road conditions manali to Leh..

[chak56]

Hi! Just back from the amazing journey...which I belive can not be expressed nither can one capture it on images. The vastness and the terrain is unbelivable.

All I can say is do not miss out on Lamayuru & Pangong.

Try & travel thru Srinagar as the MAnali Leh route is awful in fact out of 480 odd kms on about 40km is tarred the rest is rubble. Besides U have a better chance of getting used to the higher altitude on this route.

As Zozila is the only tricky pass to encounter & on way U come across Sonmarg... great vallys... then the Lamayuru Aalchi where U dont need permits to visit & even live if U need to.

Kargil is a good place to halt. Though I could not make it to Zanskar & suru valley. Just got back yesterday will post images soon.

Chak

[Yogesh Sarkar]

Welcome back, waiting for pics and trip log

[Prasham]

Welcome Back ......

Originally Posted by chak56

Hi! Just back from the amazing journey...which I belive can not be expressed nither can one capture it on images. The vastness and the terrain is unbelivable.

Very True.

Originally Posted by chak56

Try & travel thru Srinagar as the MAnali Leh route is awful in fact out of 480 odd kms on about 40km is tarred the rest is rubble. Besides U have a better chance of getting used to the higher altitude on this route.

If anyone remembers I had told on this forum that as innova has very soft suspension, manali - leh route would be extremely tiring. Actually this route is perfectly fit for Sumo.

[rvp]

Originally Posted by chak56

Try & travel thru Srinagar as the MAnali Leh route is awful in fact out of 480 odd kms on about 40km is tarred the rest is rubble. Besides U have a better chance of getting used to the higher altitude on this route.

Chak

Thats an interesting option. I'm planning to go down (or rather up 0) next week and we were planning on the Manali-Leh-Srinagar option. But if you feel the other way around is much better then maybe we can do that?

[hitoashish]

Plz send me the delhi-leh road map

[popsha]

Slight OT but I was wondering where is Mamali...

[Prasham]

"Mamali" is a small town near kullu district. You can reach there by taking left turn after 12 km milestone before kullu city. After turning you shall find a shepherds' hut wherein you shall find atleast 200 cows, 200 buffalos and about same number of bulls, calfs, goats, sheeps and so on. If you find this place lovely you can stay there absolutely free only thing they charge is your helping hand, nothing much just milk those cows and buffaloes and if you find ok you can try your hand at bulls too. Apart from it you will have to wash goats, sheeps and calfs. Also collect the shit [actual bull shit] and stick it up on the walls around shepherd's home.

If you don't want to stay there just go ahead about 37.28734 kms and you shall find board directing you to left towards mamali which would be about some 21.3907 kms I am sure you shall reach there easily considering that the roads are extremely smooth (sometimes it even becomes slippery due to shit of those hundreds of mammals parked in shepherd's home). Drive safely and you shall reach the wonderful town of mamali.

Accomodation option are limited so I suggest you go back to shepherd's house and stay there and enjoy !!!!


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[anupmathur]

Originally Posted by chak56

Try & travel thru Srinagar as the Manali Leh route is awful in fact out of 480 odd kms on about 40km is tarred the rest is rubble. Besides U have a better chance of getting used to the higher altitude on this route.

I agree Chak. The Manali-Leh road these days (July) is in an awful state, but might well be different a few weeks later. These roads are 'ever-changing', what with constant intervention from both man and nature!
Del-Pahalgam-Srinagar-Leh-Manali-Del would be the preferred way to do this trip, and a day each at Pahalgam & Sonamarg would be highly advisable - 'beauty in absolute abundance'; and you're getting beautifully and gradually acclimatized to boot!
The main reason for doing it this way would be that by the time you are going to do the return from Leh via Manali you would be perfectly acclimatized and therefore in a position to truly ENJOY that spectacular journey. IMHO the Srinagar-Leh route is also very impressive in terms of the vistas it affords and the colours of the mountains and rocks, but the road-trip falls a wee bit short of thrilling!