[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by joybhowmik

I have the same question - though something I read earlier makes me want to believe this does not apply to vehicles coming from Baralacha La side.


The other question I have is ... there are rumours afoot that Zoji la is closed as of May 30, 2015 due to landslides. Has anyone any updates to share?

The region is experiencing snowfall. Today and tomorrow also heavy snowfall is predicted. So its very much possible that the pass closes for 3-4 days.

[Rippon]

Planning a chd-manali-leh-srinagar-chd trip starting 13th june

Vehicle honda crv petrol > 11 years old
Chandigarh registration
Manali -rohtang crossing 14th june

W.r.t this confusion of ngt on rohtang pass heard now only 250 non hp pvt petrol vehicles per day are being allowed now out of total 1000 rest would be HP registered vehicles

Few queries

1 Heard i can get the pass from sdm office and gulaba naka at manali.we would be reaching manali on 13th june
But sdm office is closed on 2nd saturday 13th june and Sunday,still can i get the pass from gulaba naka on Sat or sunday for onward journey via rohtang ?

2 any references or known person who can arrange pass in advance.We can mail scanned documents required.because of ngt order it seems too risky to go there and arrange the pass?

3 can we take our 11 year old petrol crv?

[ToyotaFan]

I don't know if this is the right thread to ask but I wanted to know more about chandrataal. I wanted to know how is the experience camping there. And also can camps be arranged on the spot or does one need to take everything needed. Last year I had an excellent leh trip with the help of this guide and tanveer's invaluable inputs. This time am planning a week long trip through the spiti valley. Tentative plan is as follows-
Starting from Meerut
20th June- Narkanda
21st June- Kalpa
22nd June- Pin valley/Tabo
23rd June- Kaza
24th June- Chandrataal
25th June- Back via rohtang

I wanted to know whether it would be fine to cross the kunzum at this time. My vehicle is a 2013 4*4 Toyota Fortuner. Looking forward to your inputs. Thanks in advance.

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by Rippon

1 Heard i can get the pass from sdm office and gulaba naka at manali.we would be reaching manali on 13th june
But sdm office is closed on 2nd saturday 13th june and Sunday,still can i get the pass from gulaba naka on Sat or sunday for onward journey via rohtang ?

Checkposts give the permit. Reach there at 5am

3 can we take our 11 year old petrol crv?

I think vehicles over 10 years are banned from Rohtang as of last year. Lots of news reports also confirming the same

[Rippon]

Thanks

There is still so much unceratainty related to rohtang pass. Only 250 non hp pvt vehicles. NGT court decision on 8th June. Cant take the risk of reaching location and then not getting the pass.

Hence now deciding to go via Chandigarh-Srinagar. At Sonmarg came to know one way traffic for lmv from Sonmarg to Drass is allowed between 1PM to 3PM. Having said that can srinagar Leh be done in one day without halt at Kargil or is it mandatory to halt at Kargil die to some army rules regulations?

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by Rippon

Thanks

There is still so much unceratainty related to rohtang pass. Only 250 non hp pvt vehicles. NGT court decision on 8th June. Cant take the risk of reaching location and then not getting the pass.

Hence now deciding to go via Chandigarh-Srinagar. At Sonmarg came to know one way traffic for lmv from Sonmarg to Drass is allowed between 1PM to 3PM. Having said that can srinagar Leh be done in one day without halt at Kargil or is it mandatory to halt at Kargil die to some army rules regulations?

The timings were designed for the benefit of hotel owners at Kargil.
By crossing after 2pm, you reach kargil in the evening, requiring a night stay, unless you want to drive to Leh at night.
Coming back, the time from Drass side is in the morning, so you have to stay overnight at kargil again.

So if you are willing to drive in the night, you can do it in one day, but reaching Leh at 2am does not make sense.

On the Rohtang issue, do not take risk. you do not know what happens. What if cab drivers decide to strike and do a road block or something. The situation is volatile. Cab union is very powerful there.

[Rippon]

Ok tsk1979 will keep that in mind thanks

[ToyotaFan]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

The timings were designed for the benefit of hotel owners at Kargil.
By crossing after 2pm, you reach kargil in the evening, requiring a night stay, unless you want to drive to Leh at night.
Coming back, the time from Drass side is in the morning, so you have to stay overnight at kargil again.

I plan to start from patnitop in the morning (4am) and cross over to drass the same evening. I believe we would be able to cross in the heavy traffic time as well if we are not able to reach by 3.30? Just wanted to confirm. Thanks in advance.

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by ToyotaFan

I plan to start from patnitop in the morning (4am) and cross over to drass the same evening. I believe we would be able to cross in the heavy traffic time as well if we are not able to reach by 3.30? Just wanted to confirm. Thanks in advance.

Its best to reach by 330pm. Once trucks start its hell.
So make it a 330am start if you have to but reach Sonmarg by 2pm.

[ToyotaFan]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

Its best to reach by 330pm. Once trucks start its hell.
So make it a 330am start if you have to but reach Sonmarg by 2pm.

I have a 1 week window from 20th June to 27th June. I had initially planned a trip to Chandrataal and Spiti but read somewhere that it's not possible to go to Chandrataal before mid July.
I wanted your advise on the my alternative iternity. I went to Ladakh last year with your help and came back mesmerised. I have made a tentative schedule-

20th June - Meerut to Patnitop
21st June - Patnitop to Kargil
22nd June - Kargil to Pangong
23rd June - Pangong to Tso Morari
24th June - Tso Morari to Sarchu
25th June - Sarchu to Manali
26th June - Manali to Meerut

I know it's a hectic schedule but I wanted to know if this is feasible or not. I plan to cross Zoji La in the evening and wanted to know if banihal has any timing restrictions. I only have a one week window so am open to suggestions for alternate places if this does not look feasible. Thanks in advance.

[WD-42]

Tanveer, thanks a ton for putting together this highly informative thread and then continuing to reply with even more information. Really appreciate all the thought and effort you've put into sharing this information. Respect!

I'm planning to ride up to Leh on my bike this yr between Aug 24 and Sep 10.

My Route:



My itinerary which has been complied based on the map and information drawn from this thread and other threads on BCMT and IndiaMike:



I have a few questions answers to which I couldn't find, or only had little information to, I hope you and others could help me out with these.

1. I gather from all the replies that this Aug 24 - Sep 10 might be the best time to visit. I'd love to see the Autumn colours and azure blue rivers instead of dull brown ones (carrying sediment from the melt and monsoon), with that in mind, what time frame would you or anyone else recommend for a visit? Late September?
2. What would be your take on a CBR 250R (G.C. 145 mm, on grippy road tyres, sadly knobbies not available for it) doing Chushul - Kakasang La - Hor La - Mahe or would that be absolute murder for the bike? This map, and some reports in this thread itself suggest that this route is only recommended for 4x4s and might not be suitable for a bike. How about Chushul - Tsaga La - Loma - Nyoma - Mahe - Chumathang? Would that be doable for a bike?
3. Availability of fuel. Ideally I'd like to do Leh - Tangtse - Spangmik - Chushul - Kakasang La - Mahe - Chumathang - Karzok - Sarchu -Tandi. That seems to come out to around 710 km.
   The CBR has 10L usable fuel capacity and I reckon a usable tank range of ~260-270km at those altitudes (I may be very wrong on this one), which means I would need to carry about 16L of petrol in Jerry cans (2 x 10L Jerry cans) or Coke bottles (8 x 2L Coke bottles ) somehow, which I'd rather not. Or I have to go back to Karu/Upshi from Pangong and then hit Chumathang and still carry ~ 10L of petrol (2 x 5L jerry cans).
   
   I noticed the fuel can icon (sold out of cans, unofficially) on the map at the start of the thread, but can I rely on those places? Or am I better off carrying 20L of petrol?
4. I read in the thread that Oxygen Cylinders are available at the Chemists. I can't seem to find any small/portable ones here in my city (only the big hospital ones). Any suggestions where can I buy an Oxygen Cyl on the Srinagar - Kargil - Leh route? What would the cost be approx?
5. How do you guys manage showers in these places? From what I gather the remote places with guest houses or tents usually don't have hot water right? Does it boil down to a shower once in 3-4 days or something when you hit civilization? Washcloth rub downs? Or am I mis-informed on this?
6. Silly question I suppose, addressed to the bikers in the thread (or anyone with a solution). What about clean underwear and shirts for the 10+ days? 10+ pairs of undies and shirts aren't going in your saddle bags are they? Wash in the sinks? How do you guys manage this?
7. Any other recommendations?

[joybhowmik]

Tso Moriri to Tso Kar Kuchha is supposedly an 80 km long Kuchha road requiring high ground clearance vehicle.
Couple of questions:
1) In the 3rd week of June, with light rainfall predicted for this area, is it to be avoided if driving an Innova?
2) What would be a reasonable travel time on this route if weather conditions are favorable?

[unk9ja]

Originally Posted by joybhowmik

Tso Moriri to Tso Kar Kuchha is supposedly an 80 km long Kuchha road requiring high ground clearance vehicle.
Couple of questions:
1) In the 3rd week of June, with light rainfall predicted for this area, is it to be avoided if driving an Innova?
2) What would be a reasonable travel time on this route if weather conditions are favorable?

Not necessarily a high gc vehicle is required for the Tso Morori to Tso Kar. The road on this stretch has stones probably size of a cricket ball maximum. This does not hamper the driving. Most of this stretch has a parallel road of loose gravel. The bikes we drove definitely had to be gently caressed on the throttle, but a car can glide over easily.

[Unavowed_X9]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

Checkposts give the permit. Reach there at 5am


I think vehicles over 10 years are banned from Rohtang as of last year. Lots of news reports also confirming the same

Please refer the link belowhttp://indianexpress.com/article/ind...-rohtang-pass/

This puts a serious cog in my plans to drive to Ladakh in Aug 2015 pending matching schedules with my friends. Is there any way to wriggle out?
Intend to leave Bhubaneswar on 7th Aug -> Howrah -> Allahabad -> Bypass Delhi to Panipat -> Shimla -> Manali -> Sarchu -> Tso Kar -> Tso Moriri -> Pangong Tso -> Nubra/Hunder -> Leh -> Manali -> bypass Delhi to Agra -> Allahabad -> Hwh -> Bhubaneswar appx by 23rd Aug (16 days).
Confirmation will be invaluable.

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by Unavowed_X9

Please refer the link belowhttp://indianexpress.com/article/ind...-rohtang-pass/

This puts a serious cog in my plans to drive to Ladakh in Aug 2015 pending matching schedules with my friends. Is there any way to wriggle out?
Intend to leave Bhubaneswar on 7th Aug -> Howrah -> Allahabad -> Bypass Delhi to Panipat -> Shimla -> Manali -> Sarchu -> Tso Kar -> Tso Moriri -> Pangong Tso -> Nubra/Hunder -> Leh -> Manali -> bypass Delhi to Agra -> Allahabad -> Hwh -> Bhubaneswar appx by 23rd Aug (16 days).
Confirmation will be invaluable.

There are very limited number of permits available. I suggest you make your loop the Srinagar way. Come back via manali as there is no problem for returning vehicles.