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Old 24th March 2015, 11:28   #811
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Re: Leh, Ladakh and Zanskar - The Ultimate Guide

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Originally Posted by mnautss View Post
Hello BHPians,
I want your views on the following:

I am planning a trip to Leh this season. Though I would prefer a bullet, but the fact is that I don't have one. And I can't afford to shell out Rs.15K for just RENTING a bike.

SO, what I am left with is my PULSAR 200NS.

Will it handle the tough requirements of the terrain and the environment? (Many of you have been there before and might be able to visualize the scenario on Pulsar200NS).

I have had 2 trips of 1500km each (to and fro) before and the performance was good(no breakdowns or discomfort) but I am NOT sure if the bike will be able to handle Leh and beyond.

Please Help!
People have done this circuit in 150cc bikes. Pulsar 200 will do just fine. Do not worry.
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Old 24th March 2015, 18:28   #812
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Re: Leh, Ladakh and Zanskar - The Ultimate Guide

I am driving to UP on 4th April from Bangalore. Would it be possible for me to visit Leh & further? I assume (or am I wrong), Manali route will not be open during 10th April timeframe. Will Srinagar route be open by that time?

From the looks of it, if I am going via Srinagar, won't need any permits till Leh. I may have only 3 to 4 days in hand, so would prefer doing closer to Leh circuit. Any recommendations? And - considering this - would I need to carry a jerry can? My full tank range in plains gives around 700+kms though the tank capacity is 98 litres! So - in that terrain, would expect 500+ range.

Will Leh - Manali be open in 3rd week of April or it will be only in May? If it is open, I would prefer coming back via that route.

Anything else - I need to keep in mind as a first timer to Leh, though I have done Bhutan (west to east) in Feb '14?
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Old 24th March 2015, 19:16   #813
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Re: Leh, Ladakh and Zanskar - The Ultimate Guide

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Originally Posted by tsk1979 View Post
People have done this circuit in 150cc bikes. Pulsar 200 will do just fine. Do not worry.
Thanks for the advice.
I was really skeptical about the capability of my bike.
But that being said,
I am now considering gearing up my NS for its (as well as mine) ride of the life.

One more query, the only thing I am still NOT sure about is the performance of the tyres.

On my previous ride (from Bhiwadi to Badrinath & back), I replaced the in-stock TVS Eurogrip rear tyre from the MRF Zapper Q. (Back in September 2014).
Since then, I have had 2 punctures and almost 4000km of running (including another trip to Manali).

Should I replace the tyre/s again?

and I am also NOT at all sure about the performance my engine will give (Clutch plates and piston rings have never been checked in its lifetime).

Any suggestions?
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Old 24th March 2015, 19:26   #814
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Re: Leh, Ladakh and Zanskar - The Ultimate Guide

Planning to fly down to Leh in June this year. Need some help with renting reliable taxi's to see the sights around this magical place for 6 days or so. Any information of names and numbers of good reliable taxi operators will be welcome! thanks
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Old 26th March 2015, 04:25   #815
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Re: Leh, Ladakh and Zanskar - The Ultimate Guide

Got a in evening where my wife told me "lets to the Leh trip this year". Had been planning since 2012 (when I bought my XUV).

As "Instructed" am planning my trip for the month of July.

Can the guys who have had the pleasure of doing this stretch, review and provide feedback

The timings are based on various comments read in forum, google maps for distances.

I will be travelling with my family (My Wife, 2 Sons age 7 & 4 & myself) in my XUV 2WD


Plan attached
Attached Thumbnails
Leh, Ladakh and Zanskar - The Ultimate Guide-trip.jpg  

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Old 26th March 2015, 08:40   #816
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Re: Leh, Ladakh and Zanskar - The Ultimate Guide

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Originally Posted by vaibhavdalal View Post
Can the guys who have had the pleasure of doing this stretch, review and provide feedback

The timings are based on various comments read in forum, google maps for distances.
Few quick observations:
1. Some of your driving targets are too steep for a 4 year old. Especially, when it happens after 15 days on the road. Please re-think it.
2. Your 'Leh trip' is very light on the 'Leh-Ladakh' part. It seems almost like you go to a place, do some Darshan, and rush back to base. I have made that mistake in the past, and it's certainly not what I would recommend. If you are indeed, doing a Leh-Ladakh trip, make sure your itinerary allows you to spend time in Nubra and Pangong and Moriri, so that you can soak up the tranquility and nature on offer.
3. I'd suggest that you chuck Katra and Srinagar stops from your trip, and add those days to Ladakh. If you can add more days to the trip overall, even then chuck those destinations and plan for Zanskar or Hanle circuit. Ladakh deserves a LOT MORE time than what you have apportioned for it, and this is something you will realize when you are driving back. Jammu and Kashmir can always be a separate trip, and one where you can fly in. You might also want to do the Dah-Hanu circuit. The drive from Dah to Khalsi is beautiful along the Canyons of Indus. Highly recommended.
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Old 26th March 2015, 13:27   #817
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Re: Leh, Ladakh and Zanskar - The Ultimate Guide

I'm planning to do the Leh trip in July this year and as of now, I'm solo. What would be the best place (team bhp forums / travel groups / online forums.. etc?) to start looking for travel-mates or those who are looking to join/add more people to their group / vehicle?

Last edited by vsathyap : 26th March 2015 at 13:29. Reason: Speling and Grammar
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Old 26th March 2015, 20:05   #818
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Re: Leh, Ladakh and Zanskar - The Ultimate Guide

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Originally Posted by roy_libran View Post
Few quick observations:
1. Some of your driving targets are too steep for a 4 year old.
2.
A. Your 'Leh trip' is very light on the 'Leh-Ladakh' part.
B. It seems almost like you go to a place, do some Darshan, and rush back to base.

I have made that mistake in the past, and it's certainly not what I would recommend
1. My 4 Year old has been traveling with me on the Mumbai - Nathdwara long drive twice/thrice a year since he was a year old. Same timing as given before - Hence the courage to push him into this super extra long drive.

2. A - Lord of the House wants to ring all the bells on the way (Temple / darshans)
2. B - Trying to convince her otherwise. Life is not always generous - I intend to win one battle at a time. Now that she has agreed, we can always have slippages in timelines thats the reason there are no bookings, hence Agra may conveniently get skipped as we may get into a situation wherein We do a additional stay at some location in J&K
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Old 27th March 2015, 14:19   #819
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Re: Leh, Ladakh and Zanskar - The Ultimate Guide

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Originally Posted by sam55 View Post
Hi there guys,recently returned from my Ladakh trip,we were 7 people in 2 cars an XUV 500 and a 4*4 ford endevour ,
Started of from Bangalore on the 21st of and were back on the 5th oct,
We went to Leh via Spitti valley,then did chander tal,and headed to leh,and from leh we took the SHYOK route to teach pangong lake,our two wheel drive XUV also completed this route(it was helped by the 4wd Endy in a few places),we also did marsimik la,then headed back to leh,and came back via the Srinagar route
The SHYOK route was the only tough part and the most adventurous part of the journey
Hi, This is really good news (you were able to finish the entire trip in 14 days) to us as we are also planning a drive from BLR to Ladakh. We are planning to do this trip between 27th June to 14th July. Below is the overall trip plan. Could you please provide your feedback if this is workable. And suggestions for route and the time taken etc would be very valuable. Thanks a lot in advance.

Day Date From To Kms travelled
1 27-Jun-15 BLR Nashik 1050
2 28-Jun-15 Nashik Jaipur 1000
3 29-Jun-15 Jaipur Jalandhar + Amritsar 700
4 30-Jun-15 Amritsar Jammu 200
5 1-Jul-15 Jammu Srinagar 300
6 2-Jul-15 Srinagar Kargil 250
7 3-Jul-15 Kargil Leh 200
8 4-Jul-15 Rest Day + visit to places in Leh
9 5-Jul-15 Rest Day + visit to places in Leh
10 6-Jul-15 Rest Day + visit to places in Leh
11 7-Jul-15 Leh Keylong 360
12 8-Jul-15 Keylong Manali 80
13 9-Jul-15 Stay at Manali - Rest
14 10-Jul-15 Manali Delhi 550
15 11-Jul-15 Delhi Chittorgarh 600
16 12-Jul-15 Chittorgarh Mumbai 800
17 13-Jul-15 Rest Day + visit to places in Mumbai
18 14-Jul-15 Mumbai Bangalore 1000
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Old 27th March 2015, 21:59   #820
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Re: Leh, Ladakh and Zanskar - The Ultimate Guide

Quote:
Originally Posted by vaibhavdalal View Post
Got a in evening where my wife told me "lets to the Leh trip this year". Had been planning since 2012 (when I bought my XUV).

As "Instructed" am planning my trip for the month of July.

Can the guys who have had the pleasure of doing this stretch, review and provide feedback

The timings are based on various comments read in forum, google maps for distances.

I will be travelling with my family (My Wife, 2 Sons age 7 & 4 & myself) in my XUV 2WD


Plan attached
Instead of Hanumangarh, better stay at Hotel Kuber at Sardarshahar. You get a decent stay option on highway itself at Sardarshahar and also a chance to enjoy rajasthani cuisine at the hotel. Many bhpians have enjoyed stay there. You will be covering approx 500 km that day from Nathdwara till Sardarshahar so considering if you start a little later from there, you will make good time arriving at Sardarshahar.

I am not attached to Hotel Kuber in any manner but have enjoyed their hospitality on many occasions and find it a good, albeit a little pricey option in this part of Rajasthan.
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Old 27th March 2015, 22:29   #821
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Re: Leh, Ladakh and Zanskar - The Ultimate Guide

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Originally Posted by vsathyap View Post
I'm planning to do the Leh trip in July this year and as of now, I'm solo. What would be the best place (team bhp forums / travel groups / online forums.. etc?) to start looking for travel-mates or those who are looking to join/add more people to their group / vehicle?
We are two friends from Mumbai planning to do a Ladakh self drive this July. There was another thread created by @gypsyFreak for this purpose, but I cant find it anymore?

Can administrators make a permanent thread for such "meet & drive" requests for Leh-Ladakh & other destinations? Maybe an separate section for such requests on this forum may help.
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Old 28th March 2015, 21:06   #822
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Re: Leh, Ladakh and Zanskar - The Ultimate Guide

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Originally Posted by gsurya View Post
We are two friends from Mumbai planning to do a Ladakh self drive this July. There was another thread created by @gypsyFreak for this purpose, but I cant find it anymore?

Can administrators make a permanent thread for such "meet & drive" requests for Leh-Ladakh & other destinations? Maybe an separate section for such requests on this forum may help.
My thread was deleted by mods.
Maybe if more people put up such requests, then maybe mods can allow such a thread only for Ladakh as there are quite few bhpians who are looking for various convoy options.
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Old 29th March 2015, 23:56   #823
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"People have done this circuit in 150cc bikes. Pulsar 200 will do just fine. Do not worry"

@tsk1979: Pulsar200NS lacks a kick start. This concerns me for I am not sure what will I do if the situation demands it.
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Old 30th March 2015, 23:08   #824
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Quote:
Originally Posted by amikacin View Post
Instead of Hanumangarh, better stay at Hotel Kuber at Sardarshahar. You get a decent stay option on highway itself at Sardarshahar

I am not attached to Hotel Kuber in any manner but have enjoyed their hospitality on many occasions and find it a good, albeit a little pricey option in this part of Rajasthan.
Thanks for the Input.
Shorter drive may also be good for my kids

Since I am travelling with family, I am not keep a tight budget.
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Old 31st March 2015, 12:41   #825
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Re: Leh, Ladakh and Zanskar - The Ultimate Guide

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Originally Posted by tsk1979 View Post
I do not have a map, but this is what I know

Gramphoo to Kunzum = 4 hours (60kms). Can take more if the rivers are up. The track is really horrendous.

Kunzum Pass to Losar is about 1 hour. Again, not very good.19kms distance
Losar to Kaza things are good(relatively)
You can cover those 58kms in about 2.5 hours - 3 hours.

Now, lets talk about Kaza towards Shimla

Kaza to Tabo about 45kms takes 2 hours, sometimes less. Not bad
Tabo to Nako again is decent with 52kms being dispatched in 2 hours
Nako to spello is good, except for malling stretch, which is quite quite hair raising
About 55kms, takes you 3 hours.

Spello to Rampur is hell. Literally hell. It can take you overnight, if there is a landslide, and landslides happen here with regularity.
130kms approx, and time taken is 8 hours. This is partially due to one way restrictions.
Illegal blasting weakened the rock, and the Nation highway near Rampur on Rampur-Recong Peo route now sits under the Sutlej. So the alternate narrow bumpy hellish upper route is the one you take, and due to it being narrow, its one way with traffic being let go from either side at regular intervals.

So Rampur to Kaza which was a 12 hour run earlier now takes 15 hours.

Rampur to Delhi is around 13 hours and quite nice, unless you run into half the population of northern India trying to escape the heat in an air conditioned hotel at Shimla
What is the chance that I can do this route (either way) between Last week of-May and Mid June. Probably Kunzum is going to be inaccisible, but in that case, can one branch of from Gramphoo and visit the Chandertal and be back to Gramphoo the same day?
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