QUEST FOR ADVENTURE

As the nation's road network transforms, it's time to take your luxury SUV out of the city and into the wilderness to explore the far reaches of this incredible country.

- WORDS & PHOTOGRAPHY DHRUV BEHL

India's national highway network has grown by 60% in the past decade. If that isn't reason alone for a road trip, I don't know what is.

The last time I drove to or from Ladakh was a decade ago. On that journey, we got snowed in between the high passes of Baralacha and Taglang La - forcing us to spend the night in a tent on the freezing plains of Sarchu. Fortunately, a hot water bottle saw me through the night. But things have changed quite considerably since.

Gone are the narrow dirt trails and treacherous drops. Well, the drops are still there, but now they're concealed behind a ribbon of neat Armco. The dirt tracks that previously doubled as rally stages on the Raid de Himalaya are now gone and have been replaced by two- and sometimes even four-lane highways that make accessing some of the highest motorable roads in the world an absolute breeze.

CALL OF THE MOUNTAINS

On this occasion, we were driving from Delhi to Leh, with a couple of detours that included Pangong Tso - the world's highest saltwater lake at over 14,000 feet. The first leg was Delhi to Kullu - an almost 500-kilometre journey that took a little over nine hours at a pretty relaxed pace.

Sadly, the green fields on the way to Chandigarh have all but vanished and given way to a concrete jungle that lines both sides of NH44 for mile-after-dreary-mile. The Q7 makes quick work of it though - the 3.0-litre turbo-petrol V6 dismissing everything in its wake, while the 19-speaker Bang & Olufsen sound system keeps you totally isolated from the chaos outside.