All About Ladakh

himadventures

Best Vehicle: TATA SUMO and TOYOTA QUALIS ( Costlier than SUMO)
Being a "W" tourist-do not deal with taxi stand people.
If you do not have any Indian friend- prepare yourself for 'good try day'.
It should be in budget as you mentioned but season and oil prices keep on changing the scene.

Ulitimately it comes to 'at the spot' booking.
Rest MOUNTAIN GIRL had well wrriten and well corrected about BINDI.
You wrote a great piece !

Jeroen

Useful posting, Mountaingirl! Ladakh is a fantastic area to visit, I really felt priviliged to be there last summer. I wrote my own travelogue about it; see the August 5 entry at www.travelpod.com/members/jeroen.

My additions to the above:

Flying
Mind that hand luggage (except the bare bare minimum) is not allowed on flights to/from Jammu & Kashmir, which includes Leh. So if you make sure you only are clutching your book and camera you'll be through baggage check much quicker.

Note that the Jet Airways office in Leh does not accept credit cards, cash rupees only. There are two ATMs in town but last summer both were out of order for a while, so be sure to take spare cash, or purchase the return flight beforehand.

By Land
Taking a jeep is indeed more comfortable, and is more flexible too - you can stop at any time for high-altitude peeing.
I heard many people who came by bus from Manali got ripped off at the Sarchu tent camps; the buses drop foreigners off at crap, smelly tent camps that are far from the others and that charge 300rs; we slept at the very comfy parachure tents for 30rs, I remember, with plenty of thick blankets to keep you warm. If you're in a jeep you can commandeer it to the camp you want, yourself.
In Sarchu, ask to be taken to the parachute tents just beyond the bridge and the checkpoint, they seemed to be the best.
I actually prefer Pang camp - it's at a lower altitude and surrounded by hills, so it's not so cold and windy at night. Only parachute-style tents here. The downside is the absence of any real toilets - the rocky plain behind it is strewn with shit. Surely they can do something about this...
Staying in Pang also allows you to visit Hemis monastery as well as a few others on the way to Leh on day 3 from Manali, saving you a daytrip later on. Note that due to taxi unions, often only J&K jeeps are allowed to stop off at sights off the main road, not Manali jeeps.
To avoid altitude problems eat lots of garlic, like the locals! Soup, pills, the whole thing, whatever. It helped me - I had no problems.

Spiti valley
If you have the time, I highly recommend you travel to Ladakh via the Kinnaur and Spiti valleys (see the July 17 entry of my travelogue; URL above). These lie one valley east of the usual Shimla - Manali route, and are relatively little visited. If using buses, you'll need at least a week between Shimla and Leh to do the route justice. It's the most awesome landscape I've seen, beating Ladakh and Tibet. I'll do a seperate post on how to tackle this soon.

Money
The SBI ATM only can give you a limited amount of rupees; the J&K bank ATM next to the liquor store has a higher limit per transaction.

Other things
In the last days of August, some Australians had organised the first Ladakh music festival, and it was a lot of fun. I don't know if it will be done next year.

__________________
'To see the world in a grain of sand; and heaven in a wild flower; to hold infinity in the palm of your hand; and eternity in an hour'

himadventures

Marvelous !
You make ladakh more beautiful

Dr Funkenstein

As there's a few threads about the Manali-Leh road opening etc at the moment, I thought it might be a good time to give this excellent thread a well-deserved BUMP! back up to the top of the boards.

__________________
Out There Somewhere : My Travel Blog.

AvidTrekker

The Army endeavours to keep this road open for 365 days. It gets closed during the heavy snowfall days only. Kinnaur district on the way is equally beautiful and green.

__________________
The Universe is an ellipsoid?... or a Spheroid?? If the sphere smiles... it becomes an ellipse. This IS Creation.

fnm500

It is clear that Ladakh becomes very dear to everyone's heart when one experiences it..

The best way to see and experience Ladakh is to do it on foot!Trek it!Use Ladakhi horsemen and horses!That has been the traditional mode of travel in Ladakh for centuries and will put you in perfect harmony with the land, its people, spirit and culture..I cringe everytime I see or hear of people advertising travelling by those gaz guzzling Tata Sumos and Toyota Qualis..The Govt of India is building massive roads into those mountains, destroying the natural beauty of those mountains and the purity of the air, the tranquility and peace..the very attributes one goes there to find in the first place..

Bus travel might still be a better option..the hardships you encounter will be your gift to the future generations of travellers & trekkers and to the Ladakhis themselves..

Thanks!

A fellow Ladakh lover..

Tomás

awesome info ... thanx

__________________
Tomás
www.headjammers.com

cathode

i am thinking of riding to leh this summer!

Lovemax

Do ride.... its a biker dream afterall.
FreeBirD

Lovemax

Find the pics of my last journey to leh, when darcha bridge was down and small write up at
http://www.geocities.com/livin_like_bird

My leh album at :http://photos.yahoo.com/livin_like_bird

fotowallah

From what I have read about the history of Ladakh, the monasteries own almost all of the land in Ladakh. This has traditionally been the case. They depend on local agriculturalists/farmers to farm the land. Therefore, the monasteries have a lot of wealth in terms of real estate, but cash flow is a problem for them.

skell

Is it possible to rent horses to ride in Ladakh? Has anyone done it? That's my preferred way of 'trekking'.

rickshawwallah

It's not the usual mode of travel for foreigners, but we did arrange riding horses for a couple of groups. Comfortable saddles can be hard to come by, so be sure to inquire about them.

skell

Thanks Rickshawwallah. I have more than a year before I go, but one can't start thinking/dreaming about it too early!

natasha chanda acharya

I am posting here rather than starting a new thread so all of you can help if you can.

if I hire a vehicle from Shimla, can I take the same vehicle to go around lamyuru, nubra, pangong, and tso moriri?? Can I go to any of these in the same vehicle. Which are the places out of the above where only Leh vehicles are allowed.

For all the above places, do I have to make reservations for accomodation, or I can just land there and check in. (Going in the first week of August.)

I have read through all of this section on Ladakh and Zanskar and have found answers to most of my questions, thanks to all you wonderful guys. I do have a few more, but let me clarify these first.

I must share with all of you, specially ones doing the trip this year, I have gone through all the maps recommended on IM, all the links that people have posted, and I have to say.... the best map, by far, is the 3 feet by 3 feet folded map of Jammu and Kashmir that was issued with the latest Outlook Traveller. It has a 1 feet by 1 feet section devoted entirely to Laddakh. and another 1' by 1' on Jammu, and 2' by 2' for srinagar. Very detailed and very beautiful. So, everyone, just go and pick up a copy of the latest Outlook Traveller.