Team-BHP - Leh and Ladakh - Trip Planning

Quote:

Originally Posted by Harshavarthan (Post 2731515)

Thanks hvk. I'm already watching this thread very closely for past few weeks. I've gone through ur humbleh'd 1 and many other Leh travelogues too. And i'm also aware that you went to Leh via Kaza and returned via Chamba. Most of the people who have crossed Rohtang seem to have caught in the heavy traffic and so this question. Is midnight ideal time to cross Rohtang Pass if coming from Keylong side? I'm in my planning stage for my June trip.

I don't think midnight time will be a good idea because I hear many taxis leave Manali after 1 am, and you will encounter them coming at you if you are going from Keylong side towards Manali.

hi,

I did this trip last year from Mumbai to Leh with my husband and a friend in our swift.

Pls. keep your options open for the route to take. Although its ideal if you can do both , Srinagar as well as Manali for entry exit respectively but the Manali route is very vulnerable to landslides and bad weather and is very unpredictable.
We also had to change our return plans via Srinagar as the Manali road was very bad due to landslides and cannot take the risk in a swift. a 4X4 vehicle can still manage but from the saferty point of view, I would recommend to really check the Manali route before taking it.
The Srinagar route is always there.
If you decide to enter via Manali, you also need a permit for non HP vehicles from the District Magistrate but if you exiting via Manali, no permit is required.
We did the entire trip from Mumbai -Ladakh in 21 days with night halts at Udaipur,Delhi,Amritsar,Udhampur,Sonamarg,Lamayuru and finally Leh on the seventh day.
But be assured , the best way to go to Leh is a road trip.
Sorry to say but there is no charm in landing at Leh by air:)

Come June, we are planning for a trip to Leh. Have managed to get 2 weeks of leave. So definitely the planning is a bit tight and optimistic. Apart from the feasibility of the dates and distances traversed in a day, can anyone let me know whether it is possible to stay in a tent in most of the places in J&K apart from Leh and Srinagar? We are planning to start on 8th of June from Calcutta and be back by 24th of June.
We have a Bolero 4x4 which will have 2 drivers to take it to Leh. One suffers from TDS, so it will be a breeze to cover the distances mentioned in the plan.
Note: TDS is equal to Truck Driver Syndrome.

Covering Nubra is not a mandate but visiting Zanskar is. People have advised me to enter J&K from west and exit through east to reduce AMS.
Though I suffer from APS and not from AMS, I can be a bit considerate for the other car that will be joining us :D
I am uploading the detailed plan in a spreadsheet. It would be great if someone went through it and did a reality check on it.

Ladakh Road Trip Plan.xlsx

Quote:

Originally Posted by hvkumar (Post 2731542)

I don't think midnight time will be a good idea because I hear many taxis leave Manali after 1 am, and you will encounter them coming at you if you are going from Keylong side towards Manali.

@HV sir, Is Delhi to Srinagar doable in a day in a Bolero? What route should be taken? Google is showing NH71 or NH1 or NH1A. How is the road condition?

No, driving Delhi-Srinagar is not possible without spillover into night driving. Leaving at 6 am from Delhi means you should at best make it to Jammu in 10-12 hours (aggressive driving), and from there to Srinagar is a 8 hour drive, without having to tackle heavy truck traffic.

So the best plan would be to halt at Udhampur or Patnitop on Day 1 out of Delhi.

Reaching Kargil from SRinagar is contingent upon getting the convoy from Sonmarg up Zoji la.

Zanskar Valley does not open so soon, it opens only latter part of June. Road may be open till Purkatchik at best. Assuming it is open, Rangdum is an inhospitable place to stay, the JKTDC is irregular in being open and the tent camps may not yet have opened. PLus horribly cold. Best is to make it to Padum the same day.

You have to hope that they will issue permits in Leh DC Office between 2-3 pm on Sunday afternoon, else wait till MOnday morning for the permits.

I wouldn't stay at Pangong, instead go and come back the same day, takes 5 hours one way, assuming Chang la road is OK.

I would also go stay at Tso Moriri/Karzok which has decent facilities compared with Tso Kar which has none - except for a luxury tent camp which opens later in the season.

Getting from Jispa to Delhi the same day - consider yourselves lucky if you reach Manali! One cannot even guess what will be the condition of Rohtang Pass this year. Even if Rohtang Pass condition is better, it will take you not less than 4-5 hours to reach Rohtang by which time the roads leading to the Pass will be choked up with day trippers from Manali (being peak holiday season) - and it has been known to have cost 2-3 hours in the jam till Manali. Assuming all goes well for you at Rohtang, I would think the best you can do would be Mandi or Bilaspur, but these also may be tentative only.

To go to Srinagar, the best route remains (NH1) Delhi-Ambala-Ludhiana-Jalandhar - (NH1A)-Pathankot-Jammu-Udhampur-Patnitop-Jawahar Tunnel-Qazigund-SRinagar

HVK Sir
Hi
Can Black Pearl go from Pathankot to Udhampur to Patnitop via the so called defence road (over the dam).The road is good but pretty deserted.If he is in a group would it be a problem?I dont know if the road over the dam is open 24 hours as both the times I did it in the daytime.This way he bypasses Jammu and saves on time and distance.

Some members have asked about Rohtang pass.On 21st August I met 8 bikers at Patnitop who had to come back all the way from Rohtang as it was not passable.On 26th Aug.I met a group at Drass(in a Ford Ikon) who got stuck at Rohtang and had to hire a crane to tow them out.With the passage being unpredictable best to go via Srinagar(lesser chance of AMS) and when in Leh decide which rout to come back by.
Regards

Quote:

Originally Posted by faustus77 (Post 2744792)

Yes, that will be from Dyala Chak to Udhampur direct, saving around 40 kms. However, that will still not enable him to reach Srinagar in 1 day. Since last year, the entire Pathankot-Jammy NH1A is 4-laned and it is much more faster than before - savings in using Dyala Chak-Udhampur route may not be significant.

Quote:

Originally Posted by abhijitvp (Post 2744861)

HVK Sir,

Is it possible to do Shrinagar-Leh-Manali in Swift Vdi in month of August? Or should I stick to Manali-Leh-Manali

In other thread I read 2 swifts from Mumbai did that but I guess it was too much for the swift.

Thanks,
Abhijit

Very good time to do the entire route. Except for 2 things:
- Try to avoid being around Srinagar in the week of I-Day due to heavy security
- Do not go that way till Aug 2 because you will run into heavy Amarnath Yatra traffic (ends on Aug 2) on the Jammu-Srinagar sector

I would always do Srinagar-Leh-Manali

Quote:

Originally Posted by hvkumar (Post 2745018)

Thanks HVK Sir.

I will be starting on 2nd August from Mumbai so should be in Srinagar around 5th-6th. Will that be OK? Or should I start a day before.

I will be leaving around 3AM so planning to reach just before Delhi on the 1st day. What would be the ideal place? On 2nd and 3rd what should I target?

I can drive 1000+ kms a day and my wife also drives. My concern is doing Srinagar-Leh in Swift.

Given the choice which month would you prefer Jun/Jul/Aug/Sep cosidering the car and the road conditions?

Normal range of my car is 540-620kms. Bit more if I drive sedately. How much extra fuel I need to carry?