Packing and preparing for a trip

Car Service - So I serviced thoroughly my car like engine oil change, oil filter change, air filter, petrol filter, gear foot, timing belt, fan belt, break lather change, coolant replace, break oil fill, plug cleaning, head light repair, all light and indicator check, fuse check and battery replacement. I also fitted got car charger and roof rack for luggage.

We faced getting the roof rack fitted was very difficult. we are not able to find the roof rack for M800 nearby so I searched on internet only one factory i found had it "Saak" in Chandigarh industrial area. So my travelled 100 specially for roof rack and after reaching there they just creating it in their factory it took 1 hours, it take our half day but it was very important.

Essentials - There were some things that we think will be required like IDE proofs, Driving License, vehicle paper, polution, Car fuse, spare head light, wire, torch, steel wire, O2 cylinder, ready to cook food, maggi, MTR food, LPG gas stove, water, can for petrol, tent, sleeping bag, chips, packed juice, floor mat, cloths, toiletries, hand sanitizer, red bull, medicines, toeing chain, foot pump, spare tyre, tubes, spark plug, tyre puncher repair kit, Jump cable, Iron road, tool kit , small pieces of cloths to clean the car time by time, big knife, SPF 50 cream, cold cream, sun glasses, plastic sheet(tarpal), ropes for luggage, and until for cooking.

Very Important Note :- If the vehicle you carry doesn't belongs to you then you have to carry some document that prove your relation with the vehicle owner because local taxi union has check post after Leh to check they will not allow the zoom car or rented car to cross that post you have to take the Leh number taxi from there then or self drive car. But who have the car of own or his family member or relative then there is not issue only you have to prove your relation with the owner and carry IDE proof of the owner too.

Mobile and network - only post paid connection works in J&K so we took 1 Airtel and 1 BSNL post paid. Airtel is good till Leh and ahead leh only BSNL works but only voice call. Airtel will provide you full internet till Leh after that No service for Airtel and no internet in BSNL too but you can make voice calls from BSNL.

Cash and Swipe - You have to carry lot of cash with you as after Jammu and Srinagar you will not fine and swipe machine any where even on Petrol stations. There are very few ATMs and some time they has no money because of lager scale cash accepted by people there. We face issue with ATM and getting the cash from account as there were some holidays at that time I guess it was YEED at that time. So please carry enough cash with you. There are ATMs but how much of them have cash it depends on.

Food - All the hotels provide good food but sometime it is not cooked like we eat in our home town. We stopped at Anantnag for breakfast and we ordered Allu Prantha there. When Prantha arrived they were deep fried in oil and i was not able to chew them properly. my Jaw was aching. So it is better to take MTR ready vegetable and you can take Chapatti from hotel with MTR food. You can ask hotel staff if they can prepare MTR food for you. It will take 5 minutes they have to just soak the MTR packet in hot water for 5 minutes that all. Sometime you can cook your own food if you have LPG stove with you Like Oats maggy, Oat meal, pasta etc.

AMS - Very important, you need to be very careful about the AMS or high latitude issues. Drink lots of water (5 ltr) in a day. Leh and other area has less O2 so you have to take it from water. But it is difficult to drink lots of water because of cold weather. One of my friend was not taking water properly and I has to admit in hospital for 4 hours. They provide him Oxyzon for 3 hours and instructed him Dimox 3 times a day till you are at high latitude. Consult with your doctor before planning this trip and get good understanding about the AMS and symptoms of AMS. It is better to take Dimox when you reach to Leh weather you have any AMS symptoms or not.

Weather - All the trip have different weather conditions but normally day time is very hot in leh region and after evening the weather gets very colder in not time so take precaution and get the jackets ready for evening. Night will be very colder even in June it was very cold at night. Sky will be clear all the day and night because of less pollution. You will be find the wonder at night if you see the sky. There will be tons of stars in the sky. If it rains in lower places chances are high that you will see snowfall at high passes. We saw snowfall in June at, Chang-la, Tanglang-la and roghtang pass.

Places to Visit- There are many places to visit while the whole trip but people mostly visits the popular places. So will suggest you to Google about the place because it may take some time of yours to visit some place. We mostly visited the places that came across the road. We used to drive 7-10 hours daily.

Thing for remember - Check all your carry thing and IDE proof very time you left any place or hotel. Inspect your vehicle every day before leaving and get it fixed even if you vehicle has minor issue because after Leh you will not able to find the vehicle repair shop  easily. leave early so that you can reach to your destination before evening. It is better leave early if your vehicle face any kind of issue then you will have time to get it repaired to tow it to the next town. Avoid driving or riding at night. Because full on blind turn and blind roads. Drive with patience and drive carefully. Avoid overtake, help others. See other people who they are doing in bad patches. Give side whenever possible. Don't get panic by the honking of J&K taxi drivers, they are always in hurry.  Avoid short cuts. Again drink lots of water. Keep eye on my health take rest if body required it. Never push yourself too much. Drink red bull if you falling asleep while driving.