[inder]

Mod Note : Please continue the discussion on TSK1979's excellent Leh & Ladakh Guide at this link

Hi team,
After having read all the leh threads I have decided to plan a trip to Leh in may or june alongwith my wife.As I stay in nagpur and dont plan a road trip,I have decided to make the trip through with a travel company like makemytrip,himalaya 360 degree etc.
They have fixed iteneries and departure dates.I wanted to know a few things before I start negotiating with the travel co.
- What are the places that I must include in the trip.
- What are the places that I must try to include
- what are the places that I can skip.

Also I will take a tour which has fligths from Del-Leh and return.I will reach Delhi bu myself.So no Srinagar and areas in the vicinity.
Plz suggest places nearer to leh. And yes I plan to spend 6-7 days Delhi to Delhi.

Awaiting for responses,as I need to book after I get responses.

[SX4LOVER]

Originally Posted by inder

Hi team,
After having read all the leh threads I have decided to plan a trip to Leh in may or june alongwith my wife.As I stay in nagpur and dont plan a road trip,I have decided to make the trip through with a travel company like makemytrip,himalaya 360 degree etc.
They have fixed iteneries and departure dates.I wanted to know a few things before I start negotiating with the travel co.
- What are the places that I must include in the trip.
- What are the places that I must try to include
- what are the places that I can skip.

Also I will take a tour which has fligths from Del-Leh and return.I will reach Delhi bu myself.So no Srinagar and areas in the vicinity.
Plz suggest places nearer to leh. And yes I plan to spend 6-7 days Delhi to Delhi.

Awaiting for responses,as I need to book after I get responses.

Dont forget the magnetic point somewhere between leh and srinagar, where vehicles defy gravity.

[tsk1979]

It depends on what you prefer
Nubra valley has double humped camels and sand dunes with white sands
Pangong Tso is a lovely lake
Tso moriri is another lovely lake

Take your pick, any 2. If you make a day trip to Pangong Tso, you can fit in all 3.

[Rudra Sen]

inder, keep these in mind from Tanveer's suggestion:

Originally Posted by tsk1979

Nubra valley has double humped camels and sand dunes with white sands

You can't do this in one day.

Pangong Tso is a lovely lake

Can be done in one day and greatly depends on Changla Pass condition.

Tso moriri is another lovely lake

Not possible in one day, again.

[Fauji]

We did the trip last year with www.ladakhsafari.com We were very happy with the experience.

Deleks Namgyal is a good bloke and very helpful. These guys are good and they will tailor make your trip.

[ess_a]

Originally Posted by SX4LOVER

Dont forget the magnetic point somewhere between leh and srinagar, where vehicles defy gravity.

I felt it was more hype than substance during my trip.

Originally Posted by Rudra Sen

inder, keep these in mind from Tanveer's suggestion:
You can't do this in one day.
Can be done in one day and greatly depends on Changla Pass condition.
Not possible in one day, again.

Agree on all three counts.

You need to keep two days for Nubra valley. But it is worth it. Leave early morning on the first day and you would reach around late afternoon. Try camping in Sumur village and visit the monastery there. Its a nice peaceful valley. Next day visit Hunder and take rides on the double humped camels and on the way back visit the Diskit monastery. You would reach Leh by late afternoon.

Pangong is doable in one day, but you would have to leave really early in the morning.

[Fauji]

We did Ladakh last year before floods. Here are my recommendations
a) Day of arrival - acclimitisation. Possibly moving around in vehicle without much physical activity b) Day two - Leh sightseeing. All regular stuff - old and new palace, tiksey monastery, shanti stupa etc. Since there will be bit of climbing in all these places which will make you tired, you can split leh into two days if you want. Have lunch on Sindhu banks in Sindhu darshan pavillion. Don't miss outstanding Armed forces museaum. C) Day 3 - Leh again which will also give you time to shop around for nice artefacts. This day can also be used for a drive towards Kargil to see confluence of Sindhu and Zanskar as well Gurudwara Pathar sahib d) Day 4 - Pangong lake. This can be done as a daytrip or you can stay back overnight for sky gazing. E) Day 5 and 6 - Nubra valley. On the way visit Khardungla. This is the minimum you should do. Apart from this, if you have time then you can go to Tso Moriri. Since you are not driving on Manali - Leh road, I would strongly recommend that you do a day trip to drive on this road and return. It will be an experience. If you are river rafting enthusiast then try rapids on Zanskar. If you are an avid trekker, try Tso Kangri trek. All this require additional days. Always keep a day as buffer as weather may get tricky and flights may get cancelled. Always leave early in the morning around 5 AM and come back before sun set which is golden rule in hills.

[inder]

Thanks everyone for the valuable inputs.
@ tsk and rudra : I am planning overnight stay at pangong lake and nubra valley.So no worries about returning back to leh on tight schedule.Although the o/n stay at Pangong is not incl in the iteniery provided by the operator.I have asked him to do so.
@ Fauji : I am exploring the site suggested by you,thanks.

I have currently got rates from himalaya 360 holidays and make my trip ranging from 20-25k pp incl leh-del return airfare and all meals and travelling.It also includes all the sight seeing suggested by you all.
BTW how is himalaya 360?? anyone has any experience with them.

[amitwlele]

@Inder - Is it paucity of time because of which you are opting for to and fro air travel from Delhi to Leh. IMHO atleast one of the journey preferrably (Manali to Leh) should be done by road. But this would mean additional one day (atleast) to your itinerary for a stopover at Sarchu.

I have no experience of Himalaya 360 but following is the itinerary that we had followed:

Day 1: Mumbai – Delhi (Flight)

Day 2: Reached Manali. O/N Manali

Day 3: Manali – Sarchu. O/N Sarchu

Day 4: Sarchu – Leh. O/N Leh

Day 5: Leh – Nubra Valley. O/N Nubra Valley

Day 6: Nubra Valley – Leh. O/N Leh.

Day 7: Leh – Pangong Lake. O/N Tented Accommodation.

Day 8: Pangong – Leh. O/N Leh

Day 9: Leh – Kargil. O/N Kargil

Day 10: Kargil – Drass – Srinagar. O/N Srinagar

Day 11: Srinagar – Mumbai (Flight)

You can work out different options for example flying back directly from Leh to Delhi instead of taking the Srinagar route.
In case you need the details of any other operator i can provide you the details of the person who manages it every year for us.

[inder]

Sure amit,plz provide the details.
I am taking flights because travel times in the mountains increases exponentially wrt distance as compared to travel time in the plains.Hence I donot want to get tired and miss enjoying the destination.I know the travel itself is enjoyable,but dont know how comfortable my wife will be.
even I was thinking of to delhi via srinagar.Lets see how the budget permits.

[SX4LOVER]

Originally Posted by ess_a

I felt it was more hype than substance during my trip.

Never been there though spent two years in srinagar on posting. Leh ladakh was the only place we missed somehow. Making plans to be there next summers in my beast SX4. That apart, there is another magnetic point on Shillong to upper shillong road and ive experienced the pull in a "fauji" gypsy with two of us sitting inside.

[amitwlele]

Originally Posted by inder

Sure amit,plz provide the details.

I was not able to find the card of the tour company. But i remembered that i had posted the details on T-BHP in the TL. You can get that in the below link:

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...ndation-4.html

Scroll down and you would see my reply to Anuj which has the details.

[inder]

Yes I have booked myself with yatra for june departure 9days and 8 nights.
How is the weather like in pangong and nubra in the first part of june?
I checked on the IMD website,Leh is around 12 degree min.Am a bit worried about the nights at Pangong and Hundar/Sumur.Will it be below 10 at night??
Also any other tips for the trips from the veterans are most welcome
I heard about diamox tablets for AMS. Any reciews?

[aparnash]

Hello Inder :
Hope you are back from your trip to Leh. I am planning to book a 7 night 8 day package tour with makemytrip. I will be going with my sister sometime the second week of august . I was wondering if you could share your tour experiences here in this forum as my itinerary looks quite similar to yours. Was your tour managed well? Was the tour rushed? Did u get an experienced driver with you? I want to have an overnite camp at pangong but i am apprehensive about the AMS that many suffer at that altitude. Some say its probably wiser to stay at tang-ste thats 30 kms away from pangong and little lower in altitude .Your response will be greatly appreciated.

[sachinj12]

I am planning to do the Leh circuit next season (gifting myself this holiday for completing engineering).

A few pointers :

• Planning around 10-14 days of trip. This includes flying to Delhi or Srinagar or Leh(?) and returning to Bangalore by train.
• Group may consist of 5-6 boys aged about 22. If this fails, will do it with family.
• Trip must be a budget trip. Basic necessity a must, don't need luxury.
• Planning to hire a Swift/Indica if members are 3. More than 3 members=Innova/Xylo/Scorpio/Tata Sumo Grande.
• Must include Nubra valley, Pangong Tso, Tso Moriri and other places which are worth visiting (suggestion needed). Would love to include the magnetic point as well.

Questions:

1. What is the best season to do this? If I am keen on doing it during June end-July/August as most companies wouldn't have asked us to report to work. I am not hell bent on this, plan is flexible. I don't mind doing it in Aug/Sep (it will be family if its Aug/Sep)
2. I would be grateful if some one could come up with tentative itinerary.
3. Where to land? Delhi/Srinagar/Leh? Note: Tour operators/Taxi availability is important. Also, read this thread http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-...e-numbers.html which says only Leh registered taxi's are allowed to ply within Ladakh, if someone gets a Taxi from Srinagar or Manali or Delhi, they will not be allowed to ply.
4. I am guessing 10 days is more than enough. After seeing all the places mentioned above, if we have days to spare, I can add other destinations which are enroute/nearby and are worth visiting.
5. What is the estimated cost for this(per head)? Excluding flying to Delhi/Srinagar/Leh and return to Bangalore
6. What precautions/preparation should I take/make? Clothes/medicine/documents/physical fitness? Permits I may have to procure. links/directions/guidance for the same.
7. To the DSLR nutters, I have a 18-105 kit lens and a 50mm,f1.8D, is this sufficient? I might buy (tentative) the 70-300VR before going, should I carry this or the kit and a 50mm sufficient? I have two 4GB cards, should I carry more? I am also going to carry my PnS with it.
8. Suggest some reliable tour operators.
9. Add points/suggestions which I have missed.