The mountains were calling. And we were ready to answer that call. And joining us on this epic ride is the brand new and red-hot Mahindra XUV700. The flagship SUV from the Mahindra stable has had a blockbuster debut. So as it scales new heights on the sales chart, we decided to take it even higher, to the top of the world. Umling La, is a mountain pass on the highest motorable road in the world - yes this is 524 metres higher than the famous Khardung La, and is now the world's highest road. The stage was set. A made-in-India SUV, from an Indian company, conquering some of toughest roads and terrain that one can find, it could be a thumping statement on its own! And here's the kicker - we decided to take the XUV700's 2WD version, and also the spanking new mStallion petrol automatic variants. The turbo GDi motor makes 197 bhp, and more importantly a growly 380 Nm of peak torque, in a healthy 1,750-3,000 rpm band.
(The road to Umling La is a smooth, paved road - From Chisumle to Demchok)
The eyes watered, our faces were being hammered by strong winds and all of us were breathing really hard! We did expect it to be tough, but this was something else entirely! After a gruelling few days of driving the Mahindra XUV700 across Himachal Pradesh and Ladakh, we were standing at Umling La, the highest motorable pass on the face of this earth, situated at an altitude of 19,300 feet, which is about 1,667 feet higher than the Everest Base Camp!
(This particular section of our climb from Hanle to Umling La was gruelling, to say the least! But so much fun at the same time!)
We were short of breath, the cold, lashing wind made us miserable, but as we posed for photos, made videos, we couldn't help but chuckle, with the two Mahindra XUV700 SUVs standing beside us, covered in a thick layer of dust and grime, but proud to have made it to a global landmark! But, let us break the journey down for you.
(The two gleaming Mahindra XUV700s, ready for an adventure of a lifetime)
It was a Monday that I did not dread! Waking up very early in the morning, heading to the office only to see two gleaming Mahindra XUV700 SUVs, one in red and the other one in blue - the top spec AX7 petrol automatic models with the luxury pack to be precise, had all of us salivating, at a prospect of an adventure of a lifetime. We were about to (if all went well that is) drive up to the highest motorable pass on the face of this earth. But as someone rightly said, 'a journey of a thousand miles begins with one small step', our journey too began with us reaching office, packing in our luggage, uploading our favourite travel songs playlist and then driving out towards Manali (Altitude - 6,398 feet).
(Ladakh and Himachal are full of these bridges, called Bailey bridges. These type of truss bridges were built by the British in World War II, particularly in remote areas. Today, these bridges are aplenty in india's remote mountainous regions)
The first half of the drive was fairly uneventful, but as we got closer to Manali, that giddy feeling of excitement crept in. We were now truly in mountain land! The well-bolstered seats and creature comforts of the Mahindra XUV700 kept us cocooned in comfort all throughout as we got to know the cars better, we were pleasantly surprised by the comfort and the driving dynamics of the car. We drove into our hotel, ordered in a hot meal, which was devoured within minutes and hit the sack! Next day was going to be really, really long!
(The Atal Tunnel, right after Manali cuts down the travel time to Leh by a good 3-4 hours. A proper engineering marvel it is!)
Our day began early, with a hot cup of tea! All of us got ready and were in the car within an hour of waking up. The plan was to reach Leh by nightfall, with time considered for photo ops. We climbed up towards the engineering marvel that is the Atal Tunnel (Altitude - 10,171 feet). It made the drive quicker and while it did not offer the views that the traditional route from Rohtang Pass offered, it was the more sensible option, especially since we had budgeted a few hours for shoot as well.
(A customary tank up at Tandi, after which the next fuel station comes only at Karu, on the outskirts of Leh)
The Manali-Leh highway offers some of the most stunning scenery in the world! After crossing the Atal Tunnel, we reached Sissu (Altitude - 10,269 feet) and stopped at Jispa (Altitude - 10,500 feet) for lunch and a few photographs! Our excitement got the better of us as we overshot our shoot time and then made a rush towards Leh!
(The two SUVs posing by the Bhaga river at Jispa, about 80 km ahead of Manali)
This resulted in us crossing scenic spots like Gata Loops, Morey Plains and the famed Taglang La pass (Altitude - 17,480 feet) in the night! As we reached Leh, it was close to midnight, thankfully, our hotel wasn't too difficult to find and all of quickly grabbed our luggage, chargers, got some food into ourselves and called it a night! The Mahindra XUV700 showed its handling prowess on the switchbacks and even when pushed hard, the SUV did not get out of shape or grip.
(Good roads to be found after Pang all the way till Leh in Ladakh, especially at Morey Plains. It gave us a good opportunity to hustle the Mahindra XUV700s)
The road from Manali till Sarchu was nice, with the odd bad patch. Right after Sarchu, the road turned from blacktop to just a dirt-trail for a few kilometres. But then, it again picked up from Pang and the good quality road continued till Leh. Our drive from Manali to Leh sort of got us acclimatised to the altitude and rarefied atmosphere.
(The two XUV700s with the Thiksey Monastery, right outside Leh)
(The road from Leh to Hanle, in Eastern Ladakh mostly consisted of great winding roads, along the beautiful river Indus)
Our third day of driving was relatively easy! The distance from Leh to Hanle was about 260 kilometres and most of it consisted of nice, winding tarmac. The beautiful River Indus kept us company and god knows we clicked a tonne of photos of the Indus in myriad hues and all her glory. On the way, we crossed the village of Chumathang (Altitude - 12,960 feet), which is known for its hot springs, right beside the Indus. Of course, we had to stop for a bit and check out the hot springs, dipping our toes and literally testing the waters! A few photos for the 'gram and a piping hot meal of Chowmein, Maggi and Momos later, we resumed our drive towards Hanle (Altitude - 14,760 feet).
(Plenty of smooth tarmac meant that the going was easy from Leh to Hanle)
The scenery consisted of rugged mountains, vast high-altitude plains and the occasional army and Border Roads Organisation (BRO) installation, particularly in the region of Nyoma, a small village some 50-60 kilometres before Hanle! The entire team went nuts taking photos of the two Mahindra XUV700s against all sorts of backdrop, because no matter the direction you pointed the camera in, the photographs and videos turned out to be simply amazing.
(The stark, rugged scenery made for picture perfect backdrops no matter which direction you pointed the camera in!)
As we reached the homestay in Hanle, we engaged in chitchat with the owner, a Ladakhi gentleman, Sonam over lovely homemade dinner of rice, dal and chapatis. He recommended us getting a guide, who will get us to Umling La via Photi La and get us back through a different route, giving us the whole Umling La experience. What really got my attention was the wink that he gave, when he mentioned the 'other' route for coming back from the pass.
(The climb from Hanle to Umling La is as tough as it gets. Steep climbs and dirt trails for over 70 km. But a cakewalk for the XUV700s)
The D-Day! Another early morning wake-up call but this time it was different. We barely slept through the night and all of us woke up even before the alarm rang. There's no electricity at Hanle from 11pm till 8am in morning but dawn breaks quite early, which means we were up early too. Finishing our morning breakfast of parathas, chai and biscuits, we finished topping up the fuel in both XUV700s as there are no petrol pumps in that region, between Leh and Hanle. The climb up from Hanle towards Umling La was arduous to begin with.
(The two cars at Photi La - altitude is 18,124 feet. It may come as a surprise, but Photi La is higher than the famed Khardung La as well)
There were a bunch of dirt trails jutting out in all directions but our guide thankfully was precise with his instructions. The climb was tough and gruelling to say the least. It consisted of climbing up a mountain, crossing the tough Photi La (Altitude - 18,124 feet) coming back down and then finally finding a blacktop road, almost 70 km from Hanle, going towards Umling La. Once we reached the village of Chisumle (Altitude - unknown), we found the going easy. Umling La is the highest point on the road that connects the villages of Chisumle and Demchok.
(The road to Umling La is a smooth, paved road - From Chisumle to Demchok. Umling La is higher than the Everest Base Camp)
As the two Mahindra XUV700s began to ascend, we came across a BRO sign that said, 'welcome to the world's highest motorable road', the road that led straight to Umling La. A few kilometres later, we came across another board that read 'You are now higher than Everest Base Camp'. That's when the excitement crept in! All of us in the cars had butterflies in our stomach. And lo behold! About 8 kilometres later, we finally reached Umling La! The highest motorable mountain pass in the world, situated at an altitude of 19,300 feet, very close to the China border. We were on top of the world, literally and figuratively!
(Driving across the length and breadth of Ladakh, summitting the dizzying heights of Umling La was a landmark achievement)
While we were super excited about finally conquering the dizzying height at which Umling La is situated, we had to exercise caution and take it nice and easy. After all, the temperature there was close to freezing and combined with strong winds, which made simple tasks like taking photos, shooting videos very, very laboured. At one point in time, all of us got hit by AMS (Altitude Mountain Sickness) and had to take hits from an oxygen cylinder to continue shooting. After spending close to 20 mins at the very top of the motoring world, we figured it was time to drive back to Hanle and get some much needed rest.
(We took the trail less travelled while coming down from Umling La to Hanle and what a decision it turned out to be!)
On our way down, we took the 'other' route, which Sonam had been talking about. Well, as it turns out, it was a mule trail straight down the face of the mountain, no roads at all. I was sceptical at first, but the two XUV700s made light work of that trail and got us to Hanle in almost half the time that we took to reach Umling La from the other side.
(The climb up from Hanle to Umling La took us about 3.5 hours. The climb down, you ask? A little less than an hour!)
As we came down and reached Hanle, we came across a couple of water crossings, where cameras and mobile phones came out, clicking the customary water-splash celebrations shot. By the time we were done with all the filming and photography and reached back to our homestay, we were exhausted and hungry.
(Yes! A celebratory splash was due after we ascended Umling La!)
After all, fun and games at super high altitude isn't easy and none of us are the epitome of fitness either. We made our evening special, getting in some good homemade grub, and celebrating by opening bottles of an Apple-based beverage and spraying it all around.
(The Mahindra XUV700 on the banks of River Indus, with the Stakna Monastery in the distance. Do note the beautiful 'fall colours' lined along the river)
We were a six-member team, and managed an adventure of a lifetime, replete with hair raising moments, thrills, adventure, some anxiety and plenty of special memories. And the reminder of one thing - India is truly blessed with natural beauty and special places. And we are doubly blessed to be able to experience them - every once in a while.
(The Mahindra XUV700 possesses every bit of the adventure DNA that other Mahindra SUVs have. Along with the comfort that it offers, it is raw, rugged and has that go-anywhere ability. Even with a 2WD setup!)
To sum it up in a sentence, the Mahindra XUV700 is a beast! It epitomises the coming up of Mahindra as a global automotive brand, sets new benchmarks in driving dynamics and comfort and has the strength and fortitude to go on long distance road trips as gruelling as this, without a care in the world.
(The Mahindra XUV700s testing the waters of River Zanskar)
Our test SUVs were the top-spec AX7 L models, with the petrol engine and an automatic gearbox. The two SUVs performed flawlessly and proved that despite being the flagship model, it has that sporty, rugged DNA that Mahindra SUVs possess.
(No dirt trail, no water crossing, no gradient could halt the march of the two Mahindra XUV700s that we had with us!)
We threw everything at the SUVs, smooth highways, broken tarmac, water-crossings, sharp climbs up dirt trails, steep descent, rocky terrain and what not! These two SUVs never fumbled and not once did they give us any headaches! Oh! And thanks to its popularity despite being a young brand, the Mahindra XUV700s turned many a heads, with people asking us all sorts of questions about its performance, pricing and so on! Needless to say, the XUV700 proved its mettle and is worth its weight in gold.
