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Originally Posted by samarjitdhar Equally beautiful clicks here. If it was not for the severe lack of vegetation I guess one should see the equivalent of fall colors in abundance like they see in the New England area of the United States. I do see some isolated streaks but I guess the barren landscape just has its own beauty and colors on offer captured here and the other travelogues. |
By popular conception, Zanskar is the poorer cousin of Leh-Ladakh. However, once seen there are some subtle and some big differences between the two landscapes and Zanskar does stand out by its own. Where anywhere would you find a majestic glacier coming down on the road side or the mountain peak of Nun and Kun, the yellow grasslands of Suru and Zanskar valley in Sept-October and the golden mountains and blue waters beyond Padum!!
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Originally Posted by samarjitdhar Something tells me mid-September to mid-October is probably a better time to visit Ladakh. |
Absolutely, and that's where the misconception is there like as if these places are forsaken and should not be travelled to in Sep-October time.
We have been travelling to Zanskar and Ladakh including remote Changthang around October only for the two consecutive years of 2010 and 2011. Both wife and son get their respective holidays due to Durga Puja around this October time and thus also by default the month of October gets selected.
Our first trip to Chandratal lake, Ladakh and Changthang was in October 2010 and it spanned the complete month.
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...-oct-10-a.html
Being off season we were the only few travellers around and may be the only self-driven travellers towards Chusul, Hanle, Koyoul and beyond.
What I have gathered experience like and from this Zanskar trip in mid October
1. No tourists, so hotel personnel and all are relaxed. Good discount.
2. No extra pressure about permits with huge groups from taxi drivers to self driven motorcycle groups or cars clamouring for permits.
In fact, we got that most elusive permit of Demchok and Koyoul [India-China LAC border from where Indus enters], as there were almost none travellers in the permit area and thus the permit personnel were much more relaxed. They in fact filled up my form and told me to meet the DC for that great drive.
3. Brilliant and clear weather.
However as per my experience also gathered from travels in those lands in October is that the best to finish up the trip by latest around October 3rd week or better by 15th of October. This is because there is always the first serious snow fall around that time or around end of October.
We were getting out of Ladakh via Zojila by around the last few days of October and got stuck for over 36 hours at 11000 feet. This is all documented in the pictures and video in this post of the Ladakh Changthang travelogue .
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...ml#post2412837
So, all said and done, the best window for travel to Ladakh is in fact from September till the middle of October.
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How are the day temperatures at this time? Is the sun equally harsh like that it is in July? Frankly when we did the trip in July the sun was working overtime to peel off our skins.
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Day temperatures are around 5-8 C and night it goes down to may be around 1 to -3 or -4. The sun is of course strong over in those lands as the atmosphere is much thinner but may be not like in July.
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How about the passes, Zoji La and Rohtang? Are there risks of these passes closing down during this period?
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Rohtang closes much earlier than Zoji la. Rhotang mostly around middle to max 3rd week of October.
Zoji la closes around middle of November.
What I have seen by trend is that there is one big snowfall after 3rd week of October. Now this snowfall closes both Rhotang and Zojila. However, towards the Rhotang side, snow is much heavier and plus there are some more higher passes on the Manali-Leh route and is not cleared but Zojila it is cleared soon enough in may be around 2 days maximum and again vehicles ply till it is anyhow possible for the BRO people to keep the clearing process going. However by mid November the snowfall and blockages become more frequent and finally officially the pass is then closed for the next 5-6 months or so.
So as seen September-October are my favourite months for Ladakh and Zanskar, and that goes too also for Kinnaur-Spiti-Kaza-Manali loop road.