srinagar-leh-manali or manali-leh-srinagar, which direction is better?

[poonamver]

hello,
I am from mumbai and intend to visit leh. I want to do both the safaries i.e. srinagar-leh and manali-leh as i have heard that both r awesome in their own ways. I want to know that which direction should i choose and why?
1. Fly from mumbai to srinagar. By road to leh and then by road to manali and then delhi. From delhi fly back to mumbai
2. Fly to delhi. By road to manali -leh - srinagar. Then fly back to mumbai from srinagar
Which is the best month to do this tour?

[anupmathur]

Hi Poonam.
The better way to do it is Srinagar-Leh-Manali.
You do not hit very high altitude on the Srinagar-Leh route and thus your acclimatization is gradual and safer.
And if you are interested in seeing Pahalgam, Gulmarg and Sonamarg (en route to Leh), you could plan for a night at each of these places. Apart from the beauty that you'll enjoy, you will get well acclimatized while being 'on-the-job'!

[Yogesh Sarkar]

Anup sir is right; acclimatization would be a big issue on the Manali - Leh highway.

In fact the only reason I recommend those traveling on motorcycles and cars to go through Manali first is because of the fact that even if vehicle is in bad condition after many days of abuse, they can still do Leh - Srinagar with ease.

Best time would be July to mid September, however if you wish to see lots of snow, then May, June, September and October are the month to go.

[poonamver]

Originally Posted by Yogesh Sarkar

Anup sir is right; acclimatization would be a big issue on the Manali - Leh highway.

In fact the only reason I recommend those traveling on motorcycles and cars to go through Manali first is because of the fact that even if vehicle is in bad condition after many days of abuse, they can still do Leh - Srinagar with ease.

Best time would be July to mid September, however if you wish to see lots of snow, then May, June, September and October are the month to go.

But then why most of the tours start via manali even the jeep safari ?

[Yogesh Sarkar]

Because it saves most people one day and quite a few people were and are still afraid of going via Kashmir.

[poonamver]

Originally Posted by poonamver

But then why most of the tours start via manali even the jeep safari ?

I mean even most of tour packages start via manali. They must be not having any issue about the condition of their vehicle

[poonamver]

Originally Posted by poonamver

I mean even most of tour packages start via manali. They must be not having any issue about the condition of their vehicle

Reason: save one day....how?

[poonamver]

Originally Posted by poonamver

Reason: save one day....how?

Is going via srinagar still not safe?

[Yogesh Sarkar]

If you are starting from Delhi, it takes two days to reach Srinagar by road, while it takes one to reach Manali. This is how majority of the travelers who are starting from Delhi, save one day.

Add to this, until a few years back, Zoji - Kargil highway was at times under Pakistani shelling. In fact one can still read warning sign boards on the Kargil – Zoji La stretch, warning them that they are under enemy observation.



Also quite a few people do Manali - Leh journey in one day in what is known as the canon ball run, I don’t think this is done on Srinagar - Leh stretch.

Also like I earlier said, Manali - Leh is more scenic and adventures than Srinagar - Leh.

Originally Posted by poonamver

Is going via srinagar still not safe?

It is relatively safe, as for crackers they bust in Delhi and Mumbai as well, so no real big issue unless there is a specific threat to tourists or if Pakistani start shelling on the highway again.

[Sunilg]

Kashmir is unsafe for tourists only if you are at a wrong place at a wrong time.

When we (me, yogesh, salil, manik, shamik, and Sumit) were there in 2005, we talked to a lot of army personnel deployed in that area; everyone said militants' main target are army people only; they DON'T touch tourists unless there are any specific reasons behind it. Even militants know that tourists are backbone of kashmir's economy. They'll lose the local support if they start killing tourists again.

Add to this, on the outskirts of Srinagar, we all had stopped for a butt break and we were talking to a CRPF guy stationed on the highway, soon few more CRPF personnel joined in and we started chatting each other. Nearby, a woman was working in the farms and she started shouting at CRPF guys. When we asked one other local what she was saying, he told us that she was shouting at CRPF guys that these are tourists and let them go, coz she thought CRPF guys were harrassing us. .