Ladakh: A sojourn to the roof of the world…over 21 days and 6500kms!!

[hvkumar]

Originally Posted by nix1976in

I was in Leh as planned on the 20th but I guess you guys got delayed by a day. Both your and Lalu's nos. were unreachable..my bad that I missed meeting up with you guys!!

Regards,

We reached Leh 1 day late because of the dislocation in the Kaza-Gramphoo-Keylong sector, so we were delayed leaving Kaza, and reached Leh only on Aug 20 and left the very next day for Kargil/Zanskar Valley returning to Leh only on Aug 25. Bad we missed meeting. On Aug 20/21, we were out of range for most of the day, except when we crossed Keylong & Jispa.

[PGNarain]

Nikhil, another fantastic Leh travelogue, rated 5-stars.

Looks like you enjoyed good weather and roads all throughout your trip. That is some good luck.

I too am planning on travelling to Leh next year and the information you have provided is going to be invaluable.

Will get in touch with you for sure.

[abhinav.s]

Very nice write up peppered with some excellent pics. The best part i liked about your TL is that you have taken the pains to document 15 days in one go making it an interesting read. And the other thing i like about your style of travel is the relaxed way in which you have explored each place giving a rest day in between and taking your own time to reach Leh and explore around.

Awesome and 5 star material for sure!

[nix1976in]

Day 16 : Manali.

Rest day….woke up nice and easy and had a leisurely breakfast. Decided to give myself and the Xylo a well deserved rest after the rough and tumble of Rohtang the earlier day and booked a taxi from the front desk for some local sightseeing.

Out came an Alto and we roamed Manali with a driver who thought he was “Michael Schumacher”….Manali is , well, just like another hill station with a few points thrown in for good measure.

We visited Hadimba temple, Clubhouse (where we did some river crossing), Tibetan settlement and finally Vashisth Temple before round of shopping in the main market. It rained for a while when we were shopping in Manali...just an hour on downpour inundated the entire market in ankle deep water. The locals told us that its normal since water from the higher reaches flows down to Manali very fast and hence flooding is normal even more so as we go lower towards Bilaspur.

Mayflower , Manali


Hadimba Temple, Manali


Near Ghatotkach Temple , Manali


Near Hadimba Temple


Near Clubhouse, Manali


Tibetan Gompa, Manali




Ram temple, near Vashisth Temple


Vasisth Temple Manali


On both nights at Manali we went to Johnsons café just down the road from Mayflower for some tandoori trout, wood fired pizzas and Barley brew…one of the better experiences at Manali.

View from the room...Mayflower, Manali

[nix1976in]

Originally Posted by flyingkolors

Just stumbled on to this tread. Amazing narration and excellent write up. Pictures doing most of the talking made feel right at the place. Thanks for sharing!

Rated your thread a well deserved 5 stars!

Thanks for the rating buddy..

Originally Posted by columbus

Fantastic log and equally fantastic pics to match.
Rohtang is a piddly pass but its THE pass on the Manali -Leh highway. Cross rohtang and you will reach your destination for sure.
You are lucky to get out of there in 2 hrs .. we were stranded there for more than 10 hrs..

10 hrs on top....thats torture!!!....Guess we were lucky to come down in two...others were not so lucky as the traffic was halted for quite sometime after we made it through.

[nix1976in]

Day 17 : Manali to Gurgaon

Initially had planned to drive on till Jaipur but later decied to take it easy and break the journey at Gurgaon and reach Jaipur early the next day.

Started from Manali after a tea and made our way through the twisties down towards Chandigarh...there were umpteen areas where the hill side has cascaded down and landslides seemed to have been recently cleared. Lucklily we faced no problems and made it to Gurgaon via the Dhuala Kuan turn off by around 7pm.

I was apprehensive of a big jam somewhere in Gurgaon since Anna was hospitalised in a Gurgaon facility at the same time but we didnt encounter any jams and reached our destination facing minimal traffic even at that peak hour. We checked into Cinnamon stays, a homestay and had a delicious dinner before signing out for the night.

Mayflower Hotel, Manali


Traffic Jam..


Enroute to Gurgaon










Haryana...


Entering Delhi


Day 17...End of day ODO...601 kms added

[Dhar's]

@ nix1976in
Superb travelogue!. Beautiful photos.

What fascinates me is that there are a few travelogues of same place done around almost same time of the year, yet the scenery in each travelogue is unique! That explains the vast beauty of the place.

Kudos to both of you. Good that you had an SUV to do it. The slush terrain would have been difficult with a sedan.

The lowest temperature recorded in the Kargil sector is alarming. There is a steep decline in the lowest temperature recorded each year.

[MAS]

Excellent TL

Well explained write up nicely supported by the wonderful pics. Keep them coming...

[nix1976in]

Originally Posted by PGNarain

Nikhil, another fantastic Leh travelogue, rated 5-stars.

Looks like you enjoyed good weather and roads all throughout your trip. That is some good luck.

I too am planning on travelling to Leh next year and the information you have provided is going to be invaluable.

Will get in touch with you for sure.

Yes PG, was lucky that the weather gods decided take it easy while I was on the road. Will be glad to be of any assistance to help plan your trip.

Regards,

[nix1976in]

Day 18 : Gurgaon to Jaipur

An easy drive on the Jaipur- Delhi expressway. We reached Jaipur in just under 3.5 hrs after a late morning start. Made our way through the hustle bustle of Jaipur city to check into Nailabagh palace, an 17th century haveli by early noon. Had lunch, lazed around the property and then went to the shopping district at Bapu Bazaar in a rickshaw in the evening.

Let the pics tell the story..

Cinnamon Stays, an home stay in Gurgaon. Very comfortable and highly recommended.


Jaipur...Ahoy!


Breakfast halt near Jaipur


Now...is that a school bus??


Nailabagh Palace...Jeep collection


Nailabagh Palace


Nailabagh Palace entrance


Nailabagh Palace


Bapu Bazaar


Swimming Pool at Nailabagh.




Day 18 EOD ODO...248 kms added

[nix1976in]

Day 19 : Jaipur

Rest day....after witnessing the chaos on the roads of Jaipur the earlier day, we thought it prudent to engage a rickshaw for the day for local sightseeing. We went through Birla mandir, Hawa Mahal, City Palace, Jantar Mantar and finally Amer fort and were exhausted by evening.

Had Mirchi vadas, onion kachoris, govind gatte and other great delicacies all through the day. Coming back we lazed around the pool before calling it a night.

Birla Mandir




Albert Hall


Hawa mahal


Hawa Mahal Interiors






Jantar Mantar


The sun dial shows the exact time which is IST + 26 mins added for Jaipur local time






City Palace








Silver Jars...each weighs in at 345 Kgs.












City Palace Buggi's with gun mounts


Amer Fort
















Pictures continued in the next post...

[nix1976in]

Day 19 : Jaipur pictorial continued.

Amer Fort


Shish Mahal in the Amer Fort








Marble carving....there is a interesting story behind this






Sukh Mandir or the Queen's Zenana




Jal Mahal




Nailabagh Palace

[nix1976in]

Day 20 and 21 : Jaipur - Vadodara - Mumbai

Started from Jaipur after a leisurely breakfast at around 8.30am and joined the NH8 for a drive down to Kishangarh from where we branched off towards Bhilwara / Chittorgarh joining the NH8 back near Udaipur. We reached Vadodara around 7pm and checked into an hotel just off NH8. Had a delicious meal of masala khichdi and crashed for the night.

Peacock having a drink at the Swimming pool in Nailabagh Palace


NH8...towards Gujrat


Gujrat...


Day 20...End of day ODO. 817 kms added


Began the last leg of the journey from Baroda and it was a smooth drive to
our pad in Vasai where we ended our epic trip by around 1.30pm.

That's funny...


Enroute to Mumbai


Maharashtra....




End of journey...396 kms added for the day and 6493 kms on the ODO for the trip