High adventure

Team Adventure, a group of 10 adults and two children led by Sharukh Shroff, proprietor of The Adventure Tours and Travels, drove from Bombay to Khardungla, the highest motorable road in the world last summer, Tannaz, Shroff’s wife informed Parsiana on a visit to the magazine’s office. On the stroke of midnight on May 16, 2008 the group of young enthusiasts comprising Shroff, his wife and daughters, five-year-old Tania and four-year-old Nasha, other members of his family and staff set out for Udaipur, the first leg of their journey. Shroff and Astad Majra took turns driving their Tata Winger vehicle at speeds ranging from 80-120 km per hour on the highways.

An extensive write-up sent by Shroff to Parsiana details their amazing adventure. On their way from Udaipur to Delhi there was a sand storm near Ajmer and the vehicle was buffeted by winds "so strong that it was a task to hold the car on the road.” Attari on the Pakistan border was where they witnessed the beating the retreat at sundown, were awed by "the power and the force” on both sides and "charged with national fervor” as the national flags came down.

The adventurers enjoyed a brief stay in Jammu and Kashmir where they had to wait for the military to pronounce the treacherous Zojilla Pass safe. The military conducts a run every morning to check the condition of the road and only 20 cars are allowed to use the Pass on any given day. Shroff mentions that the Tata Winger navigated the Pass smoothly though the roads are not tarred and in places "resemble the surface of the moon.” Driving through Drass and Kargil, the group proceeded to Leh, capital of the Ladakh region, over winding roads in the steep, barren, desolate mountainous terrain.

Team Adventure at Khardungla Pass and (below) the Tata Winger that took them to the world’s highest motorable road

The following morning it was time to cover the eagerly awaited sector at the top of the world. Though the Khardungla Pass takes only two hours to ascend, the height covered is phenomenal and the road so narrow that every time you slow down to let a car approaching from the opposite side pass you lose momentum and begin sliding down with nothing but high snow walls on one side and steep ravines on the other, Shroff recalls. The air is so rarefied that lack of oxygen can lead to headaches and the cold penetrates through layers of clothing as soon as you step out of the vehicle. At one stage the car was on the absolute edge with the two outer tyres partly off the cliff, his write-up states.

Finally at the top, at 18,380 feet above sea level, with the mountains stretching out below and the clouds beneath one’s feet, the view is breathtaking. However, the military does not permit anyone to remain there for more than 15 minutes — just enough time to step out of the vehicle, take a few photographs and buy souvenirs from the military run shop. The military presence is strong, as Khardungla forms the international border with Tibet, the write-up mentions. The drive down was not so eventful and took considerably less time.

On their return journey the adventurers had to use the Tanglangla Pass, the second highest motorable pass in the world and the treacherous Barrachlah Pass before descending to the plains where they saw nomadic people with their herds of yak and wild horses. Rhotang La, at an elevation of 13,050 feet, literally means "pile of dead bodies” and is the gateway to the rugged regions of Lahul and Spiti where the roads were covered with snow. The travelers returned to Bombay on June 2, 2008, as per the write-up, and everybody resumed work the very next day.

Shroff’s travel agency serves about 50 of the best schools in Bombay, Poona and Panchgani, including most of the Parsi run institutions, the write-up says. It also organizes transportation for ZoChild Day and the Bombay Parsi Punchayet’s Holiday Programme for Youth. The Adventure Tours and Travels can be reached at Contractor Building, Shop No. 10, Ground Floor, Next to Hotel Nagina, Byculla, Bombay 400027; tel: 23726932, 23713093; e-mail: adventurett@yahoo.co.in