Mumbai to Leh by road in Safari in June 08

Vicktaa

I have been planning a trip to leh by road alongwith my wife in our Tata Safari via manali-leh route and have been looking all over the net for useful info. We are still in two minds whether its doable in the safari and by just two of us. We have several questions in mind which sends us back and forth from yes we can do it to may be?

1 How are the road conditions and will an old safari ('99) 2WD, made upto condition, make it. We read that buses and trucks traverse these roads, which makes us feel that we too can do it in our safari, but we also read personal experiences and see some pictures making us think otherwise. Can we do it?

2 What would be the best time to do the trip by road? We were planning to start from mumbai by mid june. Will they open by then? Will they be icy still at that time. Safari is a heavy vehicle and this one is not a 4WD. If the road conditions are better at a later date we may think of rescheduling. How do we keep ourselves upto date about the road conditions. Are the climbs steep & narrow, will the Safari be able to climb.

soledad

hey there,
I am also going to do a similar trip at that place during that time,but it would be a little earlier than yours,and would involve a little of Himachal and Kashmir as well in a Qualis;
So,if you don't mind,you can join us.
Here is my planner :
1]http://www.indiamike.com/india/himac...8-days-t53465/
2]http://www.indiamike.com/india/ladak...2008-a-t54037/

Yogesh Sarkar

Majority of the scorpios, sumos, safaris etc. running on this route are 2wd. Unless your safari is in really bad condition or you encounter deep slush or you drive like a maniac, you will make it.

__________________
My Travelogues | My Blog | Ladakh Travel Guide

solo_trekker

Wow...!!!

The way u said that, (you will make it...!) gives the impression that there is more than a little bit of luck involved in one's coming back alive from Ladakh...!!!

Just kiddin'...!!!

Relax guys... Ideally, a four-wheel drive is good... but even the usual taxis which are two-wheel ones are fine...

Just that at that altitude, even 350 c.c. bikes have all the power of a blessed moped...! Soo... you gotta be prepared...!

Read my thread for more...

Cheers...!

Ladakh in 5 Days...???!!! (Or 6 or 7 or 10 or 15...!!!)

Yogesh Sarkar

Commonsense above everything else

solo_trekker

Cheers...!

btw, yogesh... have u attended any one of the last few delhi meet-ups...???

au revoir...!

Yogesh Sarkar

Have attended one meet so far and that was a long time back.

Abhay_Mysore

Go on... provided you are confident of your machine.

saajan_20

Vicktaa when have you thought of doing it ? SAFARI 2wd is not a problem as pointed out earlier by other member s .
Just your car should be well taken care of electrical s sunpension clutch cooling system belt s on top of this there should be the basic knowledge of hands down repairs ready with you i am also in mumbai and did this trip last year in an innova but from delhi and the innova was barely 5 mths old well it lasted well but tyres went and took a good amount of beating !! and we had slow puntucre right after manali which we dragged all the way till lehh by pumping air from a borrowed electrical air pump wow that bring s back the lovely memories !!! you can check my picture s posted here !! and where in mumbai are you i am around bandra if u want any help contact me !!!
regards
saajan

Abhay_Mysore

I put it this way: Any vehicle in good condition should be able to do Manali-Leh-Sringar route provided you drive carefully and light. Vehicle must be in top condition; which is a must. A good ground clearance is desirable, but one can live without it provided you drive carefully and not cry if you get one odd hit here or there on the underbody. I am expecting my new Swift Dzire to arrive next fortnight which I plan to take this year. I know it is going to take a beating, but I am ready for it. I have done it 3 times in last 3 years from Mysore (once in Esteem and twice in Innova) and never had issue with these cars except few times being hit at the bottome by stones \ bad patches. I have seen all kinds of cars on Manali-Leh-Srinagar route including Maruti 800 and you can also see threads here where people have done in Santro etc. So Safari definitely is no issue, or rather a preferrred vehicle I would say, due to its large ground clearance. 2WD is not an issue unless you really want to go off-roading. However, just make sure that car is in top condition to tolerate low temperature and low oxygen air. Remember that old rubber hoses and pipes are prone to cracking in cold conditions which could mean hell lot of trouble for you. Its hard to know Manali-leh worthiness of your machine. Since you are starting from Mumbai, you would know the fitness of your Safari by the time you climb Rohtan pass.

Always make sure that you have a good spare tyre and a portable compressor to handle flat tyre condition. I will always recommend tubeless tyres because you can live with punctures by just inflating and continuing journey without replacing tyre as such untill you are ready to attend to puncture. I just cann't think of mighty effort required to replace tyre on altitudes like those Las or Sarchu.

Generally speaking, Manali-Leh road condition is improving by the year and whole thing is becoming more and more easy and les and less adventerous. Every "next" year, I have found the route easier on machines and more doable than the "previous".

So go on... provided you are confident of your machine. Make sure of rubber hoses etc and cold starting in sub-zero temperature. Tata quality, as such in 1990s wasn't really good. In 1996, I had a Tata Estate which I took to Arunachal Pradesh and it refused to cold-start at Bomdila, which relatively is much lower height and not so cold. Battery drained off in my effort to cold start. Given the situation, I kept rolling the car on downward slope and trying to start the car by engaging first gear but engine kept on refusing to wake up. Kept on puffing out black smoke all the time untill finally it came to life few miles down the road. Since the steering is typically "Power" steering type, it was hell to steer the vehicle while rolling because all "power" steering work only when engine is on, and they are dead like truck steeering if engine is not on. You wouldn't get such luxury to roll and start the car on Ladakh route.

I started writing this reply thinking that you should take a chance, but given my own experience with Tatas, I think I will end on a rather cautious note. Though I do not mean any offence to you or Safari, I think I have only about 30% confidence that you should be able to do it on 1990 Mumabi Tata Safari. If you want, you can take a chance and you would know whether you can do it or not by the time you climb Rohtang. In any case, trip to Rohtang itself is quite a satisfying experience.

Abhay_Mysore

Innova is far more refined and technically advanced than Tata makes. In my last trip on Innova, I started from Mysore with tyres that were already done 50K and returned without any problem at about 58K and still I had enough tread!!!. Few tips:

1. Car in top class condition - Oil, radiator, lube, battery, extra electrical fuses \ their locations.
2. Put the car on ramp and study the underchassis carefully. Spend at least 15 minutes understanding your underchassis configuration. This will come handy when road is really bad and you need to decide which stone to take-on and where on your under-belly. In fact, I never buy a car unless I inspect the underchassis and convinced with design.
3. Confidence in cold starting. Reconditioned machines would normally have issue if done up at road side mechanics.
4. Tubeless tyres. Spare tyre in top condition.
5. Portable compressor which you can turn on by plugging into cigarette lighter socket to handle to handle on-the-road tyre inflation.

MAS

Hi Vicktaa:
What you are thinking of I have done it last year in June with a difference that mine was a little Santro. Before going there, when I put the same question in the same forum, I too got the same replies from the members. Almost evry body asked me not to go there the way I wanted to do it. But I went ahead with my deremination. And on many occasions, I found that the members were correct in their advice to me. My conclusion is that it is not impossible to make this trip with little cars but certainly, it is not advisable.
You would be in a much better condition doing this trip in Tata Safari. My advice to you is to be always very patient while driving the car in that very rough, unpredictable terrain. For further detail if you wish you can go through my blog:
http://triptoladakh.blogspot.com
MAS

saajan_20

This is so funny people create profile put up a thread and never come back to check our freind vicktaa made this id pose us a question and never thought of checking if there are any replies he has nt visited scinc 22nd april !! We want everybdy t travel and experience the lvely leh experience and we discuss it amongst ourselves but nevertheless it can be used by other member s MAS nice blog !!

ABHAY the underbelly study is a nice one actually it shall save one from getting hit at the wrong place at the wrong time !!!!
i did not look up the underbelly but was able to judge thanx to the lovely pothled street s of mumbai .

Vicktaa

Sincere apologies - Saajan!!
You guys are great with all that advice. Thanks a lot. Those words have really brought in confidence.
Took a while coming back on track!!? Took time to try and convince folks at home - they can get sceptical when the word Ladakh appears. Don't know if they are fully convinced yet, but after surfing the net and the forums we are now planning the trip - another reason for taking this long to come back. I am now trying to get things organised, scheduling the itinerary - so I have some more questions - kind of selfish.
While the Safari will be taken care of we need to decide on the accommodation.
We plan to take overnight breaks at Jispa, Sarchu, Pang, Leh, overnight at the Pangong Lake. If there is a chance we may do Khardungla & Nubra Valley as a day trip and spare a day for river rafting on the Indus. Back from Leh to Manali we may plan similar breaks.
Your advice/ suggestions on the itinerary?
Pls suggest accommodation at each place. Is there a web site where I can get info & book accommodation.
Where can I get the latest news of the road opening and the conditions?

soledad

Hi Victaa!
I am also concerned about the same thing,like deciding on the best place to halt over night while on our way to Leh from Manali;
By the way,when are you planning to go there? Are your dates being fixed?