DELHI-SRINAGAR-LEH-MANALI-DELHI

[ramkya1]

Hai Lehgurus,

We've solidified travel in 4/5 scorpios, 2WD, max 3 ppl, Husband, Wife, Kid/s ( above 10 years) in each truck, as follows. They would be driving in from Bangalore / Mumbai / Ahmedabad and team up at Ghaziabad. General idea is to wait till the tourist rush is over, let the Aug 15 security cordon relax a little and be there before the season closes by Sep end (?). The roads, hopefully, would be best around this time. The plan?

August26th: Delhi-Udhampur, see if we can push it to Srinagar
27 - Srinagar - Rest & acclamatize
28 - Srinagar - See around
29 - Srinagar -Sonamarg - Kargil : What are the staying options there now?
30 - Kargin - Padum - Zanzkar - Staying options?
31 - Padum - Kargil -
1st - Kargil - Leh - Staying options / I have already read the threads and have a fair idea, thanks.
2nd- Leh / permits etc., see around.
3rd - Leh - Khardung La - Nubra - Staying options?
4th - Nubra - Chang La- Tangtse - Pangong: Possible? And staying options?
5th - Pongong-Chang la-Upshi-Tsomoriri : Stay?
6th - Tsomoriri-Pang-sarchu : Can we push it down to Keylong? Stay?
7th : Sarchu-Keylong-Gramphoo-Chandratal: Stay?
8th - Chandratal-Kunzum la-Kaza-Tabo: Stay?
9th - Tabo-Sumdo-Sangla: Stay?
10th - Sangla-Rampur-Simla-Ambala.

I've seen that this forum has tonns of experience on the route / terrain and we would be thank ful for any inputs.

Thanks in advance,

Happy Driving,

--Ramky

[amitdave]

hi ramky....
first look at your itinerary and it suggests you are packing too much in 10-12 days ex kargil.
reason why iam saying this is:

1. Kargil- Padum in one day is doable but you will be tired by the end of the trip and then you have to be back next day. so you miss out on the enjoyment.
if you are short of time do kargil-rangdum . you can reach there by lunch and spend time and be back next day by visitng parashik glachier further ahead of rangdum.
2.staying wont a problem in kargil ..lots of options. try checking out jktourism.gov.in
but i have read in most travelogues staying in drass a litttle before kargi lmight be a better option .

3. about nubra-changla-pangong , i guess yogesh would give you a better idea of the feasiblity of doing it in a day.

4. i did a trip to spiti n chadratal in sept and i feel sarchu-keylong-gramphoo-chandratal would be very hard to do in a day. the roads from the point where road bifurgates to keylong n gramphoo to almost till lohsar some kms before kaza is almost non existent.
suppose even if u reach it will b too late , chances are that if u miss the turn for chandratal you would b lost, there would b no help on this route. plus with family n kids around not advisable to do this route late evening.
to give you an idea we reached chandratal from kaza at ard 1300hrs ,stayed there till 1430hrs and to reach that junction point of manali-leh road it took us 4.5 hrs.
THERE WAS NO STAYING OPTIONS AT CHANDRATAL (at least in sept when i went there) you have to have your own tents for that.

5. you are reaching kaza and moving on to tabo. you need atleast a minimum of day in kaza or else you guys would just be doing a driving rally. staying in tabo or kaza is not a problem. there are lots of palces to suit your budget. in kaza hptdc hotel is good ,so is mandala guest house and the up market banjara camps.
In tabo staying options include the monastry guest house or the banjara camps.
6. Tabo sumdo-sangla is doable along with a small diversion for nako lake.
for shimla-kaza-chandratal-manali route you can see my travelouge for further detaisl.
but my sincere advise would be ,either to increase the days or cut off the spiti part of journey coz you are packing too much without keeping allowance for realxation of body, vehicles and most importantly enjoying the places you are visitng....

regards
amit

[ramkya1]

Hai Amit,

Tnx a ton for the lightning reply.....

I had a nagging feeling we're packing too much too short. Will rejig it along the line, maybe we need to drop some points and take some cushions for unforseens and to enjoy the scenes.

Waiting for the other Gurus to speak.....

--Ramky

Originally Posted by amitdave

hi ramky....
first look at your itinerary and it suggests you are packing too much in 10-12 days ex kargil.
reason why iam saying this is:

1. Kargil- Padum in one day is doable but you will be tired by the end of the trip and then you have to be back next day. so you miss out on the enjoyment.
if you are short of time do kargil-rangdum . you can reach there by lunch and spend time and be back next day by visitng parashik glachier further ahead of rangdum.
2.staying wont a problem in kargil ..lots of options. try checking out jktourism.gov.in
but i have read in most travelogues staying in drass a litttle before kargi lmight be a better option .

3. about nubra-changla-pangong , i guess yogesh would give you a better idea of the feasiblity of doing it in a day.

4. i did a trip to spiti n chadratal in sept and i feel sarchu-keylong-gramphoo-chandratal would be very hard to do in a day. the roads from the point where road bifurgates to keylong n gramphoo to almost till lohsar some kms before kaza is almost non existent.
suppose even if u reach it will b too late , chances are that if u miss the turn for chandratal you would b lost, there would b no help on this route. plus with family n kids around not advisable to do this route late evening.
to give you an idea we reached chandratal from kaza at ard 1300hrs ,stayed there till 1430hrs and to reach that junction point of manali-leh road it took us 4.5 hrs.
THERE WAS NO STAYING OPTIONS AT CHANDRATAL (at least in sept when i went there) you have to have your own tents for that.

5. you are reaching kaza and moving on to tabo. you need atleast a minimum of day in kaza or else you guys would just be doing a driving rally. staying in tabo or kaza is not a problem. there are lots of palces to suit your budget. in kaza hptdc hotel is good ,so is mandala guest house and the up market banjara camps.
In tabo staying options include the monastry guest house or the banjara camps.
6. Tabo sumdo-sangla is doable along with a small diversion for nako lake.
for shimla-kaza-chandratal-manali route you can see my travelouge for further detaisl.
but my sincere advise would be ,either to increase the days or cut off the spiti part of journey coz you are packing too much without keeping allowance for realxation of body, vehicles and most importantly enjoying the places you are visitng....

regards
amit

[Prasham]

Originally Posted by ramkya1

26 - Delhi-Udhampur, see if we can push it to Srinagar
27 - Srinagar - Rest & acclamatize

If you are going to rest a day in srinagar, why the hell you wanna push so much on 26th... better divide the equally in 2 days & do it in more relaxed manner.

Originally Posted by ramkya1

28 - Srinagar - See around

checkout in morning and move to snomarg for night halt...

Originally Posted by ramkya1

29 - Srinagar -Sonamarg - Kargil : What are the staying options there now?

If you stayed last night at sonmarg, you can easily reach upto panikhar/parkachik and stay there for night.

Originally Posted by ramkya1

30 - Kargin - Padum - Zanzkar - Staying options?

Route of Kargil-Padum is good 10+ hours for any SUV/MUV don't crush yourself... Staying at Panikhar last night would help you to drive with ease and enjoy yourself...

Originally Posted by ramkya1

31 - Padum - Kargil -

Again tiring day but its up to you...

Originally Posted by ramkya1

1st - Kargil - Leh - Staying options / I have already read the threads and have a fair idea, thanks.

Lots of options... needn't worry... Checkout lamayuru and another (don't remember the name) monasteries enroute...

Originally Posted by ramkya1

2nd- Leh / permits etc., see around.

Relax, get your cars checked...

Originally Posted by ramkya1

3rd - Leh - Khardung La - Nubra - Staying options?

Checkout my listing on Hotels and GH's in Jammu & Kashmir... I stayed at A. O. GH in Sumur but it has only 4 rooms...

Originally Posted by ramkya1

4th - Nubra - Chang La- Tangtse - Pangong: Possible? And staying options?

Very tiring... Not entirely impossible...

Originally Posted by ramkya1

5th - Pongong-Chang la-Upshi-Tsomoriri : Stay?

Ditto...

Originally Posted by ramkya1

6th - Tsomoriri-Pang-sarchu : Can we push it down to Keylong? Stay?

No ways...

Originally Posted by ramkya1

7th : Sarchu-Keylong-Gramphoo-Chandratal: Stay?

No Idea... from here on...




Better drop Spiti and divide the saved days amongst above mentioned destination...

[Prasham]

BTW are you a travel agent or what ???

4-5 Scorpios... and that too with just 3 guys inside... moreover who's gonna drive... does he/she have enough experience of similar driving (long hours and bad to worse roads)

[rkbharat]

Nice Plan Ramkay, I wish to join the Scorpio group for this trip.

Hey Prasham, I guess you never heard of Scorpio group. Anyway, As I know all of them are very good drivers, and Ramkay himself have driven alot in all kind of conditions. you need to read his travel logs.

Originally Posted by Prasham

BTW are you a travel agent or what ???

4-5 Scorpios... and that too with just 3 guys inside... moreover who's gonna drive... does he/she have enough experience of similar driving (long hours and bad to worse roads)

[hitanshu]

saab, quick comments for starters: (welcome from teambhp!)
a. delhi-patnitop i did in a bike. you can def try for same at max. srinagar by evening post nightfall is horribly unsafe.
b. srinagar aint worth the time. suggest you proceed to sonamarg and spend time there. dont miss shikaras/houseboat since you'd be with family.
c. Drass is a mini hellhole. Avoid like stink.
d. suggest you somehow manage the permits in advance so as to spend one day sightseeing there than chasing permits.

Love the aggressive plan but with wives/kids, I'm just a wee bit sceptical of AMS/punctures et al just delaying things. You need *some* buffer. Currently its very tight and zero buffer post leh.

I have seen the trucks manage even Tanglang La in snowstorm in end May but with 2WD, would just recommend highly disciplined starts as needed by your plans. You wouldnt wanna cross passes in evening!

[Yogesh Sarkar]

Ramkya welcome to BCMTouring

Originally Posted by ramkya1

August26th: Delhi-Udhampur, see if we can push it to Srinagar

Tough but doable, especially in a car.

Rest of the plan looks ok till Nubra, problem with traveling with such a big group is, you might not get enough accommodation at Rangdum, Sankoo and other small towns in Suru Valley.

In Padum you can easily get accommodation at the J&K Tourism Bungalow or at numerous other hotels and guest houses and the same goes for Kargil. Check out the reviews of hotels in Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh.

Originally Posted by ramkya1

4th - Nubra - Chang La- Tangtse - Pangong: Possible? And staying options?
5th - Pongong-Chang la-Upshi-Tsomoriri : Stay?

Possible, but in this case you have to ensure that you stay in Diskit and don’t spend too much time in breaks and start off at ~6 in the morning. At the end of the day, you need to average 25kmph to do this in ~12hours. FYI one can’t cross Chang La after 5:30pm so make sure you start early.

Also if some one suggests you Wari La route, don’t do it. Because it would take you more time to do it and you would only end up saving ~40kms.

Originally Posted by ramkya1

5th - Pongong-Chang la-Upshi-Tsomoriri : Stay?

Going to be even tougher, especially if you can’t find diesel at the petrol pump before Upshi.

My recommendation would be to skip out on one lake or better yet, leave Spiti for some other day. Especially since there may or may not be accommodation available at Chandratal (tents), in which case you would have to go till Losar.

If you leave out Spiti, you can utilize those two extra days to cover both the lakes with ease and in case you can add another day to the itinerary, you can do Zanskar with ease as well.

[hitanshu]

but dude, arent there like a pump for diesel each at karu and upshi?

[Yogesh Sarkar]

There is one near Upshi, don't remember about the Karu one. Never really paid any attention to them, since they don't have petrol.