Road conditions - latest reports HP/Ladakh

hello everyone,
i have a santro and was all set to leave for leh from Delhi on it
in first week of july. but i could not execute the trip due to some personal reasons. though i and a friend are thinking of rescheduling the trip to first week of september. we wish to returm to delhi via srinagar.
i would like to know that will the roads conditions during that time of the year allow us to make a trip like that.
any suggestion is welcomed.
thanks......

[QUOTE=Lucid;771258]you need booking for what ? if its chandra tal then you really need to understand this > "Chandratal has no guest houses/hotels etc. only tents", so no booking required.


Thanks Lucid,

This is our first trip so we don't know much about the hotels & tents over there.
Could you please advise us the availability

Also, Please suggest itienary:

Day 01 (12th August 2009) - New delhi to manali
Day 02: (13th August 2009) - Please suggest
Day 03: (14th August 2009) - please suggest
Day 04: (15th August 2009) - Overnight camp at Chandertaal
Day 05: (16th August 2009) - Chandertaal to manali

Thanks Anup,

We are planning to take car to Chandertaal...

Please suggest some good places over there which can visit within the below time frame...

Day 01 (12th August 2009) - New delhi to manali
Day 02: (13th August 2009) - Please suggest
Day 03: (14th August 2009) - please suggest
Day 04: (15th August 2009) - Overnight camp at Chandertaal
Day 05: (16th August 2009) - Chandertaal to manali

I hope you mean 'car' in a generic way. I am not aware of any car having made it to Chandratal; it's been only MUVs and 4X4 SUVs. And that's if they've been lucky!

@rock 83 >> You can spend 'Day 02: (13th August 2009)' 1 day in manali doing some sight seeing (naggar, solang nallah, vashisht) and head out early morning for chandratal.

And you can take a car there.. be it SUV or HATCHBACK/SEDAN i have 'seen' both.. parked outside chandratal, the road was dicey few years ago but now its traversal.

Have a good one.
CHEERS

Still waiting for some suggestions from the esteemed members.......

Polishing up the crystal ball...on September 6th you will have a light western breeeze on the Rothang La , and 2.4 centimeters of snow ... ;-)

Weather is unpredictable , increasingly so over the last years , but major disturbances are rare in early September.

High passes & plateaus can become frisky at practically any time : I went from +32 in Manali to a night with frost in Pang three days later about a month ago.

Do it in the opposite direction : no point in dealing with the 5000+ parts of the road in the beginning of the trip, if you are covering both Leh and Srinagar. Give yourself a chance to adjust better to altitude , and you´ll get more out of it.

Thanks for the the suggestions.
I will plan to start a bit early, by 20th august then. But could u let me know my chances of facing heavy rainfall during that time we during this time ?
waiting to hear from u.........
Cheers!

Ujjwal, finally, every trip has to be played by ear.
There is slim chance of meeting heavy rainfall toward the end of August, but who can say for sure?

It would, as Vistet has said, be wise to do the trip starting from the Srinagar side. Acclimatization is far better and gets done while 'on the job' as it were!
And after you're acclimatized, on the return juorney, you'll be able to thoroughly enjoy the Leh-Manali road which is one of the classic road trips of the world.

thanks Anup sir....
i will surely keep your's and viset's advice in mind.
as far as acclimatization is concerned, we wish to travel:
day1 - delhi
day2 - mandi
day3 - manali
day4 - keylong/darcha(if we get accommodation in darcha)
day5 - sarchu
day7 - leh
and so on........

u can see that we will be doing manali- leh stretch in 3 days with 2 night halts.
I have heard that spending the night at sarchu right after the night at manali is troublesome.
a nights halt at keylong/darcha, both being at 3400mts would give us a better chance to acclimatize before sarchu(4200 mts)

I would be carrying diamox with me, in case i face difficulties.
Sir, i would like to know your take on this.

Another thing i wanted to take your opinion on is that we wish to drive to khardungla and pangong so on our well maintained 2007 model santro. Would it be possible? How do we prepare our self and the vehicle for it. Khardungla, i have heard is open throughout the year due to its stratigic importance, what about pangong so?

Waiting for your reply....
Thanks

With a night at Keylong/Jispa/Darcha the chances of having a very bad night at Sarchu get reduced. Accommodation is easily available at Keylong (HPTDC hotel + tents) and tents (luxury tents with attached bath & WC) at Jispa. Avoid Hotel Ibex. They don't seem to want Indians!

You can also make an early start and reach Leh the same day, altogether avoiding the need to spend a night at Sarchu.

Taking Diamox is a recommended practice, half of a 250 mg tab morning and evening, to be started 24 hours before you hit high altitude. Must be after consultation with your doctor!
Drinking copious amounts of water helps too, while ascending to the high passes. No alcohol for the entire duration of getting acclimatized!

A Santro can do Khardung La and Pangong Tso, though for Pangong Tso there is a rather bad water crossing at Pagal Nallah. Changes each year but reports from this year are that it is not too bad. Crossing before about 1500 hrs is recommended; usually the water levels in these nallahs rise rapidly after that. Again, depends on the weather conditions. The taxi drivers at the Leh taxi stand can give you the latest updates. Do ask them.

A sump guard, if it can be fitted, is a helpful add on. Most of the cars doing these routes do not have any such retrofits. Careful driving is sufficient.

Thank you so much Anup sir. Your advice would certainly help us during the course of our trip.
U seem to have wide knowledge of the terrain.
I will surely intake ample of fluids and try my best to abstain from alcohol.
Please keep in touch. (ujjwalbakshi@gmail.com)
Regards.

Hi I did delhi-manali-leh pangong- batalic-kargil-srinagar-delhi road trip this year in may end.It was amazing. I am planning again a trip to the same places with addition to nubra and tsosomorri by 10th of september in my own SUV. anybody wanna join the trip ?

Well , I seemed to be wrong about the 2.4 centimeters of snow : Tribune now reports "hundreds" of vehicles stranded on both sides of the Rothang , nobody is allowed to pass beyond Marhi, and BRO has sett upp barriers in Koksa, Darcha & Sarchu as well, after heavy snows .

Kunzum La apparently also is out.

Thanks mate for your information. i checked up with locals at manali and sarchu. Its confirmed that road is closed for some time. i guess either i have to postpone my programme or else i have to go by air to leh.