the manali to leh tour

roadruner

Hi, nice to find this kind of forum.
Let's start with the background:
I toured India 15 years ago, so I'm familiar with most of whom vs. whom…
I'm planning to go again and do the way from Manali to Leh, same as I did in 1993 but this time I will do it with a rented bike.
Regarding the riding, I'm riding off-road bikes for many years so I'm not concerned about that, but I do have many other questions as I assume things did changed (or not ? ) in the past 15 years since my last visit.
As I mentioned, I'm coming to India only for the "Manali to Leh" thing and I have 3 weeks total for that so I have to plan my time very efficiently as every minute counts and unfortunately I will not have too much of this precious time…

1.The motorcycle:
Are there anything more up-to-date beside the Enfields ?
What are the costs per day or week for an Enfield 500cc or other bikes (if there are) with as big as can be engine volume (cc) ?
Names (and web site or e-mail address if there is one) of places in Manali for renting the bike.

2.The season.
When do the passes for Leh are opened, i.e. as there is snow most of the year, when does the army / authorities opens the way for traveling ?
I would like to be there not on the first day of opening, but sure I would like to do it at the beginning of the season in order to have as much of adventure (water / snow / extreeeeemmmm) as I can have.

3.Places to stay in Leh:
When I was touring Leh back then, I have spend the 3 weeks I was there over a family in the village and so did most of my friends, I remember a nice place and peaceful and cheep, and with the minimum facilities (shower once a few days with a bucket) but back then I was traveling with very little money as a backpacker which as for this time I'm not the same 23 years old boy and I would like to have some more "comfort" but obviously I don’t won't a "5 stars hotel", what are the places / costs for a staying in a good place ? Any recommendations ?

4.The way from Manali to Leh:
It took me 3 days back then to go up and 3 to go down.
The first stop for the night on the way up was in keylong and the 2nd was in a nice Tibetan tent camp, I remember 3 very big white tents that many people have spend the night there, was very nice.
Is it the same today ?
If not, what have changed ?
What is the total km from Manali to Leh ?

And the last question: is the cellular covering in Leh ? If not, up to where after Manali there is ?
Thanks in advance .

roadruner

shame no one takes a few minutes to share the info...

nayan

Please go through the ladakh forum in this site. Almost all the info you have asked is provided there in multiple threads.

Marius

The following links might be helpful to you:

Bike touring in Ladakh http://www.bcmtouring.com/forum/showthread.php?t=676

Phone services in Ladakh http://www.bcmtouring.com/forum/showthread.php?t=140

Renting motocycles in India http://www.bcmtouring.com/forum/showthread.php?t=140

Prepping your bike http://www.bcmtouring.com/forum/showthread.php?t=140

Good luck!

roadruner

thank you all very much.
BTW, does any one knows or can recomand a good navigation software for india (WM6 PDA) ?
thanks.

vistet

Past opening dates, and some pointers on the road here. The tent camp would be Sarchu - aka The Vomit Hilton.

For a good guesthouse , look for the ones with a big yellow tank on the roof - that means ample (solar) solar showers , one of the nice changes.

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