Team-BHP - Leh and Ladakh - Trip Planning

Quote:

Originally Posted by Leepower (Post 2344569)

A friend is planning to go to Leh through some tour operator. The fella first quoted 65k per person for a motorcycle trip for 8 days. And has now come down to 30K. Apparently, the first rate was for firangs!!!
Then some women also joined the gang and then SUV, van option had to be considered. The travel dude is still sticking to the 30K per person plan. I think he is asking way too much. How much would renting a SUV or motorcycle from Delhi/Chandigarh to Ladakh cost and what are the places from where they can be rented??? Help me out guys??? They are in no hurry. Trip is planned for July

We did find out as well, and may end up hiring a Toyota Innova (MUV) additionally (one of the cars is giving trouble). The quote that we got was, I guess, 52K inclusive of vehicle, fuel, driver and toll-taxes.

I am going to do some R&D today... and I shall post back. BTW it would make a lot of sense to go to Jammu and then hire a vehicle from there.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Abhiknov (Post 1307873)

Hi,
Planning a follow up trip to leh after my adventure to leh and beyond in my indica last year.
Only this time it would be my Brand new TATA safari ex 2.2 VTT with all the 4x4 might under the hood.
Problem is, despite the 4x4 and the open invitation, no one seems to be ready to come along. Still need to convince a few friends. But this gave me an idea. If the timings match, why not have a little convoy of cars,or better Safaris!
Lets plan something people!
I'm open to any sort of suggestions, combinations. Even the timing can be flexible. If not the rest, atleast the manali leh portion can be done together. We can even ask TATA to cover it in the media. What do u say people?

Its not meant for the faint-hearted. Six months back, me-wifey-monkey decided to do the trip, and a lot of people (read 27 at one point of time) evinced interest. We are leaving day after tomorrow, and apart from us there are another 3 people.

So, I hope you planned it out for yourself, talked about it, and then finally took the high-road...

The only point that one needs to keep in mind is safety. Wish me luck... I am leaving on 14th from Mumbai.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paco (Post 2348030)

I am leaving on 14th from Mumbai.

Thanks Paco for reviving my thread, if you hadnt i would have done it myself today. Please share your plan for the trip. I hope when you say 14th you mean june 14th.
My trip also has been worked out. Leaving on 18th june morning. Plan to do Delhi- manali-jispa-leh-local monastries- leh-pangong-leh-khardungla-nubra-leh-panikhar- rangdum-padum-drass-srinagar-jalandhar-Delhi in 15 days.
Will share more details very soon.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paco (Post 2348025)

Chief... I'll have to stop at Jammu as I have to meet up with some ole buddies. Any specific reason for stopping ove at Kargil and not crossing over to Lamayuru... I meant I am planning to stop at Kargil on my way back, and thought of reaching Lamayuru so that I could spend time in seeing the monastery in the morning before proceeding to Leh. I await your inputs for I may have missed out 'the' point.

Warm regards,

Paco

Kargil has better hotels, thats the only reason for suggesting Kargil. Infact, when we did the trip, we did Srinagar Leh non stop. Approx 16 hours on the road.
So Lamayuru from Sonmarg is definitely possible.

Hi guys, we are (three friends) planning to do delhi manali leh srinagar starting 18th june in about 10-12 days on fortuner. Did delhi manali leh back on enfield in 2009 but due to time constraint could not see much around leh. Any valuable suggestions will be highly appreciated.:)

Quote:

Originally Posted by tsk1979 (Post 2348177)

Thanks for the input, Chief...

2 cents of me,.,

No need of 4x4 at all as you will see taxis (Tavera/Qualis/Sumo) crossing all trails easily and Safari performs great there.
Keep small cylinder for cooking, boiling water, Tea, Maggie etc
Carry frozen food, juices, drinks, water etc from home base (Price tags are high at Hill's & things aren't available sometimes).
Towing wire, Axe etc are good to have.
Medicines and Oxygen cylinder (If you are smoker :D ).
Long plastic shoes (On some patches, you need to get out of the car and help it pushing out of water)
Hat and sun protection gels ofcourse as direct sunlight will make you TAN.
If you really are adventure freak, hit the Leh via Sangla, Kalpa, Keylong, Sarchu, Leh; though it will take little bit longer but memories will speak up once you return back and sit on your couch at work.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SunnyPaaji (Post 2349408)

2 cents of me,.,

No need of 4x4 at all as you will see taxis (Tavera/Qualis/Sumo) crossing all trails easily and Safari performs great there.
Keep small cylinder for cooking, boiling water, Tea, Maggie etc
Carry frozen food, juices, drinks, water etc from home base (Price tags are high at Hill's & things aren't available sometimes).
Towing wire, Axe etc are good to have.
Medicines and Oxygen cylinder (If you are smoker :D ).
Long plastic shoes (On some patches, you need to get out of the car and help it pushing out of water)
Hat and sun protection gels ofcourse as direct sunlight will make you TAN.
If you really are adventure freak, hit the Leh via Sangla, Kalpa, Keylong, Sarchu, Leh; though it will take little bit longer but memories will speak up once you return back and sit on your couch at work.

Pa'aji,

This is the RoI on your two cents...

1. Plastic Shoes, I don't have, but will High Altitude Snow Boots do.
2. Wish I could do the Manali access; the access won't open for another month, I guess!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paco (Post 2348030)

Wish me luck... I am leaving on 14th from Mumbai.

Best of luck on your run, and we hope to see some live reporting!

Quote:

Originally Posted by SunnyPaaji (Post 2349408)

Long plastic shoes (On some patches, you need to get out of the car and help it pushing out of water)

Umm... push an Endy out of water?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paco (Post 2349565)

1. Plastic Shoes, I don't have, but will High Altitude Snow Boots do.

I think he meant gumboots.

agree: Pushing Endy out of water is a project , but if we are able to gather some locals, its achievable :thumbs up

Gumboots (Thanks for correction, SS) protects you from getting wet as snowy water will freeze you badly. I never got stuck, ya i am lucky I am as I am a solo rider J But experience some people faced this during their Leh trip. I have heard about August weather wherein people face problems while driving on muddy terrain. June is clear almost everytime so bingo, I will hit this direction in June.

Am I the first ??

We started from Pune on the 9/May almost at 1 pm, thanks to my my system crash on Sunday afternoon, costed me Monday half day to get it up and working
could not have left without, as this is a working holiday

members: wife and 2 kids of 8yr and 3 yr respectively
Car: Innova
Special Prepration: None

9/May, Monday - started from Pune at 1pm reached, reached somewhere ahead of Ahmedabad near Akshardham and stayed at Anjali Hotel
10/May, Tuesday - started from Ahmedabad at 1pm, reached Jaipur by evening, had lovely meal at LMB
11/May, Wednesday - Started from Jaipur at 1 pm and reached Delhi by easy evening
12/May, Thursday - STAY @ Delhi, meet relatives
13/May, Friday - Start from Delhi at 5am, (my Mother joins us) reached Wagah Border by 3 pm, holed up at CJ Inn opp the Golden Temple, Amritsar. Everyone exhausted due to heat exposure for 3 hours at Wagah
14/May, Saturday - STAY @ Amritsar, took it easy, spent good time in the temple, enjoyed food at 'Bade Bhai ka Dhaba' and 'Kesar ka Dhaba'
15/May, Sunday - to start for Daharmshala today

I will be going through, Daharmshala - Jammu - Srinagar - Leh

I have another 2 weeks in hand, so I am taking easy and everything is flexible

so any of you on the same route or somewhere around can sms me at +91.75886.82915

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anupam (Post 2351902)

Am I the first ??

Looks like you are for this year, at least on Team-BHP!

Bon voyage, and we look forward to live reporting and pics on a separate travelogue thread - you can start that and ask mods to shift the contents of the above post there please.

started from Amritsar yesterday noon, had lunch at Surjit's checken, Amritsar seems to be a bit over-rated for its lassi and food

anyway, reached pathankot and then dharamshala by 6pm, Dharamshala seemed to be a bit crowded due to IPL happening there, anyway I wanted to visit Chinmaya Ashram at Sidhbari, the idea was to stay there overnifgt, but there was no space available, after a little pondering on what to do, we decided to head to Katra, so thats what we did

at 8pm we started from Sidhbari and reached Katra at around 1:00am

quickly located a hotel and settled down, now we were under the assumption that the helicopter tickets will be available but the case is completely opposite, the hotel guy warned us that helicopter is practically impossible, unless I stay in the top-line hotels as they do block booking

trekking up is out of scope, so it will be the Horse most likely, anyway, will checkout options in the morning, as I am tired for the day