A trip to ladakh

[prithviraj.ray]

Hi friends, I have just searching the net recently and found this wonderful site. I am planning for a trip to Leh-Ladakh in my Maruti esteem. Is it safe to take the car to these routes and what should be our itenary. We are planning to go in three cars... one esteem, one baleno and one bolero...with total members of 10 adults and 2 kids. we will be going from Kolkata in West Bengal around 16th Oct and planning to come back on 4th November. Friends can you sugest a route map as we want to enter through Manali and come back from Srinagar.... Is it feasible at the time and what type of weather, accomodation, petrol pumps and also the cost involvement etc... for such a trip. Also what type of permits are necessary for such a trip, and where to get them from....

[sachinontop]

hi,

welcome to the group!

i have not been to that place, so cant help u on route aspect, but can sure share a few things about the cars you chose!

all the three cars are perfect for such harsh areas.
even m800s have the capability to do that trip!

but since esteem and baleno are much faster, have shorter turning radius and have very less body-roll, they will cover more distance in a give span of time. bolero will find it difficult to catch up with them.

so use some restraint and try to drive in a convoy, coz if any of the faster car is stuck anywhere... only bolero can help it out!

and using 3 different cars means you can carry a great amount of luggage with much ease.
segregate the luggage into various categories and then load up into the vehicles, and drive in convoy!

although, i'd like to suggest one more fun thing here...
try fixing couple of auxiliary lights on Bolero (2 on front bumper & 2 on roof!!)... and push it either into the lead of convoy or at the tail; this'll give superb illumination one needs in such isolated place during night drives!

Drive Safe!

[Yogesh Sarkar]

@Sachin Done!

@Prithviraj welcome to BCMTouring, regarding the trip it would be better if you can pre pone it to the month of September. Chances are Manali - Leh route might be open at that time but the chances of it closing are quite high (even in the middle of your trip) and at that time beyond Jispa it would be hard to find support in case of an emergency. Add to this you might encounter lot of snow en route as well and with kids I would simply not risk it.

[Scorpion King]

hi prithvi
welcome to the club
yogesh has given lots of tips on other threads do go through them
given your departure date i would strongly advise against going in the time frame that you are planning for.
trust me the only reason that i am not going to Ladakh this year is because i will be returning from my ship (i am a marine engineer) at the end of september.
the conditions are harsh and do bare in mind that the army is under obligation to rescue u in the event of a mishap until the 15 th of september only as that is the official date until which they are bound to keep the roads open

[sachinontop]

Originally Posted by Scorpion King

the army is under obligation to rescue u in the event of a mishap until the 15 th of september only as that is the official date until which they are bound to keep the roads open

this is scary!

[Yogesh Sarkar]

Well army will most probably rescue you even in October, however the question is how will they know where you are trapped? After all tent accommodation beyond Jispa is gone, and there are few if any people on the road. And even if army airlifts you, they are not going to do the same for a vehicle.

Better option at that time would be to hire a vehicle to go in to Leh (if roads are open) and fly out.

[prithviraj.ray]

Thanks friends for your instant reply, yeah your views are really worthy to think about.... I think we have to prepone the tour to september as then the raid de hamalaya will also take place, and we get the chance to see that also.... and if u guys who have visited the place if you can help me with the sugestion of accomodation and location of service points etc...

[Yogesh Sarkar]

Regarding service center there is an official Maruti service center in Leh, called Ling Nawang Auto and it’s on Sakara Road. Beside this there is one in Kargil as well, not to mention quite a few service centers till Manali and Srinagar. You can also find car mechanic in Keylong and there are few mechanics in Leh as well. However beyond Keylong till Upshi there are no mechanics, however there is a puncture repair guy at Sarchu.

Regarding accommodation both the time I stayed in a government guest house courtesy dad’s friends, however there are lot of accommodation options available to suite every budget, for reference check out this list by J&K Tourism www.jktourism.org/cities/ladakh/stay/tariff.htm

Rest we can give you suggestions based on places you are planning to visit.

[prithviraj.ray]

thanks yogesh....

[tanmay4]

Is it possible to do the trip by car??
What about the ground clearence??

Even i am planning the trip to leh, but cancelled to take my Indica, just 'coz of the concern.

Any clarifications??