All About Ladakh

vistet

At times , and high enough , it can get nippy...

Nothing like that in June , though . Rule of thumb 1.5 degrees for every 100 meters of altitude , add a few extra degrees for not being fully acclimatized.



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cutegaldiya

pls tell me how to how to reach leh from srinagar in short way...(i have short period). Is it better to go from srinagar or sonmarg?
2nd question is how i can return to delhi from leh...please tell me the shortest rout(not by air).

how many days min. it will take?
srinagar/sonmarg-leh-delhi(leh sight seen)

amarshah

What you can do is take a taxi from Srinagar to Leh either in one go approx 18hours or else with a stopover at Kargil. Alternatively if you take a bus it will stopover at Kargil. Sonmarg you will need to pass enroute to Leh from Srinagar. But do keep in mind AMS for direct no stop ride to Leh.

From Leh to Delhi the shortest route will be a direct taxi to Manali. They leave at 2pm and reach Manali by 5-6pm. There is a 6:30 local bus from Manali which will make you reach Delhi the next morning at 8am.

There are other msg on IM for figuring out your stay in Leh and must see places etc..

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Amar

Year 2008 Trips - http://amards14.googlepages.com/

vistet

Given a choice , and limited time , take the Srinagar-Leh road, and make a night stop in Kargil. You will feel better on arriving in Leh , going directly won´t give you more effective time in Leh.

cutegaldiya

thank u amarshah

amarshah

hey ppl,

Updated the blog for the leh trip along with pictures at

http://amards14.googlepages.com/lehtripmay2008

cheers

bones

I posted on here a while back and thought I'd give some feedback, as i just returned.

I had a great time. I was there at the end of June, and would say that early June (or even late May) would be the perfect time to go, as already a lot of snow had melted. Re temperature, I generally used one fleece at night (Tevas and T'shirts in the day), and pulled out a puffer jacket twice only. Weather was on the whole clear, but was overcast a couple of times and it rained in Nubra valley, so I guess that you get monsoon even in Ladakh.

Re guest houses, I stayed initially in Padma hotel - published rates are Rs 11,500 for a single, but I negotiated 800. Then the place filled up and the manager started to get arsey, so I walked 20 meters to the Yasmin, which cost only 400. OK, the rooms could do with a bit of a paint job and you sometimes need to ask for a bucket of hot water, but the garden's lovely, the manager (Prakash, from Darjeeling) is a great guy, and it's only 400/night.

Re acclimatising. I flew in (spectacular!) and had constant headaches and breathlessness for 5 days, so didn't bother trekking. You can get Diamox but I don't know how advisable it is to take it and go trekking.

Re stuff to do. I spent a cpl of days in Leh, and did a one-day taxi trip to the places nearby: Sheh, Thikse, Hemis, Stok (Rs 1550). I'd really recommend doing that and doing it with a guide, because you won't find guides at any of the monasteries, the monks speak very little English, and it's all a bit meaningless if you haven't got a clue what you're looking at. If you want to cut it down, I'd skip Sheh and Hemis but don't miss Thikse or Stok.

I went to Pangong Lake, which is absolutely beautiful, and a long but lovely drive. Definately spend the night there because otherwise it's way too gruelling a drive (5 hours each way). There's nothing to do when you get there, but that's half the joy of it. Very peaceful. Also, it's definately worth doing the extra 7 kms (i.e. the 5600 Rs trip, rather than the 5200 one). There are plenty of homestay options. Unless you're a birdwatcher, I'd recommend Pangong over Tso Moriri, because Moriri is half as far again, which IMHO is a long long way to see a lake.

I went to Lamayuru and Alchi, which was also stunning. And I regretted not spending the night in Lamayuru. I went by taxi (Rs 3300), but you can do it by local bus (though the roads are really quite hairy and you might not make it back in one piece...).

I also went to Nubra Valley (Rs 5500), which was a little diappointing. By that point I was a bit monsateried out, and had seen lots of Ladakhi scenery. The Valley is nice enough but nothing breathtaking. There are a dozen domesticated (not wild) camels that are quite cool, but so are camels in Rajasthan etc. The sand dunes are OK, but it's not the Sahara or Gobi... That said, I enjoyed spending the night in Hunder (Goba GH).

Various people have asked how to do 5 days in Ladakh. Often, they've been dismissed. But I think 5 days is fine if that's all you have. I'd recommend Day 1 on Leh, Day 2 going to Thikse and Stok, Days 3-4 going to/from Pangong Lake. If you had 1 or 2 more days, I'd recommend going to Lamayuru.

The first thing you should do when you get to Leh is to get your permits. You can't do this yourself - you have to go through an agent. I can recommend Feroz at Snowtop, on Fort road towards Padma GH. He charged me RS 150 for 7 days, which was half of what Padma GH wanted for the permit, without me even committing to do a trip with him. But he did everything he could to find me people to share the taxi rides with.

You don't need to worry about photocopies of your passport - the travel agents take care of that. Nor do you need passport photos. Just in case you have a diplomatic visa, note that you probably won't be able to get a permit to go to Pangong, Moriri or Nubra. If you have an Official visa or an XY visa, you should be OK but might need to go to the DC's office to smooth things over.

Re flying out, they say that you need to get to the airport 2 hours ahead, but I think that this is BS - it's a tiny airport, security checks are no worse than anywhere else, and 1 hour should be more than enough. Sit on the left side when going DEL-LEH and vice versa.

Re food in Leh, Tibetan Kitchen on Fort Road is very good (excellent "bottom-fried" chicken momos, good salads). La Terrace on the main bazaar does a wicked themthuk (hearty soup). Avoid pizza, esp. at Little Itealy. Fill up your water bottles with boiled water at the Dromza laundry, to save on plastic waste.

I hope that this is helpful!

shahronakm

Bones, Thanks for your tips on Leh - Ladakh.

Specially for that tip on boiling water @Dromza Laundry, really need to reduce plastic waste.

Ronak.

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pallavipd

Will it be comfortable for a 4-5 year old kid at Leh

amarshah

Pallavi if well acclimatized there should be no problems suggest checking with a doctor !

pallavipd

Anyone has taken their kids before...pls let me know your experience

jayad08

Take ur kid along if you plan to fly directly to Leh, or if you are taking the road and plan to cover in Keylong/Jispa - Leh in a day. If you plan to go by road then I would advice you to take a stoppage at Keylong(Tashi Deleg)/Jispa(IBEX),take 1-2 day rest and then cover the rest if the entire stretch in one day. Take bottled oxygen(u can get it at any chemist shop) and Diamox + lots of juice + water.
-Jayad

vistet

No one can guarantee that you will get past the tent camps in one go , that was how we wound up in Pang on my first Manali-Leh run , with an unconscious adult in our car and a baby that suddenly stopped crying in the next vehicle.Believe me , this is not a situation you want to experience.

Diamox dosage is the same as for adults , correlated to weight. There is no preparation for children , though, this is definitely something that has to be discussed with a good doc.

Oxygen available at every chemists ...? Really ?

Gargoyle

heyyy can aneone tell me...how safe id it for a girl to travel alone from srinagar to leh?????????

sam_thind

Hi Gargoyle
It depends Upon ur mode of travel.wthr u r moving by state transport bus or Taxi ( Shared or indipendent)or on bike.In either way its 100 % Safe..... I will advice u to move on bike coz its ultimate senec beauty on the way, sply in Sonmarg. U jas go to ma pics on the link http://picasaweb.google.com/maverick6669/LehTripPics n c the the rute from Sirinagr to Leh. All the best.