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Ladakh, a dream of many tourers, remains the untouched beauty as ever. Ladakh is often called the Mecca of touring, you should do it once in your life! I have planned a trip this year, coinciding with the Ladakh festival from 1st to 15 sept each year. This is the itinerary. As I am going by motorcycle, this itinerary is mainly focused on motorcycling. However, if you want to come with family, you can always hire a private car and join the fun. 28 Aug Day 1: reach Srinagar, collect the bikes and go for a shikara ride in Dal Lake. 29 Aug Day 2: Srinagar - Kargil 30 Aug Day 3: Kargil - Leh 31 Aug Day 4: rest in Leh and get the permits made (at the same time you can visit Thiksey, Leh Palace etc.) 1 Sep Day 5: Leh - Khardung La - Diskit/Hunder (Nubra Valley) 2 Sep Day 6: Nubra Valley sightseeing and by afternoon, start heading back to Leh 3 Sep Day 7: Leh - Chang La - Pangong Tso 4 Sep sun Day 8: Pangong Tso - Chang La - Leh 5 Sep Day 9: rest in Leh 6 Sep Day 10: Leh - Upshi - Chumathang - Tso Moriri (Korzok) 7 Sep Day 11: spend the day at Tso Moriri and if you want, move to Tso Kar in the afternoon 8 Sep Day 12: Tso Moriri - Tso Kar - Pang - Sarchu 9 Sep Day 13: Sarchu - Manali 10 Sep Day 14: Rest in Manali 11 Sep Day 15: Ride to Chandigadh 12 Sep Day 16: Chandigadh sight seeing and parcel to mumbai Some terms for this trip: 1. Riding is a part of trip, not the reason of the trip. We will enjoy the rides, but not like we have to break records and backs. Usually one day of full riding will be followed by one day of full sightseeing. 2. Drinking and smoking will not be part of the trip. You can do if you want, but it's certainly not a part of the itinerary. 3. Budget will of course be strictly maintained , but preference will always be to keep hygiene and not just to save money. In short, this thread invites adventure couples and even singles, who want to experience the culture and places, and not just roads. If you fit the bill, I am awaiting your posts in this thread. I have booked Kingfisher tickets for Mumbai Srinagar on 28 Aug 2010, because I want to be in Ladakh while the festival is on. The bike will be parceled to Srinagar, and I will pick it up there. This is not restricted for Mumbai Pune bikers only, anyone from all over country, who fits the above criteria is welcome. Anyone company?

I know that the majority will be voting for 4G implementation. However, we fail to understand that we live in a country that does not even have a proper GPRS/edge system. The administration is corrupt and yes, you (or the neighbors wife) might be able to use them; but due to the high charges a good share of the population is least interested in such technologies. Not to mention the connectivity hiccups. Move from one room to the other - the connection breaks. Look at the bigger picture - try not to limit oneself to his (or her) own city. Make technology affordable. For instance, look at the current broadband scenario of the country. The jokers aka officials fail to understand that access to a stable, high speed (not 2mbps) broadband system - without any speed caps or fair usage policy practices - is necessary for the country to develop. Well, they are not exactly dumb. Nevertheless, they are simply milking us. Please do not ask me for explanations. Look at one of the latest development - DoT vs STel. When the courts rule in favor of STel, Dot asks STel to pack bags and leave the country? And someone tells me that we live in a democratic country? 4G is a distant dream. First, allow them to give us access to seamless 3G. Then we can start fighting for 4G. Besides, it is of no use to compare India with other countries. Things run much differently over here. If someone wishes to utilize 4G, let them migrate to a 4G enabled country (at least for the time being).

As I posted before, I have decided to make atleast one EV by converting existing IC engine car. There are very interesting facts about EV. Those facts needs separate discussion and its not in purview of this thread so if any one wants to discuss pro and cons of EV or want to discuss controversial stuff, please open another thread. Please do not make this thread polluted. If any one is interested to read more about EV may visit http://ev1.org and loads of other web sites. I will mail free CD's to members who are interested to see documentary called "WHO KILLED EV", Please PM me your address. Why EV : IC engines has distinct pluses like range, speed, power, scallability, flexibility etc. They have disadvantages like noise, environmental issue and overly designed vehicles due to unreasonable expectations and considerations while choosing a car. Most people in US drives about 50 KMS a day same must be true even in India. I drive about 55 KMS per day. So may be EV is ideal for many commuters. Also there are load of even government report which says EV is the only practical least polluting opting for vehicles atleast for next 2 decades. Hydrogen Fuel cells or real efficient hybrid is not feasible in near future. Minimum Requirements for Daily commuters: Range of about 70-80 Kms (To cover contigencies and degradation of batteries) Speed : 80 KMPH max. So when battery wears off it may still attain 60 KMPH. Which may be good for city commuting. Donor Car: I have chosen two cars one is TATA INDOIGO MARINA (Which I already have, I just have to buy replacement car till EV is available) or Old great work horse - Maruti 800, small, rugged and easiest to maintain, tinker and do odd jobs. Drive system : AC or DC AC drives has advantage of safety, widely used industrial technologies (so for trial one can use industrial grade components before specs are finalized to get automotive grade components), reasonable prices of component. But its little complicated as it requires more number of interfaces. DC motors and drives are cheap due to fewer components. However motor and controllers are expensive and DC is hazardous if not implemented properly. EDIT -1 :Best part of choosing this would be availability of necessary components easily as I can use components made for Battery operated Fork Lift as it is. BTW if any one knows who manufacture it or can help me to get component, I will be immediate start. COmpoents required: Motor, Controller, Charger and DC to DC convertor. Still need to go through pro and cons of both systems. Motor required about 12-15 HP (10-12 KW) Battery: LiON and LiFePO4 are said to be best battery types for EV but they are expensive and I have apprehension about getting necessary support for chargers, availability of unit batteries / cell in case of faiilures. It saves 35% weight though. Lead Acid are established types, chargers are available. Batteries are available freely in India. So I may choose this type - atleast for this project. Expected battery 1440 AH (About 250 kgs) AC or Non AC car: In Ahmedabad AC is necessity but not sure if I will be going to install AC or not. AC has about 20% toll on power. Means I may need 20% more battery. Please help me to choose right components and vendors so that cost of this project remains attractive. I have not budgeted any thing so far, but I assume it may be about 1.5 to 2 lakh.

hmm.. somebody LIKES to throw leftover food tied up in plastic bags and kill animals.. thats why "-2" for my post.. just kidding... --------- Raw food benefits hailed Eating uncooked food is better for digestion, boosts energy

please do not throw food leftovers tied up in plastic bags as many animals including cows eat the plastic and die. use open paperbags instead.

@kaushik If you really care about the person you are going to give the gift, then please do NOT go for rebranded chinese phones like MicroMax, Karbonn, Videocon, etc... Why take chances... Go for SAMSUNG models... If you are gifting for name sake only, then definitely go for these handsets ...