[penpusher]

Hi Tanveer, great post and excellent pictures.

I am planning a trip to Ladakh from Delhi with 2 friends in a Terrano 85 PS during end of this month. We are a little short for time so the rough itinerary is as below,

July 26- Delhi to Manali
July 27- Manali to Jispa
July 28- Jispa to Leh
July 29- Leh to Pangong
July 30- Pangong to Hanle
July 31- Hanle to Sarchu/Jispa
Aug. 1- Sarchu/Jispa to Manali
Aug. 2/3- Manali to Delhi

We have kept one day spare for any delays, etc.

I just wanted to run above by you and seek your expert opinion on some issues that I am worried about,

Firstly, do you think above, especially the part after Pangong, is doable, in terms of the time we have allotted for it (both me and a friend who is going will drive)?

Secondly, as I believe there is some recent trouble at Pangong Tso (Chinese incursions), will we have any issues reaching the lake itself (in terms of Army blockades), and also from Pangong to Hanle via Tsaga La route?

Thirdly, do you have any idea regarding how is the road from Hanle to Sarchu?

Thanks in anticipation of your reply.

[ToyotaFan]

Originally Posted by penpusher

Hi Tanveer, great post and excellent pictures.

I am planning a trip to Ladakh from Delhi with 2 friends in a Terrano 85 PS during end of this month. We are a little short for time so the rough itinerary is as below,

July 26- Delhi to Manali
July 27- Manali to Jispa
July 28- Jispa to Leh
July 29- Leh to Pangong
July 30- Pangong to Hanle
July 31- Hanle to Sarchu/Jispa
Aug. 1- Sarchu/Jispa to Manali
Aug. 2/3- Manali to Delhi

We have kept one day spare for any delays, etc.

I just wanted to run above by you and seek your expert opinion on some issues that I am worried about,

Firstly, do you think above, especially the part after Pangong, is doable, in terms of the time we have allotted for it (both me and a friend who is going will drive)?

Secondly, as I believe there is some recent trouble at Pangong Tso (Chinese incursions), will we have any issues reaching the lake itself (in terms of Army blockades), and also from Pangong to Hanle via Tsaga La route?

Thirdly, do you have any idea regarding how is the road from Hanle to Sarchu?

Thanks in anticipation of your reply.

Considering the recent trouble I believe permits for hanle might be not that easy to obtain. You can instead include Nubra/Tso morari in your trip. From pangong either stay at chumatang then tso morari and onwards to sarchu/jispa. Or you can go first to nubra then pangong via wari la and then back from Chang la to manali highway. This is what I have understood from what I gave read recently. I did the normal tourist circuit (pangong and nubra) in 2011 and at that time these roads were mostly 4*4 territory. Bon voyage.

[tsk1979]

Hanle is never an issue. however chushul is
That said Hanle to Sarchu is doable with a very early start

But for your lack of time I would recommend this

Leh - PAngong
Pangong - Chushul Tso moriri
Tso moriri Tso Kar Sarchu

If you cannot get chushul then you stop over at chumathang and add an extra day

[stormerider]

We were also stopped by army at chulshul on 19 June. We had proper permits for chulshul, tsagala and hanle.
Army checkpost asked us to go back and try hanle from Mahe side, as these routes were declared red for 2-3 days.
I agree with tanveer, Tso moriri to sarchu via Tso kar is doable in a day.

The worst part of this route would be rohtang because of traffic jams, tourist vehicles and bad management. We took 6 hours to get down from rohtang to manali.

[anupamtiwari]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

Hanle is never an issue. however chushul is
That said Hanle to Sarchu is doable with a very early start

But for your lack of time I would recommend this

Leh - PAngong
Pangong - Chushul Tso moriri
Tso moriri Tso Kar Sarchu

If you cannot get chushul then you stop over at chumathang and add an extra day

Does army allows one to go via chusul- kakaaang la or it's also out of reach?

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by anupamtiwari

Does army allows one to go via chusul- kakaaang la or it's also out of reach?

Its Kaksang LA. And as for permission, its whimsical. It may allow or may not allow. So go there, and see what they allow.

[roy_libran]

Tanveer Ji - Many thanks for your excellent guide. Thanks to the guidance I received from this thread, I was able to plan and complete an absolutely amazing trip between Mid and End June this year.
Although I wasn't able to do the Chushul - Hanle - Tso Moriri circuit, this year, I've decided to pick those up next year.
Another miss was the Agham-Shyok route from Nubra to Tangste, when we were turned back from near Agham.
The highlight of my trip was the three hours we spent at Dah, and the resulting drive through the beautiful canyons along the Indus. On that road, we could see, perhaps, 1 vehicle every 30 minutes.

[uniq62]

Hi Tanveer,

First of all many thanks to you as well as every contributor to this evergreen thread having all the required info to plan and cover Ladakh. Your photographs and way of narration is an inspiration to many people like me.

Its my 3rd trip of Ladakh on 2 wheels and after going to this thread (the Ultimate Guide) I think there's so much still left to do. Hence this post. I am going to cover most of the ground which i left in the earlier trips. Following is my itinerary, please share your views on the same.

12th July 2014 New Delhi - Jammu
13th July 2014 Jammu - Sonamarg (via Mughal Road)
14th July 2014 Sonamarg - Kargil
15th July 2014 Kargil - Leh
16th July 2014 Leh - Leh (permits and rest)
17th July 2014 Leh - Diskit/Hunder
18th July 2014 Diskit/Hunder - Spangmik (via Agham Shyok route/ Wari la
route) Depends on agham-shyok route's nature

19th July 2014 spangmik - Hanle (via tsaga la-Loma)
20th July 2014 Hanle - Karzok (tso Moriri)
21st July 2014 Karzok (tso Moriri) - Pang/Sarchu
22nd July 2014 Pang/Sarchu - Manali
23rd July 2014 Manali - New Delhi

Taking One day spare with us. Kindly share some light on Agham - Shyok route's status (if any) to cover on bikes. I wish to cover this route as i have read and heard that its very scenic as well as rarely traveled.


Regards.

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by uniq62

Taking One day spare with us. Kindly share some light on Agham - Shyok route's status (if any) to cover on bikes. I wish to cover this route as i have read and heard that its very scenic as well as rarely traveled.


Regards.

Agham Shyok is pure luck. It may or may not be open.
Otherwise itenary looks fine.
I am not sure you can do Jammu Sonmarg though via Mughal road. Best is to go from Delhi to some place near start of the Mughal route and skip Jammu

[UrbanNomad]

hi Tanveer, seeking your inputs with this post. Your thread is extremely informative & helpful, thanx a ton for the same.

We are a group of 5 riders headed to Leh next month. This will be our first trip to Leh. 2 of us will be on Ninja 650s & 3 of us on Bullets (1 TB, 2 Classics) Our itinerary is as below:

the 2 650 riders will ride down & meet us at ambala straight.

9th Aug Sat: 3 of us take the train from Mumbai to Ambala.
10th Aug Sun : arrival by train in Ambala. Catch up with the other 2 riders
11th Aug Mon : Ambala to Patnitop
12th Aug Tue : Patnitop to Srinagar
13th Aug Wed : Srinagar to Lamayuru
14th Aug Thu : Lamayuru to Leh
15th Aug Fri : Rest day at Leh (cant get passes today since public holiday)
16th Aug Sat : Rest day at Leh (get passes for Hanle)
17th Aug Sun : Leh to Pangong Tso. Night stay at Tang Tse
18th Aug Mon : Tang Tse to Hundar
19th Aug Tue : Hundar - Turtuk - Hundar
20th Aug wed : Hundar - Panamik - Khardung La - Leh
21st Aug Thu : Rest Day
22nd Aug Fri : Leh - Pangong - Man Merak - Chushul - Tsaga La - Loma - Hanle
23rd Aug Sat : Hanle - Tso Moriri
24th Aug Sun : Tso Moriri - Jispa
25th Aug Mon : Jispa - Manali
26th Aug Tue : Rest day
27th Aug Wed: Manali - Kalka
28th Aug Thu: Spare day
29th Aug Fri: Train from Chandigarh
30th Aug Sat: Arrival back in Mumbai

My queries are:

1. Does the plan seem ok prima facie, or would you suggest any changes?

2. Hopefully the offices are open for passes on 16th Aug it being a sat. What would we need to ensure is mentioned in the passes for Hanle? We have an ex army capt riding with us, hopefully should help sort out

3. Is Panamik advised or should we skip it completely?

4. Leh to Hanle to Tso Moriri: how many kms would this be for us to plan the fuel out? The weakest link is the 650 with a range of max 625kms (tank + cans). If more required, will get the bullets to carry the extra fuel

5. should we do Leh to Hundar & back before Pangong Tso? That way we can proceed straight from Pangong Tso to Hanle


Would really appreciate the help you & other members can provide.

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by UrbanNomad

Would really appreciate the help you & other members can provide.

1. Lamayuru to Leh is just 3 hours max. Start early and take permits same day
2. You are confused about location of places

I would do it like this
Thu - Lamayuru Leh + Permits
Fri - Leh - Hunder Sand dunes
Sat - Hunder - Wari LA - Tangste (Take 20kms detour and fill up at Karu)
Sun - Full day pangong + night stay at Spangmik or Merak
Mon - Pangong Hanle (Buy fuel in from locals in Hanle)
Tue - Hanle - Tso moriri
Wed - Tso moriri - Sarchu....

And so on

[uniq62]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

Agham Shyok is pure luck. It may or may not be open.
Otherwise itenary looks fine.
I am not sure you can do Jammu Sonmarg though via Mughal road. Best is to go from Delhi to some place near start of the Mughal route and skip Jammu

Thanks for the reply Tanveer..
The reason for spending first night at jammu is because its my home. So will cut down hotel expenses. Moreover i have done jammu to Srinagar (via mughal road) earlier and was easily doable. So i guess sonmarg will be doable if we start early from jammu.
I have opted the mughal road just to avoid the mad rush on NH1 due to amarnath yatra and the ongoing widening of the highway which is making the travel fro jammu to srinagar quite tiresome.

I am just hoping to find the agham-shyok route open when we reach there. Fingers crossed.

[UrbanNomad]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

1. Lamayuru to Leh is just 3 hours max. Start early and take permits same day
2. You are confused about location of places

I would do it like this
Thu - Lamayuru Leh + Permits
Fri - Leh - Hunder Sand dunes
Sat - Hunder - Wari LA - Tangste (Take 20kms detour and fill up at Karu)
Sun - Full day pangong + night stay at Spangmik or Merak
Mon - Pangong Hanle (Buy fuel in from locals in Hanle)
Tue - Hanle - Tso moriri
Wed - Tso moriri - Sarchu....

And so on

Thanx Tanveer for the quick response.

So will re-plan as below:

11th Aug Mon : Ambala to Patnitop
12th Aug Tue : Patnitop to Srinagar
13th Aug Wed : Srinagar to Lamayuru
14th Aug Thu : Lamayuru to Leh. Get Passes for Hanle
15th Aug Fri : Rest day at Leh (local sightseeing)
16th Aug Sat : Rest day at Leh (local sightseeing)
17th Aug Sun : Leh to Hunder
18th Aug Mon : Hundar - Turtuk - Hundar
19th Aug Tue : Hundar - Wari La - Tang Tse (detour to fill up at Karu)
20th Aug wed : Full day pangong + night stay at Spangmik or Merak
21st Aug Thu : Pangong - Man Merak - Chushul - Tsaga La - Loma - Hanle
22nd Aug Fri : Hanle - Tso Moriri
23rd Aug Sat : Tso Moriri - Jispa
24th Aug Sun : Jispa - Manali
25th Aug Mon : Rest day
26th Aug Tue : Manali - Kalka
27th Aug Wed: Spare day
28th Aug Thu: Spare day
29th Aug Fri: Train from Chandigarh
30th Aug Sat: Arrival back in Mumbai

1. It does seem we have a couple of days that we can utilise to see some more places. Would you advise visiting either Marsamik or perhaps Panamik?

2. Will we surely get petrol at Hanle? Since we cant carry any more than sufficient for 650kms

3. if at Chushul we are asked to re-route via mahe, might have significant petrol issues right?

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by UrbanNomad

1. It does seem we have a couple of days that we can utilise to see some more places. Would you advise visiting either Marsamik or perhaps Panamik?

Do Tangste - Marisimik La - Pangong instead of whole day at pangong. This way you have 3/4 day at pangong.
And its always good to have spare days in hand

2. Will we surely get petrol at Hanle? Since we cant carry any more than sufficient for 650kms

If not, you pick up fuel at Nyoma town. You get fuel in bottles. Without this supply the biking economy will collapse.
I am worried about your return leg from Tso moriri without any fuel

3. if at Chushul we are asked to re-route via mahe, might have significant petrol issues right?

Then buy fuel at Nyoma.
My recommendation. Carry 20 liters each TB. I presume there are no pillions. in that case its not a difficult task to carry 20 liters each in plastic cans.

You can even buy some fuel at Tangste even though your tanks will be half full there. Just top up completely.

Alternatively, if you are a few people go to Taxi union, tell them your dates, and ask them to deliver fuel to you in Hanle. So when you reach Hanle, you can give the taxi guy a call. will cost you around 6000rs. So 1000/person if your are 6 people.

[UrbanNomad]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

Alternatively, if you are a few people go to Taxi union, tell them your dates, and ask them to deliver fuel to you in Hanle. So when you reach Hanle, you can give the taxi guy a call. will cost you around 6000rs. So 1000/person if your are 6 people.

Thats actually a great idea! thanx