[nix1976in]

Hey JealousDiamond (now thats some nick!!),

Am firming up my plans as below...drive till srinagar and onwards from Manali would be as per personal choice since am planning to stay over at some places, we can gang up in Srinagar on the 17th of Aug and drive to Leh together starting 18th morning. Am planning to keep this simple as this is my first foray into the Himalayas. HVK advised me to go from Nubra directly to Pangong and Pangong to Tsomorriri but this takes up almost 12-13 hrs each day (surely would need a seasoned driver like HV) and since I have time on my hands, I have tried to make an easy itinerary.

Am also planning to book way in advance at all places to avoid any hassles later (was advised that the Grand Dragon, Leh is already booked for dates in Aug). Plan is as below...

18th Aug - Srinagar to Kargil (departure at 5.00 am)
19th Aug - Kargil - Leh
20th Aug - Leh ( permits and rest)
21st Aug - Leh - Nubra ( stay at deskit)
22nd Aug - Nubra - Leh
23rd Aug - Leh - Pangong Tso
24th Aug - Pangong Tso - Leh
25th Aug - Leh - Tso morirri
26th Aug - Tso morirri - Sarchu
27th Aug - Sarchu - Manali.

Pls let me know your plans.

Regards,

[asdon]

Sounds tempting, I hope I can manage my leaves, but question, are you guys planning to go in SUVs or anyone with hatch too? novis in that route so don't mind

[jealousdiamond]

Originally Posted by nix1976in

Hey JealousDiamond (now thats some nick!!),

Am firming up my plans as below...drive till srinagar and onwards from Manali would be as per personal choice since am planning to stay over at some places, we can gang up in Srinagar on the 17th of Aug and drive to Leh together starting 18th morning. Am planning to keep this simple as this is my first foray into the Himalayas. HVK advised me to go from Nubra directly to Pangong and Pangong to Tsomorriri but this takes up almost 12-13 hrs each day (surely would need a seasoned driver like HV) and since I have time on my hands, I have tried to make an easy itinerary.

Am also planning to book way in advance at all places to avoid any hassles later (was advised that the Grand Dragon, Leh is already booked for dates in Aug). Plan is as below...

18th Aug - Srinagar to Kargil (departure at 5.00 am)
19th Aug - Kargil - Leh
20th Aug - Leh ( permits and rest)
21st Aug - Leh - Nubra ( stay at deskit)
22nd Aug - Nubra - Leh
23rd Aug - Leh - Pangong Tso
24th Aug - Pangong Tso - Leh
25th Aug - Leh - Tso morirri
26th Aug - Tso morirri - Sarchu
27th Aug - Sarchu - Manali.

Pls let me know your plans.

Regards,

Sounds good , but would like to include a couple of more places as well , targetting the 23 day window .
Shall share the itnerary prepared soon .

Originally Posted by asdon

Sounds tempting, I hope I can manage my leaves, but question, are you guys planning to go in SUVs or anyone with hatch too? novis in that route so don't mind

Well I am planning to drive a Safari , don't think there would be any problems with a hatch going there . Many have done that successfully . Only problem that comes to my mind is the suspension that would take a toll on return and would need recalibration

[lloydofcochin]

Originally Posted by asdon

Sounds tempting, I hope I can manage my leaves, but question, are you guys planning to go in SUVs or anyone with hatch too? novis in that route so don't mind

asdon, No issues in taking your Punto there. You have to be extremely careful on some stretches and water crossings to avoid any damage to the Car's underbelly since @ 165mm Punto's GC is a lil low. Also ensure that your Car is not fully loaded with Pax since that would hurt when it comes to GC.

[nix1976in]

Originally Posted by jealousdiamond

Sounds good , but would like to include a couple of more places as well , targetting the 23 day window .
Shall share the itnerary prepared soon .

sounds good...will look forward to the same.

Originally Posted by jealousdiamond

Well I am planning to drive a Safari , don't think there would be any problems with a hatch going there . Many have done that successfully . Only problem that comes to my mind is the suspension that would take a toll on return and would need recalibration

I will be in a Xylo....so no worries on that end.

[jealousdiamond]

My 2 Cents , What we have planned so far .
Just a note , as suggested by many this route can be taken from bottom up as well to facilitate better acclimatization
Suggestions / Mods required to the itnerary .


Day 1(Early Morning Start): Start from Pune / Mumbai
Day 2: Reach Delhi (Delhi Stay overnight)
Day 3(Early Morning Start): Delhi - Jammu
Day 4: Jammu - Srinagar
Day 5: Shikara ride and maybe even visit Gulmarg and either stay at Srinagar or
move to Sonamarg.
Day 6: Srinagar/Sonamarg - Kargil
Day 7: Kargil - Leh
Day 8: Leh, do some sightseeing and get the permits (Stay @ Leh)
Day 9(Early Morning Start): Leh - Wari La - Khalsar - Hunder/Diskit (Nubra Valley)
Day 10: Sightseeing in Nubra Valley (stay @ Nubra Valley)
Day 11(Early Morning Start): Nubra Valley - Khardung La - Leh
Day 12(Early Morning Start): Leh - Chang La - Pangong Tso, (Night halt at either Lukung or Spangmik
Day 13: Pangong Tso - Chang La - Leh
Day 14(Early Morning Start): Leh - Upshi - Chumathang - Tso Moriri - Korzok
Day 15: Tso Moriri - Tso Kar - Pang/Sarchu
Day 16: Pang/Sarchu - Keylong/Manali
Day 17: Rest or arrive in Manali (sort of like buffer day)
Day 18(Early Morning Start): Manali – Delhi
Day 19: Rest @ Delhi / Jaipur(Rajasthan)
Day 20(Early Morning Start): Jaipur/Delhi to Mumbai / Pune
Day 21: Arrive in Mumbai / Pune

[sid1509]

Originally Posted by nix1976in

sounds good...will look forward to the same.



I will be in a Xylo....so no worries on that end.

Originally Posted by jealousdiamond

My 2 Cents , What we have planned so far .
Just a note , as suggested by many this route can be taken from bottom up as well to facilitate better acclimatization
Suggestions / Mods required to the itnerary .


Day 1(Early Morning Start): Start from Pune / Mumbai
Day 2: Reach Delhi (Delhi Stay overnight)
Day 3(Early Morning Start): Delhi - Jammu
Day 4: Jammu - Srinagar
Day 5: Shikara ride and maybe even visit Gulmarg and either stay at Srinagar or
move to Sonamarg.
Day 6: Srinagar/Sonamarg - Kargil
Day 7: Kargil - Leh
Day 8: Leh, do some sightseeing and get the permits (Stay @ Leh)
Day 9(Early Morning Start): Leh - Wari La - Khalsar - Hunder/Diskit (Nubra Valley)
Day 10: Sightseeing in Nubra Valley (stay @ Nubra Valley)
Day 11(Early Morning Start): Nubra Valley - Khardung La - Leh
Day 12(Early Morning Start): Leh - Chang La - Pangong Tso, (Night halt at either Lukung or Spangmik
Day 13: Pangong Tso - Chang La - Leh
Day 14(Early Morning Start): Leh - Upshi - Chumathang - Tso Moriri - Korzok
Day 15: Tso Moriri - Tso Kar - Pang/Sarchu
Day 16: Pang/Sarchu - Keylong/Manali
Day 17: Rest or arrive in Manali (sort of like buffer day)
Day 18(Early Morning Start): Manali – Delhi
Day 19: Rest @ Delhi / Jaipur(Rajasthan)
Day 20(Early Morning Start): Jaipur/Delhi to Mumbai / Pune
Day 21: Arrive in Mumbai / Pune

Hi nix, Jealousdiamond,

Care to have another car in the convoy? I and a couple of close friends are also planning to get Leh'ed this year. I have a '09 Scorpio VLX. I am in the outskirts of delhi; so can join the group once you reach delhi. And yes, me and friends are good company

Cheers, Sid

[nix1976in]

Originally Posted by sid1509

Hi nix, Jealousdiamond,

Care to have another car in the convoy? I and a couple of close friends are also planning to get Leh'ed this year. I have a '09 Scorpio VLX. I am in the outskirts of delhi; so can join the group once you reach delhi. And yes, me and friends are good company

Cheers, Sid

Nice...this seems to be building up. As I said we can all gang up in Srinagar by the 17th and then start to Kargil from 18th onwards. JD's plan seems to gel with mine except that he wants to spend an entire day in Nubra.

JD, Nubra is just around 130 kms from Leh and one night and another half a day would be more than enough to cover Hunder and Diskit, relook at your plan if possible.

[sid1509]

Originally Posted by nix1976in

Nice...this seems to be building up. As I said we can all gang up in Srinagar by the 17th and then start to Kargil from 18th onwards. JD's plan seems to gel with mine except that he wants to spend an entire day in Nubra.

JD, Nubra is just around 130 kms from Leh and one night and another half a day would be more than enough to cover Hunder and Diskit, relook at your plan if possible.

Sounds like a plan. I will firm up with my friends once again and also bounce the dates and tentative plan with them. I am good with joining the group at srinagar. Feels nice, guess Leh will happen this year.

Off to Shimla tomorrow for a family getway, will pick it up with my friends on monday. Will keep you all posted.

Cheers
Sid

[jealousdiamond]

Originally Posted by nix1976in

Nice...this seems to be building up.

JD, Nubra is just around 130 kms from Leh and one night and another half a day would be more than enough to cover Hunder and Diskit, relook at your plan if possible.

Well we can adjust this as per the general consent . All I tried doing was to keep some buffer time , in case we slipped on some deadlines(considering mechanical / technical failures )

Originally Posted by sid1509

Sounds like a plan. I will firm up with my friends once again and also bounce the dates and tentative plan with them. I am good with joining the group at srinagar. Feels nice, guess Leh will happen this year.

Off to Shimla tomorrow for a family getway, will pick it up with my friends on monday. Will keep you all posted.

Cheers
Sid

That sounds good and no doubts you and your friends would be a good company Welcome to the group .

[nix1976in]

Originally Posted by jealousdiamond

Well we can adjust this as per the general consent . All I tried doing was to keep some buffer time , in case we slipped on some deadlines(considering mechanical / technical failures ) .

Am planning on booking accomodation in and around Leh for all night halts rightaway.

Enquired at 3 properties, Grand dragon reverted on email that they are already booked for August for overseas groups, Lasermo told me they are already at 70% booking for our dates in August and Shambhala too told me to make payments and reserve the room as soon as possible since they are filling up fast. So have decided to go with Shambhala in Leh and Watermark camps at Nubra, Pangong, Tso morrirri and Sarchu.

This may be a marketing gimmick but I guess we dont want to take chances at 10,000 feet!!

This may turn out to be expensive since one may get better deals on walking in but personally, I want to feel secure that a cozy bed and a bucket of hot water is waiting for me at the end of each day

Let me know your views.

[tsk1979]

Did you try hotel Thongsal.
For 700-800 you get ample car marking and running hot water(when atleast 5 rooms are occupied).

And do not go buy the number quoted by the hotels. They usually make tall claims. Grand Dragon gets group booking, hence pre booking.

[jealousdiamond]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

Did you try hotel Thongsal.
For 700-800 you get ample car marking and running hot water(when atleast 5 rooms are occupied).

And do not go buy the number quoted by the hotels. They usually make tall claims. Grand Dragon gets group booking, hence pre booking.

Sir need your detailed inputs on places of stay ... and more so on the itnerary mentioned above . We have almost 21 odd days and have modest long driving hrs experience , even in the valleys .

Also , the Do and Dont's list for the BEAST

[tsk1979]

Here are my suggestions

Originally Posted by jealousdiamond

My 2 Cents , What we have planned so far .
Just a note , as suggested by many this route can be taken from bottom up as well to facilitate better acclimatization
Suggestions / Mods required to the itnerary .


Day 1(Early Morning Start): Start from Pune / Mumbai
Day 2: Reach Delhi (Delhi Stay overnight)

excellent 2 days is ideal for mumbai Delhi. I would suggest making Udaipur your night half on first night, and on the second day instead of Delhi go upto Ambala/Karnal. It would be 10-12 hours from Udaipur

Day 3(Early Morning Start): Delhi - Jammu

Take the Jammu bypass and stay at a JKTDC near Ramban/Patnitop. Again 12 hours drive from Karnal, with most of it on good roads. You do not need to go to Jammu. The bypass saves time as well as distance

Day 4:

Jammu - Srinagar
Day 5: Shikara ride and maybe even visit Gulmarg and either stay at Srinagar or
move to Sonamarg

So bassically you head to srinagar on day 4, enjoy the city. Next day stay in Srinagar till 3-4pm and simply head to sonmarg, 3 hours away.

Day 6:

Srinagar/Sonamarg - Kargil
Day 7: Kargil - Leh

Good plan.

Day 8:

Leh, do some sightseeing and get the permits (Stay @ Leh)

Fine

Day 9(Early Morning Start):

Leh - Wari La - Khalsar - Hunder/Diskit (Nubra Valley)
Day 10: Sightseeing in Nubra Valley (stay @ Nubra Valley)
Day 11(Early Morning Start): Nubra Valley - Khardung La - Leh
Day 12(Early Morning Start): Leh - Chang La - Pangong Tso, (Night halt at either Lukung or Spangmik
Day 13: Pangong Tso - Chang La - Leh

Here I suggest this
Day 9 - Go to Nubra valley, and enjoy the dunes
Day 10 - See panamik
Day 11 - Take Wari La pass and gome to tangste which is 33kms from Pangong. It has good stay opens. You will easily reach here by 4pm. You can take the call to stay here, or simply move to pangong and reach by 6-7pm. If you can do a 5am start from Nubra, you will be in Pangong by 5pm.
Day 12 - Spend the whole day in Pangong Tso, relax and chill out
Day 13 - Head to Leh.
This way you will spend more time in pangong. Alternatively, you can also spend Day 12 at pangong till 2pm and then start back for Leh

Day 14(Early Morning Start):

Leh - Upshi - Chumathang - Tso Moriri - Korzok
Day 15: Tso Moriri - Tso Kar - Pang/Sarchu
Day 16: Pang/Sarchu - Keylong/Manali

ISarchu has only tented acco, so you may want to push till Keylong/Jispa, entirely your choice

Day 17:

Rest or arrive in Manali (sort of like buffer day)
Day 18(Early Morning Start): Manali – Delhi
Day 19: Rest @ Delhi / Jaipur(Rajasthan)
Day 20(Early Morning Start): Jaipur/Delhi to Mumbai / Pune
Day 21: Arrive in Mumbai / Pune

This takes care of your itenary.
For Nubra-Pangong, if you do not want to backtrack to Karu from Sakti(20kms in total extra) you can carry 20 liters of fuel in a jerrycan.

When are you starting your trip, and what is your vehicle?

[nix1976in]

Hi Tsk1979,
HVK suggested a similar itinerary as I had mentioned earlier ( Nubra to Tangtse and then Tangtse to Tsomorriri), I am bit wary of getting off the beaten track on my first visit and driving 12-13 hrs in the mountains.

Also, we would have ample time on our hands and can spend time at each place since the drive wont be more than 5-6 hrs each day. My simple plan pans out as below, pls advise if feasible.

18th Aug would be Day 6 as per JD's itinerary

18th Aug - Srinagar to Kargil (departure at 5.00 am)
19th Aug - Kargil - Leh
20th Aug - Leh ( permits and rest)
21st Aug - Leh - Nubra ( stay at deskit)
22nd Aug - Nubra - Leh
23rd Aug - Leh - Pangong Tso
24th Aug - Pangong Tso - Leh
25th Aug - Leh - Tso morirri
26th Aug - Tso morirri - Sarchu
27th Aug - Sarchu - Manali.

Am getting quotes of around 2K+ for each day at Leh and tents at Nubra, Pangong, Tsomorri and Sarchu. I guess this is on the higher side but am given the impression that the charges will increase as season approaches. Any advise would be valuabe.


Regards,