[MacSr]

Just back from my Pune - Leh - Pune trip. Quick take on road conditions:
Ambala to Jalandhar- watch out for unfinished patches of highway every few kilometres. Lots of diversions.
Srinagar to Jammu - just about bearable. Repairs were being undertaken when I crossed.
Samba to Udhampur stretch is avoidable. Better to take the Jammu and Udhampur bypass to reach Srinagar.
Dras to Kargil - awesome road even for doing at night. Just an hour's drive.
Roads from Kargil to Leh are largely great barring the odd landslide.
Sonamarg to Dras through Zojila - be prepared for bumpy ride but worth it.
Leh to Pangong - good. On the Pangong - Leh return leg during descent follow the local cabs for a shortcut towards Leh. Saves you a cool 20 mins

[Traveller Nayak]

Originally Posted by MacSr

Just back from my Pune - Leh - Pune trip. Quick take on road conditions:
Ambala to Jalandhar- watch out for unfinished patches of highway every few kilometres. Lots of diversions.
Srinagar to Jammu - just about bearable. Repairs were being undertaken when I crossed.
Samba to Udhampur stretch is avoidable. Better to take the Jammu and Udhampur bypass to reach Srinagar.
Dras to Kargil - awesome road even for doing at night. Just an hour's drive.
Roads from Kargil to Leh are largely great barring the odd landslide.
Sonamarg to Dras through Zojila - be prevpared for bumpy ride but worth it.
Leh to Pangong - good. On the Pangong - Leh return leg during descent follow the local cabs for a shortcut towards Leh. Saves you a cool 20 mins

Many thanks.:thumbup: This is helpful. Did you return via manali? If yes, also let us know about this route too.

[rajneeesh]

Dear all, I am currently in Leh and will start on my return journey to Noida tomorrow morning. It would be great if any of you could update the latest road conditions on the Leh -Manali route. The time it would take.

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by rajneeesh

Dear all, I am currently in Leh and will start on my return journey to Noida tomorrow morning. It would be great if any of you could update the latest road conditions on the Leh -Manali route. The time it would take.

Cars are taking around 18-19 hours for Leh Manali. a bike will take around 20-22 hours.

Route is not too bad, except Rohtang. Baralacha LA is also okay now.

[MacSr]

Originally Posted by Traveller Nayak

Many thanks.:thumbup: This is helpful. Did you return via manali? If yes, also let us know about this route too.

Wish I could have helped, but I returned via Srinagar as the Manali route was closed on 3rd Jun 14.

[rajneeesh]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

Cars are taking around 18-19 hours for Leh Manali. a bike will take around 20-22 hours.

Route is not too bad, except Rohtang. Baralacha LA is also okay now.

Thanks for the update Tanveer. However, I got another update on Monday afternoon on BCM touring and immediately changed my plans. I left Leh at 4:00 P.M on Monday for Kargil. I started from Kargil at 3:30 a.m after a night halt and hit Jammu at 8:40 P.M. . I will start for Noida in another 10 min.

[rahulya007]

Hi,

Any update on the Patnitop-Doda-Kishtwar-Sinthan Top-Anantnag-Srinagar route ?

We are leaving for Leh via Jammu-Srinagar-Leh route on 12th July..Quite some time still, but just thought of checking if we have to change plans..

keep posting on the Wari La and Shyok routes.. as well as the Hanle one for permits..

[columbus]

Returned a couple of days back from Leh. We were in a 4x4 Fortuner.

Some route updates

1. Mughal road can be done by just about any vehicle. Only problem is shooting stones. If the weather is bad don't enter. Otherwise take this beautiful route to Srinagar rather than the boring normal route.

2. Gate system still active at Sonmarg. They let you out at 3:00 PM. So you will stay either at Drass or Kargil depending on how much time you take for crossing Zozila.

3. Zozila has good amount of snow. Again all sorts of vehicles doing it. Low slung sedans may take some underbody hits.

4. Drass - Kargil decent. After Kargil its a runway to Leh.

5. Both Khardung La and Changla have broken roads 5 to 10 kms before and after the Top. Nothing serious.

OK now come the Red routes

1. Agham - Shyok.
We tried till a couple of kms before the first river crossing. A landslide on steep rocky incline. We began clearing it with our shovels. Weather was very bad with howling winds. More stone started falling. One of the missiles smashed my Fortuners rear tail light. Also the spate of the river looked omnious. I had serious doubt about crossing it 2 times. Had to retreat. Some other day.

2. Chushul - Mahe via Kaksang La
The route is still closed because of glaciers on the road. Even Army has not started plying on this route. Talked to the CO of the unit there who was from Bhopal. So info is reliable.

3. Chushul - Tsaga La - Hanle
The route is doable but we got major snow storm at Tsaga la and Hanle.

4. Hanle - Kyun Tso 1 & 2 - Nidar route
Snow has still not melted in some places. The route had some tricky glacier crossings which required 4x4. But its melting fast. Only enter here if you are good at GPS. For us Orux worked brilliantly. Kyun Tso 2 is still half frozen.

5. Kyun Tso 1&2 - Salsal La - Chumur bypass - Charghan La - Tso Moriri
Again not to be entered without GPS. We had Orux and a track uploaded on androzic which worked great in tandem. Be careful at Chumur plains. Its a marsh trap.

6. Tso Moriri - Polokong la - Tso kar - Sarchu
Nothing special... same as earlier.

7. Sarchu - Baralacha - Jispa
Baralacha has unbeliveable amount of snow. In my three trips to Ladakh i have never seen so much snow here. We were stuck at Baralacha for 30 hrs in a traffic jam. Yes correct 30 hrs. All because of idiots in the HP government / police. The road also has ice on it. Bikers were having a hard time. After Baralacha there are three water crossings. And one just before keylong.

8. Jispa - Rohtang - Manali

Keylong side roads near rohtang dusty. No slush like 2011 or 2012. Manali side is all black top. But then manali side has thousands of tourist taxis creating a massive jam. Expect to loose 6 - 8 hrs here.

[nik.agr]

Returned via Manali on 17/18 June. Did Leg to Keylong on day 1 and till Chandigarh on day 2. Pointers below

1. We started quite early so we got no oncoming traffic till about Sarchu. The passes on the way are also easy with some patchy stretches and the road around Moore plains is great
2. Doing Barlacha la in the afternoon meant many puddles on the road. The roads are a little rough here and a cars with low GC will likely take some hits. That said the pass is extremely beautiful and may be less of a worry earlier in the day before the snow starts to melt
3. Post the la till Jispa there are many dusty roads where visibility is seriously impaired
4. There is a nalla after zingzing bar where high GC may be needed too. We saw a swift stuck in the water which created a one hour jam
5. Now rohtang. We started the ascent crazy early and still took some 6 hours to do it. The ascent road is bad with some sludge and many puddles. Still doable. The manali side is insane because of local tourist traffic from 6am and gets increasingly so. We've heard sorry tales of people who took 12 hours to cross it. Locals suggest crossing it in late evening and there may be something in it; the roads once on the manali side are very good although one should watch out for the f1 style HP taxis

[akshaymahajan]

With less than 3 weeks remaining for me to get Leh'd, I am all excited.

A few questions
1. We are starting from Srinagar airport on the 11th morning on bullets that will be ready and waiting for us near the airport. We plan to go to Kargil the same day. We were thinking of staying at Sonmarg for a day and then leaving for Kargil next morning as early as 6 AM. but considering that traffic is allowed only after 3PM, we want to not waste a day. Any concerns here?
2. We will ride back to Mandi and we want to do Tso Moriri and Tso Kar on our way back after Pangong. There is a way from Pangong to Tso Moriri but I havent seen any route updates or any bikers doing that. Its mostly 4 WD vehicles. We think we will be wasting a lot of time if we have to come back to Leh and then go to Tso Moriri. Is the Pangong to Tso Moriri route via Chishul doable on bikes? Also we still need permissions for doing this route if I am not mistaken?
3. Does anyone know the current rates of hiring a backup bolero to follow our bikes? And a mechanic?

Thanks
Akshay

[Nagesh]

Hi All,

3 of my friends are planning for a Delhi - Leh - Srinagar - Delhi trip this September. After going through most of the fantastic travelogues we have come up with the below places to visit. This list also indicates the route we intend to take.

We just had a discussion and coz of some constraints need to make it only a 10 day trip overall. Request you to update/suggest how we can accomodate this within this duration even if it means leaving out a couple of places. Appreciate all the suggestions!!

Please note that we will be travelling from B'lore to Delhi by flight and will be hiring a self drive (any suggestion on companies where to hire self drive welcome as well!!).

Route (sorry about the formatting. I have attached a image as well with proper format):

Day Chart From To
Day1 Delhi - Chandigarh
Day2 Chandigarh - Manali
Day3 Manali - Break
Day4 Manali - Keylong - Jispa
Day5 Jispa - Deepak Tal - Jispa
Day6 Jispa - Sarchu
Day 7 Sarchu - Leh
Day 8 Leh
Day 9 Leh - Nubra Valley
Day 10 Nubra valley - Leh
Day 11 Leh - Pangong Lake
Day12 Pangong Lake - Leh
Day 13 Leh - Kargil
Day 14 Kargil - Srinagar
Day 15 Srinagar
Day 16 Srinagar - Amritsar
Day 17 Amritsar - Delhi

Thanks!!

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by akshaymahajan

With less than 3 weeks remaining for me to get Leh'd, I am all excited.

A few questions
1. We are starting from Srinagar airport on the 11th morning on bullets that will be ready and waiting for us near the airport. We plan to go to Kargil the same day. We were thinking of staying at Sonmarg for a day and then leaving for Kargil next morning as early as 6 AM. but considering that traffic is allowed only after 3PM, we want to not waste a day. Any concerns here?

Make sure you are out of Srinagar by 11-11:30am or so

2. We will ride back to Mandi and we want to do Tso Moriri and Tso Kar on our way back after Pangong. There is a way from Pangong to Tso Moriri but I havent seen any route updates or any bikers doing that. Its mostly 4 WD vehicles. We think we will be wasting a lot of time if we have to come back to Leh and then go to Tso Moriri. Is the Pangong to Tso Moriri route via Chishul doable on bikes? Also we still need permissions for doing this route if I am not mistaken?

Its doable provided you have permits. If you go via Tsaga La, its only slightly less than going via Leh, however, Kakasang La is a shortcut. If road is open, do take this one, though its steep.

3. Does anyone know the current rates of hiring a backup bolero to follow our bikes? And a mechanic?

Thanks
Akshay

Leh Taxi union is your best bet. A yellow plate outside state vehicle won't work

Originally Posted by Nagesh

Day Chart From To
Day1 Delhi - Chandigarh
Day2 Chandigarh - Manali
Day3 Manali - Break
Day4 Manali - Keylong - Jispa
Day5 Jispa - Deepak Tal - Jispa
Day6 Jispa - Sarchu
Day 7 Sarchu - Leh
Day 8 Leh
Day 9 Leh - Nubra Valley
Day 10 Nubra valley - Leh
Day 11 Leh - Pangong Lake
Day12 Pangong Lake - Leh
Day 13 Leh - Kargil
Day 14 Kargil - Srinagar
Day 15 Srinagar
Day 16 Srinagar - Amritsar
Day 17 Amritsar - Delhi

Thanks!!

if you have 10 day s Delhi Delhi this is the best you can do
1. Delhi - Patnitop
2. Patnitop - Srinagar and local sight seeing
3. Srinagar - Kargil
4. Kargil Leh
5. Leh Nubra Leh(sand dunes at hunder are 5 hours away)
6. Leh - Pangong
7. Pangong - Chumathang
8. Chumathang - Tso moriri - Tso Kar
9. Tso Kar - Sarchu - Keylong
10. Keylong - kullu
11. kullu Delhi - Delhi

You can ditch either Tso Kar/Tso moriri or Ditch nubra valley.
your choice

[ToyotaFan]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

Make sure you are out of Srinagar by 11-11:30am or so


Its doable provided you have permits. If you go via Tsaga La, its only slightly less than going via Leh, however, Kakasang La is a shortcut. If road is open, do take this one, though its steep.


Leh Taxi union is your best bet. A yellow plate outside state vehicle won't work


if you have 10 day s Delhi Delhi this is the best you can do
1. Delhi - Patnitop
2. Patnitop - Srinagar and local sight seeing
3. Srinagar - Kargil
4. Kargil Leh
5. Leh Nubra Leh(sand dunes at hunder are 5 hours away)
6. Leh - Pangong
7. Pangong - Chumathang
8. Chumathang - Tso moriri - Tso Kar
9. Tso Kar - Sarchu - Keylong
10. Keylong - kullu
11. kullu Delhi - Delhi

You can ditch either Tso Kar/Tso moriri or Ditch nubra valley.
your choice

1) I like your plan and I also did Delhi to Delhi in 10 days in 2011. But I left to morari and tso Kar. I wanted to know if Tso kar to keylong would be doable in 1 day and what would be the approximate travel time.

2)Sorry for this but wanted to know if chumathang is on the same route as Spangmik- Hanle - Tso morari which has been covered in many threads. I myself am planning a trip from july 20th and wanted to know if this route is recommended or should one go back to leh and then Tso morari.

3) Of the newer travelogues I have read most of them seem to skip Zansker valley. I wanted to know if Zansker valley is worth going considering it will be a 3 day detour from kargil. I have maximum of 20 days and a Toyota Fortuner 4*4.

4) Other than this are there any other places that I should cover that are motorable and worth a visit.

Thanks in advance.

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by ToyotaFan

1) I like your plan and I also did Delhi to Delhi in 10 days in 2011. But I left to morari and tso Kar. I wanted to know if Tso kar to keylong would be doable in 1 day and what would be the approximate travel time.

Check out the map . Travel times have been marked

2)Sorry for this but wanted to know if chumathang is on the same route as Spangmik- Hanle - Tso morari which has been covered in many threads. I myself am planning a trip from july 20th and wanted to know if this route is recommended or should one go back to leh and then Tso morari.

Chumathang is on the way if you go via Leh. If you go via Tsaga la you do not hit Chumathang. Even kakasang la route does not involve chumathang. Permits for Chushul route are difficult. And you do not need to go to Hanle for Chushul route. Do check the map

3) Of the newer travelogues I have read most of them seem to skip Zansker valley. I wanted to know if Zansker valley is worth going considering it will be a 3 day detour from kargil. I have maximum of 20 days and a Toyota Fortuner 4*4.

Check you the zanskar section of the guide and decide. You can also check out my leh travelogue

4) Other than this are there any other places that I should cover that are motorable and worth a visit.

Thanks in advance.

The guide is your best friend. It covers everything

[ToyotaFan]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

Check out the map . Travel times have been marked


Chumathang is on the way if you go via Leh. If you go via Tsaga la you do not hit Chumathang. Even kakasang la route does not involve chumathang. Permits for Chushul route are difficult. And you do not need to go to Hanle for Chushul route. Do check the map


Check you the zanskar section of the guide and decide. You can also check out my leh travelogue


The guide is your best friend. It covers everything

Thanks for the help. Sorry I did not see the guide before asking you. It seems the MOST comprehensive guide for ladakh I have ever seen. I have bought almost all literature available for ladakh over the years but this seems to be the best. Can't thank you enough.