[sumzup]

Hi Tanveer and other folks who have tried it and done it with Leh, please have a look at my itinerary over my stay at Leh and let me know if okay or can I reduce the stays at some places. I'm not in a hurry and my total outlay for this trip is 3 weeks (to and fro from Bangalore) and wish to go about it leisurely.
Day 1 Patnitop
Day 2 Sonamarg
Day 3 Kargil
Day 4 Leh
Day 5 Leh (Magnetic Hill, Stok and Local sightseeing)
Day 6 Nubra Valley
Day 7 Pongong
Day 8 Hanle
Day 9 Tso Moriri
Day 10 jipsa
Day 11 Return to Manali

The hotels/camps are as below. Please let me know if these are good currently and comfortable as they claim, and reviewed by some of my friends gathered from their sources.

Hotel Green Top - Patnitop
Hotel Mount View - Sonamarg
Hotel Zozila Residency - Kargil
Hotel Lingzi - Leh
Nubra Etnic Camp - Hunder
Camp Whispering Waves - Pongong
Padma Guest House - Hanle
Tsomoriri Camp and Resort - Tso

I'm scheduled to leave Bangalore on August 04th and looking forward to your inputs on the above. Cheers

[unk9ja]

Originally Posted by sumzup

Day 1 Patnitop
Day 2 Sonamarg
Day 3 Kargil
Day 4 Leh
Day 5 Leh (Magnetic Hill, Stok and Local sightseeing)
Day 6 Nubra Valley
Day 7 Pongong
Day 8 Hanle
Day 9 Tso Moriri
Day 10 jipsa
Day 11 Return to Manali

The hotels/camps are as below. Please let me know if these are good currently and comfortable as they claim, and reviewed by some of my friends gathered from their sources.

Hotel Green Top - Patnitop
Hotel Mount View - Sonamarg
Hotel Zozila Residency - Kargil
Hotel Lingzi - Leh
Nubra Etnic Camp - Hunder
Camp Whispering Waves - Pongong
Padma Guest House - Hanle
Tsomoriri Camp and Resort - Tso
Cheers

Day 2, Sonmarg palace is a very good place for stay. The restaurant attached to this is excellent.
Day 3 can be stretched to Leh. There is nothing significant to look in Kargil and it is expensive here. Or to Lamayuru.
Day 6, Go to Turtok. It is much further and is a wonderful drive experience. Turtok holiday resort is an excellent stay experience though on a higher side.
Day 9, Tso Morori can be a chilly experience. Take some warm garments for the overnight stay. Don't take the road across the bridge when you are about to hit the destination, instead go straight on the broken roads to reach Karzok. The paved roads are welcome sight but after 12 kms, you will hit a dead end at an army outpost and would require a u turn.

[AMG_ang]

Hello Guys,

I'm planning to ride to Leh starting From Chandigarh as per the below itinerary.
I will be riding with my wife as pillion on the Himalayan. My parents will fly to Leh and do trips to Pangong and Nubra with them in a car, for rest of the journey it will just be me and my wife.

What is the typical weather during the 1st 2 weeks of September?
What precautions i would need to take as we will not be riding in a group?



Can some one specifically highlight the road conditions for Srinagar - Kishtawar - Killar - Keylong.

[dkaile]

Originally Posted by AMG_ang

I'm planning to ride to Leh starting From Chandigarh as per the below itinerary.
What is the typical weather during the 1st 2 weeks of September?
What precautions i would need to take as we will not be riding in a group

I was also planning to do it solo during that same period on my Himalayan as my mates seem to be chickening out...lolz. Do keep me in the loop as we might do the Manali-Leh stretch together. Ek se bhale do! PM me IF interested.

I too am interested to know the road conditions and weather during that period.

Cheers...

[AMG_ang]

Originally Posted by dkaile

I was also planning to do it solo during that same period on my Himalayan as my mates seem to be chickening out...lolz. Do keep me in the loop as we might do the Manali-Leh stretch together. Ek se bhale do!

I too am interested to know the road conditions and weather during that period.

Cheers...

Sure! I will keep you posted. It would definitely fun and helpful to have company

[Harshavarthan]

A friend told me that kargil sector is also facing some unrest at present and tourists are advised to avoid those roads and to Zanskar too. Is it true? Any recent updates about kargil, drass and zanskar?

[Dodge_Viper]

Originally Posted by AMG_ang

Can some one specifically highlight the road conditions for Srinagar - Kishtawar - Killar - Keylong.

First question: Are you still sure you want to do Srinagar? Situation hasn't improved and there is still some bit of unrest here and there. In short its a highly volatile area. We have been through Shopian/Pulwama-Srinagar on the day a certain person was killed. So have seen the mobs, stones and unrest. God was with us, that's why we made it in one piece to Srinagar (though we were stuck at one place for 4 days). AVOID would be my suggestion.

Regarding road conditions, we have done Keylong-Killar-Kishtwar-Udhampur. Keylong to Udeypur is decent. Udeypur to Killar there is no road. It's a pure back breaking, bike breaking road.

Killar to Kishtwar is the famous Cliffhanger road, one of the most dangerous in the world. Its again extremely narrow offroad for almost 80-90 kms till Gulabgarh. There were no rains when we were there, but in case it rains it will be hell. Gulabgarh to Kishtwar is decent with broken patches. Thereafter its good all the way till Udhampur/Patnitop.

Hope this helps.

[Mafioso]

Guys - what is the situation at Srinagar? I have heard reports that army folks are letting vehicles only during night time to pass through Srinagar. Is this true? We are planning to ride from Chandigarh and the original plan was to do Srinagar - Kargil - Leh - Turtuk - Pangong and back via Manali route. Now if the Srinagar route is close, what are the other alternatives? Any help would be much appreciated from the folks who have been travelling through this area.

[Dodge_Viper]

Originally Posted by Mafioso

Guys - what is the situation at Srinagar? I have heard reports that army folks are letting vehicles only during night time to pass through Srinagar. Is this true? We are planning to ride from Chandigarh and the original plan was to do Srinagar - Kargil - Leh - Turtuk - Pangong and back via Manali route. Now if the Srinagar route is close, what are the other alternatives? Any help would be much appreciated from the folks who have been travelling through this area.

Situation hasn't improved much. We did the same thing after waiting for 4 days. Army doesn't officially say to move at night, people do it. We also sneaked out at midnight from Srinagar and headed towards Sonmarg. Took a local cab to guide us through the roads. Army did stop us at many places, but looking at our MH registered vehicles they let us go. Fortunately for us, the same night Amarnath traffic from Sonmarg was let go, so there was a heavy rush of vehicles in the opposite direction. The trouble areas are from Srinagar town till Gunderbal which comes under curfew zone.

Better to avoid Srinagar, because you never know what will happen when. It's a gamble. Take Manali both ways. If needed, you can keep a day for Leh-Kargil-Leh.

[rajamuneeb]

To all my friends situation is bad in valley. Please avoid this route for the time being. Thanks.

[dkaile]

Leaving on 27th via Meerut - Patnitop - Sonmarg - Lamayuru - Leh - Leh - Turtuk - Karu - Pangong Tso - Karu - Tso Moriri - Karu - Sarchu - Manali - Meerut.

Each stop above is a night halt. Your views Tanveer. On 4 bikes (2 Himalayans, a Iron 883, a Street 750)

Hopefully the Srinagar side (Patnitop to Sonmarg) clears up by 27th.

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by rajamuneeb

To all my friends situation is bad in valley. Please avoid this route for the time being. Thanks.

What about kargil? Is it tense too?

[rajamuneeb]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

What about kargil? Is it tense too?

Kargil is fine but don't even think of crossing Kashmir valley these days buddy. It's very bad.

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by rajamuneeb

Kargil is fine but don't even think of crossing Kashmir valley these days buddy. It's very bad.

Was mostly thinking about the Zanskar Padum sector. So it seems its the valley which is troubled. I have a feeling that on 18th August the amarnath yatra gets over, and then mostly things are going to get better.

[rajamuneeb]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

Was mostly thinking about the Zanskar Padum sector. So it seems its the valley which is troubled. I have a feeling that on 18th August the amarnath yatra gets over, and then mostly things are going to get better.

Well Zanskar route is all good. Nope it doesn't look like its going to improve at all for a couple of more weeks atleast. But hoping it does. It's a very sad situation here with no end to this unrest soon in sight.