Ladakh, my next trip

Serena

I am planning my trip to Ladakh for this summer (presumably all the month of August). Now is only a dream but……
I have read all the threads about going there and everything… We (me and my husband) don’t want to make a real trek, just some short walk where possible (e.g. Matho-Stakna) and enjoy staying there, panoramas, gompas, people and nature. So , if someone as some suggestion...
But…….some doubts still flash across my mind:
• I’ve never used “Micropur” or stuff like this while in India in my trips, now is it wise to have a purification system with me?
• Is it possible to find taxis outside Leh? I mean, if we decide to do only “one way” trip from one point to another without going back (Leh to Diskit or Hunder) is it possible to find a taxi there?
My itinerary:
• flight to Leh
• first week strolling around and visit : Pyhang/Spituk (is it possible to do the 16 km from Leh by mountainbike?) – Stok (the same if it’s possible) – Hemis (take the bus then walk back passing through Stakna and Matho , return bus to Leh) – Tikse (take the bus then walk back passing through Shey, return bus to Leh)
• bus to Sapsul (or Alchi) : my guide says that is possible to make day trek to Alchi and Likir (2 days)
• bus to Lamayuru: visit the gompa, stay overnight.
• visit Mulbekh and back to Lamayuru.
• back to Leh.
• Nubra Valley (Diskit or Sumur?): if its possible I prefer to make it by bus and spend 2 days around.
• back to Leh.
• Leh – Manali (2 days)
• Manali – Shimla (3 days)
• Shimla – Delhi and back home (trying to arrive in Delhi day before departure, want to spend all my days enjoying Ladakh!!)

Don’t know if I could be able to fit also 2 days at Tso Moriri , I prefer Nubra Valley and don’t want to rush….If I have to choose probably I will skip the stop in Manali…. Next time I will have plenty of times only for Himachal!! What do you think? Is my itinerary doable?

All you trekking lovers (and Ladakh lovers) help a newbie (to this region) to fall in love with it…please!

(More questions will come soon.)

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SHIMLA

I cannot comment on the Ladakh bit, but three days for Manali AND Shimla are too few ! Its better you spend them at Manali itself and head directly to Delhi. Save Shimla for your next trip, when you plan to devote more time to H.P.; and hopefully, in better season too.

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Serena

Thank you Shimla! You are right! In fact my first doubt was between Himachal and Ladakh, but having my holidays in August I definitely choose Ladakh!
Hopefully some day I will be able to go without weather worries!

SHIMLA

You're welcome, Serena !

Ladakh is certainly the better choice for August. Shimla is best visited from October to December and March-mid April. Its worth spending a week in Shimla alone.

Yogesh Sarkar

For starters as Shimla said, forget about visiting Shimla this time. In any case after spending time in Ladakh and Manali, Shimla won’t impress you much!

Don’t know if it would be possible to visit Phyang on a mountain bike, haven’t visited that place as of yet. But from what I gathered from my last visit, I guess you can do that if you acclimatize and have done high altitude cycling.

As far as Nubra valley goes, on my last visit I had spent two nights in Diskit, but after visiting Hunder I kicked my self for not staying there. My 2cents spend the night at Hunder.

Regarding trekking and transportation, other members will be in a better position to guide you.

Wish you a pleasant visit

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Balmandir

You'll have a great time in Ladakh, it is a wonderful place. I can't answer all your questions, but these things might help; bear in mind my comment come from a trip in June a couple years ago.

- You won't need a water purification system, except whe trekking, but for all the effort involved, you could get away with a small bottle of iodine tablets and treat the water as you need it. Otherwise bottled water is available virtually in all the small villages. If not you can always get boiled water or tea.

-Don't rely on catching taxi's outside Leh, they are usually already booked by tour groups. We tried it when getting around between Likir, Saspool, Alchi and Lamayuru but found it impossible to get one and ended up hitchhiking between places. However we did get lucky returning from Lamayuru, a taxi with tourguide had dropped off a tour group who were departing for a trek, and didn't mind giving us a lift back to Leh.

- Saspool is interesting, it has some beautifully painted caves in the hills nearby. They are not easily accesible, and I don't believe they are often mentioned in guidbooks. There is also a small monastery and ruined fort (it think) The Hotel Duke is a good place to stay, with a nice view of Achi across the Indus (see my gallery). You must try the cheese omlette. There restaurant is pretty much the only game in town, other than a couple of roadside tea stalls. Bear in mind it is a very long walk to Alchi from here, and it's hard to get a lift to Alchi because only tourists go there and they never stop to pick up people.

- You've set aside a fair bit of time for Leh, which is good as there is lots to do in the valley itself, many places to walk around and explore.

I hope this helps.

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Serena

@Yogesh, thank you for Hunder suggestion, I'll bear it in mind!

Balmandir, I've read something about Sapsul: did you stay there at Hotel Duke? It's easy from here to go to Alchi and Likir?
Oh, I will definitely try the cheese omlet!!

Ciao!

Balmandir

Yes Serena, my wife and I stayed at hotel Duke for a few days, Saspool is village strung out along the highway—suprisingly quite though. The hotel duke is small but the rooms are large and clean. Saspool is located across the river from Alchi, but you need to travel further down the road West, cross a bridge and then backtrack east to get to Alchi. If you were going to walk, there and back, plus allow time for the awesome murals at Alchi I would plan the better part of a day. If you were able to drive it would only be a couple hours in total assuming you spent an hour at Alchi. We hitched a ride in a truck, I offered the driver 20 rs and he only accepted 10rs. I was around 30 minutes. If you are traveling on towards Lamayuru or Likir after Alchi, I would recomend staying here on the main highway as you chances of finding onward transpor is far higher.

Likir is off the main highway a 30 minute walk (carrying backpacks), we stayed at the family-run Norbo Guesthouse, very simple, no running water, everyone dines together in the charmingly traditional ladakhi kitchen. To drive from the Likir turnoff @ the highway to Saspool is only 30-40 minutes. We walked part way and hitched a ride on a cargo truck for the remainder. Likir is also a beautiful village that follows a river up an Indus river tributary valley. The monastery is near the top of the valley. It takes nearly an hour to walk from the lower part of the village to the monastery. So if you were going to walk directly from the highway to the monastery, it would take about 1.5 hours. Well worth the effort, I would alow a full day at least to enjoy the village & monastery both.

Cheers,
Balmandir

Serena

Wonderful!
Thank you Balmandir.

Ciao.