Leh From Bangalore / Chennai in Fortuner and Xylo

[Primo78]

Finally down to posting this Travelogue after this incredible experience

I know its been 4 months since my travel and its a bit too late but couldn't resist myself from sharing with you like minded folks though you all are probably fed up with the number of Bangalore-Leh Travelogue !

Most of this is written by me when i ever I could find some time and some with the help of my wife from the stories I shared with her! so please bare with me...


Year 2014 Feb. New work mate joined in from Chennai. We were instant buddies after sharing mutual interest over automobiles and as we all motor maniacs do, we started yapping over all the reviews we read over the cars on-road and the new ones yet to come. He expressed his planned desire to make a road trip to Leh. Sounded interesting and the urge was instantaneous, I raised my hand to join in. He had already planned in to the very date July 1st 2015. In fact he had created a whatsapp group with 7 guys(All are his school buddies). Soon I was part of the “Mission Leh Ladakh” group and the DP was google India map painted with road route to Leh !. Then the story was never ending, every lunch and tea break we slip away from the rest of the work colleagues without socializing !! trying to make a perfect plan starting from
1. Effective route to cover all places to visit.
2. Number of cars to use for the trip.
3. Budget (Including fuel, hotel stay, food expenses)
4. Basic equipment plus rations
5. Safety concerns
6. Capable drivers from the gang

ETC….

As time went by, excitement kept raising and the points to discuss was hardly any but we still kept the discussions going anyway. End of the day we would bring up the topics we discussed on the whatsapp group. Everyone would join in and finish of the day with new ideas. Though I had never met anyone in that group except my friend cum Admin of this whatsapp group, we all knew exactly what we wanted and what we are up to.

At one point when the discussion turned in to the cars we were going to engage in this trip, I told them about my intention to buy a Fortuner 4x4 MT. And everyone totally agreed and backed me up with the choice.

I ve already shared the ownership experience of my all capable furtuner with you folks earlier in March 2015. (Hope you all enjoyed the ride!)

Nov 2014 I walked in to the showroom in Bommanahalli and booked my dream, and drove away in Mar 2015. After doing few trips out of the city to goa and couple of trips to Chennai, including Hyundai plant trip with some of you TAI members, I managed to clock 7000kms on the ODO by june2015 end. Completed a 10k service so I don’t need a service before the end of our planned 8000kms Leh round trip.

Fitted a Hella Comet200 fog lamp on the roof rail after fitment of rail rack.

I bought/gathered few gadgets, basic equipments and ration for the trip myself a week before the trip.
1. Tyre puncture kit
2. 12V Tyre inflator
3. 48LED Hurricane style rechargeable 28 hrs backup lamp(Bajaj)
4. Full Tool box kit, Torch light
5. 2 Ton Nylon Tow rope, Jump start cable.
6. 80 Ltrs Spare Diesel can. (25L+25L+30L) with funnel.
7. 4 PAX Easy unfoldable All weather Tent
8. Out door alchoholic gel stove.
9. Portable BBQ stove with charcoal
10. 5 x 5Ltrs Drinking water containers, Biscuits/chips packets
11. Frying Pan, spatula, cooking bowl (both copper bottom),
12. 10 pack noodles, 10 pot noodles, 12 eggs in egg case, salt and spices
13. 200ml kerosene, spoons/forks, match box, disposable plates, Tissues
14. Sachets of washing powder/shampoo/soap
15. Tabs Diamox/Paracetamol/anti-allergy and basic first aid kit
16. Mosquito repellent skin cream, coils
17. Cooking oil, Pasteurized “Nandhini” Tetra pac milk
18. Cold clothing, Extra socks and Underwear.
19. Pleasant music (long list of 16 Gb) in USB
20. Pen, original documents of Car insurance/Reg doc and driving licence
21. Belkin 12v Dc to 220v AC converter 300W.

Out of the 8 pack wolf gang, 4 backed off due to unavoidable circumstances like baby on its way, boss not granting leave for 3 weeks stretch and 2 guys stuck in official trip abroad.

Now the decision making time came if we need to stick with 1 car to safe money on fuel or 2 to continue with the plan of 2 cars. After a long argument we stuck to the plan, 2 cars for 4 guys considering the hilly terrains and unexplored roads we were going to take with no technical back up by Automobile manufacturers.

So the cars on this trip – Fortuner 4x4MT and my friend’s Xylo E6.

Few points to note about his Xylo. Done 86k on the odo. Recently serviced with new tyres all around including the spare, clutch plate and brake pads. Clutch pressure plate springs were changed out with aftermarket one’s which aid in hill climb. I was pretty impressed with the way this car handled the steep inclines without a fuss.

29th June 2015.
Final route map Confirmed.

Day 1- Bangalore to Nagpur via Hyderabad.
Day 2- Nagpur to Agra
Day 3- Agra to Amritsar
Day 4- Amritsar sight seeing
Day 5- Amritsar to Srinagar
Day 6- Srinagar sight seeing
Day 7- Srinagar sightseeing
Day 8- Srinagar to Leh
Day 9- Leh to Nubra valley via Kardung la
Day 10- Nubra valley sight seeing
Day 11- Nubra valley to Pyongyang lake
Day 12- Pyongyang lake to Leh
Day13- Leh sight seeing/rest
Day14- Leh to Manali
Day 15- Manali to chandigarh via kullu, Bilaspur
Day 16- Chandigarh to Udhaipur
Day17- Udhaipur to Lonawala
Day18- Lonawala to Goa (Colva)
Day19- Chillax in Goa
Day 20- Chillax in Goa
Day 21- Goa to Bangalore

Then comes the sudden blow to our planned dep date !

We decided to delay the trip to start on 4th July2015 after we got intimation from one of the guy who opted out cause he was stuck in Singapore, is now ready to join us in Srinagar on 10th July if we can delay the trip by 4 days. All agreed upon delaying the trip to start on 4th July 2015 and decided to spend 3 days with family….

July 4th it is then.

 

[Primo78]

Re: Leh from Bangalore / chennai on Fortuner and Xylo

 

[Primo78]

Re: Leh from Bangalore / chennai on Fortuner and Xylo

Day 1
Bangalore to Nagpur. Via Hyderabad
Distance covered – 1120kms
Time taken – 16hrs

Fuel topped-up, Packed all the baggage in to my car the previous night, so got up 3:30am, freshen up and kissed my family goodbye, on the road prompt @4. As is my habit to always connect the headset after strapping the seatbelt, dialed my friends who are starting about the same time from Chennai. They were already on the highway leading north of Chennai. Plan was to reach Hyderabad and meet up for lunch @Noon after reaching Hyderabad – Nagpur highway. We kept updating the location sharing on whatsapp every hour. The lone drive via Anantapur, Karnool to Hyderabad was boring, scanning through the new music collection kept me busy! The drive along the ring road(west) in Hyderabad was mind blowing.
Obviously I reached there few minutes past noon and the Chennai gang arrived @ 1300.
We all had Andhra meals for lunch in a Mess after refueling our tanks to brim in a BP petrol station. From here on I get to have a co-pilot (software engineer). I mention co-pilot , not co driver because he has never driven a car before. Didn’t bother me much, he was a good companion, listener and jovial chap, a vegetarian - Shan. His major Plus – good at google search, bargaining, and fast learner with car equipment like onboard ICE. Navigation system was at his mercy few minutes after we rolled on from the lunch spot! Oh and before I forget to mention… he is unbelievably good at Bollywood gossips, What more do I demand!!!
Our luck ran out with the 4 way lane very soon after Adilabad. Diversions over diversion, but we never gave up our average speed and kept the pace as much as we could. Once in Nagpur, topped up the fuel tanks for both cars around 8pm. Checked in to Hotel Siddhartha Inn, Room rent Rs.4000 / 2 AC rooms. Got to know each other over a beer and roti-veg curry. Hit the bed by 10:30.

 

[Primo78]

Re: Leh from Bangalore / chennai on Fortuner and Xylo

Day 2
Nagpur to Agra. Via Jabalpur, Amarpatan, Jhansi, Gwalior.
Distance covered – 1030 kms
Time taken – 12hrs

Checked out of the hotel @7am. Drove up north for the day’s destination – Agra. Looked around for a restaurant along highway and managed to find one after 200kms @11am. We were all hungry and just hogged on anything and everything we could see in our table! Veg korma, egg burji, roti, etc. Totally satisfied with the original north indian cuisine, we started off to a more disappointing stretch when we entered UP. The heat wasn’t helping either. We stopped in a small village around 3pm and decided to stretch our legs and have some cold beverages. That when we spotted paani puri! We could feel the difference in taste compared to the one we get in south., delicious. Soon we were on our way. Opened up a bottle of Fanta and realized we were cheated. It was coloured water!!!!! So we learned our lesson. 150kms to Agra was the sign board. Got a call from my friend on Xylo who was driving few kms ahead of me. “Don’t stop NO MATTER WHAT…” His car got hit on the left rear door glass by a stone. We talked about this situations. We were cautious especially in MP and UP roads. But its too late for that. Entered Agra cantonment and stopped for a cuppa. Accessed the damage, glass needs to be changed, but not immediately. It was all shattered but still in place. We can pull on until Amritsar and get this done on the extra day stay we had planned there. Lined the glass from inside with tarpaulin cover using a masking tape as a temporary measure to prevent glass from scattering inside cabin. Topped up the fuel tanks as usual. Checked in to a Hotel Merit around 7pm(Rs2400 for 2 a/c rooms). Socialized over few drinks and dinner.

Day 3
Agra to Chandigarh. Via Ambala.
Distance covered – 450 kms
Time taken – 7 hrs

Left the Hotel @7am on an Auto rickshaw to Taj Mahal, our first sightseeing since 2200 kms. Arrived back at the hotel and checked out before noon. 30 mins later we were zooming @150+ in the 8 lane Yamuna expressway, best drive ever till we reached the Delhi. Stopped for few minutes for taking some pictures along the Budh F1 international racing circuit. Took the ring road to chandigarh (roads and bridges still under construction). Traffic was moderate and slow moving considering the time 3pm. Once the heading turned outwards from delhi, the vehicles moved at a steady pace of 80km/hr. But we were in a rush to reach Amritsar before 8pm and were zipping and cutting across in 100-120. What surprised us was that, not a single soul along that highway was even thinking to cross the 80km/h mark! There was a heavy traffic Jam 30kms after Ambala. When the traffic was clear to flow on single lane, the scene was depressing. A ford fiesta squeezed underneath a truck from behind, roof of the car was touching the floor board needless to say or even imagine about the occupants. Punjab police is very efficient and fast acting with clearing the traffic and public coordination is nothing less.
Well here comes the twist! I remembered my friend Lucky, who used to work with me and is now living in Chandigarh, I contacted him to see if he knows some mechanic to get the Xylo’s glass fixed in chandigarh in an hour so we can spend the next day in Amritsar peacefully. Ofcourse Lucky was very glad to hear we are heading his way, Called back in 5 mins affirmatively regarding the glass availability. That put some smile on our faces! Conveyed the message to the guys on Xylo and off we took the exit from highway to chandigarh. Chandigarh is the first smart city in India. Clean, disciplined, smooth 4 lane roads everywhere within the city. Drove straight to the mechanic shop using the google map with location sharing aid via whatsapp and met Lucky. The time was 7pm. Guess the time was not in our favor after all, we were told to leave the car and come collect it next day noon… That turned out quite well in a way, to catch-up with my friend in his city and party in Chandigarh style! Somewhere during this wild night he agreed to our request to accompany us till Amritsar.

Day 4
Chandigarh to Amritsar
Distance covered – 230 kms
Time taken – 4.5 hrs

Yes the night was long and we were out of bed as early as 10am!!! He insisted we come over to his place for Lunch. Food was typical Punjabi really large Aalu paratha, Dhahi, Panneer burji, Tall glasses of Lassi. Now the problem, His mother expects us folks from south to eat like the Punjabi guys! We all managed to finish 2 parathas each and 2 full glasses of lassi. Left overs promptly packed and taken along for dinner. Departure Chandigarh @ 1pm and came across Lucky’s ancestral farm land with pump set watering the rice field. Stopped for a quick dip in the huge water tank, water was really chill for this time of the year and was refreshing. After crossing river Sutlej, quick break for nimbu paani soda with chat masala along the road side. Lucky advised us to maintain 80-100 kms/hr speed limit to avoid getting caught by cops and we felt lucky so far we were not sighted by the cops in Chandigarh and Punjab doing overspeeding! Arrived Amritsar @6 pm. Topped up fuel in both the cars and also the spare Fuel cans (80 Litres). Found a hotel for 2500/2 AC Rooms near Amritsar by-pass. No restaurant service available though, so had to call up another popular restaurant (found online via food panda) and promptly got it delivered. Sat for 30 mins after dinner and typed in all that I could remember so far and logged it down on my iphone’s Notepad app.

Day 5
Amritsar to Pathankot (Original plan was to reach Jammu @ midnight)
Distance covered – 120 kms
Time taken – 4.5 hrs (due to road block)

Left for Golden Temple @6am and reached the multi level parking space provided for Visitors @ 6:20am. Decent paid parking across the street, 500 mtrs walk from Temple entrance. Bought ourselves a head scarf each from a street vendor (must be worn at all times inside the Golden Temple). Foot wear is left in a booth where you get a token. Took a total of 2 hours to go around including a dip in pond and the sacred dome where the body of guru nanak is kept and sangeet is continually sang by devotees. A Very holy and touching experience, even for a non-sikh. After taking prasadh, we moved on to Langar for breakfast and a tea later on the way out. There is a cloak room where you can store your belongings. Amazing how the volunteers serve for people and the temple. Roti is made by machines continually @50/min. Most of the cooking and serving is done by volunteers. On the way out bought few vacuum packed prasadhs for friends and neighbors back home. Walk out of the Temple and on to the right in few meters is Jalian wala bagh. Could recollect how the freedom fighters lost their lives from text books in junior school and relate to the movies too. Came back to the hotel room, rested for 3 hours and checked out @ 2pm. Wagah border was on top of our list. 3:30pm everyday, gate opens to the gallery to watch BSF guards perform(for guys who have never heard about this- remember the Fevicol ad??!) After a long queue under the scorching sun, squeezed between sweaty bodies and 3 hours of wait, the show was nothing short of our nation’s pride. Considering the planned drive ahead, left the gallery 10 mins before completion and rushed out of crowded parking lot. 45 mins later, dropped my pal Lucky in the main Amritsar bus terminal and he was lucky to get a Volvo bus connection direct for Chandigarh. @7:30pm we set our GPS towards Jammu. Around 10pm, we stopped in a road side Dhaba, or so we thought! But it was free food for Yatra devotees. Well the roti and sabji was rich and tasty. Few kilometers after Pathankot, there was a road block curfew by locals to protest against government for their cause(Honestly didn’t know what it was and not interested either after knowing that the line ahead of us is 4-5 kms. Time was past midnight and we made a correct choice of not to get caught in the middle and turned around to take shelter for the night in pathankot cantonment area in a hotel.

 

[mayankdixit]

Re: Leh from Bangalore / chennai on Fortuner and Xylo

congratulations on venturing out for such a brave and long journey.You have a nice way of compiling your travelogue.I am glued to your thread,waiting for the updates.

 

[smooth rider]

Re: Leh from Bangalore / chennai on Fortuner and Xylo

wow another leh travelogue.congrats on completing the drive. glued to this thread. awaiting early updates mate

 

[vdm295]

Re: Leh from Bangalore / chennai on Fortuner and Xylo

Lovely narration. I am just glued to it. Waiting for the updates.

 

[Chandranath]

Great Journey. Love to see the Xylo keeping pace with the Fortuner.
Keep it coming. We are waiting

 

[abhijeetp]

I know its been 4 months since my travel and its a bit too late but couldn't resist myself from sharing with you like minded folks though you all are probably fed up with the number of Bangalore-Leh Travelogue !

We are never fed up with Leh travelogues.
Congrats on your journey. Waiting for your next update!

btw. really liked your signature!

 

[GM88]

Amazing travelogue and nicely narrated. I'm sitting at Chandigarh and even then planning a road trip to Leh has been a next to impossible task for me, getting all my friends to take leaves from office/business at the same time and all, I really don't know how you guys managed, but absolutely kudos. Would love to see more pics attached from each day of your extra-ordinary trip though. Keep them coming.

What surprised us was that, not a single soul along that highway was even thinking to cross the 80km/h mark!

That is precisely because there are speed barriers present more often than not on the Delhi-Chandigarh highway and the permissible driving speed is 90kmph. I'm a regular on that highway and I've been caught over-speeding multiple times myself. Lesson learnt the hard way. So to avoid being stopped by cops, people tend to maintain a steady speed of around 80-85kmph.

 

[Primo78]

Great Journey. Love to see the Xylo keeping pace with the Fortuner.
Keep it coming. We are waiting

Amazing. Xylo is seen everywhere in Ladakh, Its used by most tourist operators along with Tavera. Not a single glitch experienced with the machine. Only problem is the cruising range, especially with very less fuel economy in hill terrain.

 

[Primo78]

Day 6
Pathankot to Srinagar
Distance covered – 370 kms
Time taken – 16 hrs

Met the hotel owner in parking lot while he was parking his Captiva and enquired if the road block is still on. Few calls from his mobile, and he confirmed that the roadblock was resolved @3am. Now that we are fresh and rested, we decided to make our destination as Srinagar for the day. Fuel topped up in Pathankot. Was drizzling all the way till we reached Jammu, the roads were fantastic 4 lane, less traffic. Just after the city disappeared behind us, Traffic cops stopped us near rail underpass in jammu bye-pass road. Soon a long stretch can be seen behind us. Some said the cops are trying to make a convoy for the Ambarnath yatra visitors(99percent of the vehicles were heading for that). Two hours wasted there. I managed to get hold of the top cop in that crowd and explained our situation and promised we are not in for yatra convoy. He let us off through the barricade. Kept up the pace for till Udhampur. The road is now narrow and sharp bends. Couple of hours later we experienced heavy truck traffic mostly from the previous night’s road block. Soon the traffic was moving @20km/hr due to land slides and convoy formation. The roads were dominated by trucks mostly and taxis (Xylo/Tavera). We stopped at one point due to a land slide, where the new 40kms tunnel was going to be inaugurated a week later and met couple of bikers from Bangalore on RE returning back from srinagar. They explained its like this all the way until …. We were told by the bikers to stay atleast one night in Pahalgam before reaching Srinagar. Anyways, around 2200hrs we passed through Jawahar tunnel (named after the first prime minister) is 3 kms long built in 1950’s separating Jammu and Kashmir valley, soon the drive became better. The diversion to pahalgam came 65kms before Srinagar. However the road was blocked by local police in Anantnag sighting security concerns after midnight. We had our only option ahead of us to take shelter for the night, so we reached Srinagar and checked-in to a hotel @ 1am, was a simple Rs.2000/2 A/C rooms.

Day 7
Srinagar sightseeing
Distance covered – NA
Time taken – NA
10am checked out of the hotel, headed towards Dal lake and topped up our fuel tanks. Had early Lunch @11am! In a resort Hotel near Dal Lake paid parking lot.

A visit to Chashm-E-Shahi was relaxing, beautiful garden/park and a natural spring which is supposedly good for curing stomach ulcers. The chief minister’s residence is in the same road and security is beefed up with vehicle checks and baggage X ray scanning. Basically the checkpost guards are looking for quick bucks from otherstate vehicles and looted Rs.100 for each vehicle (without receipt!) couple of guards were confused to see tender coconuts in our trunk. We had to give away the last 4 pieces to them as they have never seen anything like it! Kulfi is a must taste in Srinagar.
Stepped in to a Srinagar Sight-seeing double decker bus and relaxed for next 2 hours drive on the open top and went around Dal lake, Paid 300/Px. Enquired around for a good deal on Boat house and got a full boat to ourselves(Living room with satellite TV, 2 bedroom with attached hot water shower/toilet each, Kitchen, Pantry and a care taker at our disposal if we needed anything) for Rs.8000/ 2 nights. In front of paid car parking is Pier no-9, got a shikaara (boat ride) from there and reached the boat house. Please do not waste money on saree, shawls, and Kashmiri materials by purchasing from the traders coming in small boats to the boat house before knowing the right price from shops around the Dal lake. They normally quote double the price. Be good at bargaining!
It’s a pleasant sight after dark sitting in the porch of boat house. Small boats are seen moving around with a dim light, selling almost everything! We could hear boat walas till mid night – Bacardi Breezer .. Breezer.. Breezer, Paneer tikkaaaa, chicken tikkaaaa, .

 

[Primo78]

 

[Primo78]

Day 8
Srinagar – Pahalgam - Aru and back to Srinagar
Distance covered – 130 kms
Time Taken – NA
About 40kms from Srinagar is a place called sangam, where there is a fleet of factories manufacturing cricket bats. In Gulmarg is the world’s highest golf course and ski resorts but we decided to skip.
Started for Aru @ 9am after a Lousy egg omelet sandwich as breakfast make by care taker ! once Enroute to pahalgam, an army check post delayed us by 30 mins to get all the stuff inside our cars scanned through an X-ray machine, similar to the one in airports. They seem serious about it. Stopped at a running stream on the left, got some fantastic pictures and filled up our 5 Litre water cans with icy water running down from the glacier. Paid Rs.50 for each car (again without receipts) while passing through forest check post and reached Aru after an hour. The road ends here. From here on its horse ride to the top of the cliff. But we were hungry and decided to skip this adventure. Returned back to pahalgam for lunch. A bit of shopping for Kashmiri spices to take back home before heading back to the boat house.
Srinagar ambient temperature is very comfortable in July, never had the urge to wear a sweater.
We were told about a tragedy involving a 4 member tourist gang who got washed away couple of nights earlier who were camping close to the water stream near Aru, probably by a cloud burst causing flash flood. Irony is none of this gets reported in any news channels/papers for rest of the Indian population to know, as journalism is completely banned ? or due to the army dominance?

Day 9
Srinagar – Kargil - Leh
Distance covered – 270 kms
Time Taken – 15 Hrs

Checked out from boat house @6am and reached carpark in 15 mins by boat. Warmed up the car engines for 10 mins and started our final stretch towards Leh.
30 mins in to the drive and we were stopped for road usage fees! Rs.50 / vehicle! This is only for other state vehicles. Some just abused them and drove off.
Another 30 mins and we were stopped again for Rs.50 / vehicle!!
Strange,.. these roads are maintained by BRO – Border Road Organisation. But the local goons want tourists to pay them for driving through their territory. Well I pity them for their backward thinking. When we speak to the locals in Kashmir, one thing is clear from their thoughts. They don’t fancy being part of India. They long for the cross border bonding. And it sure does look like the Indian army and BSF is stopping them from crossing the border with hundreds of thousands of troops guarding the territory. I always thought that BSF is only defending foreign elements from crossing LOC !!
High quality roads laid by BRO is a wonderful thing, Bangalore authorities should sub contract city projects to BRO! They ll sure do a better job.

 

[addy_brio]

woah! why has there been an abrupt stop to this amazing travelogue? please please continue..