descent from Bilaspur area, the rain had stopped and the bright sunshine came. The world was different and an hour afterwards, I had to switch-on the A/C. Near Delhi, the security-check for in-coming vehicles on 15th August was not that high like last year. I guess that it already happened on 14th August. So I was at home at dusk.

 

 

 

 

The vehicle condition

 

Fuel consumption came between 12-14kmpl throughout the hilly terrain and about 14-16kmpl on the highways with A/C on.

The 20k third service was due. Wheel alignment, tyre rotations, engine-oil, gear and differential oil replacements with special additives, all the under-chassis inspection, all underbelly suspension rubber-bushes, air-filter etc. were controlled and done. This service costed me 7’500INR. I must also give credit to Sikand Motors in Delhi for doing the excellent job on this vehicle. Through the entire trip, I opened the Bonnet only few times to fill-in Wiper water. That’s it. I checked tyre-pressure only twice and this vehicle went like a breeze covering 4770kms without a hitch especially when one thinks of doing 22 passes of 5000mtr elevation. It’s just a great vehicle and above all, extremely reliable.  I am already planning a 14000kms Central and South India trip with this vehicle starting 5th December 2007.

 

 

 

 

The after-thought

 

I would love to do this trip again one of these years. Anyway, I will cover the missed portion of Pine valley, Nako, Sarahan and Simla route next year after the rains.

 

 

 

Additional Information

 

Please also see the Ladakh 2006 trip article which covers the sector Manali-Leh-Manali.

 

 

 

 

 

©Ajay Narayan

19th October 2007, Zürich

www.ajaynarayan.com