[dinesha]

Originally Posted by KiranPatil

Hello friends,

Need your suggestions on our 16 days Leh - Ladakh travel plan in August 17.

Some Background:
1. We are 5 close friends from Pune, All healthy & from 35-40 Age group. All are excellent and responsible drivers.
2. It will be a Pune-Ladakh-Pune journey and Partner in crime is XUV 500 W8.
3. Total 16 days travel plan from 12-27 Aug.
4. While returning from Leh we are also checking for Srinagar route but 99% it will be via Manali only.
5. Leh – Nubra – Hunder – Shyok – Pangong – Hanle – Leh / Tso Moriri is approximate 900 KM route and without a gas station (Except Diskit) between so we are well prepared to carry 25-30 Ltr Diesel in Cans.
6. 2 days are considered as buffer days.
7. I have been to Leh in 2014 on bike (Srinagar-Leh-Delhi Circuit) and I am aware with the barren land and seriousness of this Leh-Ladakh journey, Also I have conveyed it to my friends. . ( I Consider this as a important point while planning )

Please let me know your valuable suggestions on below plan.

Just back from Delhi-Jammu-Srinagar-Kargil-Leh-Nubra-Pangong-Sarchu-Manali-Delhi. Few inputs from my side.

1. Jammu-Srinagar-Kargil route is absolute safe for tourist as tourism is bread and butter there. We were there on 7th June few days after curfew and we faced no problem whatsoever. This route is better from the point of acclimatization and would not like to miss Zoji la and Fotu La passes.

2. Only petrol and no diesel were available in gas station at Diskit and evidently this is the case generally. We were not carrying any Jerry can so had to buy 20Ltrs of diesel at Tangste from an unscrupulous local for Rs.1200/- after lot of serching, which was cheaper than what is available at Leh ar Rs.62.5 per Ltr. I was worried about the quality but had no choice and hopped that the fuel additive will do its work. My advice is to discount the availability of fuel at Diskit.

3. While going to Leh from Manali, I would strongly advice to halt for night at Jispa (3200 mtrs) instead of Sarchu (4300 mtrs) for better acclimatization. Jispa to Leh about 311 Kms can be easily done in 12 hours with 1-2 breaks for meal and you will also feel much better at the end of the day. Sarchu also know at the Vomit Hilton is best avoidable as night halt when one chooses the Manali route.

[ragh_bhushan]

Hey Guys,

I am leaving for Leh tomorrow morning from Mumbai. Don't have any particular plan as such. Idea is to just drive in the mountains. Might be there for couple of weeks. Will be nice to meet fellow BHPians enroute / at destination.

Cheers!

[Blooming Flower]

Hi All,

According to the plan hatched out long back to do Leh-Ladakh circuit from Kolkata (en route Srinagar to Manali), I am scheduled to start on 5th of July. But the following facts as per situation and discussion are serving as sole deterrents to undertake the journey.

1. I will be travelling with my parents in a low-slung sedan, Manza.

2. The span of mid-July should pose hindrance with unpredictable monsoon weather and road condition. But I cannot arrange leaves in mid-August although I favoured these days more.

3. The recent unrest in Srinagar, starting from July 2016, after killing of Burhan Wani, locales-police-army conflicts, pellets, stone pelting, down to today's Pulwama encounter event charging fresh disturbances in those areas are the most dreaded problems for the road-trip.

Although most of the experienced travelers are suggesting with two schools of thought.

A. Take Manali-Leh route instead of Srinagar, which is almost impossible by now at 11th hour with permit issues from HP Govt. and recently imposed 'only 800 vehicles/day' passing provision.

B. Tourists are not at all subject to all the unrest and violence caused by the locals. So no need to worry. But still, condition at those places is so volatile that I cannot buy into either of these ideas much.

Now, I am really in a dilemma whether to take the road-trip or not. Even night stay points in Varanasi, Agra up to Amritsar are already booked with full payments. Looking forward to hearing from you in terms of the situation and my journey constraints. Thanks.

[gkveda]

Originally Posted by Blooming Flower

According to the plan hatched out long back to do Leh-Ladakh circuit from Kolkata (en route Srinagar to Manali) ...

Here are my suggestions.

Originally Posted by Blooming Flower

1. I will be travelling with my parents in a low-slung sedan, Manza.

Suggestion is to take a taxi (Lots of Xylo taxis are available from Chandigarh) from Chandigarh and do this trip. You may incur a bit more cost but this is safest.

Originally Posted by Blooming Flower

2. The span of mid-July should pose hindrance with unpredictable monsoon weather and road condition. But I cannot arrange leaves in mid-August although I favoured these days more.

This risk is mitigated if you hire a taxi since the driver over chandigarh(At least the one I hired) usually will be matured and trained to drive in such situations.
In fact, these kinds of weather(rains, with cold etc) are the reasons for some (including me) to travel to these places

Originally Posted by Blooming Flower

3. The recent unrest in Srinagar, starting from July 2016, after killing of Burhan Wani, locales-police-army conflicts, pellets, stone pelting, down to today's Pulwama encounter event charging fresh disturbances in those areas are the most dreaded problems for the road-trip.

Although most of the experienced travelers are suggesting with two schools of thought.

A. Take Manali-Leh route instead of Srinagar, which is almost impossible by now at 11th hour with permit issues from HP Govt. and recently imposed 'only 800 vehicles/day' passing provision.

My Suggestion is to cross Srinagar early in the morning (5-6 AM ) type. Trust me, there WONT be ANY issues. In fact, when we traveled (May 5th to 15th), we were also stopped by multiple such thoughts but, we went ahead and returned safe. Anyways, while returning you are taking Manali route. So, should not be an issue at all.

Originally Posted by Blooming Flower

B. Tourists are not at all subject to all the unrest and violence caused by the locals. So no need to worry. But still, condition at those places is so volatile that I cannot buy into either of these ideas much.

This is 100% true. Tourists are NOT their targets since all of them know their bread and butter is tourists. So, they donot cause any harm intentionally.

So, if you plan to cross Srinagar early in the morning OR Late in the night and plan to stay in Sonamarg, it is good from two angles

1. No face to face with violences.
2. You can enjoy the beauty of sonamarg. (For us, it was 100% Snow filled mountains all 360 degree around us)

My suggestion would be, Do not change your trip schedule(To August). You will miss the experience the nature would provide you. All the best !!

[Blooming Flower]

Originally Posted by gkveda

Here are my suggestions.

Suggestion is to take a taxi (Lots of Xylo taxis are available from Chandigarh) from Chandigarh and do this trip. You may incur a bit more cost but this is safest.

This risk is mitigated if you hire a taxi since the driver over chandigarh(At least the one I hired) usually will be matured and trained to drive in such situations.
In fact, these kinds of weather(rains, with cold etc) are the reasons for some (including me) to travel to these places..

My Suggestion is to cross Srinagar early in the morning (5-6 AM ) type. Trust me, there WONT be ANY issues.

Thanks for replying in detail @gkveda. But first thing I need to mention taht the fun of road-trip can never be equalled with passive tourer mode, no need to explain the fact. Only one thing, neither I can take a ZoomCar SUV to Ladakh nor in mid-July a sedan with family would be good option, although in this May-June someone from Team-bhp has done the Srinagar-Leh back-to-back with his Ciaz. Basically, I would not at all think of taxis anytime if I am going to Ladakh. I am well aware of the adverse weather and road condition which I handled in North Sikkim. Were it a 4x4 or SUV I wouldn't even think twice to venture this. Now, the only option remains, depending on the ad-hoc basis situation, I may have to divert my destinations to different north Indian hill stations from Delhi as centre.

[barista]

We are a group of four childhood friends heading for our dream Ladakh trip, starting 01 July starting from Noida. We will be driving a 2WD Scorpio. Our tentative itinerary is:

01 July : Noida - Udhampur
02 July : Udhampur to Sonmarg
03 July: Sonmarg - Panikhar
04 July: Panikhar - Padum
05 July: Padum - Kargil
06 July: Kargil - Leh
07 July: Leh
08 July: Leh - Turtuk
09 July: Turtuk - Warshi - Sumur
10 July: Sumur - Pangomg Tso via Wari La or Agham-Shyok route
11 July: Pangong - Hanle via Chushul, Loma
12 July: Hanle - Tso Moriri
13 July: Tso Moriri - Jispa
14 July: Jispa - Kullu
15 July: Kullu - Noida

Dear friends and experts, please provide your suggestions, recommendations and guidance
1. On the itinerary and things that I need to take care of
2. Is it worth visiting Warshi/ Panamik and instead spend more time in Hunder/ Diskit/ Sumur
3. Current condition & status of Wari La or Agham - Shyok route. If both are open and doable, which one do you recommend
4. ILP for Pangong to Chushul and Hanle: Are they giving it this year, has there been any restriction. Has anyone got permit and done this route this year.
5. Anyone else travelling on these dates - always good to make friends
6. Any other tips and advise

Thanks and Cheers

[ragh_bhushan]

Just completed the Leh circuit.

Route taken: Mumbai - Jaipur - Delhi - Chandigarh - Manali - Leh - Srinagar - Kishtawar - Sach Pass - Chamba - Amritsar - Gurgaon - Mumbai

Few pointers and updates for fellow roadies.

• Online permit available for Rohtang pass. The gates open at 6AM sharp but the queue starts building up at 3AM. Suggest that you reach by 3-3.30AM and sleep in the car as we did. The rush really gets mad after 3.45. We heard people waiting for upto 12 hours to cross the Gulaba barrier. Link
• ILP can be obtained online as per the notice attached. Although we took it offline and was a quick 15 minute process. Link
• Nubra - Agham - Shyok - Pangong route was closed from 26 - 30 June as the road was completely washed out by heavy rains. It was prepared again and was washed again as per BRO officials there. We took the longer route via Wari La instead. Highly recommended.
• We got stone pelted on our car near Anantnag on Srinagar - Kishtawar route. It is best avoided as people have started targeting tourists and civilian vehicles as well.

Notice at Leh DC office

[manasmadaan]

Is it advisable to do Amritsar - Srinagar - Leh - Nubra - hanley - pangong - tso moriri - sarchu - manali route in 1st half of august due to rains?

[ragh_bhushan]

Originally Posted by manasmadaan

Is it advisable to do Amritsar - Srinagar - Leh - Nubra - hanley - pangong - tso moriri - sarchu - manali route in 1st half of august due to rains?

July - August is the peak season for Leh. Roads will be in top shape. You can do this circuit quite easily. Just check with Leh local taxi drivers on the water crossings if you are taking low ground clearance vehicle.

[coolkurt]

I've got my trip starting from 12 Aug from Delhi. owing to the unrest in srinagar, we'll be going by the Manali - Leh highway. Taking a self drive from Voler up to Leh and then using local taxi for sightseeing.

What are the permits that I require?
One is the permit for crossing Rohtang pass - I understand I can apply for this online, how many days in advance? Do I also need a Inner Line permit?

[ragh_bhushan]

Originally Posted by coolkurt

I've got my trip starting from 12 Aug from Delhi. owing to the unrest in srinagar, we'll be going by the Manali - Leh highway. Taking a self drive from Voler up to Leh and then using local taxi for sightseeing.

Good idea.

What are the permits that I require?
One is the permit for crossing Rohtang pass - I understand I can apply for this online, how many days in advance? Do I also need a Inner Line permit?

For Rohtang pass you can take the permit upto 6 days in advance. Tuesday is closed for maintenance works. Permits for diesel vehicle get over quickly while petrol vehicles is easily available. Take one printout.

For Leh sight seeing you will need ILP which can also be obtained online but needs to be stamped at either Leh DC office or TIC office in main market area. Refer to the notice I have posted above in post #1417.

[manasmadaan]

Originally Posted by ragh_bhushan

July - August is the peak season for Leh. Roads will be in top shape. You can do this circuit quite easily. Just check with Leh local taxi drivers on the water crossings if you are taking low ground clearance vehicle.

We plan to go in XUV 5oo so thats should suffice.

[coolkurt]

Originally Posted by ragh_bhushan

Good idea.


For Rohtang pass you can take the permit upto 6 days in advance. Tuesday is closed for maintenance works. Permits for diesel vehicle get over quickly while petrol vehicles is easily available. Take one printout.

For Leh sight seeing you will need ILP which can also be obtained online but needs to be stamped at either Leh DC office or TIC office in main market area. Refer to the notice I have posted above in post #1417.

Ours will be a diesel XUV, so we'll have to get the online permit 6 days in advance itself. I'll have to take the vehicle number from Voler in advance.

We are hiring royal Enfields in Leh for local sightseeing. Inner Line permits are for people or vehicles? local registered vehicles ie..Leh ones.. too require them?

[ragh_bhushan]

We got Rohtang permit 2 days before. Inner line permits are for individuals. Everyone needs them irrespective of vehicle/registration.

[dhanushmenon]

Originally Posted by ragh_bhushan

Just completed the Leh circuit.

Route taken: Mumbai - Jaipur - Delhi - Chandigarh - Manali - Leh - Srinagar - Kishtawar - Sach Pass - Chamba - Amritsar - Gurgaon - Mumbai

[*]We got stone pelted on our car near Anantnag on Srinagar - Kishtawar route. It is best avoided as people have started targeting tourists and civilian vehicles as well.

I almost intend to do the same circuit, however in the reverse direction. Ascend Sach pass from Dalhousie and get down through Sinthan Top and then proceed to Srinagar- Leh- Manali.

Now, that point above that is highlighted, gets me thinking again.
My travel plan is after 20 Aug. Hope things get better by then.

Two more queries I had.
1. Why was it that you chose to go via Manali and return via Srinagar? Generally people tend to do the other way around.
2. Will the ascend through Sach pass pose much problems? Or should I consider doing Killar- Kishtwar from Keylong side?