Ladakh vs Spiti (less touristed destination)?

Hello

Ladakh and Spiti are supposed to be similar in culture and to a limited extent in terrain.

Do indiamikers have an opinion on which part is less touristed? Places that still less touched by external influence?

Any opinion is welcome.

- Vaibhav

Hi,

Yes Ladakh and Spiti have a similar culture and ecology. But Spiti is what Ladakh was many years ago. Most people are familiar with Ladakh but very few know about the Spiti Valley. Spiti opened its arms to tourists just few years ago and restaurants and lodges have sprung up now to accommodate them. It is becoming crowded though every summer now. Let me know if you have any other questions about Spiti. I have spent some time there and can put you in touch with some friendly and helpful people.

Spiti is good option for less touristy(compared to ladakh)..i ve been to spiti last yr and last month to ladakh...but ladakh is vast and if you go beyond diskit or towards hunder or zanskar, u find less crowd

@hermetic - thanks! I've been envying your lovely photos on facebook.

Thanks so much! If you know anyone who can organize an excursion into pin valley national park? Any good homestays in Kaza/Kibber/Lhalung ... would be great. I see that your PM facility is not enabled but respond if you feel comfortable.

- vaibhav

1. I have been to both the places and I feel the ecology is different. Though the religion might be the same (spiti & ladhak)but you definitely see a visible difference. Thats my take.

2. If you choose sept/oct months than both the places will be least crowded but yes comparatively Spiti will be even lesser crowded than Ladakh.

3. If I had to choose between Ladakh or Spiti, it will be definitely Ladakh as I just love the landscape there, being a plateau it offers uninhibited views of the surrounding areas and also the culture is more vibrant there.

4. In Ladakh the major tourist places like Pangong, Khardung la the Gompas around Leh are crowded, but if you go towards deskit, hunder, Turtok or towarda Tso Moriri, hanle or in the Zanskar valley you would hardly find any tourists there.

Similarly in Kinnaur/Spiti if you visit Kaza or Kalpa you will find lots of tourists but if you go towards Sangla or towards Ki/Kibber/lanza/ Komic/chandertal (Spiti)you wont find many venturing there

4. You could also try the doing Kinnaur - Spiti - Lahaul - Ladakh - kashmir circuit in one go.

And how i wish i could do that!! As of now, I dont even find enough time to come to Jaipur

LOL!!! Vaibhav, if you want to choose between the two, my suggestion is to visit ladakh first. Dont worry about the crowd, its not as maddening as the other popular hill stations are. Its very very different.

I been there in 1999 and then in 2009 and now hopefully I will go there in Feb 2013 as well!!

I did Kinnaur/Spiti in June2012, though it was really nice but IMO Ladakh is definitely more picturesque

Regards

Go for Ladakh, and there are places there where you'll find nobody except yourself.
I'd suggest that you can plan a visit to Rumbak in Hemis National Park, (as you suggested Pin Valley)

Hi! Spiti is pure and genuine,Ladakh is not.

Thanks Drk! Any special permit required for this? PM me if possible pls

Pray elaborate ....

i have to weigh in on Spiti
Ladakh has traffic jams in the middle of the day, something like 20-25,000 tourists a summer heading up there and they all seem to drive 2 people per SUV.
spiti is much better, way fewer numbers and a little harder to reach than Ladakh.
Not saying ALL ladakh, parts of it like Nubra Valley are pretty remote and uniquely untouristed too but yes, you need a lot of permits to get up there.

why not start in Spiti and trek across Parang La pass to Tsomoriri Lake in ladakh and from there u can carry on to lamayuru or zanskar - zanskar is pretty remote and incredible too.

u can do a homestay trek to acclimatize and ease into the routine with a warm bed in a real house each night before doing some camping and longer inter-valley treks.

i can recommend a good community based tour company that i have used on multiple occasions during my trips to the region if anyone needs just ask (dont want to violate any forum rules and just post the link here)

Moderator Note:

Refrain from using SMS language. Use 'you' instead of 'u'. Thank you

you opened up newer trek routes which can be added to my TO DO list- never knew that Tso Moriri was just across the mountain from Kibber.

Just had my first trip to Lahaul and spiti via kinnuar, covered rohtang.
Haven't been to ladakh yet. Only one thing in mind: Can something be more beautiful than what i witnessed.
In lahaula Spiti starting from Kinnaur, Shimla, the beauty changes every moment. Such variety of beauty is unimaginable. I do not know how ladakh would be, but to describe the entire circuit from Shimla to Shimla via kinnaur, lahaul spiti in one word? Its:

UNIMAGINABLE
That too, when i was not able to visit Chandratal. I heard chandratal is something beyond imagination.

Regards
Anupam Mazumdar