New routes in Ladakh

[Yogesh Sarkar]

This year a number of new routes have been opened up for public, while some are somewhat passable and expected to be fully operational by next year. Here are few such new routes in Ladakh, which travelers can look forward to in the coming days and years.

Turtuk (Nubra Valley)

Turtuk Village in Nubra Valley has recently been opened for tourists, including foreigners. Turtuk is located 90 km ahead of Diskit and in order to reach it, you need to continue on the same road that initially goes to Hunder Monastery, cross the Hunder Bridge and then soldier on.

Not only are the vistas ahead of Hunder Village beautiful to say the least, but at one point you would also be riding/driving along Thoise Airfield, which too is quite a sight to behold.

Here is the map to Turtuk Village (courtesy Harsh)



For those worried about fuel, petrol and diesel is available at Diskit Petrol Pump, located on the Diskit - Hunder road, though availability at times can be an issue.

Man and Merak Villages along Pangong Tso

Till last year, tourists were only allowed to go till Spangmik Village; however this isn’t the case anymore. Though the road from Lukung to Spangmik and then onward to Man and Merak is in bad condition, but the lure of riding along Pangong Tso, more than makes up for it.

Here is the map of Man and Merak Villages along Pangong Tso (courtesy Harsh)



Batalik Sector

Batalik which once made news due to 1999 Kargil war is now open for tourists to visit. Batalik not only provides another destination to travelers, but also gives you an alternate route to travel between Leh and Kargil.

In order to travel on this route, you need to get permit for Dah and Hanu Villages, which are issued by the DC office in Leh.

Nubra Valley - Agham - Shyok - Durbuk - Pangong Tso route bypassing Wari La and Chang La

This is one route which many travelers have been waiting and searching for eagerly for a long time. Although it is not yet officially open and at least 20 km of the 60 km road between Agham and Durbuk Villages are in a real bad state and quite steep, with one of the bridges being only usable for two wheelers and police/army discouraging use of this route at the moment, it would nevertheless be a real blessing for travelers, as it would not only cut down the distance and time needed to travel from Nubra Valley to Pangong Tso, but it would also do away with the need of having to cross high altitude passes.

Agham - Pakra - Chimchak - Shyok - Durbuk - Tangste map, the alternate route from Nubra Valley to Pangong Tso



Once operational, Diskit - Lukung (Pangong Tso) distance would be a mere 150km, and would likely be operational throughout the year.

Apart from these routes, there are a few more which are under development and would likely take quite a few years to get completed, hence have not been mentioned here.

[Minotaur]

very nice...
hope the chamchak route is ops and will be really helpful to cut from nubra to Ptso

[hvkumar]

Fabulous commentary on the new routes, YS.
And the maps are great.

Are permits available for each of the sectors at DC's Office?
- extending Nubra Valley permit to Turtuk?
- extending Pangong permit to Chushul via Merak and for return via Nyoma?

I suppose the Agham-Shayok route does not require permits, as was the case with Wari la too.

Did Tanveer make it to Shayok on the Agham route in his Safari?

[Yogesh Sarkar]

Originally Posted by hvkumar

Are permits available for each of the sectors at DC's Office?

Yes

Originally Posted by hvkumar

- extending Nubra Valley permit to Turtuk?

I think one has to specifically mention Turtuk.

Originally Posted by hvkumar

- extending Pangong permit to Chushul via Merak and for return via Nyoma?

Chushul permit is the same as ever, as per my knowledge, normal permit for Pangong Tso which used to cover access till Spangmik, now provide access till Merak.

Originally Posted by hvkumar

I suppose the Agham-Shayok route does not require permits, as was the case with Wari la too.

It would be best if you take permit for Shyok, which I guess required permit earlier as well.

Originally Posted by hvkumar

Did Tanveer make it to Shayok on the Agham route in his Safari?

Yes he did

Originally Posted by tsk1979

I am posting from Hanle.
We started from Nubra on Tuesday. Monday night at the dhaba we got to know that a few vehicles crossed over. Later even taxi drivers told us the same thing.
We will reach leh tomorrow,and on sunday start the jouney back.
We did Nubra-Pangong-Chushul-Hanle.
We did not do Wari La or Chang La, only Khardungla

[lloydofcochin]

That's an excellent post there Yogesh

Hoping to do Turtuk & Wari La this season

[Yogesh Sarkar]

Well the credit goes to BCMTians and in particular Vaibhav, Archit, Prashant and Tanveer, as what has been written above is the collective knowledge.

[rahul4096]

Yogesh I Have read that few people travelled through Batlik (Kargil-Leh) without permits. Have you got any information that is is an exception than rule.

[Yogesh Sarkar]

They are exceptions, rather than rule. In fact Shamik had done Leh - Kargil through Batalik route in 2007, without permit. However he was lucky, I wouldn't recommend this to any one. After all getting the permit isn't all that difficult and I guess they should be issued by the DC office in Kargil as well.

[rahul4096]

Originally Posted by Yogesh Sarkar

After all getting the permit isn't all that difficult and I guess they should be issued by the DC office in Kargil as well.

If that is the case, then we have no problem, rather it is great. Anyway thanks a ton for useful information.

[Salil]

Great info - looks like there would be new routes to ride/drive and new places to explore each coming year for a few years at least!