Wild Encounters

Six days, about a 1,000 kilometres and the Skoda Kodiaq. If these strike a chord with you, then our mammoth journey through the stunning Spiti valley will come across as nothing short of spectacular Harsimran Shergill reports

- Harsimran Shergill

Organised by Skoda India, the Kodiaq Expedition was about testing the strength of the Alaskan bear—yes that’s where the Kodiaq gets its name from. And we were determined to do just that. Leaving the hot plains of Chandigarh behind, it didn’t take long to hit cruising speeds in the Kodiaq. In the 6-day journey, this was probably the only stretch along the way, where we could enjoy the luxury of an all weather tarmac highway. Therefore hitting speeds of 140kmph in the Kodiaq came easy and often enough. The SUV drove like a dream and the cabin cocooned us from both the heat and the remotest possibility of engine noise. The refined NVH levels in Kodiaq can quite easily make you forget that you are driving a 2.0 TDI style engine and shortly after having silently crossed the plains and just before making our ascend to Manali, we began the journey by navigating our way through a giant storm. And as a result experience the first rain of the season.