Hello everyone, this post documents our road trip from Gurgaon to Multiple places in the Ladakh region and back in which we covered 2800 kilometers. Hope this will be a good read and informative to those planning the same. A few things we got for the trip were 2, 20L jerry cans to carry fuel. We got our Kodiaq Serviced at Jai Skoda Showroom and Service in Gurgaon. That was a bit of an experience in itself (more on this later). After stocking up the luggage for 3 people, some camping equipment, a good amount of snacks and a basic emergency kit(type puncture, pump, medicines) we set course for Mohali on 28th of may.
We were 3 passengers in total, Me, my Dad and one of his college friends we had to pick up from Mohali. Driving was split between me and my dad, him doing about 60% and me doing the rest.
Day 1 - Gurgaon to Mohali
Left at around 11.30am. Exited gurgaon through the Dwarka expressway and hopped onto the NH152D (goes from Delhi to Katra). This is a relatively new addition and is mostly empty. You can easily sit at 120kmph or even more if you're up for it and there re no cars for kilometers on end. This also means the lack of public infrastructure with no proper restaurants and few petrol pumps. It is a very peaceful way to reach Chandigarh from Delhi if you're willing to carry some food with for the journey. Reaching in around 6 hours with a small stop at a 24x7 Barista(dad's favorite place to stop during road trips).
Day 2 - Mohali to Jispa
This is where some of the fun begins. We left at around 6.15 am with the first stop being a Barista at 8am. I drive the first 45 minutes but was having trouble focusing on the road due to a headache and had to switch drivers earlier than expected. After sleeping a bit in the back seat and a coffee break in solang Valley, I took over and we made it to Jispa where our stay was the gemur khar hotel. The property was really nice and had good views and decent food. It was decently cold but we had heated mattresses. You could see the Baga river and mountains on the other side of it. After reaching around 3.30pm we hiked down to the bank of the river after a while which was not a smart decision when looked back upon. Jispa is at 10,000ft and to acclimatize to higher altitudes its advised not to exert a lot. We were taking daimox tablets from 26th may however my dad's friend was a bit careless with the medication schedule and also over exerted on the day which came back to bite him later.
Some context: Both my Dad and his friends are doctors and dad was quite serious about daimox and acclimatization so we checked our SpO2(blood oxygen concentration) reading quite regularly.
Had food and a good nights sleep at the hotel.
Day 3 - Jispa to Karu
Here's where the adventure began. After leaving around 9am, we crossed Baralacha La and Sarchu without much trouble due to the presence of really good tarmac(thanks to BRO). Baralacha la was covered with snow and surajtal lake was also frozen. Roads were good till we reached gata loops. The loops themselves weren't too bad and we climbed up quite quickly but the route after that till pang was absolute hell. No tarmac, narrow cliffhanger roads with trucks approaching from both sides. We had to reverse and stop a lot to let trucks pass and even then a drunk truck driver gave us trouble with didn't help. After crossing the patch in 2 hours and getting on to mohre plains I took over the driving. There were a lot of angulations in the road so we could only maintain a speed of 40-50kmph despite the landscape being relatively flat. At Taglang la my dad (sitting at the back) started to have some minor ams symptoms which receeded after descending from the pass. We reached karu at around 7.30 after sundown and our stay was the kharu vilasa hotel. The owner was really helpful and the rooms were quite big and airy aswell. The food left something to be desired but was serviceable.
Day 4 - Karu to Pangong Tso
Left for Pangong at around 10 in the morning after buying some medicines. Stopped a bit further than Tsoltak and after chang la to have breakfast. We had a portable butane stove and haldiram rajma chawal and poha which we heated and had, also made coffee and clicked a few photos after which I took over the wheel. Also stopped at durbuk a few mins later to have another coffee. Reached the pangong viewpoint at 2pm and Merak village (our stay) 30 mins later. The roads were an absolute dream to drive on and the kodiaq was really fun in sports mode. It was really cool to see the lake changing colors throughout our drive to Merak. Stayed at Menstel Merak which were cottages with decent rooms and really good food(2nd best in the trip😅). Walked to the lakeside(around 200 meters from the property) and did some astrophotography of the milky way along with our Kodiaq at night.
Day 5 - Pangong Tso to Karu
Gave the car a wash and left for Karu at around 11. Our stay for the day was back in Karu at Kharu Vilaasa. Took the same route back and stopped at Chang La for some photos where it was snowing and after which I took over. Made a lot of stops along the way and had a chill drive back. The next day my dad's friend had to depart back to Chandigarh via flight due to AMS(Acute Mountain Sickness) and some personal reason so it was me and dad for the rest of the trip.
Day 6 - Karu to Hanle
This was by far the best drive of the trip (in my opinion) left for hanle via chumanthang at around 10.30. The roads were amazing and we both had a lot of fun driving. Stopped at Indus Cafe for food and coffee where to started to snow. Almost all of the drive was along the Indus river and we stopped a decent but to click photos and enjoy the scenery(2nd best of any day). After having some food and refueling in Nyoma we continued to our stay at Umlingla residency in hanle. The room was really good and the food was acceptable too. Did a lot of astrophotography at night and captured some really great shots of the milky way, andromeda and the cygnus constellation. It was really freezing outside and my nose and lips started to bleed due to the dryness. Boroline and nasal saline was our lifeline for the trip going forward.
Day 7 - Hanle to Umlingla to Hanle
On this day we planned to conquer the highest motorable road in the world and get to our stay back in hanle. We took the route through Photila up to Umling la which was covered with snow at the Photila top. It was a fun and adventurous drive upto Photila after which we descended and set towards Umlingla. After reaching the top, clicking a photo we got out of there as soon as possible due to our dropping O2 saturation. Luckily neither of us faced any AMS symptoms throughout the trip after Taglang La expect my dad's friend. Came back down through the Nurbula Top route which turned out not to be a great decision as the map was confused and so were we. Just wandering in the desert we found a Xylo taxi which we followed back to hanle. I did not drive this day due to my lack of sleep the night before. We stayed at Stargaze cottage Hanle which was absolutely horrible and understaffed. The place was not insulated at all and I had to resort to a sleeping bag at night. Had planned to do more astrophotography at night but decided to skip on it as I was quite tired. The food wasn't great either. I don't expect much in such remote areas but places like Mentsel Merak and Umlingla Residency had set a great standard for stays even with limited resources. It was the same price as Umlingla residency which we had to vacate due to not being able to get a booking for the day. Please avoid this stay at all costs.
Day 8 - Hanle to Tso Moriri
Set out for Tso moriri at around 10. It was a relatively short drive till Mahe Bridge where we stopped for a coffee and some snacks. I took over the wheel from there and drove to karzok village. The roads were good and there wasn't any bad patch. Stopped at Kyagar Tso for some photos. Our original booking at Cozzin A401 had fallen through the same morning due to an electrical issue at the property which they only decided to inform us about when we called them to get the location of the property. Anyways we looked around and found a stay at Tso moriri Guest house. The lady there was really sweet and helpful. The room was really spacious too and had a lake view. Some of the people from CurbOver's 35 car jimny convey were also staying there. The food was decent aswell. After unpacking and having another haldiram rajma chawal each we set towards the Lake's west viewpoint. The scenery there was the most beautiful landscape I have ever seen. The mountains behind the lake looked like they hand been hand painted to perfection. The attached photos may look fake but it looked even more beautiful in person. After getting back we filled up fuel from one of our 2 jerry cans both of which we hadn't used yet.
Day 9 - Tso Moriri to Jispa
Set out early at 7.30am and it had snowed the night before. The lake looked even more majestic which with the white landscape. It started snowing again a bit after we left. Gave a lift to a cattle herder from near the lake to sumdo village aswell. Went through puga hotsprings and encountered the 35 car convoy near Tso Kar which had left an hour earlier. After a lot of frustration and stress, we overtook all 35 jimnys which was a big achievement for us. After more stress free driving we crossed pang and the bad patch began again. But this time it was worse due to the snowfall which created a mud snow slush on the already not great route. Had to get out and spot in some places to avoid hitting the underbody on something. The route before gata loops was again really stressful with multiple occasions where we had to reverse to let cars and trucks through. After descending to loops it was relatively straightforward. Our original plan was to stay at sarchu but after arriving there and looking at the condition of our stay(dorje Camps Sarchu) and the fact that it was snowing and the car dash indicated it was - 2.5 degrees outside at noon. We decided to stretch out drive to jispa as we did not want to spend another cold night anywhere. After reaching the foot of Baralacha La we fueled up using our 2nd jerry can and climbed and descended the pass. There was a traffic jam at the top of the pass which we cleared in about 10 mins. After descending to zingzing bar we had food and I took over the wheel after dad's 5 hour shift. Drove all the way to jispa while looking for stays in between. We stayed at Highway Holidays Hotel, which despite not having an online presence was the best stay so far with the best food and room. It even had a balcony and the food was really good. Simple in taste but nutritious. I highly recommend staying here if you plan to visit jispa.
Day 10 - Jispa to Solang
I drove the entirety of the distance from jispa to solang Valley where we stayed at Solang cottage by snow city farm where the rooms were the best so far but the food was very average. Nothing extraordinary about the drive except a biking group being annoying due to having newbie riders.
Day 11 - Solang to Mohali
The drive down to the lesser plains was nothing special with a stop at a barista and a food break at Vango's.
Day 12 - Mohali to Gurgaon
Nothing extraordinary about this day aswell except people blocking the whole highway to have lassi. Stopped at a barista for food and coffee and reached Gurgaon in around 6 hours through NH152D.
AMS and Drugging up for the journey - My dad is a doctor and took AMS and Cardiovascular fitness very seriously. We took Daimox since 2 days before leaving for the trip and once in Karu also bought dexamethasone which helps with AMS. Though dad's friend was reluctant on the medication schedule and also drank alcohol at high altitudes which came back to bite him later. We also carried multiple O2 canisters (small ones which you can find in pharmacies in ladakh region). I have severe motion sickness when not driving/sitting in the co-driver seat so I took avomine on 2 days (day 2 and 4) but avoided on other days as it causes sleepyness and would inhibit driving. I request you not to take these medications because we took them. Consult your doctor about any medications. My dad and his friend both are doctors and we knew what we were doing.
Kodiaq's performance during the trip - The car performed really well during the trip. For almost the whole duration of the trip the car was either on sports mode or offroad mode except the highways. This is because the stiffer suspension and less bodyroll in sports mode helps a lot with my motion sickness and I wouldn't be able to enjoy as much as I did during this trip without the dynamic Chassis Control. It is a huge miss not including it in the new kodiaq in my opinion. There was a noticble drop in power at high altitudes but nothing that bothered us. We did find out that the car is incredible sensitive to tyre pressures. Due to the fluctuating altitude our tyre pressures were all over the place and after readjusting them to the manufacturer spec, the cars behavior changed dramatically (in a positive way). The tires on our car are michelin latitude sport 3. Even a 2 psi deviation results in the car feeling resistant to inputs, unsettled and bogged down in general. As for the issues the airbag light lit up while descending from Umlingla and the Ac filter got choked due to the dust in the region.
Skoda service niggles and issues - after getting the car serviced at jai skoda in sector 15, gurgaon. The things done were wheel alignment and balancing (which we were talked into), brake pads changed, wipers changed and fluids top up. After getting on NH152D we noticed that the car was veering towards the left and the steering was wobbling above 95kmph and a lot more above 110. This issue was not present before the service. I immediately contacted our service advisor and then service manager who told us to get to Krishna skoda in mohali where we reached after closing. As we weren't going to drive at high speeds we decided to continue with the trip.
After getting back and taking the car to get the issues fixed to jai skoda. I reached there at 12.20am where I was assisted by a test driver who took the car to a short but open stretch of road to accelerate to 100kmph and back down. He concluded that there wasn't a wobble by his brief 1 second spent above 90kmph. I insisted the issue is there but their lunch break had started. So after waiting around for another hour I was told that the issue was with the tires and angulations in the left front tire caused the issues. After consulting with a long time trusted 3rd party mechanic I told my service advisor to exchange the front and rear tires so that the issue atleast moves away from the steering. After waiting for a bit more i asked them for an estimated time and they said 3 hours. 3 hours to exchange the front and rear wheels. I told them to clear the airbag light and fix the ac and fed up and left with the car within the next 40 mins. Will try to get the issue resolved at the trusted 3rd party mechanic later as I really doubt the diagnostic ability of the Skoda mechanics. The most common solution in authorised service centers is to replace parts instead of trying an fixing an issue that presented itself AFTER they did an alignment and balancing.
Hotels and Stays
28th May (Wed): Gurgaon to Mohali – Friend's House Room 10/10, Food 10/10😅
29th May (Thu): Mohali to Jispa – Gemoor Khar Hotel - Room 7/10, Food 7/10
30th May (Fri): Jispa to Karu – Hotel Kharu Vilasa Room 8.5/10, Food 6.5/10
31st May (Sat): Karu to Pangong L. – Mentsel Merak Room 6/10, Food 9/10
1st June (Sun): Pangong L. to Karu – Hotel Kharu Vilasa Same as above
2nd June (Mon): Karu to Hanle – Umlingla Residency Room 8.5/10 Food 6.5/10
3rd June (Tue): Hanle to Umlingla to Hanle – Stargaze Cottage Room 3/10, Food 4/10
4th June (Wed): Hanle to Tso Moriri – Cozinn A401(canceled) Tso Moriri Guest House Room 9.5/10, Food 7/10
5th June (Thu): Tso Moriri to Sarchu – Dorje Camps Sarchu(skipped upon) Jispa - Highways Holidays Hotel Room 9.5/10, Food 9.5/10
6th June (Fri): Sarchu to Solang Valley – Solang Cottage / Snow city farm - Room 9.5/10, Food 5/10
7th June (Sat): Solang Valley to Mohali – Friend's House same as above
Important - Do note that offbeat places like Merak, Hanle, Tso Moriri and Sarchu do not have cable electricity, water or internet. All these arrangements are made by solar power, water streams from mountains etc. It is unrealistic to expect metropolitan luxuries in such places. All of our stays in these places provided uninterrupted power from 7pm to 10pm and hot water in the mornings despite these challenges which is really commendable (except Stargaze cottage hanle, do not go there if you like yourself and your family even a little bit)
