[guyfawkes]

Hi All, we are planning roadtrip to Spiti this week. We would wanna camp at Chandrataal too and visit the valley from Manali. Temperatures are in the range from -12 to -5. Need suggestions on the route operations. Would like to know, if roads are operating with these low temperatures still in effect? Advisable to camp with good equipment? Appreciate your revert.

[sam_sant2005]

Hi Guys, I am planning a Leh trip 1st week of June. few questions: -

1) Will Leh Manali road via Rohtang be open by say June 7th?

2) Will Duster AMT work well on these tough roads? Has anyone taken an AMT to challenging roads?

[Sandy28]

Hello friends, need a quick update on the Jammu Srinagar highway status. I have been following this route closely and find that it gets shut down every other day due to land slides. I heard that it has been shut down again today morning (14th May).

So is it possible to take the Jammu - Udhampur - Doda -Kishtwar - Anantnag - Srinagar route to reach Srinagar? How is the road conditions for driving a sedan? Also is it advisable to take this route from a general safety perspective?

Need this details urgently. Any update/information or suggestions regarding this query will be very helpful.

[sairamboko]

Hi All - i am planning a solo trip to Leh, Ladakh, Kargil and parts of Kashmir. Planning to rent a bullet locally to do this. Require your help in below:

1. Which month should i aim for - I prefer if crowd is less.
2. Any suggested tour operators who can cover/ plan for me?
3. Budget - I am planning a 50k budget. Is this enough to cover initial flight to reach Delhi or nearby, accommodation , tour expenses, food, etc?
4. How many days should i plan for ? I am thinking about 9 days .
5. Is it safe to book via online? I am seeing many bullet tour operators in google search. However I am skeptical of it.

[Red Liner]

Originally Posted by sairamboko

Planning to rent a bullet locally to do this. Require your help in below:
.

You cant rent one bike to cover everything. There is a big fight between all the bike rental associations in that area.

You have to rent for one sector and then return, go to the next, do the same etc

For example, you cannot rent a bike from manali and ride into leh and around. You have to rent s bike in leh for that.

I don't think renting a bike locally makes any more sense in light of all these issues.

[onedotsix]

Originally Posted by sairamboko

Hi All - i am planning a solo trip to Leh, Ladakh, Kargil and parts of Kashmir. Planning to rent a bullet locally to do this. Require your help in below:

1. Which month should i aim for - I prefer if crowd is less.
2. Any suggested tour operators who can cover/ plan for me?
3. Budget - I am planning a 50k budget. Is this enough to cover initial flight to reach Delhi or nearby, accommodation , tour expenses, food, etc?
4. How many days should i plan for ? I am thinking about 9 days .
5. Is it safe to book via online? I am seeing many bullet tour operators in google search. However I am skeptical of it.

1. Mid September is the best time to visit from the crowds perspective. I drove down late September last year.
2. ...
3. 50k should be good enough for 1 person, including everything. Be sure to bargain with the hotel guys. September is low occupancy and can get you good deals. (we spent close to 1lakh for 4 people driving from Bangalore and including last minute return flight ticket for one of them who fell extremely sick)
4. While you never have enough time, considering the million things you could do there, 9 days(Leh to Leh) is good enough to cover major locations(Turtuk, Pangong, Hanle, Tso Moriri, etc) and spend good time
5. I'm not sure of online bookings, but if you go there and rent a bike, you can bargain, especially post mid-September.

[findviru]

Originally Posted by guyfawkes

Hi All, we are planning roadtrip to Spiti this week. We would wanna camp at Chandrataal too and visit the valley from Manali. Temperatures are in the range from -12 to -5. Need suggestions on the route operations. Would like to know, if roads are operating with these low temperatures still in effect? Advisable to camp with good equipment? Appreciate your revert.

To visit Chandrataal from Manali, Rohtang pass needs to be opened. Currently it is closed.You can check the status of road at following link.
http://vargiskhan.com/log/rohtang-pass-status-2019/

[guyfawkes]

Originally Posted by findviru

To visit Chandrataal from Manali, Rohtang pass needs to be opened. Currently it is closed.You can check the status of road at following link.
http://vargiskhan.com/log/rohtang-pass-status-2019/

Thanks a lot findviru, yes, checked and its closed. Plan changed now, we are headed to Chopta Chandrshila for the trek, no idea about the location though, would be great to have any inputs about the track.

[Red Liner]

Originally Posted by guyfawkes

Thanks a lot findviru, yes, checked and its closed. Plan changed now, we are headed to Chopta Chandrshila for the trek, no idea about the location though, would be great to have any inputs about the track.

Chopta tungnath is hardly a trek. Its a placid walk up at best. Everything is paved and the vistas are beautiful. Enjoy yourselves.

[Sandy28]

Originally Posted by Sandy28

Hello friends, need a quick update on the Jammu Srinagar highway status. I have been following this route closely and find that it gets shut down every other day due to land slides. I heard that it has been shut down again today morning (14th May).

So is it possible to take the Jammu - Udhampur - Doda -Kishtwar - Anantnag - Srinagar route to reach Srinagar? How is the road conditions for driving a sedan? Also is it advisable to take this route from a general safety perspective?

Need this details urgently. Any update/information or suggestions regarding this query will be very helpful.

Friends, reposting my earlier post. Pl share any inputs / suggestions you have regarding my above query. It is urgent as I need to plan my journey and it will be very helpful. Thanks in advance

[supreddy77]

Originally Posted by Krishroy

2. There is some litigation going on as few states wont allow bull guard

Thanks Krishroy. I don't have a bull guard. Is Roof Carrier a problem in any state ?

Originally Posted by ruzbehxyz

During my Sach pass and Ladakh trip in my XUV, I had damaged the bottom engine guard which is nothing but a piece of plastic and is the lowest part to the ground.

Thanks for the tip. Do you know if the engine guard can be replaced with a metal part?

[ruzbehxyz]

Originally Posted by supreddy77

Thanks for the tip. Do you know if the engine guard can be replaced with a metal part?

I am not sure about this. If you really want to do it then you can get it fabricated but that would be more costly. You can use the existing one and change it if its damaged. And the cost is not that much. Dont remember but it was around 3000 rupees or so.

[kikikiki]

For all you people planning to go to Ladakh please go through this Guide which gives many Historical / Cultural and Geographical contexts to the Region.

https://travelthehimalayas.com/kikis-guide-to-ladakh

And this Thread should be called simply the Ladakh Guide. Leh is just a Town and a District in Ladakh and Zanskar is just a part of the Kargil District. Or kindly include Kargil also in the main name.

[arun_112]

Originally Posted by sam_sant2005

Hi Guys, I am planning a Leh trip 1st week of June. few questions: -

1) Will Leh Manali road via Rohtang be open by say June 7th?

2) Will Duster AMT work well on these tough roads? Has anyone taken an AMT to challenging roads?

Hello,

I have planned out a detailed schedule for my trip to Leh. I am starting from New Delhi in first week of June. The route will be as follows:

Delhi to Udhampur
Udhampur to Srinagar
Srinagar to Kargil
Kargil to Leh
Leh to Pangong
Pangong to Leh
Leh to Diskit
Diskit to Nubra valley
Nubra valley to Leh
Leh to Kargil
Kargil to Stinagar
Srinagar to Jammu
Jammu to Delhi

I had wanted to return via Manali but I have come to know that the road is in bad conditions at places. Although Manali route saves you about 217 Kms.

If anyone wants to join me with their own vehicle, please contact me on 8369936626. I am planning to start from Srinagar on 9 June 2019.

Will be posting a detailed travelogue upon return.

[SJM1214]

Originally Posted by supreddy77

Thanks for the tip. Do you know if the engine guard can be replaced with a metal part?

Plastic engine Guard in our XUV500 survived entire Ladakh circuit. It got some minor hits on Pangong- Chusul Road. Finally, it gave up after Rohtang at Kothi village. We got it re-installed at one of the local garages in Manali, which is still working. IMHO, there is no need to replace it with metal guard ( which I also Thought to do). That Plastic guard would survive the entire circuit.

My Travelogues. (Ladakh: Four Idiots & One XUV500)