[touring_spirit]

Originally Posted by R-Six

Merak to Hanle would be a tough drive on a Ciaz. Also, don't go by the route that google map shows by default. It is showing you the nearly non-existent road through Chushul.

Also, with your current plan, you'll be without a fuel station for close to 500-600 KMs. After Hunder, I think you will find the next pump in Karu. So you might have to plan for that as well.

Anyway, as you discuss and rework the plan, things should be more in place.

I'm planning a road trip to the Himalayas as well. But my plan is to hit the road towards the end of April. Lets see how it goes.

Drive safe,
R-Six

Hi,


I am doing this route solo on my motorbike in May 3nd week. I have booked a stay at Merak and at Hanle the next day. I was planning to drive to Hanle via chusul. Since you mentioned not to follow Google maps, could you suggest way points or an alternate route to reach Hanle from Merak.

Also needed some pointers on carrying fuel on other than Jerry cans.

[ranjitnair77]

Originally Posted by vishrutjai

Karzok to Spangmik seems to be 210kms, that’s isn’t right?

My apologies for the typo.

As Anand B rightly says, the route from Karzok to Chushul is mixed. The direct route from Chushul to Spangmik is almost completely off-road and I'm not not sure if the Seltos will make it in that section. If you take the more smoother route from Chushul to Spangmik via Tangtse, the total distance is closer to 300kms.

In any case this not to be attempted.

[gargmudit]

Originally Posted by SJM1214

A nice plan, It looks good and perfect.

For Stay:
Hunder has many guesthouses and homestays, you can walk in or book in advance

You mentioned Merak, Peaceful Guesthouse, Merak is a good place, we stayed there back in 2018 and going to stay there again this April.

Hanle, Padma Guesthouse, is basic but clean and economical.

Tso Moriri, They do have many camps, and guesthouses, Dolphin Guesthurs is very basis and clean, we stayed there back in 2018

Thanks a lot for the stay suggestions. This really helps.

One more query : As I understand after fueling in Nubra valley / Hunder, I will not get any petrol pumps till keylong as per my route (Hunder - Pangsong - Hanle - Tso Moriri - Keylong). This will be almost 1000 Km strech and given my Endeavour gives close to 10 kmpl in plains, I am expecting not more than 7-8 Kmpl in Ladakh. Hence I will be needing almost 40-45 litres more to complete the circuit after tank full (80 litres) at Hunder. Is this understanding correct and I will need to carry 2 jerry cans of 20L each or are there any other reliable options on this route?

[vishrutjai]

Originally Posted by ranjitnair77

My apologies for the typo.

As Anand B rightly says, the route from Karzok to Chushul is mixed. The direct route from Chushul to Spangmik is almost completely off-road and I'm not not sure if the Seltos will make it in that section. If you take the more smoother route from Chushul to Spangmik via Tangtse, the total distance is closer to 300kms.

In any case this not to be attempted.

Thanks for your suggestions, changing my routes to do tso moriri on another day

[SJM1214]

Originally Posted by gargmudit

Thanks a lot for the stay suggestions. This really helps.

One more query : As I understand after fueling in Nubra valley / Hunder, I will not get any petrol pumps till keylong as per my route (Hunder - Pangsong - Hanle - Tso Moriri - Keylong). This will be almost 1000 Km strech and given my Endeavour gives close to 10 kmpl in plains, I am expecting not more than 7-8 Kmpl in Ladakh. Hence I will be needing almost 40-45 litres more to complete the circuit after tank full (80 litres) at Hunder. Is this understanding correct and I will need to carry 2 jerry cans of 20L each or are there any other reliable options on this route?

Yes, We are going to do Leh-Siachin-Hunder-Turtuk-Diskit-Pangong-Hanle-Tso Moriri-Tandi by an Innova this April. We have got some new bunks on the other side of Khardung La. However, we are going to keep 40+20 Jerry can which can give us a rough range of 60km. Saying that, We are talking about diesel here, we will surely get it at some of the major villages on the same route

[SX4LOVER]

Dear all,
I am planning a trip to leh and around starting third week of may for abt 18 days or so.
The group would consist of four adults, two children about 10, one elderly about 75 and one kid about 2 yrs.
Am I being two optimistic abt taking the kid and the elderly?
My route would be :
May 17 Day 1 Delhi to Jammu
May 18 Day 2 Jammu to Srinagar
May 19 Day 3 Srinagar
May 20 Day 4 Sri to Dras
May 21 Day 5 Dras to Kargil
May 22 Day 6 Kargil to Leh
May 23-26 Local sightseeing
May 26 Pangong Tso and back on May 27
May 28 Turtuk and Back on May 29
May 30 Start for Sarchu
May 31 Start for Manali/Chandigarh
Jun 01 Back into Delhi....

Kindly give your expert advice on if the trip is doable in May third week onwards. Also I would love inputs on the planning..are the timelines ok??

[AnandB]

Originally Posted by SX4LOVER

Dear all,
I am planning a trip to leh and around starting third week of may for abt 18 days or so.
The group would consist of four adults, two children about 10, one elderly about 75 and one kid about 2 yrs.
Am I being two optimistic abt taking the kid and the elderly?

Yes, i would avoid going with elderly and 2 year old. I wanted to do my trip with my wife and 3 year old but decided against it. There is no way to know before hand who will get hit with AMS and kids/elderly can't convey properly. I know people do take them; i did see a 3 year old at Khardung La top but i would recommend against it.

[Captain Slow]

Hi Experts,

Where do we check the status of Manali to Leh highway? Is there any official police or travel twitter or website to check?

[AnandB]

Originally Posted by Captain Slow

Hi Experts,

Where do we check the status of Manali to Leh highway? Is there any official police or travel twitter or website to check?

https://www.facebook.com/splahhp

[R-Six]

Originally Posted by touring_spirit

Hi,
could you suggest way points or an alternate route to reach Hanle from Merak.

When I said "don't follow g-maps", I meant, not take the off roading track that google suggest between Merak village and Chushul. You might be better off back tracking all the way to Tangste and take the better road instead. Again, my suggestions are based on my research. Those who have travelled in the recent past could guide better.

Originally Posted by touring_spirit

Also needed some pointers on carrying fuel on other than Jerry cans.

Sorry buddy! Can't think of any other safe option to carry fuel other than jerry cans. Not sure now well the plastic bottles withhold the pressure variations. If not a 20 liter one, may be you can try those small 5 liter cans.

Anyway, wishing you a safe trip nonetheless.

Ride Safe,
R-Six!

[touring_spirit]

For people who have travelled recently to Ladakh, is the Covid RT-PCR test still mandatory or is the double vaccination certificate enough? The inner line permit mentions tests taken at least 96 hours before(which technically doesn't make any sense).

For the inner line permit a bunch of routes options come up for selection. Does this mean that once I select these routes I needn't visit the DC office in Leh and get my permits stamped ?

[BunnyPunia]

Originally Posted by SX4LOVER

Dear all,
I am planning a trip to leh and around starting third week of may for abt 18 days or so.
The group would consist of four adults, two children about 10, one elderly about 75 and one kid about 2 yrs.
Am I being two optimistic abt taking the kid and the elderly?
My route would be :
May 17 Day 1 Delhi to Jammu
May 18 Day 2 Jammu to Srinagar
May 19 Day 3 Srinagar
May 20 Day 4 Sri to Dras
May 21 Day 5 Dras to Kargil
May 22 Day 6 Kargil to Leh
May 23-26 Local sightseeing
May 26 Pangong Tso and back on May 27
May 28 Turtuk and Back on May 29
May 30 Start for Sarchu
May 31 Start for Manali/Chandigarh
Jun 01 Back into Delhi....

Kindly give your expert advice on if the trip is doable in May third week onwards. Also I would love inputs on the planning..are the timelines ok??

I won't recommend a 2 year old kid. Even though the Kashmir route is good (less elevation changes), its tough for us to ensure kids remain calm and dont over-exert. K-top and Chang la will be testing time for a 2 year old kid in terms of AMS.

As per my latest trip...
May 17 Day 1 Delhi to Jammu : super easy. U can push to Udhampur via Samba (bypass Jammu) and this ensures u reach Srinagar earlier and spend more time at the lake. My 2 cents

May 18 Day 2 Jammu to Srinagar : roads are so much better now

May 19 Day 3 Srinagar : ok

May 20 Day 4 Sri to Dras : This is about 5-6 hrs drive plus breaks.

May 21 Day 5 Dras to Kargil : Why such a short route? Why not do Srinagar to Kargil itself. Roads are nice between both the cities

May 22 Day 6 Kargil to Leh : super easy, super good. Excellent roads. 5 hrs plus breaks for food / sightseeing

May 23-26 Local sightseeing - yes

May 26 Pangong Tso and back on May 27 - do nubra first. helps for getting used to heights at nubra night is 10500 feet and pangong night is 14000 feet.

May 28 Turtuk and Back on May 29 - do take the Tyakshi village walk. if u want local lunch experience with a guide, lemme know.

May 30 Start for Sarchu - Leh to Sarchu - yes. but no network at night

May 31 Start for Manali/Chandigarh : CHD will be too much of a push as Manali - CHD will be jammed up with toursits at this point of time. Aim for Mandi.

Jun 01 Back into Delhi....-> and then do Mandi to Delhi

[BunnyPunia]

For those looking at Eastern Ladakh, a bit of good news.
1) No stamp required for Hanle from DC office. The normal online inner line permit works - even the soft copy
2) No physical stamp required anywhere now.
3) No checking between Hanle and Umling la as of March end.
4) Leh to Hanle is smooth now apart from 35-40km of road work around Chumathang. Else all good.
5) For Umling la, I bypassed Photi la and took the valley route from the back of Hanle town. However this has 2 mini river crossings and the rivers were tiny in end March. May not be possible now..

Did it in the Magnite - >

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QRp3RM6LGo

[JohnnyBoss]

Originally Posted by BunnyPunia

May 28 Turtuk and Back on May 29 - do take the Tyakshi village walk. if u want local lunch experience with a guide, lemme know.

Can you please elaborate a bit about Tyakshi village walk. Thanks.

[BunnyPunia]

Originally Posted by JohnnyBoss

Can you please elaborate a bit about Tyakshi village walk. Thanks.

From the parking, walk to last point via the village starts. 20 to 30 mins. lush green village in the middle of brown barren mountains. Balti tride (different facial and body featurs) and then you see the school and medical hall that once used to under Pak. Also can see the POK peaks from there.

Good feeling, good walk.

Basically after Turtuk u have 2 options
1) Tyakshi village - walk
2) Thang village - car

I always prefer #1