Finally all the pieces fell into place, Dussera was earlier this year so it was possible to drive to Ladakh during Dussera school vacations. Still cramming the itinerary was becoming difficult, so we decided that I would start driving earlier and the family will fly directly when the school vacations start. Following was the decided route plan.
The trip was an interesting trip. Unfortunately it had to be cut short due to vehicle failure. After more diagnosis it seems like BMW technician in Ludhiana ignore a error code related to Diesel Particulate Filter. He told me that there is an error code but nothing to worry about. That resulted in exhaust being completed clogged and finally catastrophic failure. Goes to show the fragility of technology in modern cars.
We completed approximately 5000 kilometers of total 7800 kilometers planned, we completed all the tourist attractions that we intended to visit. The return journey had to be abandoned and we had to fly back.
As we speak the car is still being repaired since some parts had to be imported from Germany.
15-September-2017
Today was the first day of the drive which I was planning for a long time. The original plan was to leave at 4 AM, but since I got late in going to bed, I decided to leave little late. 6:30 AM Left home. 8:07 AM Stopped at Kamat Upachar near Chikkaballapur. This place is really losing its quality very quickly and many better places seem to have come up enroute. 9:50 AM Crossed Anantpur. I always take this picutre of ISCKON when I cross Anantpur. The place seems to have got a fresh coat of paint.
12:40 PM Stopped at Bharathi 97 Food and Fuel for fuel top up and a chai. 2:00 PM Entered the hyderabad ORR, realized that the speed limit has been reduced from 120 kph to 100 kph. 3:05 PM Reached Coffee Day at Nagulapally. This has become one of my favorite places to stop on this route.
4:45 PM Crossed Nizamabad 5:30 PM Crossed Nirmal 6:15 PM Crossed Adilabad 6:55 PM Crossed Pandharkawada 7:30 PM Crossed Wadki
The road work on this secton of road seems to be progressing at a snail's place. There hasn't been any significant improvement compared to summer time when I last drove through this route. The road has become much worse because of potholes due to rain. 8:15 PM Crossed Hinghanghat. 9:00 PM Crossed Buti Bori 9:20 PM Reached Le Meridien Nagpur. This is one of my favorite places to stay in Nagpur because of its proximity to highway.
16-September-2017
Got up early and was on the road at 5:25 AM. Google Maps suggested to go via Chhindwara and since I had no preferences, I decided to follow google. Drove continuously for four hours did not find any place worth stopping for. 10:30 AM Reached Hotel Deepali in Sagar. Decided to eat something.
My brother had planned on joining me on this journey from here, but he was still on his way. It looked like it is going to take some time for his to reach, so I decided to drive up to Rahatgarh to pick him up there. 12:10 PM Reached Rahatgarh 12:53 PM Crossed Khurai 1:35 PM Crossed Khimlasa 1:50 PM Joined National Highway back at Malthone. 2:30 PM Crossed Lalitpur 4:00 PM Stopped at MP Tourism Hotel at Datia.
6:30 PM Stopped at Barista on the outskirts of Gwalior. 9:50 PM Reached Agra. Checked into the Hotel Four Points by Sheraton Agra. Here is my review of the place.
17-September-2017
We had planned on leaving early but we needed to get some car repairs done and the last place where those repairs could be done was Ludhiana. When we called the dealership, they told us to come next day. We realized there was no point in rushing to Ludhiana because nothing is going to get done today. So we decided to relax little bit.
Fed up with the hotel food last night, we decided to explore some restaurant in the town. We found this place called Bob Marley Restaurant, so we decided to go there for breakfast.
The restaurant is a laid back restaurant with a Indian and Continental menu. The service is little leisurely but the food was good and portions were generous.
Here is my review of the place. 11:15 AM We finally checked out of the hotel and started towards Ludhiana which was the destination of the day.
For some reason it was easy to get out of Agra city, we quickly got on to Ring road which took us straight to Yamuna Expressway. 1:10 PM Got off YEW and into to Noida. 2:10 PM Exited Delhi on other end. Being sunday it helped, did not encounter too much traffic in Delhi. 2:45 PM Stopped in Murthan at Mannat Dhaba. Here is my review of the place. 3:15 PM Left after lunch. 4:29 PM Topped up the fuel. 6:20 PM Stopped at Highway King Vaishno Dhaba for a chai.
7:15 PM We reached Hotel Park Plaza in Ludhiana. Here is my review of the place.
18-September-2019
The plan was to get to the show room, get the breaks repaired and then continue to Amritsar. But unfortunately the service center took close to 8 hours to just repair breaks, they also found a gear box mount that needed to be replaced. 10:00 AM Reached Krishna BMW on outskirts of Ludhiana. I explained to them that I have to drive really long and can they just replace the breakpads of my car quickly.
They had to create a customer profile, which took 2 hours for them to create. 2:00 PM We were told that break pads are almost fixed but they have found a broken gear box mount that needs to be replaced. They said it will take 2 hours to 2:30 hours. 6:30 PM Car was fixed and delivered.
We shelved the plan to go to Amritsar and directly continue to Jammu.
We had skipped dinner and were looking for some place to have good food. Surprisingly one doesn't find as many dhabas on this route. 8:00 PM Found this place called JD Restaurant, stopped for dinner. 11:30 PM We reached Jammu, checked into Hotel Lords Inn. Here is my review of the place.
19-September-2017
My family was arriving in Jammu, the plan was to pick them up, leave for Katra and then go to Vaishno Devi. We had booked Helicopter for taking us to the temple. 10:10 AM We left the hotel, there was a petrol station nearby so decided to top up the petrol.
The drive is pretty hasslefree. The road is good all throughout. Here is a timelapse of the complete drive.
11:20 AM We reached the Hotel Ginger and checked in. Here is my review of the hotel
We quickly got ready and left for helipad because our Helicopter ride was scheduled at 1 AM. On reaching there we realized that we should have come early. In any case, we had to wait for some time before we were put on a flight. 3:00 PM We reached the helipad on Vaishno Devi. We were told to be back by 4:30 PM. So we had to rush. The trek from Halipad to the temple is almost 45 minutes to one hour.
We rushed back to the helipad. We reached there by 4:30 PM. On reaching we were told that we will have to wait for some time since the service was suspended at the time. 5:50 PM We got our flight and returned back to Katra Helipad. The challenge was to find out how to reach our hotel. The taxies were asking of an exhorbitant amount of money. Finally, after walking around a little bit we found a taxi that dropped us to near our hotel. Since none of us had any lunch, we decided to have some snacks. We found a restaurant named Sagar Ratna in AMR mall. Here is my review of the place. 8:30 PM With little hope from our hotel food, we decided to explore outside the hotel. We found a restaurant named Madhuban and went there for dinner. Here is my review of the restaurant.
20-September-2017
We were warned about bad traffic jams on Katra to Srinagar road but nothing could have prepared us for what was to follow. 5:50 AM We were out of the hotel and on our way to Srinagar. 7:40 AM Found our first traffic jam.
Miles long traffic Jam
This was one of the first traffic jam that we encountered that was kilometers long. We were stuck here for almost one hour.
9:15 AM Got into Chenani Nashri Tunnel.
9:20 AM Stopped for breakfast at a place called Karmeel. The last good aloo paratha that we will have on this trip.
The good views from the restaurant are just bonus.
11:32 AM Crossed the place called Ramban 2:40 PM Crossed the place seemed like a truck stop with many restaurants, Could not catch the name. Google marks it as Shaitan Nallah
3:25 PM Stopped in Qazigund for lunch.
3:45 PM Started after lunch. 6:25 PM We arrive at Dal Lake, We had booked a houseboat in Nigeen Lake, so we drive around the Dal Lake to reach that place.
28-September-2017
Leh airport is tricky, there are too many security checks and it is a very small airport compared to the crowd that it sees. The best approach is to reach very early.
We had an 11:20 AM flight, we reached the airport at 9:30 AM. You have to start undergoing security checks before you enter the main gate.
The flight took off in time, we reached Delhi at 12:50 PM.
The flight to Bengaluru took off at 2:50 PM and landed at 5:50 PM.
With the trip abandoned, there was very little else to do. We decided to stay one day in Leh to make sure that the car was picked up and we were there close by in case something went wrong.
We just aimlessly wandered around the town, caught up on sleep and pretty much did nothing useful.
Around 4:00 PM, the tow truck driver called us that he has reached the car.
Even though we had used BMW roadside assistance, the tow truck companies are all third party providers and the driver did not even know where the key goes. He could not take the hand break off. After a half an hour phone call, he was finally able to successfully pick up the car and take it.
We had dinner in the main market in a restaurant called Neha Snacks. Here is our review of the place.
Now we were free to leave Leh, end of an eventful trip.
26-September-2017 6:00 AM Left Pangong started towards Manali.
The road to Changla is probably in the worst condition of all roads in this sector. 8:54 AM Reached Chang La. Stopped at the cafe, took some pictures.
Started our descent from Chang La. 10:09 AM We see the diversion from the main, road, you just have to get off the hill. Apparently, the road is being redone and that's why there is this diversion.
As we reached the end of Diversion, we took a wrong turn and ended up on really bad road. We drove for probably a couple of kilometers on this bad road. Suddenly the car lost all the power. On closer examination, we found that a hose that connected to exhaust was completely torn up.
We checked with OBD, we found multiple alerts related Diesel Particulate Filter. After some time the car lost power steering and breaks as well. 11:00 AM We called the vehicle dead, Beemer had died for no apparent reason. We had to sadly pronounce that our trip has to be abandoned. The challenge before us was to get out of this dead-end place where we were stuck. There was no soul on this stretch of the road.
There was no way we were able to take our car to a more public place, I asked my brother to go and find some help. 12:45 PM He found a local pickup guy who very grudgingly, very unhappily helped us tow the vehicle to a more public part of the road.
Meanwhile, we called Road Side Assistance. At this time we realized that we were some 17 kilometers away from the place called Karu. Karu is the place where the road from Manali meets Leh-Pangong road.
The roadside assistance informed that they don't have any tow trucks in Leh, they will get a truck from Manali and that will take 15-16 hours. On further discussion, they told us that they have sent the truck and we should leave the key somewhere accessible and inform the tow truck driver.
Fortunately for us, one of my friends was in Leh, so I requested him to arrange a taxi for us, gave him the location. 4:00 PM The taxi arrived. We parked the car on the roadside and left with the taxi to Leh. The taxi driver told us to leave the key with the Druk Restaurant owner in Karu which is in an easily visible and accessible place for the tow truck to locate.
With our trip abandoned, we had some lunch at the restaurant, left the key with the owner and continued towards Leh. 6:30 PM We finally arrived at Hotel in Leh. We stayed at Hotel Grand Himalaya. Here is our review of the place.
25-September-2017
Our drive to Turtuk was interesting but we could not see anything in Turtuk because we got very late, the destination today was to reach Pangong which was also a longish drive, so we decided to leave early. 5:50AM We left the hotel. 8:20 AM We arrived ar Hunder, we stopped for a while at Sand Dunes.
0930 AM We again stopped at River Side Resorts again hoping to get some breakfast but unfortunately, it was only Maggi. So we just stopped for tea.
Finally we continued driving till Durbuk for food. 12:55 PM Stopped for lunch
The road turns worse from here onwards. Here are couple of samples of bad roads on this sector.
2:50 PM Finally arrived in Pangong Lake, as soon as you see the lake, you feel the trouble of getting there was worth it.
Priceless
Civilization has reached, garbage in lake
3 Idiots Industry
Google Maps gets it wrong many times
Finally, we drove towards Spangmik village, some 7-8 kilometers from starting point of the lake. Looked around and found some accommodation for the night. The season was just about to end, may accommodations were just closed.
The destination for the day was Turtuk Village. 9:00 AM We got delayed because one of our co-traveler fell sick during the night and we waited for the individual to get better before we started. Once things look in control, we started.
Most of the road from Leh to Khardung La top is in good condition. Last 10 kilometers are very bad. This is the place for no heroics. It is a very unforgiving drive.
Landscapes, like most of Leh, remain priceless during this drive.
One of the hairpins
10:31 AM Reached South Pullu checkpost. You need to write your vehicle number, type of vehicle and phone number on the back of the permit copy and give it to the guy on duty. There are toilets here if you need to use them.
It looks like the pilgrimage for bikers.
Finally, at the K-Top signage, it is almost like Tirupathi temple, you get a split second for the photo and then move on.
Khardung La canteen has this interesting note on Maggi.
In Switzerland in 1863, Julius Micheal Johannes Maggi developed a formula to Bring added taste to meals. This marked the beginning of the Maggi brand and its lines of convenient food products in 1882. The Swiss public welfare society commissioned Maggi to create a vegetable food product that would be quick to prepare and easy to digest to help with the problem of women having less time to prepare meals as more and more worked outside the home.
THe result - Two instant pea soups and an instant bean soup - were a huge success. But the turn of the century, Maggi, and the company was producing not only powdered soups but also bouillion cubes, sauces, and flavoring. Maggi merged with Nestle in 1947. Maggi has been offering high quality and innovative products ever since.
Khardung La top was flooded with vehicles, there were large foreign groups with their large support vehicles with multiple fancy dresses, which they will change into for a photograph at the K-Top signage.
Siachen was first discovered by an Englishman Mr. Henry Starchy in 1848. Extending nearly 75 kilometers in length, it is one of the mightiest glaciers in the subcontinent. Translated, Siachen means 'Land of Roses'. WIld roses being found in abundance along the lower slopes in summers.
The Siachen glacier was first occupied by the armies of India and Pakistan in 1984 and has since stood witness to the grit perseverance and valor of the Indian soldiers, who in complete defiance of the freezing temperatures of minus 70-degree celsius raging blizzards and extreme altitudes of 22000ft. stoically borne the vagaries imposed by nature.
Our salute to the gallant soldiers of the Siachen brigade for whom
Great Courage and Fortitude is the Norm
12:10 PM We finally left the K-Top after spending some time. The road from K-Top is very bad for next 10 kilometers. The progress is very slow.
1:50 PM Reached North Pullu checkpost. Same drill here, give a copy of the permit. There are toilet facilities here. There is a small food place as well. We did not stop here.
At this time we were extremely hungry. The village Khardung looked full of eateries, we stopped at a couple of them, none of them seemed interested in serving any food. So we continued from there and decided to find food somewhere else.
3:25 PM We found this place called River Side Resorts and Rafting, they had a basic buffet lunch service and the food was reasonably good. The place was also decent. It is a good place to stop for lunch etc.
4:44 PM Topped up the fuel at the Diskit petrol bunk. In the whole of this region, this is the only proper petrol bunk.
We continue our journey towards Turtuk. As evening sets in, the landscape turns more interesting.
6:18 PM We reach a bridge after which the route is totally off on google maps. Google says that you have to go on left bank of river while you have to cross over and go to the right bank of the river.
6:30 PM We cross the another checkpost, same old drill of giving the copy of permit. The guy here took out a small paper piece, wrote and number and told me to tell that number back when I return.
7:05 PM Crossed final checkpost where I was asked copy of permit.
7:35 PM Finally reached Turtuk and found Turtuk Holiday Camp where we stayed. The weather was extremely pleasent. We enjoyed our drive to this place but because of that we reached really late.
Here is A trivia about Turtuk. Turtuk was under Pakistan's control until 1971, after which India gained control of this strategic area. It is predominantly a Muslim village, and residents speak languages including Balti, Ladakhi, and Urdu. Turtuk is the last outpost in India after which the Pakistan-controlled Gilgit-Baltistan begins.
23-October-2017
The day was reserved for securing the permit, acclimatization and just going around the places in Leh. We were staying in Hotel Shangri-La on old Leh Road. Here is our review of the hotel. We asked the hotel guys if they can secure permits for us and they said they will do it, so we were free for the day.
Almost all medical shops in Leh sell bottled Oxygen, it is a good idea to carry a couple of cans as you go up the hill. Even if it is not a full-blown AMS, it takes care of minor discomforts due to lack of air in hills.
We decided to walk to the main market. The main market is very similar to M.G. Rasta in Gangtok. A small portion of the market where no vehicles are allowed and one can do a peaceful shopping or just chill out there.
This is where most bike rental is also available if one wants to rent bikes.
As we were walking around we found a coffee shop called Coffee Culture, it is a good place to visit if you had your fill of local cuisine and want to try out sandwiches and coffee. Here is our review of the place.
As we reached back the hotel after shopping, they confirmed that they have secured the permits and we were ready for our next segment, going up higher in the hills.
In the night we decided to explore a restaurant for dinner. We found The Tibetan Kitchen as most highly rated restaurant in Leh, so we visited that place for dinner. Here is my review of the place.
22-September-2017 6:00AM We started from the hotel, the idea was to reach Leh as soon as possible. We were little worried because since last night all data networks had died.
This sector probably has most picturesque landscapes as you are driving around. The trick is to slow down, not rush and enjoy.
Kargil Town
9:20 AM We crossed Futula, which is the highest pass on Kargil Leh sector. Although it is a modest 13479 feet.
Highest pass on Kargil Leh Sector
There are monasteries and other building which just look amazing. One wonders, "How did they build it there?".
Feels right out of LoTR
12:10 PM We reached Magnetic Hill. There is a cafe here where one can have Pizza, Sandwiches, Pasta and other stuff. It is a great respite from Maggi only eatries around this place. Once can take a ride on Quad bikes also there.
1:40 PM We reached Leh, there was no data network anywhere in town since we had not booked any hotel in advance, it was a challenge to find a place to stay. After driving around for a while and making some calls, we found out Hotel Shangri-La on old Leh road.
