[magiceye]

A brilliant account and superb images of a fabulous destination!!
Hope to make it someday!

[rkbharat]

fantastic, first pics from Ladakh this season. Cheers

[mayankjha1806]

Originally Posted by noopster

Closing Credits:
Ladakh is a tough vacation and I would not recommend it for children under 10.

Not recommend for kids less than 10 years? I am going to Leh in July first week with my 4.5 year old daughter.

[laluks]

By April mid Pangong Tso was still frozen. In three weeks Pangong Tso melted and beautiful birdies in the water.

Weather has its sweet ways. Beautiful

[mayankjha1806]

A brilliant TL indeed, awesome pictures make it more interesting.

Question - I did flight and hotel booking directly and not through MMT or Yatra. Could i get some travel agent at the hotel to arrange for the local and remote trips in and around Leh/Ladakh?

[noopster]

Originally Posted by magiceye

A brilliant account and superb images of a fabulous destination!!
Hope to make it someday!

Originally Posted by rkbharat

fantastic, first pics from Ladakh this season. Cheers

Originally Posted by laluks

By April mid Pangong Tso was still frozen. In three weeks Pangong Tso melted and beautiful birdies in the water.

Weather has its sweet ways. Beautiful

Thanks all for the wonderful comments!

Originally Posted by mayankjha1806

Not recommend for kids less than 10 years? I am going to Leh in July first week with my 4.5 year old daughter.

Mayank that's my personal opinion- FYI there were enough people there with young children in their party, some even infants and toddlers.
By July the temperatures should be slightly higher- when we went it was pretty much single-digit even in Leh.
Interior Ladakh involves travelling on bumpy roads for 8-9 hours a day. There are not very many places for hot meals on the way: the best you can hope for in the passes is a plate of steaming Maggi. Be sure to carry enough food (cheese, fruit, thepla/khakra, chocolate, nuts, raisins were some of the things we stocked up on).
AMS can hit any time- please check with your paediatrician if Diamox can be safely administered to a 4 year old, and in what dosage. Keep giving her water to sip- it's easy to get dehydrated at that altitude and in that cold, without realising it.
Dress in layers: keep the kid bundled up nicely and don't forget the ears, nose, fingers and toes!
My daughter is more or less the same age as yours- we didn't take her along but having seen the pics she can't wait to grow up to go and play in the snow!
You should be fine- just take due precautions. All the best.

Edit: PMed you a number of local travel agent: pls check with him directly.

[nilanjanray]

Great travelogue, and fantastic images! What was the temperature like in the night?

Ladakh is on my 'to drive to' list...maybe next year.

[noopster]

@nilanjan- must have been around 4-5 degrees C at night and early morning, even in Leh. The rooms were absolutely freezing- it was impossible to walk without socks and entering the bathroom in bare feet was torture!

The hotel provided us with running hot water 6-8 every morning and evening, plus extra blankets and a hot water bag each at night.

At Khardung-la it was around 2 degrees C (according to our trusty tour guide) but wind chill factor added to the cold. Chang-la was equally cold. We experienced some freak snowfall at the Pangong lake as well, whch was truly awesome.

[Swanand Inamdar]

Noop, you have no idea how i curse you (and myself) for reading this while in office . There goes my productivity for a toss.
Wonderful, stupendous and many more adjectives that fail me right now. The snaps are brilliant, and so is your writing. Dude, i repeat myself, take up that dream of being a travel writer now. You would do justice. Trust me.

It would be better of you give a detailed breakup of costs involved (acommodation, travel, car hire, food et al). What were the Must Do's and what can be avoided etc.
Expect a ton of PM's and BBM's from me now .

[mayankjha1806]

Silly question this time, i am assuming ATM's are available in Leh, so no need to carry loads of cash ?

[noopster]

^^ Yup, there are ATMs in Leh. There is a J&K Bank ATM right at the Leh market parking which is very popular, always a crowd there. You can also try the PNB ATM which is in a run-down "mall" in the market- it's almost always empty.

I seem to recall an Axis Bank ad showing an ATM somewhere in interior Ladakh! But don't bet on it.

Incidentally, Airtel and BSNL connections (on roaming) work best in Ladakh. Aircel also works fine in Leh- in fact it had the strongest signal at out hotel. My Vodafone connection was damn difficult to use: had to move it ino Manual mode and select Aircel, then it would go into SOS mode for some reason and I'd have to keep trying to call someone till I got through into full functional mode.

Just GSM though- no EDGE available. Which was a relief since my BlackBerry wouldn't work there!

[infotech58]

Wonderful Travelogue and Awesome Photographs. Thanks for sharing your experience. Were there any expenses (apart from shopping) which were not covered in the package cost?
This thread fuels my desire to plan a visit to Leh even more.

[dot]

Just as @swanand said, my productivity in the last hour is zero but spirits are at zen maximum.

Only one question, how could you ever come back from this place? What kind of vacuum can one feel after taking the return journey flight.

[MohsinRoadster]

Your so right, Any blind man with a mobile cam can capture great pictures here.

The scapes are so beautiful and you have so well presented it to us. Thanks for sharing.

Every Leh thread has something new to learn from and so is yours.

[mdsaab]

@Noopster
WOW! what a TL! Truly right from the Beginning, Felt as though we traveled with you.
So should i still go up to the mountains? I am seriously questioning this. Seems like i have seen and been there already.
You got to experience snow, now that makes me J.
You are no longer just a travel writer but now an award winning one!

"Join Noops as he takes you on a winding journey to the magical mountains of Northern India, remember to have your chai nearby as it gets pretty chilly up there"

"Critically Acclaimed travel writer Noops brings out his best ever TL yet, take your time, sit back, Sip that Cuppa and be prepared for a journey of a lifetime!"