advice needed for srinagar and leh trip

fang

dear all,
would need your advice on whether this itinerary is too rushed? a friend commented that i would be travelling from 1 place to another without time to rest and visit the places...

but from the pictures i see, rangdun and padum seem the place to visit. given my time constraints, will i be doing a great disservice to all the places i visit?

since i do not want to miss the stretch between leh to manali by road, I wanted to travel to leh because i heard that stretch of road is the most beautiful stretch. but then srinagar to leh seems appealing as well, so i squeezed that in...now afraid i cram my itinerary too much and end up not seeing anything.

i have not planned transport yet, intend to arrive and look for shared taxis. is there any part that i should miss?

May 31: Delhi-srinagar ( is the afternoon enough for houseboat and gardens?)
June 1: Srinagar-Sonmarg-Drass –Kargil
June 2: Kargil-Rangdum
June 3: Rangdum-Padum
June 4: Padum
June 5: Padum-Rangdum
June 6: Rangdum-Kargil
June 7: Kargil - Lamayuru (visit the monastery) - Nimmu/Alchi
June 8: River rafting in Zanskar River and then reach Leh by evening.
June 9: Arrange Permits and visit local monasteries
June 10: Leave for Pangong
June 11: Return to Leh
June 12: Leave for Nubra
June 13: Return to Leh
June 14: Leh-Sarchu
June 15: Sarchu-Manali
June 16: Manali-Delhi (evening)
June 18: flying out of Delhi

thanks for your advice.

vistet

Both roads are great , in different ways : the Srinagar-Leh is more of a cultural ride , Manali-Leh wild and rugged.

The big advantage of arriving in Leh from Srinagar lies in a more gradual acclimatization to altitude. ( More on this : Chilling in Kargil) You will lose most of that comfort factor in this itinerary though : I think Rangdum is some five hundred meters higher than Leh.

I would also make the trip to Nubra first , and Pangong Tso later : Pangong Tso is not within safe ascent guide lines, so the more acclimatization time you can get around three thousand plus , the better.

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FaiyazSultan

May 31: Delhi-srinagar ( is the afternoon enough for houseboat and gardens?)

Delhi to Srinagar would take hell loads of time. If you leave Delhi on 30th Night, you would reach Jammu by evening 6pm atmost. This depends on mode of your travel. Roads are amazing and by the time you reach Srinagar its going to be late night.
If you take a flight to Srinagar, then you would have ample amount of time to spend on a house boat. And move around town.


June 1: Srinagar-Sonmarg-Drass –Kargil


Srinagar - Kargil : This can be done without any issues in a days time. The roads are amazing and you would want to stop over at every corner to click a picture. This strech is good.


June 2-6: Kargil-Rangdum - Padum - Kargil

You are spending a little too much time on this strech but its all worth the time. Landscape is once again amazing but a little too much time spend I would say.

June 7: Kargil - Lamayuru (visit the monastery) - Nimmu/Alchi

Neat, this is wonderful

June 8: River rafting in Zanskar River and then reach Leh by evening.

I am not sure if Rafting has started or not but once again this is a perfect day

June 9: Arrange Permits and visit local monasteries

You would enjoy every moment of this one.

June 10: Leave for Pangong

You can leave for Pangong & Tsumoori and be back on the next day to Leh

June 12: Leave for Nubra

Plenty of time here

June 13: Return to Leh
June 14: Leh-Sarchu

I would rather suggest you to stop by at Pang, simply because you would get little bit extra with few more people around.

June 15: Sarchu-Manali

This is once again an amazing strech and you would love every moment of it

June 16: Manali-Delhi (evening)

Leave Manali early so that you can reach Delhi by night. Its around 15 - 18 hours drive

June 18: flying out of Delhi

Amazing plan

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fang

so the whole stretch is not too crammed?? i would still have time to really feel the places? i m very worried that i wont see anything being so ambitious. but this has been my dream trip.

FaiyazSultan

Fang: Your Trips complete and you have enough time to enjoy every bit of it
You need not worry about wasting time here. Illternary is perfect. Except for Delhi - Srinagar.

fang

i am just afraid i will end up travelling on bus or taxi and never enjoy the place itself. so all is fine? i am flying from delhi to srinagar on 31st, not

FaiyazSultan

If you have time, I would suggest you to take the road. But you dont, advisable to take arial route.

vzzzbx

To me it seems very cramped, but this differs from person to person. When I saw your schedule, I thought you'll be speeding off from one location / activity to the next without enjoying a place. Having a look around, relaxing a bit from the travel, soak up the atmosphere of the place, enjoy being there.

fang

hi vzzzbx,
this was what my friend told me, suggesting 1 day travel, 1 day rest, but pandum and Rangdum seems like places not to be missed. that's why was hoping for experts who went the entire route to comment whether this would turn out to be a trip that is just on the road, and no chance to stop and look.

sharninder

Nothing wrong with your itenerary as such but you might want to keep some time for Leh itself too. Most travellers argue that Leh city has lost its charm and that the real deal is visiting pangong and other places but I think that Leh is still a charming old city blending the old with the new and moreover there are a bunch of really fantastic places to see around Leh. You can visit the shey palace, thiksey monestary and a couple of others too.

While going out of Leh to Manali, try and see if you can include tso morir / tso kar in your itenerary. The vehicle you'll be in will probably need to carry extra petrol/diesel but this would be a nice icing on the cake.

We went to Leh last year on our bikes and had a swell time. Do stop by my blog and let me know if I can be of any more help:

http://nomadicrider.com/travel/category/leh/

MAS

Hi Fang
If possible, spare some time to go through my blog. You may get some usefull informations from it for your journey.

http://triptoladakh.blogspot.com
MAS

Balvar

Dear Fang,

I have Just Reached Leh From Zanskar. I Have gone thru your iternary Seems to be ok. Seems ur Planning a Zanskar by Hiring a cab from Kargil. In that Case i am not Surei the Taxi Guy would stay back in Rangdum. Also The Bus service For Padamleaves after 4 days from Kargil, Check out these Nitty Griites before Leaving. Also in case of any Queries get back to me, i would be in Chandiagrh by 31st May.

fang

hi balvar,
i havent figured out how to go from kargil to rangdum or pandum, i was hoping for shared taxi....so you had your own transport? how long did you stay in zanskar?

Balvar

Well Shared Taxi is the Best option, U can Hire a Cab from Kargil Taxi Union. we Stayed there for three Days, give me day wud send u Pics & trip Account,

fang

dear all,
i have come back from the ladakh trip. didnt manage to go to zanskar valley becos the cost was too high. but enjoyed every moment of my trip. the gruelling bus rides, the taxi rides...and most importantly the scenery. thanks for all the advice given.

fang