Spotted during a Jeep Safari in Bardia National Park in Nepal

Have you ever driven through a jungle? I have, at the Bardia National Park in Nepal. Trust me, it is sheer fun.

These images were taken on Day 3 of The Great Himalayan Drive I am undertaking from Kashmir to Arunachal Pradesh starting January 29, 2010. View more images on Facebook even if you are not a member.

Lake Betkot, Mahendranagar, Nepal

If you are in Himalayan country, religious myths can never end. The Lake Betkot near Mahendranagar is no exception. Locals believe it was created by Nag Dev (Snake King) out of devotion for Hindu God Shiva. You will thus see many temples around the lake devoted to Lord Shiva. There are always a few Hindus who go through a miles of treacherous uphill driving to get here especially on occasions like birth of a child. And on special days like Makar Sakranti, there are huge congregations here with prayers all night.

These images were taken on Day 2 of The Great Himalayan Drive I am undertaking from Kashmir to Arunachal Pradesh starting January 29, 2010. View more images on Facebook even if you are not a member.

The setting sun over the Suspension bridge in Mahendranagar in Nepal

This very interesting bridge in located in Mahendranagar in Nepal – claimed to be one of the largest suspension bridges in Asia with a length of about 1.45 miles (2.3 km). And it is used only by foot and two wheeler traffic You cannot find it easily without a guide either. And it connects the villages around Mahendranagar to the villages of Dodhara and Chandni which are co-joined to Indian territory.

These images were taken on Day 2 of The Great Himalayan Drive I am undertaking from Kashmir to Arunachal Pradesh starting January 29, 2010. View more images on Facebook even if you are not a member.

Face to Face with an elephant at the Shuklaphanta National Park in Nepal

The Great Himalayan Drive took off on January 29 and I was at the Shuklaphanta Wildlife Reserve in Mahendranagar in Nepal on Day 2 itself. Wow, did not take too long to be transported into another world within a day.

I drove my SUV into the park – the first time I have done so – and the experience was nothing short of exhilarating. Even if I did not spot any wild animals except some deer and birds. And two elephants meant for official use, an one-eyed rhinoceros under special care of forest officials and some crocodiles in a breeding farm.

Check out the photos on Facebook even if you are not a member.

There is an exciting road expedition of 20 cars going to Bhutan. Flag-off is in Delhi on December 12. There are still some slots available – would you like to be a part of this adventure? Its for anyone, not just 4-wheel off-roaders. You cannot ask for anything better this holiday season? Interested? Read the following message from the organizers:

Message from the organizers
We are organizing a Road Expedition to Bhutan in December 2009. The Road Expedition will connect New Delhi to Thimphu. The tentative start day for the event is December 12, 2009 from New Delhi and arriving in Thimphu on December 16, 2009. The following link will give more details about the expedition  https://www.box.net/shared/cc8208xj0v.

After flag-off in Delhi , the expedition will follow the following route covering almost 2000 Kms:

Day 1 – Delhi to Agra (200 Kms), Day 2 – Agra to Varanasi (650 Kms), Day 3 – Varanasi to Bodh Gaya (250 kms), Day 4 – Bodh Gaya to Siliguri (665 Kms), Day 5 – Siliguri to Thimpu (340 Kms), Day 6 – In Thimphu (participate in the National Day celebrations) and Day 7 – Punakha / Wangdue and to Paro (177 Kms). The expedition will end in Paro.

It is expected that about 20 cars including support vehicles and sponsor cars will travel as part of this expedition. The expedition is open only to Indian and Bhutanese nationals.

We are kick starting this initiative for the first time and will like this to be an annual event in the coming years.

The cost of the expedition is being borne by the participants and sponsorships. And needless to say we are looking for sponsors to fund the event. The objective of the road trip is to:

• Promote regional cooperation
• Showcase the unique bilateral cooperation that exists between India and Bhutan
• Bring to focus the tranquility and peaceful existence of Bhutan to larger Indian populace
• Promote potential opportunities for business, tourism and investment
• Take people to people contact – already established – to newer levels
• Promote motorsport and related activities in both countries

The event is supported by the Northern Motorsport (www.motorsport.in), which is one of the leading professional organizations in India involved with motorsport activities and is supported by UVA sports which is a young motorsport organization which very recently organized the Women’s car rally from Delhi to Agra. The event and logistic support is provided by Orchid Inc (www.orchidinc.co.in) which is a leading event organizing company.

Our media partners for this event is IBN7 which is a leading Hindi News Channel which also runs a very popular motor show called Top Drive on their channel. The crew of IBN7 will travel as part of this expedition and will broadcast daily updates from each of the night halts (pit stops). In addition they will do an exclusive 30 minute coverage post event on their Top Drive program. Talks are on to do similar coverage on IBN7’s partner channel CNN IBN and CNBC Awaaz. In addition to this we intend to hold press coverage at each pit stop to ensure maximum visibility for the event.

If you are interested in participating then call Ashit Ranjan at +91 987 355 1888 or email us at triptobhutan2009@gmail.com.

Are you headed to Ladakh this summer? And have about ten days with you? Here is a suggested itinerary for you assuming you are on the road from Manali onwards.

Posts on Ladakh

• Click here to read all my posts on Ladakh so far
• For driving tips from Delhi to Leh in Ladakh, click here

Day 0
Reach Manali by air or by road

Day 1
Manali to Jispa, reach in about 6-8 hours. Stop at Rohtang Pass and Keylong if you like. You can also read the following posts on Jispa

• Jispa: A destination on the banks of the Bhaga River
• Old Woman off to build roads in Jispa

Day 2
Drive from Jispa to Leh: There is no need to spend a night at Sarchu on the way as many travel operators will advise you unless you are on the way to Tso Moriri from Jispa. Read my post on the experience at Sarchu: Sarchu in Ladakh: Spending the longest night of my life

Day 3
Take it easy in Leh, just roam around town and get familiar with it. Avoid going to monasteries as it will entail steep walks up and down. You can visit Shanti Stupa in the evening for some stunning sunsets. Check out the Donkey Sanctuary too – its unique. If you are missing a good coffee, drop by at Desert Rain located right in the main market.

Day 4 / 5
Visit Hemis Monastery, Thiksey Monastery, Stok Palace, Shey Palace and Leh Palace for sure. Each of these can take half or one third of a day – they are all villages around Leh. If you have the time check out the monasteries at Matho, Phiyang and a few others too. Take a dawn or dusk walk along the Indus river: a good place is from across the Shey Palace.

While at these monasteries, besides looking around, do chat up the lamas. They are usually willing, are very friendly, some even have a sense of humour and they always have stories to share. Even without asking you, some of them prepare butter tea for you as their way of being hospitable. Go early morning to monasteries like Thiksey where they have a highly serene and worth attending prayer session with over a hundred lamas praying together.

Day 6
Head out to Pangong Tso for an overnight trip

Day 7
Go to Nubra Valley via Khardungla Pass. You can keep moving on the way back from Pangong Tso – it may mean a full day drive but you may want to save time.

Day 8
Nubra Valley

Day 9
Head out straight to Alchi from Nubra Valley. You will reach in the afternoon and you can look around the village and the monastery.

Day 10
Go to Likir and Lamayuru monasteries, spend a few hours there and back to Leh.

Day 11
Take a flight or start the drive back.

Variation 1: Tso Moriri
From Jispa head out to Tso Moriri. If you start very early you can make it the same day. Or take a break in Sarchu. You can also go to Tso Moriri from Leh – I have not been there but believe it is a full day drive. Spend two nights there and then come back to Leh. Another way is to go to Tso Moriri on the way back from Leh, and head out towards Jispa and Manali from there.

Variation 2: Zanskar
If you want to go to Zanskar, you need to set aside two days to get there. On day one from Leh, go to Kargil. Spend a night in Kargil, and then do a full day drive to Zanskar. On the way back you will have to stop at Kargil again, and then return either via Srinagar or Leh. You can spend only one full day in Zanskar but at least two are recommended.

I have done some long drives in the course of my travels, but I broke some personal records when I drove from Jispa to New Delhi for 18 hours covering 750 kilometers (470 miles) on my return journey from Ladakh. I took only two half hour stops for lunch and dinner, besides a couple of pitstops.

To put it in perspective, about 400 kms of this drive was in mountainous conditions; these included stretches you would not call roads by any standards. Add to it delays due to landslides and heavy trucks traffic, this was not a bad run at all. Why am I telling you this? I am telling everyone. Hey, come on, I can be forgiven a bit of immodesty.

Jispa is located 90 kms beyond Rohtang Pass in Himachal Pradesh. When I started in the morning from Jispa, no one gave me even an outside chance of making it to Delhi on the same day. Having had a good night’s sleep the previous night, I kept telling myself silently that I can possibly make it provided there are no significant traffic delays. The other challenge was I had been driving for three continuous days before this coming from Zanskar to Jispa with night halts at Kargil and Leh on the way. The body was battered in some ways with the terrain mostly exceptionally bad; but the thought of reaching my own bed ASAP after 23 days of road travel was tempting.

Eventually, I did it. How? Here goes a bit of the progress report:

7:17 am – Left Jispa
7:55 am – Crossed Keylong
10:03 am – Reached Rohtang Pass. A bit of trouble started here: Till nearly Manali from here, the clouds had come low making visibility very poor. Rain and mud from the slushy road made the windscreen dirty, and running out of water for the vipers did not make my job any easier; local drivers playing daredevil behind the wheel, without headlights on and often with mobiles stuck between their shoulder and ear, only added to the danger. I got delayed for about half an hour each at intervals due to landslides.
12:30 pm – Crossed Manali. Not bad so far, despite the slow traffic. My odometer stopped working, not for the first time on this trip, which spoiled my log. Hence no distances given here, only time.
1:55 pm – Reached Apple Valley Resort in Kulu for a lunch break.
2:27 pm – Left after a quick lunch. The good thing is the road quality was nearly perfect from here onwards till Delhi.
3:45 pm – Crossed Mandi. There was challenge I had to overcome from here to Kiratpur: The road was full of trucks and it was not easy overtaking hundreds on them, one at a time, on these narrow roads especially with an equal number coming from the opposite direction.
5:15 pm – Bilaspur. Suddenly I was getting optimistic about making it to Delhi the same night. Fingers crossed.
6:30 pm – Swarghat
6:50 pm – Kiratpur
7:30 pm – Roopnagar (formerly Ropar). I had a decision to make: Either I stop at Chandigarh for the night, or keep going. Once I crossed Chandigarh – about half an hour away – there would be no place to spend the night. Let’s go home!! Took a Red Bull down to give me wings.
9:30 pm – Reached Ambala, stopped at Sagar Ratna for dinner. I got delayed by 20 minutes due to a detour. But I was lucky a policeman told me about a bad traffic jam on a road I was supposed to take. If I gone in, I would have been stuck for hours.
10:00 pm – Left Ambala. Delhi is 200 km away.
10:55 pm – Karnal
11:30 pm – Panipat
12:30 am – Delhi border.
1:17 am – Home

Not bad, eh? Would I recommend you attempt this too? Sure. Remember, you will be driving through mostly inhabited areas, so you can always break the journey when it gets tough to continue. Tell me if you try this.

I had to make a bit of a sacrifice though: I did not stop even when I had an opportunity to click some good pics on the way. Every minute mattered.

There are many ways to reach Leh from Delhi, but the most enjoyable way is to do so by road. If you can drive the distance of about 1075 kilometers, taking at least 3-4 days, it is sure to be an experience you will cherish for life. And try to drive yourself; there is a different thrill to it than being driven by someone else.

I did so myself in July 2008, and the journey came with some learnings as it has its own challenges. Here is a practical plan you could follow to get from Delhi to Leh:

Day 1:
Leave for Kullu or Manali. It will take about 12 hours to cover the 550 km to Kullu via Ambala, Chandigarh, Roopnagar (Ropar), Bilaspur and Mandi. You could carry on for another 50 km to Manali. A night halt in either of these towns is fine.

Day 2:
Head for Jispa, located about 145 km from Manali via Rohtang Pass. The 51 km drive from Manali to Rohtang can take about three hours; it is a steep ascent, the road quality is below par and traffic can halt at places due to landslides or broken down vehicles. Continue a further 65 km to Keylong, but don’t forget to tank up at Tandi (about 9 km before Keylong) as the next fuel station is only 30 km before Leh. (It is always a good idea to carry some extra fuel in a jerry can in case Tandi is closed or out of fuel, or you decide to take some detours). About 16 km from Rohtang, also watch out for a junction where you keep left; the right turn will take you to Lahaul and Spiti Valley. From Rohtang, the drive to Jispa can take about three hours. But do provision for a lunch break too; your options are either the shacks along the way or some restaurants in hotels in Keylong.

Jispa, located at about 10,890 feet, is a strongly recommended stop to get acclimatized to the subsequent higher altitude regions you would be staying at in Ladakh. You may even be advised to spend two nights here to get better acclimatized, but the jury will be out on this one for a long time as altitude sickness follows few rules and trends; the weakest looking of the pack might sail through, while the highly experienced travellers may just take ill anytime.

Day 3
Now this is the tricky part: Do you make a run for Leh, take a night halt at Sarchu about 87 km from Jispa or camp somewhere between Sarchu and Leh? Here are some points to consider:

• At about 14,200 feet altitude, Sarchu is more acclimatization than you may need. It is very cold here, with strong windy conditions giving even camp managers who reside there constant headaches. Accommodation is all tented, and toilets are not attached, and it is not a cheerful thought walking out in the middle of the night with howling winds around. But Sarchu is also the only place between Jispa and Leh where you can organized accommodation; your only other option is to pitch tent on the way or crash at any of the shacks on the way who provide a bed for Rs. 50.
• You can make a run for Leh from Jispa, about 325 km away. It should take you about 11 hours but here is a warning: You may not want to be driving in the dark should you get delayed due to traffic snarls, road blocks, breakdowns or any other reason. And the drive from Jispa to Leh is worth stopping many times over to admire the natural features as well as to take pictures. Why would you want to keep moving when the whole idea of a road trip to Leh was to enjoy the drive?

I personally fell ill at Sarchu, and had a tough night with its symptoms. The next day too was a difficult time driving, and it was only when I received medical attention and a dose of oxygen from an Army doctor at Pang on the way to Leh did I feel normal.

What would I do in the future and suggest you do too? Stay at Jispa, and make a very early start (say at 5:00 am) and make a run for Leh. Make sure you get a full night’s sleep to be well rested for the long drive ahead. It may be safe to assume that the chances of falling ill, even when going through high altitude areas, are low as long as you keep moving. Starting early will give you a cushion for delays and you can still make it to Leh while there is daylight. Even if night falls, but if you are within 60-70 km of Leh, it is all right as the terrain is mostly flat and more densely populated (in case you need assistance).

Day 4
You need this day in case you take a night halt between Jispa and Leh. Or if you had stayed at Jispa for two nights.

Going to Tso Moriri before Leh
If you intend going to Tso Moriri en route to Leh, it is a long drive from Jispa and a night halt in Sarchu may be required. But remember, Tso Moriri is at an even higher altitude than Sarchu and you may feel ill as some travellers do. Do take your precautions.

Some more points to consider

• All driving times mentioned above are without a provision for stopping to take photographs.
• When you are short of time, like when you have a full day drive planned, it may be a good idea to carry some food packed at the last hotel you stayed in. You will then not waste time looking for food, and be able to use that saved time for photographs or to make up for lost ground in case of unforeseen delays.

Would you like to receive Kunzum’s weekly e-newsletter? Click here to subscribe.

I have just come back from Ladakh (in the Indian Himalayas) which I would describe as the trip of a lifetime. I was on the road for 23 days, and personally drove over 4,000 kms (about 2,500 miles) during this period. Yes, the best way to enjoy this region is to drive yourself. A rugged vehicle is a pre-requisite though.

In the coming days and weeks, I will be sharing stories, experiences and pictures of my trip on this blog. Do watch out for the same. In the meantime, to give you an idea where all I went, this was itinerary: (The figure before each location is the day number. Example: 3 indicates day 3).

1: Delhi – Kullu
2: Kullu – Manali
3: Manali – Jispa
4: Jispa – Sarchu
5: Sarchu – Leh
6-13: Stayed in Leh and did day excursions to neighbouring villages and towns
14: Leh – Nubra Valley
15: Day trip to Siachen Glacier, a sensitive military zone because of the conflict with Pakistan over it.
16: Nubra Valley – Alchi
17: Alchi – Kargil
18: Kargil – Padum in Zanskar Valley
19: Padum
20: Padum – Kargil
21: Kargil – Leh via Likir Monastery
22: Leh – Jispa
23: Jispa – Delhi (an 18-hour, 750 km journey in one day!!!)