BHPian Singh09 recently shared this with other enthusiasts. Hello BHPians, First of all sorry if this post gets too long for your liking but a small one wouldn’t suffice for this travelogue. But on the other hand, you just pick up your favourite popcorn and drink to go through this beautiful and picturesque journey.Background:It all started with a dream. A dream that began almost 6-7 years ago. And I am grateful to the almighty that I have actually started living that dream. If you have gone through my last travelogue, then you might be aware of my new venture and if not then I’ll share it again with you guys. I had ventured into Travel Vlogging which was a long-waited dream and along with cars it’s also my passion as well. So, I started my YouTube channel with the handle “Expedition Wheels”.The planSince I have a low-slung sedan so I planned to do this trip in May-June. And my brother-in-law was accompanying me on this trip. Since he works for an IT company I left him to set the dates as per his approved leaves. So after talking to his PM, he managed to get 3 leaves and 2 WFH and in addition to that, we had a weekend. So in total, we had approximately 7 days.The rideAnd the ride for this trip was my Honda Amaze CVT – Diesel. I was a bit skeptical though but then again as they say “Jahan Chaha Wahan Raha” – Where There is a will, There is a way.The itineraryDay (1): Start from Moradabad and stay in Delhi as I had to attend a friend’s House Warming Party.Day (2): Start from Delhi to Ambala and drop my wife at her sister’s place and drive to Shimla.Day (3): Shimla – Narkanda – Rampur – Reckong Peo.Day (4): Reckong Peo – Khab – Nako – Tabo – KazaDay (5): KazaDay (6): Kaza – Tabo – Nako – Rampur – Narkanda – ShimlaDay (7): Shimla – Ambala – Delhi – MoradabadPreparationCar – I had got my car serviced 2 weeks before but still, I made a quick stop at the Honda Service Center and told the Service Manager to get the car checked as I was planning a trip to Spiti. They did a test drive, Put the car on the lift and checked the entire car and everything turned out to be OK.Medication – Since it was my first time driving to Spiti and high altitudes I got all kinds of medications I could think of, like Headache, Diamox, stomach ace, Bad stomach, Fever, Cold, Vomiting, band aids etc.Food & Eatables – I bought a lot of chips, cookies, protein bars, juices, Frooti and Crate of packed water bottles.My Equipment – This has become a major part of all my trips ever since I started Travel Vlogging. DSLR, GoPro, Laptop, Both Cell Phones, GoPro Mount, Mobile Holder, Gorilla tripod, Tripod Stand, Clear all the memory cards, Check the right angle of my dashcam, Check all the cables, extra cables and memory cards, charge all the gadgets, Mics etc.Day 1Kms Covered: 225 kmsRoute: NH 9Toll: Rs. 340 We (Wife, myself and junior) left Moradabad after lunch and reached Noida easily within 3 hours including a small stop at Gajraula for Fries and Coffee. With Junior it’s mandatory to stop, may it be just fries but the car can’t cross Gajraula without paying a toll to KFC or McDonald’s. Enjoyed the housewarming party at our friend’s place and reached Dwarka and called the day off.Day 2Kms. Covered: 350 kmsTime taken: 8.30 HrsRoute: NH 44 from Delhi then onto NH 5 after Zirakpur.Toll: Rs. 500 We started late in the afternoon from Dwarka as BIL was doing WFH and got free around 2:30 PM. So as soon as he got free, we left for Ambala and got our first tank filled in Vikaspuri. Trunk loaded. There was quite a bit of traffic throughout our journey to Ambala and we didn’t stop anywhere in between and made it to Ambala by 6:15 PM. We took a short break at my sister in Law’s place, grabbed a cup of coffee, sent some mails and by 6:45 we were back on the road to Shimla. Though I was a bit sceptical about the office-hour traffic while crossing Zirakpur but we sailed through it without any issues. As we reached closer to Solan it started to rain heavily. Luckily we stopped before Solan and had our dinner so we didn’t have to stop in the rain. Though we had to drive at a reduced speed as it was night and rain was making it a bit harder to navigate through the debris from mountains and the big vehicles but still we managed to reach Shimla by 11:00 PM and called it a night. We Witnessed this on our way to Shimla. Looks like the Alto was overtaking and banged into another car.Day 3Kms Covered: 216 kmTime taken: 9:30 hrsToll: No toll. Though we had planned to leave early but we got late and started around 10:30 am from Shimla and we had to pay the price for starting late as we got stuck in traffic. As soon as we were out of Shimla we stopped at a petrol pump and got our tank full. Drive to Narkanda is very beautiful as you witness greenery and apple orchids on your way and the road was also fine without any major drama. It felt like freshly laid tarmac and we just glided till Narkanda. After you cross Narkanda and head for Rampur you start going downhill and almost get closer to the Sutlej river. Temperature in Narkanda was hovering around 20 degrees whereas in Rampur it got back to 35 degrees almost and it started feeling hot. And as you cross Rampur you start getting patches which are landslide prone and roads are destroyed and I had to be very careful navigating my Amaze through those patches and be careful of the sharp stones, you also cross Nigul Sari which encountered heavy landslides last year in the rain and as a matter of fact it was again hit by a landslide few days ago and the road was closed. But as you cross a couple of landslides you enter the majestic Kinnaur Valley and Oh my God the views and landscapes start changing with each and every turn. You drive further and hit the famous cliffhanger section which gives you an altogether different feeling and driving experience as you navigate through half-cut mountains hanging above you. As you keep driving forward nature keeps throwing something or other in your way like landslides, waterfalls, and picturesque green mountains with the Sutlej River flowing on one hand. We stopped so many times that I even lost count after some time and kept making reels, shorts and clicking unlimited pictures. Yours faithfully Night shot from our balcony We stopped for our lunch at Jeori and by 8:00 Pm we reached our hotel which was between Reckong Peo and Kalpa. Ordered an energy drink with some nice chicken tikka and salted peanuts and meanwhile enjoying my energy drink I transferred all the data to my Hard drive from all cameras. After that, we had our dinner and called it a night. Video of my Day 3 journey Continue reading about Singh09’s road trip for BHPian comments, insights and more information.
