[dhanushmenon]

Is anyone in touch with the localites of Ladakh? Just curious to know how things are shaping up there with the pandemic. Also, even after lifting of lockdown, how much time before the place return to normalcy?

I was much on track to plan a trip this year. However, the pandemic has derailed much of everyone's plans.

[unoczar]

I was just wondering -

Is it possible to do Leh-Spangmik-Hanle-Leh in one day? Stopping only for 45-60 mins on each location (Pangong tso and observatory).

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by unoczar

I was just wondering -

Is it possible to do Leh-Spangmik-Hanle-Leh in one day? Stopping only for 45-60 mins on each location (Pangong tso and observatory).

The front page map lists driving times which you can add. So it is possible, but not recommended.
A day has 24 hours after all.

[unoczar]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

The front page map lists driving times which you can add. So it is possible, but not recommended.
A day has 24 hours after all.

Thank you Tanveer.

According to the calculations, I gather that it should not even be attempted.

[unoczar]

Originally Posted by dhanushmenon

Just curious to know how things are shaping up there with the pandemic. Also, even after lifting of lockdown, how much time before the place return to normalcy?

https://m.thewire.in/article/governm...iminishing/amp

According to the link, things are looking good from the pandemic point of view. Whereas, there are other issues. Both the highways are currently open but there's serious doubt if one can travel from their respective States to this area given the current scenario.

[unoczar]

Originally Posted by Krishroy

Hi All,

Starting my plan for next Himalaya road trip during next year June/July. Sharing my itinerary. Any suggestions will be appreciated

Day 1. Hyderabad to Narsinghpur (750 KM)
Day 2. Narsinghpur to Greater Noida (770 KM)
Day 3. Greater Noida to Udhampur (660 KM)
Day 4. Udhampur to Srinagar (200 KM)
Day 5. Stay in Srinagar
Day 6. Srinagar to Kargil (200 KM)
Day 7. Kargil to Leh (200 KM)
Day 8. Stay at Leh (getting required permits)
Day 9. Leh to Nubra valley (160 KM)
Day 10. Nubra to Pangong via Shyok(274 KM)
Day 11. Pangong to Tso Moriri via Merak, Chusul(225 KM)
Day 12. Tso Moriri to Sarchu (230 KM)
Day 13. Sarchu to Manali (225 KM)
Day 14. Rest at Manali
Day 15. Manali to Mathura (700 KM)
Day 16. Mathura to Seoni (765 KM)
Day 17. Seoni to Hyderabad (680 KM)

This is my initial plan. Detailed plan is yet to be done. Your suggestions will be very helpful

Hi,

I understand that you've done this trip. Did you write a log of your journey? Can't find it on this forum.

If you haven't written one, I suggest that you share all possible details so that others can benefit.

[Ragavsr]

Originally Posted by dhanushmenon

Is anyone in touch with the localites of Ladakh? Just curious to know how things are shaping up there with the pandemic. Also, even after lifting of lockdown, how much time before the place return to normalcy?

I was much on track to plan a trip this year. However, the pandemic has derailed much of everyone's plans.

I am in touch with the bike rental guy who rented me bikes 5 years ago. No tourists yet but the place is free of covid right now. There were a few cases initially and entire villages were quarantined and controlled.

These guys lost a good part of their business last year -August and September and now this whole year. Feel bad for them .

[dgoyle]

This year is a washout. It is very much advisable not to attempt it this year purely on epidemiological grounds.

Last year (2019) I could not complete the tour due to high altitude sickness afflicting my fellow co-travelers. So returned from Drass. I hope 2021 gives me another chance.

[unoczar]

Originally Posted by dgoyle

So returned from Drass.

Do you mean to say that you went through Srinagar route and could not reach Leh?

Interesting little thing, please tell us about it. What exactly happened and to whom, I mean what were their ages and body condition? Did you do this without stopping and did you take preventive medication? Try to include as many details as possible. Thank you.

[dgoyle]

Well, as asked let me provide additional details.

1. Yes, we journeyed through Srinagar. the trip was relatively unhurried. We had a 14 hrs break at Jammu, 16 hrs break at Udhampur (unscheduled), 43 hrs break at Srinagar, 16 hrs at Sonmarg and then arrived at Drass (4:30 pm - driving time 8 hrs). This completes the ascent picture.

2. Demographically we were 49 (one) and 56 (two) years males of north India plains origin.

3. None of the two afflicted had comorbidities like diabetes, hypertension, obesity, and COPD (non-smokers). Physical fitness was adequate for their age (brisk walkers 1 km at 0:8:30 hr). I suffer from diabetes type 2 on OHA, hypertension on 3 drug regimes, and obese (BMI 31.24), walking 1 km at 0:12:00 hr with chronic bronchitis (smoker's cough).

4. Symptoms and signs:
a) 56 yr old: Nose bleeds with a headache. Blood pressure slightly raised at 170/92 mm Hg. Experienced at dinner time at Drass.
b) 49 yr old: Hypertension: 230/118 mmHg (Peak at night), Tachycardia 132 beats/min (peak). Experienced on reaching Drass. He stayed on to rest and did not undertake any physical exertion

5. Treated with Antihypertensives and additional diuretics. Nose pack for nose bleed. Descended the next day to Srinagar.

6. Prophylactic Diamox started 6 days prior to the day of the occurrence. 5 doses supervised by me.

7. Pathophysiology: Unknown or Idiopathic.

8. Conditions today: Both normotensive and continuing with normal activities. Not on any medications

9. My assessment on the probable reason: Fatigue! Both being past sports personalities had fatigued themselves by driving, visiting places in Srinagar, Sonmarg (both accented the glacier). Inadequate rest, partying (both take beer and that too not more than a pint) and relative lack of restful sleep puts a strain on the body physiology. This is a well-known peril in high altitudes. Although Drass height we typically do not associate with high altitude (Leh is 200 mts higher) and the affliction is relatively unknown amongst the overnight travelers at Drass. A combined impact does play a role.

10. Moral of the story: Don't be a Gama in the lands of Lama. Limit exertion. Share driving pleasure (this is fatiguing too!).

11. Why I did not get afflicted:
a) Past exposure to high altitude at a much younger age without affliction.
b) I took life easier as I am relatively lazy. I did not even drive although I love driving! Photography slowed me down too!
c) Don't know, but I had my share of whiskey and smokes (nothing to be proud of, but necessary to document for the sake of
clarity).
(Impact of HAPO was relatively understudied earlier. Not having HAPO on one visit and not having it on another visit is not necessarily true and I am not aware of such controlled studies. The converse is however not so true and has got good anecdotal and statistically significant studies to back this experience).

12. Last line: Alls well that ends well!

[Krishroy]

Originally Posted by unoczar

Hi,

I understand that you've done this trip. Did you write a log of your journey? Can't find it on this forum.

If you haven't written one, I suggest that you share all possible details so that others can benefit.

We did this trip in 2018. Thanks for reminding me to write something about this. Following is the glimpse of our trip.

Day 1: We started from Hyderabad in the evening after work

Day 2: We reached Jhansi during noon; had our lunch, followed by a good sleep. We started from Jhansi after dinner on the same day

Day 3: We drove entire day and reached Udhampur in the evening and stayed there

Day 4: We started from Udhampur at 8 am, made a mistake and stopped for breakfast before Chenani-Nashri tunnel, which we were supposed to cross by 10 am. After finishing our breakfast, when we reached the said tunnel, we were not allowed to move forward because of the security reason. We came back and took the Patnitop route to bypass the tunnel; but was again stopped after a while. We returned to Patnitop and stayed in a hotel there. As we lost a day, we had to adjust our bookings for subsequent days.

Please note, we were travelling during Amarnath Yatra season; hence security restrictions were high

Day 5: We started early morning from Patnitop and reached Srinagar before noon. We enjoyed a good meal at the houseboat we pre-booked and visited Dal lake in the afternoon.

Day 6: This was a tough day, while we had to travel till Kargil from Srinagar. We started early; but in between were stopped by paramilitary at some point, as the road from there will open at 7:30 am for tourists. It was part of security restrictions because of Amarnath Yatra. After waiting for an hour, we started and was stuck again as there was an accident on the road. It was a big-sized Indian Oil truck. We had to wait for 2 more hours till the road was clear. We were stuck on the same road again at the Zojila pass, because of landslide. On that way, we stopped at Kargil War Memorial for an hour and finally reached Kargil during late afternoon.

Day 7: It was an easy day. Our destination was Lamayuru, which was 100 KM only. We visited some lesser known monasteries on the way along with Lamayuru monastery at our destination

Day 8: We started early on Day 8, as we had plans for some activities on the way. First, we stopped at Likir Monastery. While we were having breakfast at some restaurant at Likir, a small boy, working in one of the restaurants came to us with some apricots for us as gift. We were surprised. He told us he is also from Telangana. He noticed our car number and was extremely overwhelmed as we are from his native. Unfortunately, we don’t speak Telegu; which could have made him happier. Next, we stopped at the confluence of Zanskar and Indus, where we did river-rafting. We were given two options for rafting. If you want some excitement take the longer distance, where you will find some dirty rapids of Zanskar river. After that we spent some time at Magnetic Hills. We heard a lot about it and witnessed the magic too. Finally, we reached Leh, where we got hold of some travel agent to obtain the Ladakh permit.

Please note, in Ladakh internet connection is not good in most of the places. Hence, the hotels might not get booking notifications if you book through online travel portals. It is advisable if you call the hotels for confirmation if you book online.

Day 9: We visited several places in Leh, which include Thikse monastery, Shanti Stupa, Leh Palace, Hall of Fame etc. In the evening, we got the required permit and went to sleep early as the next day is expected to be difficult

Day 10: We started early morning from Leh; refuelled our car and filled up two 20 litres cans with diesel. We were on the way towards mighty Khardung La, the second highest mountain pass of the world. On the way, we were stopped by local taxi drivers at some post, to check if I am driving my own car. As I heard, they will not allow self-driven rented car (yellow registration plate) or borrowed car (white registration plate) beyond that point. We crossed Khardung La without much trouble except few bad stretches and took the way towards Panamik to visit the hot spring. On this road we first noticed some small streams crossing the road. Panamik hot spring disappointed us as we were expecting something more raw and natural. Anyway, we returned and drove towards Hunder, where we had our hotel booked. On the way, there was Diskit Monastery, where we stopped for a while.

Please note, we find a manually operated very basic petrol pump in Diskit, about which we never read in any blog earlier. There was no petrol pump beyond this point till day 15. However, you may find diesel in some roadside dhabas on emergency, which might not be good for your car engine.

Day 11: After breakfast, we started for Turtuk. After reaching Turtuk, we came to know, the road till Thung was open for tourists. Thung was the last village in India, from where we can clearly see the POK checkposts. The drive from Turtuk to Thung was extremely difficult, probably the most difficult one in the entire trip, also in my life so far. This was because of the super steep and extremely narrow road full of loose small pebbles along with sharp turns. Our Army showed us around and chatted with us for quite long. There were very few visitors there. After returning to Hunder, we enjoyed the Bactrian camel sight as well.

Day 12: This was another tough day, as I was advised in Team BHP. Our destination was Pangong Tso through Sayok route. We were told there are some deadly streams that we need to drive through; hence we should start early before the water-level rises in those streams. We did the same and encountered number of such streams. Our XUV500 AWD never let us down. However, local drivers were helpful too. All of us were helping each other to win those hurdles. We stopped at Spangmik first; but didn’t like the place, as it was very crowded. We went to Man driving beside the lake and find a decent stay there.

Day 13: Our next destination was Hanle. From Man to Chushul, there was practically no road. We were following some trails only. From Chushul there was average road till Hanle. We paid a short visit at the Observatory at Hanle.

Day 14: After finishing our breakfast, we started for Tso Moriri. It was average road again with some nasty streams. If you haven’t pre-booked, it is little difficult to find accommodation in Karzok, unless you pay hefty. Finally, we managed to get some decent tents. We drove to Tso Moriri Lake viewpoint, which was quite a steep uphill drive. We got a decent view of the entire lake from there.

Day 15: We started early morning towards Leh-Manali highway. Our plan was to take some tent at Sarchu for night stay. The road from Karzok till highway was one of the worst roads in the entire stretch. After hitting the highway, it was a comparatively pleasant drive. We reached Sarchu in the afternoon and had lunch there. There was enough daylight to drive till Jispa after we were done with our lunch. The only challenge ahead was Baralacha Pass. We took the challenge and started driving. We reached Jispa at late afternoon and decided to stretch little more till Keylong and settle in a decent hotel instead of tents. Finally, we ended at Keylong.

Day 16: After a good breakfast, we started for Manali. The road around Gramphoo was pathetic, as it was muddy due to heavy rain. Thanks to AWD, we managed to reach Manali by afternoon, while we find some other vehicles were struggling a lot.

Day 17: It rained whole night. We started early morning and find the Manali highway in the worst shape. We drove whole day with few breaks and settle in a hotel at greater Noida near Eastern Peripheral Expressway.

Day 18: Next day morning we started early again and availed Yamuna Expressway. We drove straight through Agra, Jhansi, Nagpur and reached Hyderabad following day morning. It was Monday; we had to get back to work with all our memories and stories for lifetime.

Hope this will help you to plan!

[ruzbehxyz]

With the Manali or Atal tunnel scheduled to open soon, here is the link
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/shift...now-ready.html

Please see post no.12 for new roads.

[Slipstream11]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

Organization of the guide
...

Hi,

I want to reach Zanskar from Manali from the south. Following is the route I have in mind :

Manali - jispa - darcha - sumdo - shinkula pass - lakhang - gonbo rangjon - kargyak

In your expert opinion, is this doable?

Thanks

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by Slipstream11

Hi,

I want to reach Zanskar from Manali from the south. Following is the route I have in mind :

Manali - jispa - darcha - sumdo - shinkula pass - lakhang - gonbo rangjon - kargyak

In your expert opinion, is this doable?

Thanks

The route is open now apparently. But how tough is it, and how long it takes, I don't really have any idea

[ruzbehxyz]

Originally Posted by Slipstream11

Hi,

I want to reach Zanskar from Manali from the south. Following is the route I have in mind :

Manali - jispa - darcha - sumdo - shinkula pass - lakhang - gonbo rangjon - kargyak

In your expert opinion, is this doable?
Thanks

New Road, opened in Sep 2019: Darcha - Shinkula - Padum.
Very challenging roads.
Route: Manali- Keylong - Darcha - Shinkula - Padum.
From Padum you can go to Kargil onwards to Leh, another challenge at Pensila.

New Road, opened in July 2020:
Padum - Zangla - Lingshed - Lamayuru - Leh. Lamayuru is on the Srinagar - Leh highway.

New road under construction.
Padum - Zangla - Chilling - Nimmoo - Leh. Nimoo is on Srinagar - Leh road and just 35 kms from Leh.
This road is alongside the Zanskar River.

Once this road will be completed, Manali to Leh will be 24x7.