Aug 28, 2006 02:40 PM
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Pardon me for a 'lift-paste' from another of my forums. But I wanted to share this experience with all the travel-bugs out there on MS, since I did not see it listed on the site. If you can distil the parts relatd to the experience of this journey from the automotive feedback - its your to share and enjoy! Cheers! Hi group! Appears that nobody really wanted to waste the beautifully long weekend that came and went. And some are still planning! We just saw what AG did at Dhramshala. If meeting up with the Dalai Lama was not enough, he posted those beautiful pictures from the forts and meadows he rolled his Scorp over! Well done AG! We really must travel together sometime.
As for me, initially planned to drive into the Spiti Valley, and got shattering news on the eve of the journey about how all access roads had been washed away by unprecedented rains in the region! And this, after I had pored over scores of route maps on the internet. Anyway, we swung into a last minute action plan, woke up on a brilliant Saturday dawn, and generally headed north with a tank-full of HP's best, a Scorp-load of people and luggage (4 + luggage) and the latest edition of Outlook Weekend Getaways to plan as we went! Around 3 in the afternoon, we rumbled through Haldwani, and decided on our first recharge of diesel (while we still got Hi-Speed).
The journey (Delhi-Haldwani of course. The return trip was a shade below 1400 kms!) calculated at an amazing Rs.850/- @ 12.8 kmpl! Now here's the thing about the Scorp. I bet it would be slightly more fuel efficient, had it been a bit more aerodynamic than the average house. With such huge wind-resistance, which gets worse on the wrong side of 90 kph, you actually trade off between your wish to go faster or wish to travel cheaper. Stick to sub-80 speeds, and I've seen the mammoth nudge 14 kmpl. But then, where's the glee in hurtling up someones rear-view mirror and blasting him into the hedges as you blow past, right? Right! We carried on past Bhimtal, Bhawali and only decided to stop 400 kms into the drive at a place called Khetikhan, when darkness, 12 hours of driving and great hunger overtook us all.
As usual, the KMVN we found at Khetikhan, had the best of locations and the worst of provisions. Had we not been carrying our emergency ration of Maggi, we'd be starving! They had no supplies, little resources and no gas in the cylinders either! To be fair, they dont see a lot of tourism. Maggi was cooked over 30 mins (Hey Nestle! Are you listening?!)over a heater, and served up with roti and bhindi-fry! We'd have thrown a jar of the best beluga to have ourselves this treat! The journey got from picturesque to mind-blowing the next morning, as we descended into Loharghat. Drove most of the day touching beautiful hideaways like Abbot Mount, before we entered the Pithoragarh district, 60 kms north of Loharghat. The books called this Little Kashmir. You need to be in this valley to know why. Just go. You wont regret it. The town of Pithoragarh itself is a bit on the congested side, and you might want to give it a miss unless you have time enough to scout out a good enough perch.
The KMVN is a bit sadly positioned, but seemed to be undergoing some construction to improve matters. Best is to push on to Birthi, 96 kms away, with the promise of gazing at a most magnificient waterfall, sitting in the balcony of the local KMVN. We did exactly that. The waterfall was beyond what we imagined and the KMVN was straight out of our fantasies! BUT..but! Under construction folks! Somebody must have realized the worth of the location and now the two-room KMVN is being worked upon to swell to multi-rooms in the near future. Of the two rooms that existed, one leaked from the roof and the other was damper than a frogs belly! We opted out. 8 hours since morning, we'd push onward bravely till we reached the last stop on this road - Munsiari! And guys, there are more waterfalls from this point onwards, than roads! Seriously, you can splat across all the cow manure on the road (plenty of that too!), confident that all muck would be cleaned off your underbody in the next 5 minutes/kms! And yes - Mahindra, you do have a defect in the dsign of the front splash guards.
The water comes flying onto the windscreen, 4 out of 5 times you attempt a river-crossing at some speed. You also quickly ascend into cloud-land, as you leave Birthi behind. The rate of climb is quite steep and the hairpins, hairier than I last remember. The standard fog-lamps though are much better than what most car makers provide. Good spread, good penetration and perfectly located. Munsiari? Beyond description. Drive out and try it for size. Like quiet vales? Go for it! Like your peaks covered in cotton-candy clouds? Go for it! Like dazzling snow-peaks? Go for it (but after the rains)! In short - GO FOR IT! Oh, and on the way back, try the alternate route, through Almora. The foliage changes dramatically to offer a completely different experience. You could check out some of the pictures at https://flickr.com/photos/19714681@N00/ Now, about the part you probably like best - the Scorp chronicles: I already mentioned the thing about fuel efficiency. Personally I feel its great.
The ride's fantastic too. What feels like a bit of a rolly-pitchy ride in the slower city traffic, becomes an extremely well-damped, controllable ride on the higways. Seriously, I dont know what the fuss is all about in the auto-mags! The brakes are a tad sudden, but over some usage, they are perfectly predictable. The engine's a stormer, will blast aside the rest of the traffic if willed to, but is best cruising around the ton. That way, you still have plenty of reserve to overtake if required, and not pushing the dynamic stability of a vehicle of this design. And the best part of all - this is one helluva ZERO-FATIGUE car! Drive all day, and you wont feel a thing! No cramps, no problems.
Just get off, releive yourself, and get back to the throne! The complaints - wipers are bad, both front and rear. They sreak, creak and generally make a hue and cry about doing nothing. The seats rattle when folded up to make way for luggage. The horn pads a disaster and the horn itself, loud and powerful to begin with, now sounds like the Strepsils lion, before the Strepsil! Also, the large dia steering wheel can get to be a handful on constant twisties. The glove-box lid sucks! And the a/c will remain a hit-ya-miss affair. But inspite of it all - I think I am in love with my Scorp! I hated the cheesy "nothing else will do" line when they started - but when nobody's looking, I quietly whisper the same under my breath. Over to you Scorpions. Cheers!
