A Short Trip to Leh - Ladakh ( Budget Travel)

Godji knows how badly I wanted to go for a vacation!! Life was hectic at work & I wanted time out. Then I thought of Leh & Ladakh. My brother, a friend & myself decided to travel on a “shoe string budget”
(Note – not a penny pinching one).
Most importantly, I was unwell the day I left Delhi

So this travelogue will be about a relaxed vacation and not a travel plan to cover a lot of places.
Left Delhi May 17, 08 – 6:30pm Chandralok building, Janpath Connaught Place (opposite Hotel Imperial)
Overnight A/C Volvo Coach: Rs. 990/ - per seat, 575 km
More info at http://hptdc.nic.in/trans.htm

These buses are clean & comfortable. They take Rs.10 extra for luggage or a big backpack. One should keep a hand bag + a jacket handy during the bus journey because the bus driver does not understand the concept called THERMOSTAT. It really did get cold while we were asleep.


Manali May 18 – 9:00am new bus stand Manali We had no prior booking & after a round of due diligence we decided to stay “Rohtang Inn”. We did not opt for an extra bed because our bed easily fitted 3 of us. I am a BIG cleanliness FREAK, so if you’re not a freak then you will find several places cheaper for about Rs 200-300, which may have a shared bathing room.
Rohtang Inn – Rs.800 (geyser, CLEAN washroom, comfy bed)
We also saw Dorms costing Rs 100 but one has to use a public toilet & bathing room next to the taxi stand. Else if you are planning to visit Vashisht you can have a Hot Holy Shower there…….lol
Most importantly, if you are going on a completely Adhoc trip please get your travel booking for Leh by Mr.Fauji at the Taxi stand. A 50 yr old polite guy, all the travel agent call him for transportation to leh and you can negotiate rates and the seating place with him directly. We lost a day because we did not book the tempo early noon on 18th & only reached Leh on the 20th.

Fauji - click here to get his mobile number
http://groups.google.co.in/group/foo...cky-note?hl=en

Johnsons Café- Please do visit the beautiful cafés run by a brother & sister. The one that the sister owns has a prominent woman’s touch and is my fav. First thing you notice are the creative menu cards and then relish the taste of the continental food. A bit expensive though, but vacation means pampering yourself…………isn’t it.

Rohtang May 19 – 10:00 am departure by a pvt taxi Taxi- Rs230 per head (8 seat sharing)
Hmmmmmm…..if you need to enjoy the snow at Rohtang la, please do rent Boots, Gloves & a suit without too much of thinking.
Rental Boots, Gloves & a Suit – Rs 250

Rohtang has the most amazing Coffee I have ever had, a little sugary though. But in the middle of dirty snow and over excited tourists you will find Rocky standing quiet. Rocky…..I mean the Yak. Children throwing snow balls & ppl sitting on him posing for a photograph. Honestly!! Rocky is the most intelligent animal I have ever come across. I decided to take a yak ride & God! he was so careful with a lady sitting on his back……..lol…….Guys I am serious! He can beat any of you hollow in terms of mannerism.
Pic with Rocky– Rs 20
Ride Rocky – Rs 150

Post the rohtang visit we went to the Johnsons Café again!! But this time we were back to the Inn by 10:00pm as the tempo traveler we booked had to leave at 2:00am. We had to take a 20 hour (approx) travel as it had snowed in Sarchu and Pang so a halt was not advisable.

OOOPS!! Almost forgot to mention rates for the transportation to Leh. Since the HP tourism buses were not plying we did not have any option but to choose between an 8ppl Sumo & a Tempo traveler.

Sumo/Scorpio- They charge almost the same as a Traveler but are far more uncomfortable. The costs depend on the seat preference.

Drivers Seat – 2 passengers next to the driver Rs1300
Middle Seats – 4 passengers Rs1300
Last Seats – 4 passengers Rs.1000

Tempo Traveler- This is the most comfortable vehicle to opt when you are trying to reach Leh in a single day.
Per seat - Rs1500
Note : - Return from Leh can be cheaper as most ppl take the Srinagar highway to go back so please bargain for the costs, we got a return Rs500 cheaper so we paid Rs1000 coming back to Manali

Leh May 20 – 10:00pm arrivalThe tempo left Manali at 2:30am and we reached Leh at 10:00pm. Though it was absolutely tiring and crazy but it was the most scenic journey that I have undertaken. Roads we being made and snow was being freshly cut. Not many ppl were travelling during May end, so we got a raw treatment by the roads.
It was like nature is being ironic about the place. We saw Snow ……. ICE Sheets ……& more Snow for the 15 hrs and barren landscape for the next 5 hrs with a river Chandra & Bhaaga flowing next. Its like being closest to heaven.
BRO ---- These guys’ rock folks………I carried about 20 packs of cookies and chips to give away. As “Mountaingirl” advised I did carry – Beedi packs as well and trust me it was fun seeing them catching the packs with joy. They are working in hostile conditions to pav way for us. The least we can do is, get them some food or smokes.


You will find hilarious road signs like: Cheer At Home Not Road, Be Slow On My Curves, Darling I Love You But Not So Fast, Enjoy My Curves Don’t Test Them, etc…… But my fav
DON’T BE GAMA IN THE LAND OF LAMA!!
IF YOU SLEEP YOUR FAMILY WILL WEEP!!

As we reached at 10:00pm, we took a taxi Rs100 for the fort road. We checked in to the accommodation the tout took us (me being unwell) - Hotel Sidharth. On the last day I was breaking hell on the Manager as he asked us to vacate the place for a new group which booked them recently. SO please make sure you mention your days of stay when you are check in.
Room tarrif – Rs 300 (good condition)
You can get local guest house rooms with the same price tag at Changspa (close to shanti stupa) which is another good place after Fort road. Both are equi-distant from the Leh market.

Shanti Stupa, Leh Palace, Market Place Leh May 21 – 11:30 am While you hike up for Leh palace or Shanti Stupa make sure you have water with you, as you know the oxygen percentage is less at that altitude water gives some oxygen & makes you feel better. The wind is chilly and the sun is harsh PLEASE use your sunscreen liberally.

I used a Nivea SPF 60 & I still got a heavy tan  So make sure you keep re-applying it every 4-5 hours.
Shanti Stupa has about a 1000stairs to climb before you reach & the Leh palace too has a steep hike. Be careful if you have kids or other funny beings with you it can be quite dangerous.
***We found that some travel agents help you finding fellow travelers for a taxi share. They have pin up boards outside the shops which state something like “2 fellow travelers needed for Lamayuru” or Pangong on May 28 etc…. so the costs cut down further from the rates given by Taxi union.

Alchi, Lamayuru, Likir Gompa May 22 – 8:00 am departure Pvt taxiAlchi Gompa dates back to the year 1000 AD and was built by the Translator, Rinchen Zangpo. Situated 67 kms away in a silent valley.
Lamayuru is approximately 127 km to the west of Leh. The monastery is made up of a number of shrines and also has a very rich collection of thankas and magnificent wall paintings.
Caution: BAD food though
Likir Gompa: The name Likir means "The Naga - Encircled". The reason behind this naming of Likir Gompa of Ladakh is that it stands surrounded by the bodies of the two great serpent spirits, the Naga-rajas, Nanda and Taksako. The monastery is situated at a distance of approximately 62 km to the west of Leh town. Beautiful painted walls & ancient books worth having a look & take picture of these conserved artifacts.
Taxi fare – Rs 2200 (4 ppl shared  )

Pangong Tso May 22– World’s highest salt water lake at an altitude of about 4500m
Awestruck!! We kept looking at the beauty of this lake. A total of 42 kms only one-third of the lake is in India and the rest is in Tibet(China)
On your way you will find Yak & Horses grazing untamed, so please save your card space for some pics.
Taxi fare – Rs 5000 (4 ppl shared)

Shey Hemis and Thiksey monasteries May 23 – 12:00pmThanks to Mountain girl, we did not plan to do Nubra valley. Some of our travel friends that we made in Leh told us that they felt that they wasted a few thousand bucks visiting Nubra valley. I AM NOT discouraging any reader, but we were to a budget travel and we could not afford to spend extra for average stuff.
• Visited the Magnetic point, Indus & Zanskar river Sangam
Magnetic point is nothing great, if not told you will not even come to know its existence.
Indus & Zanskar sangam is cool, you can see the muddy Zanskar meeting the clean green Indus & becoming Indus completely.
• Shey Hemis and Thiksey
Shey Palace, mini potala like Monastery in Ladakh i.e. Thiksey Monastery which also enshrines the most beautiful statue of Maitrey Buddha and later the largest and the richest monastery in Ladakh i.e. Hemis Monastery.

Left Leh May 24 – 4:00am Tempo travelerFare- Rs1000 (As mentioned before we got it Rs500 bucks off)
You need to go back to the same place where the cab or the traveler drops you. There always is a vehicle ready to leave between 2:30 am to 3:00am. You can pay for the seat and board it without any prior booking. You can also get cabs from the same point.
We started back for Manali another long 19 hour journey. But this time we had 5 guys full of enthu for company. We sang songs like we were competing for Indian idol ……. lol because we were to idle……

Manali May 24 – 9:00pm reached Manali
We checked in and fell dead!!! The trip had exhausted us, but the beauty had enticed.

Manali May 25 – 12:00pm Vashist Temple
We woke up in the morning took a nice HOT shower……and checked out at 12:00pm. We asked the guest house guy to keep our back packs as we wanted to collect them on our way back from Vashist. We had our coach booked for 5:00pm so we had time in hand.
Vashist has really hot water springs and like most temples garbage surroundings. Manali and above are polybag free zones and the visitors are the first ones to dump polybags around.
Guys I want to use this forum and tell you that it’s the easy to roll down the window and throw trash out. But trust me I have been practicing not to treat the world as a trash bin and it has been EASIER. Not everyone can be a part of big revolutions, but everyone can start a big revolution the day the wake up.
Manali May 25 – Departure at 5:00pm to Delhi
Delhi May 26 – 6:00am Connaught Place
Learnings
• Carry a Lip Balm it a MUST & pack of Glucose-D, it helps at high altitude
• If you do not have prior bookings like us, please book & close as and when you get first chance ( eg. Guest house, transportation night halts etc.) Do not wait for more than couple of hours to decide otherwise someone else will fill for you.
• Avomine or Diamox is a must – Please understand it not necessary that you will be caught in AMS. However you sure will have fellow passengers struck with AMS & can get you in trouble. I kept distributing it to everyone around and had a vomit free travel. To me AMS was a bleeding nose a few times but that’s it. So esp. people on a 5 to 7 day trips will have some symptoms.
• Bless my pack of wet wipes……..for any travel in the mountains they are a must. If you are a freak like me then also carry a hand sanitizer. Trust me you will think of me every time you use them specially before your meals
• Please talk politely……….I am from Delhi and met many (metro residents with air clouds) who really think the world is on their beck and call. Face it – THAT’S NOT THE CASE
• Socks – they keep you warm the more the better
• A Blanket & Sunglasses– not matter wat you bag has………you cannot miss a blanket or atleast buy one
• Charge your phone camera where ever you get a chance. If you are on road from Manali - Leh then you would not have any signal till you reach Leh. So you might wanna give some rest to you phone during that time.
• A tip – if you want to visit Tsomoriri spare 2 days out, else you will miss a magnificent spot. Like we did!!

Great. Seems like this is the first trip report of this year. By the way you did not mention how much was the total expenditure on this budget trip??

How was the road condition?? Were they all broken with lot of water crossings??? I am eager to know this. Thanks.

nice short & crisp travelogue Errorinu.
btw you dint mention what was ur per head final expenditure.
Can the return be faster if one comes back via Srinagar?

Thanks guys!! The roads indeed were bad, but as IM & other people say that the best season is June onwards so i believe roads will be mend by then. I think we played a bit too RUGGED!!

The expenditure per head for 8 days on a triple sharing was Rs11000 with decent accommodation (keeping in mind that i was unwell, we could not stay in cheapest options) no dorms, and good meals.

If you are a bunch of guys, it can be cheaper.

Srinagar way is a lot better & advisable on the way back.Had we not booked our return from Manali, we would have taken the Srinagar way back.

Nice writeup , thanx.

Thanks for your trip report & the tips.

Ronak.

Thanks for this write up..!

Hi Errorinu (BTW where did you think of this nick ? Sarchu ? )

This was one of the best travelogues for the Manali-Leh Road Trip - Short, Sharp, Well Written.
You could easiily become a travel writer. The other good one was also by a lady, Natasha Chandra.
Thanks for writing, and for all the tips.

I will be driving to Leh from Delhi on 23rd of August for a 10 Day trip. I am still not sure what the situation in Kashmir would be because i really want to come back that way.

You and Natasha Chandra Arya have one thing in common. You both really regret not making it to Tso-Moriri. I'll make sure i get there and don't have the same regret when i get back.

BTW any other people heading towards Leh from Delhi around 23rd Aug do get in touch. I would be travelling with a friend around that time.

Styler

Godji ...I never thought of HIM/HER/IT like that!! :thumbsup

BTW any other people heading towards Leh from Delhi around 23rd Aug do get in touch. I would be travelling with a friend around that time.

Styler[/QUOTE]

Hi Styler,

I am also travelling from Delhi to Leh around the same period. However, I have already booked the bus ticket from Delhi-Manali-Leh. I am leaving Delhi on 22nd evening to Manali. We are likely to cross path in Leh.

Yeo CM

Thanks everyone, i wrote for everyone so it had to be crisp and to the point. I am happy to know it is of help.

That was a very good, Point on Trip Log ...
Good going, you enjoyed this trip ..... Why dont you share some pictures with us ...

I dont know how to post pictures on a thread
Its wiered i tried one and it was out in open...... lol so i not sure how to upload for a particular thread.

Its very Simple,

Step One:
You can click on attachment and upload it

Or You can upload it to a remote host

Step Two: Just type ( [ i m g ] urloftheimage.com/abc.jpg [ / i m g ]

I have added space between it ... please type it without the space.

Can you please your rough iternary and mode of transport please ?

thanks