[katoom]

Fabulous trip and a very well penned travelog with fantastic pics. Although am a bike guy, Ladakh and a real SUV is certainly interesting combination for me - your log made my day
From what I understand with few rides in Ladakh and Spiti is that we can only be delighted with the wonderful plans and attention to detail but everyday in the mountains just disclose their intent only as the day evolves and we can just pray to be lucky enough!
Glad that you made it through even with multiple nasty tire issues. #battlescars!
Wish you many more great adventures such as these.

[AnandB]

Originally Posted by Sanjivvohra

Lovely travelouge. Thanks for sharing.

Originally Posted by ampere

Beautiful! Especially the astral photographs! Hanle is always a great place to read about.

Originally Posted by katoom

Fabulous trip and a very well penned travelog with fantastic pics. Although am a bike guy, Ladakh and a real SUV is certainly interesting combination for me - your log made my day

Thank you

Originally Posted by CEF_Beasts

What a brilliantly documented travelogue

Thank you. After the first tyre burst we had enough space to carry it in the back and it fit tightly with all the stuff. Even after it was fixed we carried the space saver the same way as rightly we had to use it again. Thus i could have carried a full-size from the start because there were just 3 of us. A good experience for the next trip.

Originally Posted by ValuableRecluse

Fantastic travelogue with great astronomical photos. I know how tough it is getting the settings right in the dark, freezing cold!
You've had quite an adventure!

Thank You. AT's would be perfect but currently don't do enough of such traveling to use them permanently. I think you took the bottom route that takes you to Karzok. As your pics show its quite desolate with not proper roads and from what i read its still the same.

Originally Posted by Livefree

A very detailed and factually chronicled travelogue.

Thank you. Anyone can stay at a Gurudwara's lodgings but not all are the same. Some are good and well maintained and some are not. And you can't pre-book them.

[McLaren Rulez]

Originally Posted by ajmat

In the seven seater, only the doughnut will fit. Five seater versions Can take a full size space but that version is not available here.

Originally Posted by AnandB

Yeah. Early on i tried to replace the space saver with a full-size but dropped the plan when I realized it would not fit. That's why I knew only MRF and maybe Pirelli had the exact size tyre. There weren't many options.

So if you have a puncture, not only do you have to deal with the hassle of the doughnut spare but also the punctured tyre won't fit in the wheel-well either and has to sit in the cabin/boot? That just seems so ill-thought out.

[Sach_511]

An awesome travelogue , glad you make with patch-up tires , but I wonder why you didn't try to change them in Mohali or in Delhi , Also , I second you about not to pick up any fight against taxi drivers or local there (though most of them are very polite).

[AnandB]

Originally Posted by Sach_511

An awesome travelogue , glad you make with patch-up tires , but I wonder why you didn't try to change them in Mohali or in Delhi , Also , I second you about not to pick up any fight against taxi drivers or local there (though most of them are very polite).

Thank you. If it was just one tyre then I had planned to do it in Chandigarh. Had even spoken to a MRF dealer who had it in stock. But after reaching Manali and both tyres seemed to be holding up well i thought I'll change back in my hometown. First they were only 50% used and had a lot of life left and second I wanted to check out oversize options and change all the tyres at once. I only changed to same MRFs 5 days back after researching and not finding a good oversize option.

[sachin_cs]

Congratulations Anand on completing the Ladakh circuit and taking the efforts to pen down such an informative and extensive travelogue. It was a treat to read and the pictures of your Siberian bear with the majestic Himalayas in the backdrop is just dope. Your travelogue reminded me of my bike ride to Ladakh where we were attempting to reach Hanle from Pangong Tso and at first, we ended up reaching the China border & then we were redirected to Hanle by the military officials, however in the end we had to drop the plan as the weather was turning bad and it was very very difficult to ride our Thunderbirds on that sandy surface, we had multiple falls. Later that day we tried to cross TanglangLa in freezing night and as a result one of our bikes had 11 broken spokes in the middle of nowhere.


One of the many places where I got stuck on the way to Pangong



Middle of nowhere with no phone network + broken spokes



After a fall in some water crossing, I also lost my exhaust near Darcha



My favourite picture



My CG04 in the valley




P.S.- I still regret not visiting Hanle, but in the hindsight, I have got a reason to visit Ladakh again

[motorhead5]

Beautiful trip and beautiful pictures
We had done pretty much the same route in 17 days back in 2018. We additionally did a drive from Nubra valley to Turtuk village (Baltistan) which for me was one of the best in the whole trip. But we didn't do Tso Moriri though that was in the initial plan. As you said, something for another drive in this region, which i believe is one of the best in the world!!

[AnandB]

Originally Posted by motorhead5

Beautiful trip and beautiful pictures
We had done pretty much the same route in 17 days back in 2018. We additionally did a drive from Nubra valley to Turtuk village (Baltistan) which for me was one of the best in the whole trip. But we didn't do Tso Moriri though that was in the initial plan. As you said, something for another drive in this region, which i believe is one of the best in the world!!

We only crossed Turtuk on the way to Thang and coming back to Hunder. Wanted to spend a night there but couldn't. Definitely a stop on next visit.

[motorhead5]

Originally Posted by AnandB

We only crossed Turtuk on the way to Thang and coming back to Hunder. Wanted to spend a night there but couldn't. Definitely a stop on next visit.

Yes, turtuk is worth staying overnight. You could visit some houses including a small old palace and listen to old stories of how those 5 villages became part of India in 1971!!. Very interesting history; sad for those separated families..

Btw, was there stay options in tso moriri like pangong?

[AnandB]

Originally Posted by motorhead5

Yes, turtuk is worth staying overnight. You could visit some houses including a small old palace and listen to old stories of how those 5 villages became part of India in 1971!!. Very interesting history; sad for those separated families..

Btw, was there stay options in tso moriri like pangong?

Not as many or high-end like Spangmik but there are enough decent options with a couple of hotel-style good ones.

[amit.s]

Originally Posted by AnandB

My worst fear and the only thing i was hoping to avoid happened. Not once but twice.

Its amazing that these days our worst fears are not that car breaks down in the middle of no where, but its of the tire getting punctured. Its both a tribute to the general dependability of cars these days and a concern over the quality of tires. I really hoped that truly puncture resistant wheels should have been here by now.

[chorispao]

Hi Anand
A well documented travelogue! I have used this as a base for planning a trip to Leh in addition to the travelogue by Sujoy. Along with my wife & two kids, we plan to drive from Goa – Srinagar – Leh – Manali – Goa over a month, with a relaxed itinerary. Plan is to drive Aug 13 to Sept 11, 2022 in a Maruti Ertiga Petrol. A have a few questions since this is based largely on the routes you have taken.
1. From Leh, we plan to drive to Turtuk & Thang via Hunder.
2. From Nubra Valley, we plan to drive to Pangong (Merak) via the Sumur-Khalsar-Agham-Shyok-Durbuk-Tangtse route.
3. From Pangong (Merak), we plan to drive to Nyoma and then to Hanle via the Nama-Kaksang La-Mirpal Tso-Hor La-Yaye Tso-Mahe-Rhongo-route.
4. From Karu, we plan to drive to Manali via Jispa
Is the above doable in an Ertiga with 185mm GC? I plan to get a fresh set of GY Assurance II tyres before the drive. Am assuming mid Aug – mid Sept will be a dry period and hence drivable. The alternate plan for 2 is to drive from Nubra-Leh-Pangong & for 3 is to drive from Pangong – Karu– Hanle. We have no alternate plan for 1 & 4.
From your travelogue, I ruled out the drive from Hanle – Tso Moriri! But I’m hoping to at least do the Nubra-Agham-Shyok-Pangong route!
Appreciate your advice on the above.
Regards,
Rohit

[AnandB]

Originally Posted by chorispao

Hi Anand
A well documented travelogue! I have used this as a base for planning a trip to Leh in addition to the travelogue by Sujoy. Along with my wife & two kids, we plan to drive from Goa – Srinagar – Leh – Manali – Goa over a month, with a relaxed itinerary. Plan is to drive Aug 13 to Sept 11, 2022 in a Maruti Ertiga Petrol. A have a few questions since this is based largely on the routes you have taken.

3. From Pangong (Merak), we plan to drive to Nyoma and then to Hanle via the Nama-Kaksang La-Mirpal Tso-Hor La-Yaye Tso-Mahe-Rhongo-route.
4. From Karu, we plan to drive to Manali via Jispa
Is the above doable in an Ertiga with 185mm GC? I plan to get a fresh set of GY Assurance II tyres before the drive. Am assuming mid Aug – mid Sept will be a dry period and hence drivable. The alternate plan for 2 is to drive from Nubra-Leh-Pangong & for 3 is to drive from Pangong – Karu– Hanle. We have no alternate plan for 1 & 4.
From your travelogue, I ruled out the drive from Hanle – Tso Moriri! But I’m hoping to at least do the Nubra-Agham-Shyok-Pangong route!
Appreciate your advice on the above.
Regards,
Rohit

Thanks Rohit, glad it helped you plan.

Nubra to Pangong is fine and doable.

I would avoid the Merak to Hanle route you mentioned as i think that one is even worse and probably no one uses it. We went straight from Chushul but your car will struggle any point after Merak, even the roads got worse just before Merak. As there is simply no road from Merak and i would avoid with kids. When the Chushul route was not open our original plan was to go back to Leh road from Tangste and turn from Karu towards Hanle instead of Leh. But then it requires you to stop at some point in Chumathang or Nyoma as it might be too much to reach Hanle on same day with this route.

Coming back from Hanle, as a shortcut you can turn towards Tso Moriri and from Tsumdo turn towards Tso Kar and Leh Manali highway instead. But this whole section of turning from Mahe bridge till highway is bad roads. So upto you if you want to take this if you are short on days and do not even try to drive on sand even if it looks enticing amd comfy than rocky road as our saving of Nexon can attest to that. Otherwise best would be go back to Leh from Hanle as this road is great and go towards Manali next day.

Edit: I forgot even if you take this shortcut Hanle to Manali might be too much to cover in single day so you will probably stop at Jispa or Sarchu etc. In that case better to go back to Leh and next day do Leh Manali which can be done of you leave early.

Manali route you can't avoid and expect your car to get bumped at the bottom a few times. This very bad section is a small portion and overall the rest of the route is fine. Most people travel from Manali only and manage with all cars.

[chorispao]

Hi Anand
Your response cleared many doubts in my route planning. So I’ve struck off Pangong (Merak) off my list. Instead I will get to Pangong (Man), stay over for a day or two, and return back to Tangste. I now have a few more questions.
1. Do I drive down from Tangste to Chushul 88km route? I haven’t seen any people documenting this route???

2. How is the road condition from Chushul to Hanle?

3. Or is the preferred route Tangtse – Karu –Chumathang- Hanle? 301 kms as per Google?

Appreciate your inputs on the above. On the drive from Hanle-Manali, we would stopover at Karu for a day and then at Sarchu. We have time on our side but I don’t see any great stay options at both locations.
Regards,
Rohit

[AnandB]

Originally Posted by chorispao

Hi Anand
Your response cleared many doubts in my route planning. So I’ve struck off Pangong (Merak) off my list. Instead I will get to Pangong (Man), stay over for a day or two, and return back to Tangste. I now have a few more questions.
1. Do I drive down from Tangste to Chushul 88km route? I haven’t seen any people documenting this route???

2. How is the road condition from Chushul to Hanle?

3. Or is the preferred route Tangtse – Karu –Chumathang- Hanle? 301 kms as per Google?

Appreciate your inputs on the above. On the drive from Hanle-Manali, we would stopover at Karu for a day and then at Sarchu. We have time on our side but I don’t see any great stay options at both locations.
Regards,
Rohit

Yeah i have not seen any documentation of Tangtse to Chushul route. But as i said i would avoid as all the routes from Chushul towards Tso Moriri/Hanle are not good. In my previous post i meant the same and not just Merak to Chushul is bad.

3rd is the preferred route and iirc correctly there are two routes now. New route that takes you via the new Kela Pass. But i have not taken these routes so can't be sure if they are good.