Leh: where to stay at end October (short stay)

jarman_ah · Sep 26th, 2004, 10:03

In what now (in retrospect) seems like a classic case of bad-planning, I booked a flight for us to see Leh, and to return twenty-four hours later (on the next Jet Airways flight). The thought of seeing the Himalayas was just too inviting! What's more, I did this for the end of October, not realising that it's already off-season up there. What's more, I didn't realise (but I do now!) that for that twenty-four hours we will have to take it VERY easy, owing to the altitude. So our Himalayan walks will probably be limited to a stroll around the outskirts of the village. The plane the next morning leaves at 7:30, which means that we can't afford the luxury of some place that isn't quickly accessible to tansport to the airport.

OK, with all that bad planning, can someone here suggest a smart hotel choice (budget) to make the most of this limited (but still exciting) opportunity? Somewhere that's actually open in the last week of October, somewhere close to the centre or to transport, somewhere where we can at least get a look at what everyone else goes there in summer to walk among. We don't need central heating -- the bed will do that job nicely.

Thanks for all suggestions (except those starting with "why on earth...")!

jarman_ah · Oct 5th, 2004, 14:51

If at first you don't succeed.....

jrhartley · Oct 12th, 2004, 22:11

Firstly, why don't you change your flight to stay for longer - its very easy with jet - just call them up and tell them you want to stay and extra day. there is a risk of the flights being cancelled due to low cloud (happened to me last week) so make sure its not going to connect with an international flight or you'll be screwed.

regarding accomodation, i stayed at padma - the old farm building is nice, but their water heater seems to be on the blink. oh, and they've got a guy working there who tells you one price when you arrive, and then tries to charge you another when you check out - claiming you mishead him when you arrived.

a lot of people were staying at the imperial at changspa and saying that it was very good - its open in winter, so it might be worth heading there. bear in mind that pretty much all the shops and most of the restaurants will be closed when you are there. regarding things to see, its worth going to thiksay gompa (around 18 km from leh) - get there around 12:30-1 ish for the prayer readings, they blow the horn on the roof at 1:45pm - 2pm after lunch. alchi is OK, but its a 2 hour drive, so not really an option for you. don't bother paying to go into the leh palace - its a building site which they charge you 100rs to look around, w-o-m. shanti stupa's a bit modern, but a good place to go to get some good panoramas of the surrounding mountains.

let me know if you need any further info - was there for a week 2 weeks ago. oh - and don't worry about the distance to the airport - its a 100-150 rs taxi fare and takes about 10 minutes from pretty much anywhere you chose to stay. you can arrange with taxis the day before to get to your hotel to pick you up. the flight is at 9am also, not 7:35 - they've changed to the winter timetable -

jarman_ah · Oct 13th, 2004, 05:33

Well, jrhartley, you are certainly a mine of information, and I am VERY pleased that you happened to notice this thread, which I had really given up on (having watched it sink gradually into the nether regions).

We're on a fourteen-day pass with Jet (which they actually allow you to use over fifteen days, interestingly enough), and when we bought this they told us that, while flights CAN be changed, a lot of money will change hands at the same time, all of it coming from my direction and heading towards their till. Moreover, we would have to take a day out of Varanasi to fit in our ongoing flights, which, of course, I am not eager to do. However, the change to the winter timetable (which piece of information Jet hasn't passed on to me) will mean an interesting new development which might just give us back a little bargaining power, since our return flight, as given to us by Jet said: Leh-Delhi 0735-0850, change; Delhi-Varanasi 1040-1150. So we had exactly 1 hour 50 minutes to make our connection. With the timetable from Leh now retarded by an hour and a half, that might be interesting......

Since nobody (until now!) had any suggestions re accommodation, we had decided that the Old Ladakh Guest House was probably the safest option, because all the guide books assured us that it would definitely be open, regardless of what time of year we turned up, whereas nearly everything else closed down mid-September. We haven't actually pre-booked anything, as we decided that the Old Ladakh probably wouldn't be full at end-October; now you have given us a couple of alternatives (Padma, but get the price fixed first -- maybe I'll pay him as we check in! -- and Imperial), for which many thanks. How would you see the Old Ladakh Guest House as comparing with these two.... or did you not notice this one while you were there?

I think we will be taking things VERY easy for the one day we have to sightsee -- everyone has mentioned to us (AFTER the bookings were made!) about the dangers of altitude-change, and I have even read that the most sensible course of action for the first day or two is to do nothing more strenuous than get to your hotel room and the bathroom! So, I don't think we'll tackle any hiking, but your suggestions of short drives sound like they might not be beyond the bounds of possibility. I have made note of all of these -- every word has now been pasted into my "Leh" page -- and you can be sure that when we do arrive, shivering, out of breath, with altitude-induced headaches -- we will be following your suggestions as if they were a road map. Thanks so much for replying (only four days before we abandoned this forum and hopped on the Qantas plane!).
Alan.

jrhartley · Oct 15th, 2004, 18:05

glad the info was helpful. i didn't notice the old ladakh guest house - i'm sure its fine though its worth checking on the status of their hot water and heating as the electricity frequently cuts in Leh (for up to days at a time) so its worth checking if they have any contingencies (generators or gas CH / geysers). Your flight to varanesi might have changed too with the winter timetable - I made a connection between Leh and Jodphur (at Delhi) in about 20 minutes!!! Tip - when checking into the flight from Leh - make sure you don't have any batteries or stuff they'll confiscate from your handluggage - this will only slow you down at Delhi as you wait to be reunited with it. I am told this is so people can't take photos as they fly over India's military installations in Ladakh.... as if Pakistan hasn't got better intelligence than fuzzy snapshots from a plane window!

jarman_ah · Oct 16th, 2004, 17:58

jrhartley, Jet Airways rang me yeasterday with some timetable changes, so I asked them about Leh (mindful of what you said); indeed, it did change to the time above, but now it's reverted to its original time!

Do they really confiscate camera batteries? To protect military secrets? If they saw my little camera... I'm not even sure it has a battery!

Reminds me of my trip to Egypt, where we were put up in an hotel directly opposite the military training grounds in Heliopolis. On every hotel window there was a sign saying "DO NOT TAKE PHOTOGRAPHS FROM THIS WINDOW". That was as far as the security went -- about as useful as if the New York mayor put a sign on the new Twin-Towers site building saying "Do not fly planes into this building".
Anyway, the sign DID encourage us to at least look out of the window at what was going on; I then understood why they didn't want photographs of the military people in training. They marched in a straight line very well, but every time there was a "left-wheel" or "right wheel" manouever, things fell apart quickly. We never saw them attempt an about face.....it might have been the highlight of our trip.

Later on we walked past the sentry at the front gate. He was immaculately turned out in a very smart uniform, shiny rifle held "just so", staring straight ahead with not even a movement of the eyes. Very impressive.... except that the fact that his fly was open tended to spoil the overall effect.

Ahhh, memories!

Sep 26th, 2004, 10:03	#1
jarman_ah Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Sydney, Australia Posts: 373	Leh: where to stay at end October (short stay) In what now (in retrospect) seems like a classic case of bad-planning, I booked a flight for us to see Leh, and to return twenty-four hours later (on the next Jet Airways flight). The thought of seeing the Himalayas was just too inviting! What's more, I did this for the end of October, not realising that it's already off-season up there. What's more, I didn't realise (but I do now!) that for that twenty-four hours we will have to take it VERY easy, owing to the altitude. So our Himalayan walks will probably be limited to a stroll around the outskirts of the village. The plane the next morning leaves at 7:30, which means that we can't afford the luxury of some place that isn't quickly accessible to tansport to the airport. OK, with all that bad planning, can someone here suggest a smart hotel choice (budget) to make the most of this limited (but still exciting) opportunity? Somewhere that's actually open in the last week of October, somewhere close to the centre or to transport, somewhere where we can at least get a look at what everyone else goes there in summer to walk among. We don't need central heating -- the bed will do that job nicely. Thanks for all suggestions (except those starting with "why on earth...")!

Oct 12th, 2004, 22:11	#3
jrhartley Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: France Posts: 14	Firstly, why don't you change your flight to stay for longer - its very easy with jet - just call them up and tell them you want to stay and extra day. there is a risk of the flights being cancelled due to low cloud (happened to me last week) so make sure its not going to connect with an international flight or you'll be screwed. regarding accomodation, i stayed at padma - the old farm building is nice, but their water heater seems to be on the blink. oh, and they've got a guy working there who tells you one price when you arrive, and then tries to charge you another when you check out - claiming you mishead him when you arrived. a lot of people were staying at the imperial at changspa and saying that it was very good - its open in winter, so it might be worth heading there. bear in mind that pretty much all the shops and most of the restaurants will be closed when you are there. regarding things to see, its worth going to thiksay gompa (around 18 km from leh) - get there around 12:30-1 ish for the prayer readings, they blow the horn on the roof at 1:45pm - 2pm after lunch. alchi is OK, but its a 2 hour drive, so not really an option for you. don't bother paying to go into the leh palace - its a building site which they charge you 100rs to look around, w-o-m. shanti stupa's a bit modern, but a good place to go to get some good panoramas of the surrounding mountains. let me know if you need any further info - was there for a week 2 weeks ago. oh - and don't worry about the distance to the airport - its a 100-150 rs taxi fare and takes about 10 minutes from pretty much anywhere you chose to stay. you can arrange with taxis the day before to get to your hotel to pick you up. the flight is at 9am also, not 7:35 - they've changed to the winter timetable - Last edited by jrhartley : Oct 12th, 2004 at 22:14. Reason: more info re: airport

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Oct 5th, 2004, 14:51	#2
jarman_ah Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Sydney, Australia Posts: 373	If at first you don't succeed.....

Oct 13th, 2004, 05:33	#4
jarman_ah Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Sydney, Australia Posts: 373	Well, jrhartley, you are certainly a mine of information, and I am VERY pleased that you happened to notice this thread, which I had really given up on (having watched it sink gradually into the nether regions). We're on a fourteen-day pass with Jet (which they actually allow you to use over fifteen days, interestingly enough), and when we bought this they told us that, while flights CAN be changed, a lot of money will change hands at the same time, all of it coming from my direction and heading towards their till. Moreover, we would have to take a day out of Varanasi to fit in our ongoing flights, which, of course, I am not eager to do. However, the change to the winter timetable (which piece of information Jet hasn't passed on to me) will mean an interesting new development which might just give us back a little bargaining power, since our return flight, as given to us by Jet said: Leh-Delhi 0735-0850, change; Delhi-Varanasi 1040-1150. So we had exactly 1 hour 50 minutes to make our connection. With the timetable from Leh now retarded by an hour and a half, that might be interesting...... Since nobody (until now!) had any suggestions re accommodation, we had decided that the Old Ladakh Guest House was probably the safest option, because all the guide books assured us that it would definitely be open, regardless of what time of year we turned up, whereas nearly everything else closed down mid-September. We haven't actually pre-booked anything, as we decided that the Old Ladakh probably wouldn't be full at end-October; now you have given us a couple of alternatives (Padma, but get the price fixed first -- maybe I'll pay him as we check in! -- and Imperial), for which many thanks. How would you see the Old Ladakh Guest House as comparing with these two.... or did you not notice this one while you were there? I think we will be taking things VERY easy for the one day we have to sightsee -- everyone has mentioned to us (AFTER the bookings were made!) about the dangers of altitude-change, and I have even read that the most sensible course of action for the first day or two is to do nothing more strenuous than get to your hotel room and the bathroom! So, I don't think we'll tackle any hiking, but your suggestions of short drives sound like they might not be beyond the bounds of possibility. I have made note of all of these -- every word has now been pasted into my "Leh" page -- and you can be sure that when we do arrive, shivering, out of breath, with altitude-induced headaches -- we will be following your suggestions as if they were a road map. Thanks so much for replying (only four days before we abandoned this forum and hopped on the Qantas plane!). Alan.

Oct 15th, 2004, 18:05	#5
jrhartley Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: France Posts: 14	glad the info was helpful. i didn't notice the old ladakh guest house - i'm sure its fine though its worth checking on the status of their hot water and heating as the electricity frequently cuts in Leh (for up to days at a time) so its worth checking if they have any contingencies (generators or gas CH / geysers). Your flight to varanesi might have changed too with the winter timetable - I made a connection between Leh and Jodphur (at Delhi) in about 20 minutes!!! Tip - when checking into the flight from Leh - make sure you don't have any batteries or stuff they'll confiscate from your handluggage - this will only slow you down at Delhi as you wait to be reunited with it. I am told this is so people can't take photos as they fly over India's military installations in Ladakh.... as if Pakistan hasn't got better intelligence than fuzzy snapshots from a plane window!

Oct 16th, 2004, 17:58	#6
jarman_ah Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Sydney, Australia Posts: 373	jrhartley, Jet Airways rang me yeasterday with some timetable changes, so I asked them about Leh (mindful of what you said); indeed, it did change to the time above, but now it's reverted to its original time! Do they really confiscate camera batteries? To protect military secrets? If they saw my little camera... I'm not even sure it has a battery! Reminds me of my trip to Egypt, where we were put up in an hotel directly opposite the military training grounds in Heliopolis. On every hotel window there was a sign saying "DO NOT TAKE PHOTOGRAPHS FROM THIS WINDOW". That was as far as the security went -- about as useful as if the New York mayor put a sign on the new Twin-Towers site building saying "Do not fly planes into this building". Anyway, the sign DID encourage us to at least look out of the window at what was going on; I then understood why they didn't want photographs of the military people in training. They marched in a straight line very well, but every time there was a "left-wheel" or "right wheel" manouever, things fell apart quickly. We never saw them attempt an about face.....it might have been the highlight of our trip. Later on we walked past the sentry at the front gate. He was immaculately turned out in a very smart uniform, shiny rifle held "just so", staring straight ahead with not even a movement of the eyes. Very impressive.... except that the fact that his fly was open tended to spoil the overall effect. Ahhh, memories!