Delhi- Leh- Srinagar- Pathankot - Delhi August 16- 29, 2009

Guys,

I am planning a 14 day trip to the Himalayas in August 09 on my Royal Enfield Thuderbird. The route identified is Delhi- Manali- Darhca- Sarchu- Leh- khardungla- Pangong Tso- Kargil- Drass - Srinagar- Jammu- Pathankot and back.

Though I have been a regular rider and have taken my Enfield to long distances- like Delhi-Mumbai-Goa and even in hills (Uttaranchal and Himachal); I have never been to Leh and this would be my first visit to that place on my Enfield.

My riding buddy for this trip wants to take his Pulsar 220. He is not a regular biker and has hardly done longer trips. I doubt how he(physical health) and his bike would behave during the trip. Since Pulsar 220 is a new bike and spares can be an issue please suggest how should I go about this.

Is it advisable for 2 individuals(on two different bikes makes) to do this alone..


Please HELP and advice!!!

Diwakar

Route : Delhi- Manali- Darhca- Sarchu- Leh- khardungla- Pangong Tso- Kargil- Drass - Srinagar- Jammu- Pathankot and back is perfectly fine

As for your friends health or your health ... please have Diamox for AMS, you may suffer from Dehydration so drink plenty of water.

As for spares, take clutch cable, accelarator cable, spare head lamp, puncture kit and chain lock [ Min requirement ]

Read this : High Altitude Riding | Info on Ladakh Riding


We might meet up in Leh by the way as I would be riding to Leh once again for the third time this year

Insha'Allah will meet in Leh .....

Hi Diwakar,

Why do you have two different posts asking the same thing

One in Ladakh and Zanskar

Delhi- Leh- Srinagar- Pathankot - Delhi August 16- 29, 2009

and the other in Jammu and Kashmir

Delhi- Leh- Srinagar- Pathankot - Delhi August 16- 29, 2009


This is so very confusing !!!

Hey, I am new to the site and to be doubly sure of the responses I posted it across both J&K and Zansar - Ladakh threads..

Fiayaz: There is a change in the route plan, we would stop at Chandigarh as we are only leaving Delhi post noon. Would it be a good idea to ride from Chandigarh to Keylong directly and not stop at Manali. How much time would it take to do that?? We can leave Chandigarh really early in the morning lets say at 4.

it will be a little hard I believe....chandigarh to manali will take you around 7 hours...and manali to keylong will take you another 5 hours considering the traffic uptill rohtang...a better plan would be to take a stop over at manali...and start fresh next morning

Hi Diwakar,

By chance, I am doing the same route alone from 16-29 Aug.

I'll flying into Delhi on 15 Aug, pick up bike the next morning and take off around noon for Chandigarh and plan to stay a night there. If my rental thing goes as plan, I should be riding a bull. Maybe we can ride together. I have tried the Manali-Leh route 4 years back but didn't make it all the way because of bike problem.

Chandigarh to Keylong in one day is a bit tough. I rather arrive earlier at Vashisht (after Manali), have bike checked and serviced. Have a good night rest there and start early next morning before traffic picks up. This's my plan.

Diwakar: Wise of you to stay at CHD ... generally from Delhi to Manali would be 15 - 18 hours depending on conditions... You can be a bit quick but then better to enjoy the scenary.

From CHD - Manali would be 300+ kms
You would take a minimum of 10 hours, if you ask why : From CHD [Keeratput] all the way to Manali is moutain roads with all twists and turns. Roads are good so you would be able to cover the distance under 10 hours.

From Manali - Keylong you would need a minimum of 5 hours. Not less than that. Reason: Roads from Manali to Koksar are worst than ever, from Koksar to Keylong its the same as it always was.
You cannot do beyond 30kmph average speed (almost 90%)

My suggestion would be to stop at Manali and leave the next day.

Hawkeye: It would be nice to ride together ... u may get in touch with me at joshi.diwakar@gmail.com and we will try to fix up something.. if you are leaving Delhi after 14 we can meet at Manali/some other place or plan something like that ...

Faiyaz and Harshal:

Thank you so very much for your suggestions...these are really helpful to plan better...Fortunately, we now are three riders from Delhi(one more is expected to join). I have again changed the itinerary a bit keeping in mind the constraints of hill and long distance driving.


August 14: Delhi- Bilaspur
August 15- Bilaspur- Manali
August 16- Manali (bike check) –JIspa
August 17- Darch – Sarchu or Pang
August 18- Sarchu or Pang - Leh
August 19- Leh (city tour & permits)
August 20- Leh - Khardungla – Nubra Valley (Hunder / Panemik)
August 21- Nubra Valley- Leh
August 22- Leh - Pangong Tso
August 23- Pangong Tso- Leh (Bike Check/Servicing- Rest)
August 24- Leh - Lamayuru
August 25- Lamayuru- Drass(via ZoZila pass- Difficult terrain)
August 26- Drass- Srinagar
August 27- Srinagar
August 28- Srinagar- Pathankot
August 29- Pathankot- Delhi
August 30/ August 31( Sunday & Monday )- 2 extra days just in case..


Do you think this looks better now?? Suggestions are welcome!!!!

Diwakar, I would be flyin down to Bangalore for Rakhi and be back on 18th.... Send me your contact details to faiyazsultan[at]adrenalinerider[dot]com

Hi everyone,

I completed the journey last Friday; it was an awesome experience. Fortunately had no breakdowns and AMS issues.

Thanks for the help! Hope to catch up with you some time.

Diwakar

Nice to know that Diwakar, unfortunate that we could not catch up on the way. Worst, my cell phone was all bonked up thanks to rain and my waterproof bag which was socking all water

Share you experience, would love to know more