Ladakh Trip help

[dhulipalla]

Hi,

We are a group of 4 people, we are planning for a trip to Leh for 7 days during September 1st week. I need some suggestions regarding the same, please help me out with the following queries.

1. Which Route is most worth traveling Manali - Leh or srinagar - Leh ?

2. Can we hire a taxi, and what could be the estimated price per km.. Any one aware of any such travel agents.

3. I have seen the itinerary yogesh has suggested in one of the posts, i will go through that. But do we need to book rooms in advance or do we get budget accommodation though out ?

4. What would be the approx budget?

Thanks & Regards
Gopi

[Yogesh Sarkar]

Welcome to BCMTouring, Gopi.

1. That would be Manali - Leh, though Srinagar - Leh is quite scenic as well.

2. No need to go through a travel agent to hire a taxi, you can easily hire them from Manali, Leh and Srinagar taxi stands. Taxi Unions there have pre decided rates, check these out and then bargain with individuals drivers, usually you will get a 10-25% discounter, depending on the tourist inflow. The usual going rate is between Rs. 16-18 per km.

3. No need to book in advance, well maybe for the first day if you don't want to get into the hassle of finding a hotel after a tiring journey.

4. Budget has huge variables, check out my blog post regarding it, Budget for a trip to Ladakh | Yogesh Sarkar's Blog

[dhulipalla]

Yogesh,

Thanks a lot. I looked at your previous threads and prepared my itinerary can you please take a look and suggest modifications to it.

Day 1 Reach Manali.. starto to sarchu .. stay over night
Day 2 Start to Leh. (Since we are traveling by road, we may not need
one full day to acclimitize)
Day 3 Rest in Leh and explore places around Leh i.e. Alchi, Magnetic
Hill, Gurudwara Pathar Sahib and also get the permits for
Pangong Tso
Day 4 Leh - Kargil
Day 5 Kargil - Rangdum (Suru Valley) - Pensi La - Padum (Zanskar
Valley)
Day 6 rest in Padum and check out local monasteries
Day 7 Padum - Pensi La - Rangdum - Kargil
Day 8 Kargil - Leh

Thanks & Regards
Gopi

[KurtRules]

You got the permits but then decided you would skip pangong or have you scheduled it on the 9th day?

[Yogesh Sarkar]

Gopi if your plan is to basically go to Zanskar, then it would be best to take the Srinagar route while going to Ladakh. That way you can do Zanskar as early as possible and then head to Leh and take the Leh - Manali highway. This would also help you acclimatize more easily.

Vaibhav I think he copied from another itinerary thread where I had suggested the OP couple of itineraries and that's why the Pangong Tso part is there.

[KurtRules]

Ah, that ways!

[dhulipalla]

Thanks a lot Yogesh for your time,

We are planning to skip Zanskar.. so i will go by this itinerary. Is Sarchu right place for halt ?

Day 1 Reach Manali.. starto to sarchu .. stay over night
Day 2 Start to Leh. (Since we are traveling by road, we may not need
one full day to acclimitize)
Day 3 Explore places around Leh i.e. Alchi, Magnetic
Hill, Gurudwara Pathar Sahib and also get the permits for
Pangong Tso
Day 4: Leh - Khardung La - Diskit/Hunder (Nubra Valley)
Day 5: Diskit/Hunder - Panamik - Khardung La - Leh
Day 6: Leh - Chang La - Pangong Tso
Day 7: Pangong Tso - Chang La - Leh
Day 8: Leh - Chumathang - Tso Moriri (Korzok)
Day 9: Tso Moriri - Tso Kar - Debring - Tanglang La - Leh

Can you please check this once again..

Thanks & Regards
Gopi

[Yogesh Sarkar]

Gopi if you are traveling via taxi then Keylong would be a better bet or if you are ok with staying in dhaba tents, Darcha as well. Sarchu is high in altitude and a night there can be a bit rough, add to that, you will be reach Manali in the morning and would then start for it, so you might not have enough time to reach Sarchu during day time and I wouldn't recommend traveling at night.

Btw are you planning to fly back from Leh?

Ps. don't forget to get the permit for Pangong Tso and Nubra Valley and Tso Moriri as well.