My ever-reliable XUV 500 AWD aka McQueen has already clocked 1,23,350 kms.
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Here we are again with another travelogue of our May 2023 Mountain trip. I understand our travelogues have reduced in numbers owing to our limited trips. We now have a 4.5-year little champ whose busy schedule needs to be well-assessed before planning any trip.
My last road trip to North India was in 2017 when I drove to Spiti in Figo and since then all my trips have been mainly to the North-Eastern part of India post the little champ was born to get him acclimatised to road journeys and mountains. Now that he is hitting 5 in a few months, we decided to broaden our ambition and plan a North India trip. We have been eyeing Shinkula for quite some time now and so we finally decided on the same as our destination.
Some Introductory Photos
Initially, I planned to keep it light with places like Dharmshala, Dalhousie, Haridwar, and Rishikesh but then one day suddenly while hovering over Gmaps something within me told me why not add Sach Pass and Killar Keylong route. Immediately I started working out the plan and shared it with my wife and friends.
Day 1 plan was to drive directly to Noida and stay at my brother-in-law’s place and relax for a day or two then drive to Dalhousie, and stay for a night. Beyond Dalhousie, our stays would be in Bairagarh and then Keylong. From Keylong, the plan was to drive to Baralacha La and return via Manali.
Plan A:
- 19th May 2023: Asansol to Kolkata
- 20th May: Morning Kolkata to Asansol. Rest till 7 pm and then leave for Noida
- 21st May: Take a 3-hour break at Lucknow and reach Noida by 9 pm
- 22nd May: Relax at Noida and enjoy family time.
- 23rd May: Noida to Dalhousie
- 24th May: Dalhousie to Bairagarh
- 25th May: Bairagarh to Keylong via Sach Pass
- 26th May: Keylong to Sissu with a visit to Baralacha La
- 27th May: Sissu to Mandi
- 28th May: Mandi to Noida
- 29th May: Start from Noida in the evening and reach Asansol on 30th May
- 31st May: Asansol to Kolkata
The plan was finalised and bookings were done. Called my brother-in-law Sabyasachi and he was happy to know that we were planning for North India this time. Our last visit to their place was during his Son’s rice ceremony back in December last year. We planned to stay at his place so that Ishaan could enjoy himself with his Mama, Mami and their 1.5 yrs old son Neil. So now as the dates were finalised my wife, Sudeshna applied for her leave and it was approved. I also started planning my work schedule so that during the trip I can enjoy and relax with my family. Since the inception of the plan, I had started following the Facebook page of Lahaul Spiti Police and also contacted DC Office Control Room. They alerted me and informed me about the bad weather forecast during my week of travel.
By then Sunil Kumar had contacted me and confirmed that he wishes to go for the drive along with his family. I travelled with Sunil da to Arunachal Pradesh last year and he is a gem of a person and a seasoned driver. Gave him the detailed plan and told him there is a 10% chance that Sach Pass will be open. He was ok with it and booked his stays.
My plan was to drive to Kolkata from Asansol on the 19th of May and on the 20th morning drive back to Asansol with Sudeshna and Ishaan then take a 3 to 4 hours rest at my hometown and start our overnight drive to Noida. Sunil da was to start from Asansol on the 20th Morning and drive up to Lucknow on the 21st to reach Noida. Sunil da preferred day driving while I preferred night so we were to meet at Noida and then drive along.
Prepared my ever-reliable XUV 500 AWD aka McQueen which had already clocked 1,23,350 kms. The Service Advisor at Rudra Mahindra advised me to get the front disc pads changed and to get my battery checked at Amaron Pit Stop. To date, I had been using only OEM spares but this time planned to do some further research and shortlisted Bosch Performance Disc Pads. They are four times cheaper than OEM ones and the review over the internet was quite good. Ordered the pads through Boodmo and within a week they were delivered. Got them fitted and drove around 400 kms to be confident about the pads. The Himalayas and especially the Sach Pass-Killar-Udaipur road is unforgiving.
Next was to get the battery checked. It was then 4.4 years old and had never given any issue but due to the age it was best to get it tested. Bought a battery tester from Amazon as our Pit Stop did not have the device to test the battery thoroughly and mere voltage testing was not sufficient. I have shared the link below and would suggest everyone to have such a device, it helps in getting an idea about the State of Health of the battery.
The battery was tested and it came out with 80% SOH after a full charge. So, the battery passed the test but still to avoid any unprecedented situation at high altitude borrowed the 70mai Jumper Starter battery from Bhpian Arindam Chakraborty (travel tax).
The other few accessories that were added to McQueen since last year’s Arunachal Trip are as follows:
1. Luggage Carrier from Rouf Rails
Luggage Carrier Top View
2. Battery Monitor from Amazon which included a 100a shunt.
This is how I connected the 100amp Shunt
3. Car seat fan from Flipkart
4. AC vent rotating fan from Amazon
5. Front and Underbody camera with a toggle switch
This is how the cockpit looks
As the weather forecast deteriorated in the Lahaul region so made a Plan B which was to drive to Zanskar via Shinkula Pass hoping the pass would be open. When compared to Sach Pass Shinkula and other main passes of Ladakh open before Sach for Army commuting.
On May 15th informed Sunil da that Plan A is called off and we will follow Plan B. Our Bookings were cancelled and for Plan B we decided to book on the go.
Plan B:
- 19th May 2023: Asansol to Kolkata
- 20th May: Morning Kolkata to Asansol. Rest till 7 pm and then leave for Noida
- 21st May: Take a 3 hours break at Lucknow and reach Noida by 9 pm
- 22nd May: Relax at Noida and enjoy family time.
- 23rd May: Noida to Chandigarh
- 24th May: Shangarh to Jispa
- 25th May: Jispa to Padum via Shinkula
- 26th May: Local site-seeing at Padum
- 27th May: Padum to Sissu
- 28th May: Sissu to Mandi
- 29th May: Mandi to Noida
- 30th May: Start from Noida in the evening and reach Asansol on 31st May
- 1st June: Asansol to Kolkata
Everything was set and packing was done but the weather predictions were getting worse with severe snowfall predicted in Lahaul, Sunil da called me one evening and informed me that he would rather go later than get stuck mid-way. Now it was time to decide whether to go ahead or change dates. Discussed with Sudeshna and she said her leaves are approved and it’s too late to change dates. So, we decided to go ahead and in case Darcha-Padum road is closed we will enjoy ourselves at Jispa and Sissu and return. So, with a 10% chance of the road being open, we moved ahead with the plan.
The essential items like medicines, an oxygen cylinder, a portable stove, and some ready-to-cook packed food were loaded. Sharing the list of medicines for fellow travellers who wish to travel with kids.
Sudeshna suggested I travel by bus from Asansol to Kolkata and drive back with them to Asansol in her Aspire aka Musty. Due to six planning works between Dankuni and Panagarh, there are numerous diversions and bottleneck areas. The current travel time between the two cities has become 5.5 hrs. Loaded my luggage, and essential items and kept McQueen ready for the drive.
DAY 1: Asansol to Kolkata: 240 kms, Travel Time: 6.5 hrs by Bus
On the 19th Morning took a bus to Kolkata and as predicted the road between Panagarh to Galsi was red with stand-still traffic. The Volvo bus driver took a detour via Guskara. The route passes through some narrow winding roads surrounded by lush green trees. It was fun. By bus it took 6.5 hrs to reach Kolkata that day, thanks to Sudeshna for her suggestion else would have surely stressed me out.
DAY 2 and 3: Kolkata to Asansol, 240 kms, Travel Time: 3.5 hrs. Asansol to Lucknow 800 kms Travel Time, 13 hrs. Lucknow to Noida 550 kms Travel Time 6 hrs including breaks:
On the 20th Morning got their luggage loaded in Aspire and drove to Asansol. To our good luck traffic was smooth that day and we reached Asansol in 3.5 hrs. Lunch was made ready by Mom and after a heavy lunch took a short power nap while Ishaan played with his grandmom all afternoon. As it was unbearably hot in Asansol that day so loading of luggage was delayed and we started our drive one hour late.
Our plan was to reach Topchanchi by 9 pm and have dinner there but as we were late to start we had to take a dinner stop just after crossing into Jharkhand.
After dinner at Hotel Sumandeep I prepared Ishaan’s bed so that he could sleep well all night. We started off from Beliyad at 10 pm and drove start to Aurangabad.
From Aurangabad took the Buxar road to connect to Purvanchal Expressway.
My plan was to cover this stretch during the wee hours so that there would be a minimum human and cattle population on the road. This road passes through numerous densely populated villages so driving through this stretch during day time would add to undue stress.
As planned we touch Purvanchal Expressway at 4:45 am and took a tea break. The next plan was to drive to Lucknow and stay at Jalsa Resort which I had booked through Oyo for only 750/-. Well, the price was fine considering we would stay for 3 to 4 hours. We reached Lucknow at 9 am and checked into the hotel. Ordered a heavy Breakfast and took a shower to freshen up.
After having breakfast took a power nap and left Lucknow at 1:30 pm.
Next ahead were two more Expressways before we reach Noida and the Sun was over our heads with burning temperatures outside, the car’s cabin was kept chilled with the newly added fans.
Took the Lucknow Agra Expressway and then Yamuna Expressway and reached Noida at 8 pm.
Unloaded the luggage and cleared the luggage carrier as we were to travel through Punjab. The third row was folded and the Luggage was all put inside.
Enjoyed the evening with a surprise birthday party organised by Sabyasachi and his wife Sudeshna. After a late night adda we retired for the day. Tomorrow was a day to relax.
Continue reading BHPian lovecars21’s travelogue for more insights and information.
Keyword: Pics: 12-day road trip experience with my Mahindra XUV500 AWD