Planning a Leh-Ladakh trip in 2010

Souvik.Das

Hello Folks,

A few of my friends and I am planning for a mega trip in 2010. The tentative plan looks like this so far. And I am sure we have to relook, tweak and make this better as and when the wind picks up and we have some other experienced folks to join us and give us their views.

This is a long trip. So we are open to all you adventure loving people to join us in various stages / parts of the trip.

Let us make it fun!!

Trip day What
1 Bangalore - Pune
2 Pune - Udaipur
3 Buffer
4 Udaipur – Delhi (Chandigargh)
5 Buffer
6 Delhi (Chandigargh) - Manali
7 Manali - Rohtang - Upshi - Darcha - Sarchu
8 Sarchu - Leh
9 Leh Sightseeing
10 Leh - Diskit - Hunder
11 Hunder - Leh
12 Leh - Pangong Tso
13 Pangong Tso
14 Tangtse - Leh
15 Leh - Kargil
16 Kargil - Padum
17 Padum - Pankihar
18 Panikher Buffer
19 Panikher - Sonamarg
20 Sonamarg Buffer
21 Sonamarg - Udhampur
22 Udhampur - Jalandhar
23 Jalandhar - Delhi
24 Delhi Buffer
25 Delhi - Udaipur
26 Udaipur - Pune
27 Pune Buffer
28 Pune - Bangalore
29 Buffer
30 Buffer
31 Rest Day

So.... the word is out now. Please let me know what you guys out there think.

Souvik

indracal

Souvik,

Really a grand tour! Are you going to take your own cars (looks like from the itinerary)?

In case you're taking your cars, refer the following IndiaMike thread, which in turn refers to a few threads in TeamBHP forum (also BCMTouring), which gives a great idea about the whole plan, drives, fuel availability and what not!

manali-leh-ladakh-kargil-dras-srinagar trip

Please note that you must take care of Altitude sickness in the planning phase itself. For that, it is a good idea to start from Srinagar side and exit from Manali side. The reasons for this is very well described by Vistet in the above thread.

Wish you all the best in your endeavour!

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Souvik.Das

Thank you buddy. Will have a look at it.

Yes, we are planning a road trip and 2nd one. We have done the Manali - Lahul and Spiti valley couple of years back and hence the other side of the valley this time.

It is going to be combination of cars and bikes. I will post the final schedule and plan and post that soon.

Souvik

ivor_kool

Hi there...from your itenary, i dont suppose you'll be going in January will you? =)

Im planning a Leh trip in from mid to end Jan. Would you think 15+ days in Leh is sufficient? Especially if i wanna do some treks?

Haylo

When you say "some treks" there are very few options at that time of year. Only a few specialist trekking companies are operating, and the most well known winter trek is the Frozen Zanskar River trek.

Erm.. I only mention this because we do get posts from people who are spectacularly unprepared, but you do know it gets just a little bit nippy up there in the winter? Put it this way, it's not only the narrow bore cold water supply pipes that freeze in January, but also the wide sewage outflow pipes!

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hvkumar

Quick comments:
- You can bypass Chandigarh by going via Banur
- Maybe a better idea to have a buffer at Manali, also useful to check the vehicles
- Half your Leh day will be gone in sitting in workshops checking your vehicles. Other half will be for chasing permits. Keep 2 days for Leh, full day for sightseeing required
- You can go directly from Deskit/Hunder to Tangtse/Pangong via Wari La instead of returning via Leh
- 2 days in Pangong? Are you going to Marisimik La also?
- 2 days in Panikkar - are you sure? Better idea to spend that extra in Padum

Roads are typically terrible between Kargil and Padum and it will be a very long journey, you may end up the night in Rangdum instead of Padum unless you are very quick.

Please bear in mind that except in the peak season, many of the so-called JKTDC hotels remain closed down, and other facilities on Kargil-Padum route are poor.

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H V Kumar

tigerranch

Very interesting..

Will keep in touch..

Cheers..

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jimthompsonmd

Delh-Manali is a full day, so it's going to feel like a pretty long stretch from Delhi-Leh; three days of fairly grueling driving.
Manali-Sarchu has the advantage of being farther along the road to Leh but Sarchu is higher than Jespa so you need to be pretty confident you won't get AMS at Sarchu's elevation. Jespa has better hotel choices.
I would condense Leh-Hundar-Leh to a day trip. There isn't much worth staying overnite for in Hundar. I'd use that extra day to spend in Manali. This gives you an extra 24 hours to acclimatize plus it means you don't get into Manali in the evening and have to get up the next AM to start the Manali-Leh leg.
Just my 2 cents.

I'm not sure what you are using for transportation but if you are using public buses be aware they take the route at night for part of the trip and the big disadvantage there is missing the scenery.

TeJZz

hey guys we a group of 4 people r planning a trip to leh on bike in d last week of june2010. we have bikes of 150 to 180cc range. this is our first trip to leh n v r really short on information, i read dat ther is a stretch of 350km in b/w manali to leh where ther r no petrol pumps... so do v hv to carry a buffer stock n if yes than how much for 3 bikes??? our trip is of 7days-from manali to leh n back 2 manali. Also wanna know wether a pulsar or hunk can carry 2 person on the steep treks... We also like if anybody can suggest d itinerary which can b fitted in those 7 days. We r in d third year of our engineering so v hv a budget constaint as well... v hv decided Rs.8000 to 10000 per head... do this suffice including everything. N 1 last question do v hv 2 take some special permission to visit some places...

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hvkumar

You need a lot of preparation for this trip.

I would suggest you check out many of the threads on Ladakh drives in this forum.

I would also recommend reading up the following:
http://groups.google.com/group/hvkum...adakh-sep-2009

You will get info on route planning, vehicle preparation, account of the drive, travelogues and personal preparation.

To reply to some specifics briefly:

- There are no petrol pumps between Tandi (near Keylong) and Karu (near Leh) which is nearly 350 kms. In case your vehicle does not have that range, you are advised to carry spare fuel along.

- I think a 7-day trip ex-Manali is very tight and will leave hardly any time to cover Leh and Pangong Tso. I would suggest you budget at least 10 days.

- While 2 people can go in a bike in most stretches, this will depend also on the road conditions when you travel. Riding solo is best advised.

- Permits are required to go into Nubra Valley, Pangong Tso, Marisimik La and Tso Moriri. These have to be obtained at Leh.

wwailer

when are you going to take this trip? do you have an open space for a Norwegian on the trip to?

TeJZz

v r planning d trip 2 leh....& no v hv a very tight schedule to accomodate nything other than that

TeJZz

Hey Thanx Buddy....
actually we need those informations bt had no idea where to get it from....
and one more query yaar about d budget... v can extend our trip to 10days but v hv budget constraints of Rs 10,000/- only....so will it be sufficient or nt...???

theyyamdancer

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