The Himalayan Spiti Escape 2019 with Mahindra Adventure

Yes, after Siberia it was again time for some action. From the frozen lake and negative temperatures direct into the mountains and valleys of the Himalayas. My friends from Dubai, popularly known as the Dubai Gang on the Mahindra circuit, decided to be on the Himalayan Spiti escape expedition considered to be one of the toughest drives. Reason 1 was it’s the Drivetech team handling the expedition and reason 2 was Bijoy, Chief of Mahindra adventures would be with us. Our first experience with the Drivetech team on the IMT expedition was so awesome, that we were looking forward to do the expedition with them again. Online bookings were on, but when the Dubai gang decides to register, it gets sold out instantly as we book 6 vehicles at a time. We didn’t have to worry much about the expedition early on as it was in India and no major hurdles like visa and things were involved. As we were getting closer to the date, we started getting email communications from Manish about the trip with all details. Soon the whatsapp group was formed and the excitement started building up. In no time we were on the plane from Dubai to Chandigarh.

My partner in my Vehicle again was my brother Julian, on our 3^rd expedition together. It was a good gesture from Mahindra to provide us with an airport pick up. Julian flew from Bangalore and was already in the airport waiting for us. Our stay for the night was at the Magnificent Lalit where we would have the briefing party and flag off the next day. Once at the hotel, we settled down and were told to meet at the lobby if interested to go out for a Punjabi lunch at a popular joint called Pal dhaba. Sunny Sidhu was here to take us out for lunch. Believe me, it was the best Naan’s and Rogangosh we had ever had. We had to order some extra portions of mutton to satisfy our taste buds. And a Punjabi lunch is not over until you have gulped down a huge steel glass of delicious meeti lassi. Surprisingly Chandigarh was very hot and humid. So instead of having a nap in the room, we decided to spend some time at the pool. And once at the pool, a few chilled beers had to accompany us. We had to gather at the ball room for the opening ceremony and expedition briefing at 7.00 pm.

It was great to see the enthusiasm of the group of whom some were first timers. Met few friends made during the past expeditions and the others who would be friends for life after this wonderful expedition. The evening started with the customary ritual by Chief, where you stand face to face with your neighbour and scream “GET LOST”. All Teams did the introduction in full spirit and bragging to the new comers about the previous expeditions and experiences with Mahindra adventure. We also had the joy of celebrating the wedding anniversary of the young Pilot couple Mohit and Tanvi by cutting a beautiful cake. We were also lucky to have with us Mr Teddy Singh, father of Hari Singh in the lead car. The gentle man only 83 years young, fondly called Uncle would be putting many youngsters to shame with his sheer prowess and knowledge. The expedition briefing by Hari Singh sent shivers down our spine. Listening to the stories, I was sure we were in for a fantastic time with some right people in the right place. The spirits in the bar were flowing freely and the group was gelling well with the flow. Morning 8.00 am flag off was announced and we had to be at the car park with everything packed in the cars by 7.45am. The importance of an on time departure was conveyed to the participants through Hari’s stern voice and looked like the convoy would well be in their cars before time.

Day 2: Chandigarh to Narkanda. As expected all participants had, had their breakfast, checked out of the hotel, packed their bags and were ready for the flag off on time. The enthusiasm was very high as you could feel it from the greetings to one another.

A convoy of 29 cars rolled out on to the beautiful streets of Chandigarh to the amusement of the onlookers. There were 16 participant vehicles and the rest were the organizing team, media and Service team. As we were early out on the roads, we didn’t have much trouble negotiating the morning city traffic. Enroute to Narkanda , we passed the towns of Dharampur, Solan, Shimla and Theog. An hour or so, we were out from the plains and the mighty Himalayas of Himachal were in the view. For the next few days we would be driving up and down these mountains creating some unforgettable memories. Hari Singh was very informative and we got good narration for anything interesting we saw on the way be it schools, resorts, etc.

Our first tea and bio break stop was at a beautiful hill side hotel run by Himachal tourism at Solan. It’s always a challenge for the advance team to organize a place where 29 cars can be parked. Back on the roads, we were gaining altitude slowly but steadily. While passing Shimla, we were told that the construction had reached a saturation point and there was absolutely no room for any new developments. Our lunch stop was at Mashroba – Wildflower Hall. The beautiful property is situated at 8250 feet above in the Himalayas. The magnificent views of the valleys and mountains can mesmerize anyone easily. Wildflower Hall is a fairy tale luxury resort in the lap of 22 acres of virgin woods of pine and Cedar.

The former residence of Lord Kitchener was rebuilt to a new magnificence recreating the grand style of the colonial era. We had a grand welcome where each one of us was welcomed with a Himachali cap, a memoir for this trip. The lunch was as good as the hotel and its views. We were allowed to explore all around the property. This is a must come again and stay place, that too in winter. The convoy rolled out towards Narkanda after lunch. You could soak in nature as much as you can, breathing some really fresh air. Narkanda and its surroundings are famous for their apples and we would be witnessing them as we are here at the thick of the plucking season. The view of the orchards on the slopes was scintillating. We were reaching Narkanda well ahead of time and were being rewarded for being punctual. The lead decided to take us on a drive up the Hatu hill. The roads were really narrow and steep with lot of switchbacks and we were told this is just the trailer of the roads we are going to conquer in the coming days. We visited the beautiful Hatu mandir built on the peak of Hatu at an elevation of 11000 feet.

The views were mesmerizing and with the cloud cover the temperatures were dipping. It was a welcome respite from the heat of Chandigarh. The drive down the mountain was exhilarating too. At 10000 feet among the dense woodlands of mixed tropical forests, Narkanda is much revered and sought out by the travel trivia. Tethys retreat Narkanda, our stay for the night commands a splendid view of the Hatu hill in the front with the interlocking spurs decked with rich forest cover. Even though Mahindra provides a bar night on the first and last day of the expedition, if you are with Drivetech, every day is a bar night. Being Punjabis, they would go to any extent to make their guests happy. Participants are welcome to contribute to the bar so that it would be a fun evening for everyone. The fire place at the bar was awesome. The bar was helping us bond with each other and we were getting to know the participants better. The grilled starters and the dinner at the restaurant were yummy. It was a special day for Bijoy the next day. He would be celebrating his 50^th birthday with us on this expedition. Few of us, close to him wanted to surprise him by wishing him at midnight. We barged into his room at 12 sharp with his favourite song “Summer of 69” blurting at full volume. We wished him a happy Birthday and as there was no cake, we had shots of Bacardi direct from the bottle.

I am sure people have cursed us for waking up all at the resort past midnight.

Day 3 : Narkanda to Sangla. The valley view from our room balcony looked great at night. We were hoping for a clear morning so that we get you view this valley and absorb its beauty from the top. The morning didn’t disappoint us. It was clear and oh my, what can I say, the view was mesmerizing.

Even though it was quite cold out there in the balcony, it didn’t bother me. I just wanted to sit there all day sipping some steaming coffee. As the sun was about to rise, the mist came in and started to cover the valley. Even watching the mist coming down was such a feast to the eyes. I could even hear some people murmuring that the rowdy crowd had disturbed their sleep last night. After breakfast we assembled in the car park for the ritual of prayer and we were given some lovely fresh apples to eat and carry too. They were so crispy and tasty; I could say these were the freshest apples I had ever eaten. The customary roll call meant that we were on the road to our next destination.

The early morning drive on these beautiful roads can boost your energy for the day. The apple orchards along the roads, magnifies the natural beauty of the area. The best part of today’s drive was on the roads carved out from the rocks which got everyone’s jaw dropped. The roads are built on the vertical rocky cliff of the mountain. It is impossible to build roads by blasting the mountains. The road builders came up with a novel idea of carving out the roads from the vertical rock face. It is hard to imagine how they built these roads unless you drive there or at least see the pictures. And this phenomenon is not only in one place, but got to see them in many places where it is impossible to build roads. At one point they just carved out the full road from one huge rock. Lucky are we that we decided to do this expedition and got to experience these roads and terrain first hand. The road today takes us down to the erstwhile state of Rampur situated on the banks of the river Sutlej. From here we took a detour to Sarhan which would be our lunch stop for the day. Before lunch we visited the Famous Bhimakali temple dedicated to mother goddess Bhima kali, presiding deity of the rulers of the former Bushar state.

The temple is completely built out of wood and the carvings on the wood are done with total precision showcasing the skill of the local people. After lunch we again drop to the banks of the river Satluj and drive along the river to Karcham. This is the site of the 1000MW run of the river hydroelectric power project. This is a massive project and large source of income to the government. But sad to say that the infrastructure of this scale has totally ruined the natural beauty of the valley and destroyed the natural landscape. From Karcham we leave the Satluj and start climbing the Baspa River to the Sangla valley and at this point one can’t help noticing that the road conditions were getting treacherous. Baspa River was famous then for its trout fishing. But the recent climate changes, flash floods and landslides have totally wiped out the trout population in the river and the government has done nothing so far to get the trout back in these river waters. The location selected for the tea break was breath taking site.

We could see the road which we had to traverse to reach Sangla, perched on a huge slab of rock, precariously hanging out from the mountain. The tea breaks and bio breaks were so perfectly timed and located, that there was actually no need to ask for one. We would get it anyways. That means, thanks to the advance team of SK and Jassi who were doing a wonderful job. Along the way Hari Singh and Uncle Teddy would give us some really interesting facts and finds of the region. If not for them, we would have been just driving like in a solo trip. One just can’t stop wondering how these roads were constructed in those days with their limited resources. The views are breath taking and the engineering gone into making these roads is something to wonder as we were crossing Sangla. Banjara camps in the village of Batseri, a little ahead of Sangla was the place for our night halt. This beautiful place is situated right in the midst of amazing apple orchard. The heavy snowfall was a blessing to the farmers of the area and they had an amazingly massive crop of apples for this season.

Today being Chiefs Birthday, the bar night was sponsored by the Dubai gang. The wide spread of the finest spirits got the crowd excited and the night began with cutting of the cake and singing Happy Birthday to the chief. Since, the next day was a late start, the party went late into night. The sober guys left the camp fire for the notorious ones. We along with Drivetech team had a gala night with a good sing song session led by me which lasted for an hour.

Day 4: Day trip to Chitkul.
The roll out time today was 9.30 am. By the time we arrived at the dining for breakfast, most of the things were finished. Neily was not feeling so good and decided to stay back at the camp. It was so nice of her to arrange Aloo parathas and omelette for us from the kitchen. After the prayer ritual the cars began moving out one by one from the congested little car park. Today we would be visiting the village of Chitkul, the last inhabited village near the Indo – China border. It is also the last point in India one can travel to without a permit. Even though the distance was 13 kms, it took us a good hour and a half to reach there as the roads were narrow and treacherous. The views of the valley are a photographer’s delight. Even before reaching Chitkul, I couldn’t resist the views and pulled over several times to please the photographer within me. Every turn, every switchback was a new photo opportunity. We stopped at Chitkul and were given time to explore the village. The top of the village was old and one can’t stop admiring the old architecture and wooden carvings. The temple is quite old and completely built out of wood. Also got to witness an old type of stone flour mill, totally run on hydro power.

The mill is placed on a platform over the water stream and connected to a propeller through a shaft. The force of the water rotates the propeller which in turn rotates the stone plates of the mill providing enormous amount of free energy to run the mill. A short drive downhill brought us to the river side which would be our outdoor picnic lunch spot. We were all fired up as it was an off-roading and river wading day. But all the enthusiastic off roaders were in for a major disappointment. The water level in the river was way too high and the currents too swift for the comfort of off-roading. It was a big let-down and somehow time had to be killed till lunch. The drivetech team came out with some stunt ideas to keep all participants busy.

They crawled up their vehicles on rocks creating photo opportunities for the shutter bugs. Also it was a good opportunity to have a group picture on the banks of the river.

The lunch was delicious and we were served some piping hot tea freshly made by the river side. Hiding our disappointment of the missed opportunity of off-roading, we returned back to our Banjara camp at Sangla. The evening was at leisure. After evening tea, we decided to stroll by the river side and soak in the beauty of Mother Nature. Later in the evening we gathered again at the camp fire for the bar night and dinner. As usual we kept our selves busy during the night with fun filled conversations and later got to hone my long forgotten skills with the table tennis racket.

Day 5: Sangla to Tabo.
As per the original itinerary, we were supposed to stay at Nako for the night. As the convoy grew out of size and Nako doesn’t have enough accommodation, they were forced to shift the night halt to Tabo. Surprisingly every morning was an on time departure and Hari was the happiest man. Crackling of the radios meant we were on our way out from Sangla. We drove all the way to Karcham and again had to weather the bad roads of the Satluj valley right up to Pooh. After Pooh we took a left fork to leave the Satluj and enter the Spiti valley. The passengers, if asleep had to be woken up as the views kept becoming stunning and improving turn after turn, switchback after switchback, while we kept climbing all the way up to Nako for lunch. Nako is a small village and is located at a height of 12000 feet at the east end of Kinnaur valley. It is the last point of interest and lies within the restricted area close to the Tibetan border. We parked at the monastery as there is no sufficient parking in the village. People with walking difficulty were ferried by vehicles and the fit walked up the narrow village lanes up to the restaurant. The lanes weren’t less than a maze and we kept turning left and right. If not guided through, we wouldn’t have reached the restaurant. It was a 15 minute climb uphill and by the time we reached the restaurant we were almost breathless and panting. The lunch was delicious with local cuisine and local mutton was the speciality of the day. After lunch we trekked down the twisted lanes and surprisingly Uncle Teddy joined us. Without even panting, Uncle reached the monastery where our cars were parked. Amazing person I must say. We wanted to visit and have a stroll around the famous Nako Lake, but couldn’t find the way through the twisting alleys and had to satisfy our selves with a good view of it from the top.

From the monastery we get a beautiful 180 degree view of the valley. One can just sit there for hours and admire Mother Nature at its best. After lunch we crossed the Mulling Nullah and came down to Sumdoh. After a few minutes from Sumdoh, we took a detour of 10 kms to visit the village of Giu. This village is famous for its monastery and is just a stone’s throw away for the Tibetan border. We can also see the bunkers of the Indian army on the mountain tops from here.

The Giu monastery is famous for its naturally preserved unique Mummy which is more than 500 years old. It is believed that this Mummy is of a Lama who died at the age of 45 years in his sitting posture. We had also seen one more naturally preserved mummy, but in a sleeping position in Myanmar on our IMT expedition. I am sure the sitting mummy would haunt a few at least as the sun went down. We reached Tabo just as it got dark. We had heard great things about the night skies of Tabo, but the full moon spoilt all the fun and skies were bright. The accommodation was divided into 3 hotels. We the Dubai gang, the noisy lot were put in one hotel but had to drive to the other hotel for dinner. The dinner time was well spent as usual and we retired to our rooms.

Day 6 : Tabo to Kaza
After breakfast at our hotel, we packed our cars and went to visit the Tabo monastery, which was close to our hotel.

We were given a tour of the monastery by the local lama who explained us in detail. This monastery is completely built of mud and was built in 996AD by the Tibetan Buddhist monk Rinchen Zangpo on the behalf of the king of western Himalayan kingdom of Guge. There are a large number of beautiful Frescos on the walls and ceilings. Also there are a large number of priceless collections of Thankas, manuscripts, well preserved statues and extensive murals which cover almost every wall. We also got to shop for some souvenirs for this trip from the monastery shops. With the roll call the convoy began its short journey towards Kaza. Our next stop was at the Dhankar Monastery.

The road leading to the monastery is one of the most scenic roads that you can travel with the beautiful Spiti valley and the humongous mountains in the back ground. The pictures captured from the top of the monastery are worth for any display pictures. On our way to Kaza, driving down the bumpy, curvy and dusty road, a passer-by intimated us that there has been and landslide enroute and we had to turn back to take an alternative route to Kaza. I actually cursed the guy for giving us the bad news. I thought it would have been fun and an experience to witness the landslide and then turn back.

We travelled via a scenic ridgeline narrow road with sheer drops to “Kaza world within a world Kaza” as described by Rudyard Kipling. Located at 12000ft along the Spiti River, Kaza and Spiti valley has strong geographical and cultural similarities with Tibet and Ladak. Kaza boasts of high mountains with snowy crowns, crystal clear rivers, streams and barren splendour interspersed with patches of green. Known for its scenic splendour, Lahul and Spiti valleys have earned the sobriquet of Barren Beauty of Himachal Pradesh. Our lunch stop was at Kaza. We never expected to get this type of food in a small town of Kaza. The lamb chops, the lasagne, the deserts, etc, were from out of this world. Satisfied with a heavy lunch we left to our hotel which was around 4 kms from the Kaza town. The evening was at leisure. So we decided to play a game of cards and went to the village in search of playing cards. We were lucky enough to find a set and the whole evening was spent playing Rummy until dinner time.

Day 7: Around Kaza.
The most awaited day of the expedition. We had missed out on the off-roading and river wading at Chitkul and hoped we would be doing it here. The full drivtech team went for the Recce the previous evening and made a safe track for us. Even though the water level in the river was not to their liking, they wanted to give us the experience. After breakfast, we left for the river bed where both the man and machine would be put to test. Instructions were passed out on the radio and no participant dared disobey the stern voice of Hari or the eagle eyes of his team.

The Low 4×4 gear surprised the participants with which ease it took them across the rivers. All hell broke loose when Adventure 2 got stalled in the middle of the river. But before it could become dangerous, the vehicle was winched out under the watchful eyes of Hari and the efficient service team made sure the vehicle was up and running by noon.

Ajay and Abu had finally managed to get their Ahh Ahh wet. During the river crossings, the river managed to gobble up two Gopro cameras of the Dubai team. Putting behind the incident we carried on with our itinerary and reached the Key monastery. Listening to the monks chanting prayers in the main hall was so soothing and peaceful. The view from top of the monastery was unforgettable and beautiful too. After having a cup of local tea, we continued our climb towards Komic village. The drive on these narrow roads without any safety barriers was exhilarating. One small mistake and we wouldn’t be found. The Scorpios made this drive look easy even with novices at the wheel. At one point we left the dirt track and got into the mountain making our own road where ever possible. It was unbelievable that we were off roading at 14000 ft. We went up to a place which had ample level ground for parking all the cars. In the background of the cars, we had mount Sheela, supposedly the highest peak in this region and just 20 days before we arrived a Japanese team had summited this peak.

After a good photo opp, we left back and joined the road and headed towards the Komic monastery and village. Komic is the last village on this road and also supposedly the highest inhabited village in the world at about 14806 ft. IN the peak of winters they are totally disconnected from the town and store up well during the summers to brave the harsh winters. At this altitude, the sun is very sharp and any exposed body parts get sun burns in a matter of few minutes. We had a brief stop at the Komic monastery where we got to witness a cultural program by the locals. They also have a fully grown stuffed snow leopard on display where only men can enter.

Even though stuffed, the leopard looked beautiful and ignited in me a new quest to see it alive in the wild one day. Lunch was in a traditional sit down setting in the open served by the local villagers. The local bread and momos were up to the mark and we enjoyed it. After lunch, we went to Hikkim village which has the highest post office in the world which operates all year round. This post office handles around 15 to 20letters every day and more when a big convoy like ours passes by.

We had the opportunity to send some post cards to our loved ones from this highest post office in the world. With this activity we started descending towards Kaza. Next day was supposed to be a long day. So we were instructed to refuel the cars before reaching the hotel. At the hotel, I joined the boys for a game of volley ball which was really refreshing. The bar night and dinner ended early as an early start of 5 am was announced.

Day 8: Kaza to Manali.
This was the longest day of the expedition. The departure was early at 5.00am. The weather was nice, crisp and cold. It was a pleasure to drive the winding mountain roads in the dim light of the dawn. The roads were too dusty to drive with the windows open, but any given opportunity we would lower down the windows.

Our breakfast stop was at the Kunzum pass situated at 15060 ft , the highest point of our journey on this trip. The Tibetan flags fluttering in the wind with the Chandra range as the backdrop created a great photo opportunity for the shutter bugs. Also as what we learnt from the previous mountain expeditions, we said the prayer of “KIKI SOSO LAGELO” when driving on this mountain pass. After a hot and delicious breakfast we made a quick detour of 14 kms to the magnificent Chandratal lake also known as the moon lake.

The 12 km of motor able roads were very treacherous and steep at places, that we had to engage the low 4wheel drive gear. We also got to drive on the running streams on the road. The road ends 2 km prior to the lake and the 2km trek to the lake was worth the effort we put in. The lake with its semi turquoise water looks so serene overlooking the mountains of Scree. Even though the lake is huge, I was told that there is not a single fish in the lake. Don’t know how far it is true. This lake is treated as a sacred lake and nobody is allowed to get in for a swim. After some group pictures with the Mahindra jersey’s on, we walked back tour cars.

One can easily feel the lack of oxygen at these altitudes in simple 2 km trek. 20 kms from the lake was our lunch spot at a simple Dhaba which has been there for the last 45 years at Batal. The food be it Bread omelette, Maggi noodles or the Rajma chawal was good enough. But we couldn’t enjoy the mutton curry, made from dried mutton due to its smell. The owners of this small Dhaba have received many awards and been recognised by the government for the selfless service to the public during landslides, floods and excessive snow fall. After lunch we started our journey to Manali via Chatru, Gramphu and Rohtang.

Other than the beautiful views, there was nothing of interest on the way. The tea stop by the river side was the high light of the afternoon journey. It was already dark by the time we reached Rohtang pass and we only stopped there briefly. The phones came alive once we crossed Rohtang and people got busy with their phones till we arrived at out hotel. Today’s bar night was sponsored by The Naidu couple. We had a good time on the lawns of the hotel and a wonderful dinner savouring the delicious rainbow trout. Julian missed out on the dinner as the afternoon lunch was playing havoc with his tummy. As usual we were the last to vacate the place.

Day 9: Free day at Manali
Free day with no pre planned activities means getting up late and a lazy breakfast. People went out to town to visit the temples, etc., but we stayed back in the hotel.

Lunch was at Martin’s Himalaya sports club. It’s one of the best places for a brunch in Manali and they are open only on Sundays. But since we were a big group and a little influence made them open their place for us on a Tuesday. The Ambience was perfect and an outdoor seating area surrounded by apple orchards added to it. Our beer consumption exceeded their expectations and they had to do a quick fix by chilling the beers in the freezer. The food was excellent especially the batter covered deep fried basa fish with tartar sauce. The guys got to shake their booty with a game of football and it was evening by the time we left back to the hotel. The evening was spent playing a game of flash in our room. Tonight was a dinner evening with traditional wear at a cosy place Café Casa Bella Vista.

We were being ferried to the café by the Drivetech team. The participants all looked gorgeous in their traditional attire. The pizzas were awesome and yummy. Tried different varieties of pizzas and finally couldn’t recollect which ones I ate.

A cultural programme was organized where each team had to do a small dance gig or a ramp walk to the music of their choice. To set the standard and the tempo high, it was indeed the turn of Bijoy and his partner Sanjay to showcase their talent. They did full justice to the mallu song Jimki kamal. There was no fuss among the participants and every team did their bit with full enthu. My self and Julian danced to the tunes of galyanth sankli sonyachi. Even Uncle Teddy was game and did a solo dance, later to be joined by all the ladies. It was an evening well spent and the memories created that night would stay a little bit longer with us. The night was still young and our party continued in the parking lot on top of the parked cars. We were lucky enough not to be thrown out of the hotel and out of Manali too.

Day 10: Manali to Chandigarh
Even though the distance was only 320Kms, it would be a long journey when a convoy of 29 cars drive together. For the last time on this trip we had a silent prayer in the car park before departure praying to keep us safe on the last day of drive and thanking him for keeping us all safe on this expedition. There were no points of interest on the way and it was only the regular tea and lunch stops. Passing through Kullu, Mandi, Bilaspur and Ropar, it was dark by the time we reached Chandigarh. The banter on the radios along with some interesting topics by Neeli kept the convoy awake. Each one took their turn to talk about their experience on this expediton and the long line of thankyou’s followed. The closing ceremony was at the same ballroom at Lalit and we would be joined by the families of the drivetech team. It was nice to meet Sunny’s family again as they had visited me in Dubai the previous year. During the closing ceremony which was presided by Neily and Julian, all participants were given certificates of appreciation for completing this gruelling journey successfully.

The party would have gone on all night, but we were at Lalit in the city and unfortunately they have rules here. Hence the bar was closed we didn’t get to spend the whole night here, but got ample time to say good byes to the participants.

Among all the new participants, the pilot couple of Mohit and Tanvi easily gelled with the notorious night gang and became a part of it. When checked why all this fuss with so much security, we were told that the Indian and South African cricket teams were staying in the same hotel.

Day 11: Chandigarh to Dubai
After a light breakfast with the Indian and South African cricketers in the restaurant at the Lalit, we were on our way to visit Sunny’s, Sidhu farms. Julian skipped this part and said he would be directly going to the airport. Ajay, Abu, Moby and Ajesh were leaving to Amritsar after Brunch at Sunny’s farm and I would be dropped to the airport.

After a sumptuous Punjabi/English breakfast, we got see Sunny’s Trophy room with his enormous collection of accolades.

The amount of trophies Sunny has collected by winning various motor sports events at the National level, gave us the glimpse of his talent. Its plain simplicity that oozes out him and all the champions in the Drivetech team, which makes us so comfortable and never makes us feel that we are in the midst of the legends of motor sports.

It was a pleasure to meet the legendary Captain Sidhu and listen to his stories.

I wish we had more time to spend with him, but had to reach the airport on time. We thanked Mrs Sunny for the hospitality and promised to come again. Sunny said he would drop me to the airport and we shifted my bags to Sunny’s car. After bidding goodbye to Ajay and team we left for the airport. Midway I remembered that we shifted only the suitcase to Sunny’s car but left my back pack which had my passport in Ajays car which was on the way to Amritsar. Called Ajay and he confirmed the bag was there, turned the car around and started driving towards Chandigarh. Sunny, got into his racing mode and I really had to hold on to the seat and grab bar as tight as possible. Time was running out, finally met Ajay, took the bag and rushed back towards the airport. I was shocked when I saw the odometer hitting 200 kmph on those roads. We reached the airport just in time before the check in counters closed. If it was not for Sunny, I would have had to say bye to the flight and wait for the next one. Met up with Harish and Prakash at the airport. Finally the adventure had come to an end and it was time to get back home.

Hari Singh, Sunny and team, you are the best. I wouldn’t want to miss any adventure when you are handling it. And also will remember the night drive in Manali for a long time. It was a pleasure to meet Sanjay, Bijoys partner for the 2^nd time after the Bhutan expedition. We have been lucky to have Bijoy on most of the Mahindra expeditions we have done. The man spreads positive energy around. It is always nice when the full Dubai gang is on the expedition. Fun begins from the Dubai airport itself. Every night is a party and the group is full of likeminded people. Julian more than my brother, is an excellent expedition partner. Sometimes he gets overly enthusiastic physically and I need to tell him to take care of his knees which are totally screwed up. He is game for each and every activity on the expedition and is also an excellent orator and singer.

Expeditions aren’t just about the terrain or the driving. They are indeed about the candid conversation, building long lasting friendships and gaining multiple perspectives as you meet teammates from varied backgrounds. All good things come to an end. A wonderful driving expedition covering 1200+ kms through extremely scenic routes, high mountain passes, numerous switchbacks, valleys, gravel and mountain roads, river crossings and off-roading, Stunning rivers and lakes, gorgeous gorges, staying in an apple orchard and enjoying the local cuisine – it just has been an epic driving trip.

Adieus till I get on the next one.