Lahaul-Spiti jeep safari

rishabh6296

Hi all,
Planning to do a 9 day trip to lahaul-spiti,and i would appreciate some suggestions and input.Here's my itinerary:
Day 1- delhi-manali(570 km.)
night stay at Manali
Day 2- Manali-Kaza(202 km. approx)
night stay at Kaza
Day 3- Kaza-Tabo-pin valley-dhankar-Kaza(144 km. approx)
Kaza-tabo(47 km.)Tabo-Dhankar(32 km.) Dhankar-sagnam(approx 25 km.),Sagnam-Kaza (approx 40 km.)
night stay at Kaza
Day 4- Kaza-Ki-Kibber-Chandratal(115 km.)
night stay at chandratal
Day 5-Chandratal-Keylong-Trilokinath-udaipur-Keylong
chandratal-Keylong(104 km approx) Keylong-udaipur-trilokinath-Keylong(122 km.)
night stay at Keylong
Day 6-Keylong-surajtal-baralacha pass-keylong
(164 km.)
night stay at Keylong
Day 7-Keylong-Manali(115 km. approx)
night stay at manali
Day 8-Rest day Manali
night stay at manali
Day 9-Manali-Delhi(570 km.)

My questions are:
1.Is this trip doable or too hectic?
2.Road conditions from Batal to Chandratal(will a delhi driver who has done ladakh and kinnaur manage)
3.we plan to stay in luxary tents in chandratal and hptdc hotels in kaza and keylong any other options.

Rishabh

arunchs

1. You might want to have a rest day after four or five days. You will really feel a need for it.
2. Although Manali Kaza is doable in a day, it will be a hurry. Make it 2 days.
3. Batal to Chandratal road is pretty bad. It will be difficult for your driver, but not that it can't be done.
4. Where are these luxury tents in Chandratal? Will you be carrying them? I dont know if they come up in the next few weeks/months. But there were no accommodation of any kind in Chandratal 15 days ago. You have to pitch your tent or stay at Batal.

__________________
My India travel blog and my Images from India

Andypolls

Arunchs - is Chandratal a fresh water lake, or is there fresh water available nearby?
Thanks
Andy

__________________
I started with nothing
and I've got most of it left

voyager61

Hi! Manali Kaza in a car it's a rather easy 7-8 hours drive. I wouldn't do it in 2 days. To me seems a bit too fast the trip in eastern Spiti. You can't go very fast on the roads in Spiti.There might be some sort of accomodation at the lake,there was the years before and so why not now. Chandratal is a sweet water lake and we used to drink the water as it was,now I heard reports of pollution. On the southern shore no other sources.

mount cleverest

I agree, manali to kaja in a day is possible..its infact better to reach kaja the same evening and have a good nights sleep at a decent place rather then some totally inhospitable place on the way.

However, I dont see the need for you to do 'Day 6'. Why would you want to go to Baralacha la? Avod it is what I say and fill in a free day somewhere along the line. Any drive, forget daily drives, can be tiring on these roads.

rishabh6296

Mount cleverest,
i wanted to go to Suraj tal and since Baralacha pass is a little ahead so i though we'd drive till there.

Bhaswaran

IN your trip, it says :

Day 5-Chandratal-Keylong-Trilokinath-udaipur-Keylong

This is not necessary. U come to a place called Tandi while coming from CHandratal/Batal. Tandi is the confluence of river Chandra and Bhaga. From here, one road, the Manali-Leh highway goes to the right side along with Bhaga to Keylong, and another road to the left, along with Chandra-Bhaga or Chenab, goes to Udaipur-Triloknath. So, you can go directly to Udaipur-Triloknath by taking left turn from Tandi and then come back to Keylong.

But anyway, .........Manali-Kaza is doable in a day.....otherwise, the tour seems very hectic. If you want to enjoy the mountains...go a little slow. Better cut that rest day at Manali...take rest at Chandrataal...which will definitely be better....and if possible, add 2-3 days to this itiniery..

rishabh6296

Hi Bhaswaran,
the rest day is flexible it can be accomodated anywhere,i have kept it extra in case of some landslide or other problems.I think day 4 will be a rest day since we would reach Chandratal by 12 noon.
Rishabh

Yogesh Sarkar

Rishabh with the amount of days you have in hand, my suggestion would be to go via the Shimla route and come back via Manali route or via Sach Pass. I did this route few days back, here is the trip log of my journey. www.bcmtouring.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1114 (warning heavy page)

__________________
My Travelogues | My Blog | Ladakh Travel Guide

rishabh6296

Hi Yogesh,
i dont wanna go through the Shimla-Kinnaur route since the Kinnaur area is a bit disturbed during monsoon with landslides,flashfloods and what not.
Moreover i have added a day to my itineray so i think 10 days would be enough.

rishabh6296

Guys any updates on Surajtal and Deepaktal,are they gud enough for devoting an extra day.

rishabh6296

no answers yet?i am leaving on 9th.

voyager61

Hi! Personally I would not drive from Keylong to Baralacha La just to see Suraj Tal,which is really nothing special.

Yogesh Sarkar

^^^ ditto, there is nothing spectacular there. Better spend the extra day at Kungri or even Tabo. Kaza isn't that beautiful, just bustling with tourists.

rishabh6296

and what abt trilokinath and udaipur r they worth a dekko.