[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by Traveller Nayak

Dear All: after delaying in preparing the planner, I have finally been able to put together the planner. I had underestimated the efforts (thinking and the hours) this planner would need. There are few sections where I am not sure how to plan - you will notice these as you go through the below.

Travel dates: August 30th – September 13th

No of travellers: 02 – male

Vehicle: Fortuner Automatic / July 2013 / done 30k / re; tyres –city driven

*****

Day 1 / 30 August / Saturday

Delhi – Patnitop

Day 2/ 31 August / Sunday

Patnitop – Sonmarg

Day 3/ 1 September / Monday

Sonmarg – Drass – Kargil - Dha – Hanu – Lamayuru

(can one cross through Drass and Kargil in one day? + what if a visit is to the war memorial – can this still be doable?)

Yes you can easily do it, with war memorial too.

Day 4/ 2 September / Tuesday

Lamayuru – Leh

(permits / sight seeing/ vehicle check up/ et all)

Day 5 / 3 September / Wednesday

Leh – Khardungla – Khalsar – Diskit – Hunder – Turtuk - Hunder

Day 6/ 4 September / Thursday

Hunder – Panamik – Khardung la – Leh

Day 7 / 5 September / Friday

Leh – Karu – Sarkti – Chang La – Durbuk – Tangste – Spangmik

(re; Pangong – should we stay 1 night or 2? – have leaves till September 13th )

Why not do direct spangmik via Wari La. Its going to be open and easily doable. No special permits needed!
No need to even mention wari La on permit form

Day 8 / 6 September / Saturday

Pangong – Maan Merak – Chushul – Tsaga La – Loma – Hanle

OR

What should be plan B if army refuses at Chushul to go Hanle – then

Pangong – Chushul – Pangong - ?

Come back to Leh if you are denied passage. But do try kakasang La route if yours is a 4x4. They sometimes allow that route.

Day 9 / 7 September / Sunday

On the assumption – luck favors

Hanle – Loma – Mahe – Sumdo – Tso Kiagar – Tso Moriri

(Can one go upto Tso Kar on same day? And where can one stay? Or can one go upto Pang?)

Day 10 / 8 September / Monday

Tso kar has camps and stay options. You go to Tso Moriri. If you find it okay, you push on to Tso kar. If you find it too lovely, you stay here only

Tso Moriri – Tso Kar – Pang – Sarchu – Baralacha La – Suraj Tal

If starting from Tso Kar, you can reach Jispa, otherwise Sarchu

Day 11 / 9 September / Tuesday

Sarchu – Manali

Day 12 / 10 September / Wednesday

Manali - Delhi

This is fine.

So yo save one day by using Wari La. this will give you buffer in case you are denied chushul.
From Hanle, you visit Tso moriri, decide if you want to stay here or just hang out for couple of hours. If you stay here, next day you can push to Sarchu. If you start from Tso Kar you can push to Jispa..

If you stay at Jispa, you can go to Mandi directly, which will cut your Delhi drive.

[ToyotaFan]

Originally Posted by Traveller Nayak

[/i]

Day 9 / 7 September / Sunday

On the assumption – luck favors

Hanle – Loma – Mahe – Sumdo – Tso Kiagar – Tso Moriri

(Can one go upto Tso Kar on same day? And where can one stay? Or can one go upto Pang?)
A

I came back from ladakh last week and covered Tso kar to manali in one one day very easily. I was the only driver and started at 5.30 am from lotus camps, Tso kar. We stopped at pang for breakfast (at 7am) after experiencing a beautiful sunrise at more plains. We reached keylong at 1 and after having lunch there we were able to make it to manali by 5.30 pm. One tip I would like to give you is do be careful at garamphoo. The road to kaza is unmarked and looks like the route to go to manali. My car and another fortuner (coming from manali) took that road by mistake and my map my india was getting confused there. We realized after almost a km that we had come on the wrong road and both the trucks had to reverse the whole distance. There was no place to reverse the beast. Otherwise the road is good and Tso moriri to jispa can also be covered in a single day with an early start.

[Traveller Nayak]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

[b]
Why not do direct spangmik via Wari La.

[b]
Come back to Leh if you are denied passage. But do try kakasang La route if yours is a 4x4. They sometimes allow that route.

[b]
Tso kar has camps and stay options. You go to Tso Moriri. If you find it okay, you push on to Tso kar. If you find it too lovely, you stay here only

Tanveer, thank you for the guidance.

Noted and plan updated for Wari La!

Mine is 4x2 so 4x4 tracks are ruled out.

A related question: if we are turned back at Chushul and end up returning to Leh, then can we still attempt the below?

Leh – Chumathang – Mahe – Nyoma – Loma – Hanle

Or, will this still be Army 'discretion' at Mahe / Nyoma / Loma?

The smilely makes me feel Tso Moriri is going to be the place for night halt!

[Traveller Nayak]

Originally Posted by ToyotaFan

and my map my india was getting confused there.

Is GPS a must? I haven't planned for a GPS! If it is then I will get one.

Mods: I forgot to cover this one with the earlier post. If you can put both together it will be helpful

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by Traveller Nayak

T
Leh – Chumathang – Mahe – Nyoma – Loma – Hanle

Or, will this still be Army 'discretion' at Mahe / Nyoma / Loma?

The smilely makes me feel Tso Moriri is going to be the place for night halt!

No army issue, but Pangong-Chushul-Pangong-Karu-Hanle is not going to be doable in the same day. You can go till Chumathang and stay the night there.
Wari LA is doable in 4x2

[Traveller Nayak]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

No army issue, but Pangong-Chushul-Pangong-Karu-Hanle is not going to be doable in the same day. You can go till Chumathang and stay the night there.
Wari LA is doable in 4x2

Thanks Tanveer for the quick revert. The plan is done.

If I am turned back from Chushul then I will go back to Leh (assuming this doable the same day) and attempt from Leh the next day doing Leh - Karu - Upshi - Chumathang Mahe - Nyoma - Loma - Hanle.

Apologies if my earlier post did not clarify this. But above is what I meant in terms of making a second attempt at Hanle.

[Columbus_500]

Hello Tanveer,

You must be already sick of me asking you abt the Kakasang La & Kyun Tso Routes!

But one last question. How feasible is it to attempt both routes and then turn around if the roads don't permit? I mean how difficult will it be reverse etc on these routes? Are they wide enough at places to do a full turn? Thanks yet again Tanveer for all the help!

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by Columbus_500

Hello Tanveer,

You must be already sick of me asking you abt the Kakasang La & Kyun Tso Routes!

But one last question. How feasible is it to attempt both routes and then turn around if the roads don't permit? I mean how difficult will it be reverse etc on these routes? Are they wide enough at places to do a full turn? Thanks yet again Tanveer for all the help!

Kyun Tso. No chance of turning back, either from Hanle or from Nidar. Of course, if you head towards chumur you can be turned back. Ditto if you attempt from Tso Moriri side.

Kakasang La - There is ample space to turn around a 6 wheeled truck at places where the checkposts are.

[YCJ]

I know that it may be really hard, but is possible to take my Octavia Mk1 to Leh? Atleast via the Srinagar route?

[A.G.The Rambler]

Originally Posted by ToyotaFan

I came back from ladakh last week and covered Tso kar to manali in one one day very easily. I was the only driver and started at 5.30 am from lotus camps, Tso kar. We stopped at pang for breakfast (at 7am) after experiencing a beautiful sunrise at more plains. We reached keylong at 1 and after having lunch there we were able to make it to manali by 5.30 pm. One tip I would like to give you is do be careful at garamphoo. The road to kaza is unmarked and looks like the route to go to manali. My car and another fortuner (coming from manali) took that road by mistake and my map my india was getting confused there. We realized after almost a km that we had come on the wrong road and both the trucks had to reverse the whole distance. There was no place to reverse the beast. Otherwise the road is good and Tso moriri to jispa can also be covered in a single day with an early start.

Could you please enlighten us with regards to Lotus camps at Tso Kar. Is it a good place to stay along with ladies and kids for a night? Actually i was not aware of any accommodation at Tso Kar. What are the rates? Will these tents be available by mid September? This area being at an altitude of around 14700 feet, do you feel it would be difficult to manage a night with women and kids due to the high altitude?

[JoseVijay]

An interesting article found on Daily Mail about one of the most dangerous roads in the world. Breath taking pics.

Source link:http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/tr...lous-road.html

[ToyotaFan]

Originally Posted by A.G.The Rambler

Could you please enlighten us with regards to Lotus camps at Tso Kar. Is it a good place to stay along with ladies and kids for a night? Actually i was not aware of any accommodation at Tso Kar. What are the rates? Will these tents be available by mid September? This area being at an altitude of around 14700 feet, do you feel it would be difficult to manage a night with women and kids due to the high altitude?

Lotus camps are good and there are a couple of other options to stay at tso kar as well. There is 1 more camp which is 9km from debring which does not have attached bathroom and is not as good. Two options lotus camps and a home stay are present 18km from debring both the options are good. A lot of bargaining can be done and I was quoted 3000 for 3 people without food eventually paid 1800. I think they should be there till mid September but can't be 100% sure. Do try and find there Delhi booking office number from the net to confirm.
We were 2 adults (50yrs) with our 18 yr old son and none of us had any problems except that it was quite cold (much more than the 14k high pangong). If you are coming from leh (already acclimatized) I don't think you will have any problems. P.S. The lake is quite far (1km) from the road and the path leading to it is marshes. So don't have very high hopes for it although the scenery there of the changtang desert is great and untouched but still its not worth going specially for and works great as a night stay substitute to pang or while coming back from tso moriri.

[A.G.The Rambler]

Originally Posted by ToyotaFan

Lotus camps are good and there are a couple of other options to stay at tso kar as well. There is 1 more camp which is 9km from debring which does not have attached bathroom and is not as good. Two options lotus camps and a home stay are present 18km from debring both the options are good. A lot of bargaining can be done and I was quoted 3000 for 3 people without food eventually paid 1800. I think they should be there till mid September but can't be 100% sure. Do try and find there Delhi booking office number from the net to confirm.
We were 2 adults (50yrs) with our 18 yr old son and none of us had any problems except that it was quite cold (much more than the 14k high pangong). If you are coming from leh (already acclimatized) I don't think you will have any problems. P.S. The lake is quite far (1km) from the road and the path leading to it is marshes. So don't have very high hopes for it although the scenery there of the changtang desert is great and untouched but still its not worth going specially for and works great as a night stay substitute to pang or while coming back from tso moriri.

Actually we are also looking for a stopover towards keylong. Tso Kar would be a good place for the halt.

[ToyotaFan]

Originally Posted by A.G.The Rambler

Actually we are also looking for a stopover towards keylong. Tso Kar would be a good place for the halt.

Its a perfect night halt and it hardly takes 20-25 min from debring and the road is tarred with virtually no traffic albeit a bit narrow. I used it the same way as a night halt between pangong and manali.

[manasmadaan]

Finally, the plan has been finalized.
We ll be leaving amritsar on 7th sep. will try to leave early around 3/4 AM as we plan to reach sonmarg if possible on that day.
Next stop will be at kargil and finally leh the following day on 9th sep
9 and 10 are resrved for eh and getting the necessary permits.
11 sep: leh to nubra valley (stay there)
12 sep: nubra to pangong (stay there)
13 sep: pangong ro hanle via chushul if allowed or else return to leh and reattempt on 14th.
14 sep: hanle to tso moriri/tso kar (stay at either of these)
15 sep: tso moriri to sarchu or tso kar to jispa/manali (if possible)
16 sep: sarchu/jispa to manali (stay there)
17 sep: stay at manali
18 sep: manali to asr

i hope the above plan is doable and we dont encounter any major difficulties.
we will carry around 45 litre diesel with us when we leave from leh to nubra.
I hope that along eith 70-75 litre diesel capacity of XUV will be enough to safely reach the next fuel pump.