The Himalayan Ride 2017 itinerary help needed

[Joystan]

Hello All!

I've been reading about experiences, tips and advices on bcmtouring.com and has been of a huge help planning and gathering inputs for my upcoming ride. Thank you so much for putting this site together and maintaining it.

Let me introduce myself first, I'm Joystan Fernandes and live in Goa. So two of my childhood friends and me have been planning rigorously for this ride. We have done many inter-state rides around Goa but have no clue about the North of India and we are eager to explore!

I am looking for inputs from you experts to help us plan this trip out in a better way. Would be of great help to us!

As for now we have a draft plan of our route. Our entire journey will be on our bikes in a time span of 20-25 days and we have planned to start this ride on the 10th of June 2017. Our draft plan is as follows:
Goa - Mumbai - Gujarat - Rajasthan - Chandigarh - Srinagar - Kargil - Leh - Khardung La - Manali and back.

This is just what we have in mind as of now. Please let us know your opinions, if I have mistaken anything or a better route to make this journey a greater experience. If anyone could break it down to detailed day wise would be great. Also if any of you could give a rough estimated cost for this trip nothing luxurious.

You're help and guidance would be highly appreciated.

Thanks in advance

 

[adsatinder]

Your Main focus is Ladakh ?
or you want to cover few cities on the move ?
With 20-25 days in hand I will suggest to focus on Ladakh only.
Other places can be covered later separately.
You can cover Zanskar, Nubra Valley, Pangong, Tso Moriri if given 25 days approx from Goa in relaxed pace at Ladakh.
For reaching Ladakh you need 5-6 days atleast.

 

[Joystan]

Your Main focus is Ladakh ?
or you want to cover few cities on the move ?
With 20-25 days in hand I will suggest to focus on Ladakh only.
Other places can be covered later separately.
You can cover Zanskar, Nubra Valley, Pangong, Tso Moriri if given 25 days approx from Goa in relaxed pace at Ladakh.
For reaching Ladakh you need 5-6 days atleast.

@adsatinder thank you for your reply. Our main focus is Ladakh. Keeping this in mind how do we go ahead planning our itinerary?

 

[Joystan]

Hello mates!
I'm still stuck with lack of knowledge to plan out a proper itinerary for my upcoming ride to Ladakh.

I'd appreciate if someone could help me do this as we've never traveled to the north of India. I've mentioned my plan in the above post for your reference.

Please help me fellow motorcyclists!

Thanks in advance.

 

[nadz11.ns]

If your main focus is only Ladhak, then transport bike to Jammu via Train/or any other transport service provider and start from there. Why waste multiple days enroute.
And for 25 days, what you have mentioned is too less. Check ladhak travel logs and see what places people are visiting or what places are worth visiting. This reesearch part is your job and it should be done by you only to get a better idea on what to expect from members.
Also, if this trip is only to mark a point in your to-do-list, then it becomes easy with most visiting Khardungla/manali only and back. Or do you want to explore the places, culture etc. Decide what you want and post here.
Also, June 2017 is a year away.

 

[Joystan]

If your main focus is only Ladhak, then transport bike to Jammu via Train/or any other transport service provider and start from there. Why waste multiple days enroute.
And for 25 days, what you have mentioned is too less. Check ladhak travel logs and see what places people are visiting or what places are worth visiting. This reesearch part is your job and it should be done by you only to get a better idea on what to expect from members.
Also, if this trip is only to mark a point in your to-do-list, then it becomes easy with most visiting Khardungla/manali only and back. Or do you want to explore the places, culture etc. Decide what you want and post here.
Also, June 2017 is a year away.

@nadz11.ns thank you for your reply. Yes, I am gathering information and have been planning this out for quite a while now. This bike ride is just not about visiting Khardung La / Manali for us, it's the whole experience of the journey and hence we have planned to ride from Goa rather than transporting our machines. We're ready to sacrifice a few days riding to the north but the experience is what is of a higher importance to us.

I also understand that it is a year ahead but this ride means a lot to us and as we have never been to the north riding before planning is a necessity.

I'm very close on putting together a draft version of my itinerary based on my research for the past several months. I'll post it here once ready for your expert opinions on it.

Thanks you again

 

[Yogesh Sarkar]

Please keep in mind that during June, plains would be burning hot, and won’t really make for a good riding experience. You always have the option of shipping your bikes till Srinagar and starting your ride from there. If you still want to ride, then let us know number of hours each day you would be comfortable with riding and we can help you draft your itinerary.

 

[Prasham]

Since you have so many days, I suggest you visit both Ladakh & Spiti.

Transport your bikes to Delhi and ride via Shimla - Kalpa - Kaza and then onto Ladakh. This route has couple of extra benefits as well. Firstly you'll not have to bother about the big mess that Rohtang is. Secondly you'll enjoy the high passes more as you'll be better acclimatized.

Actually you can cover Spiti, Ladakh, Zanskar (if open) as well as Kashmir in 20-25 days if you transport your bikes to Delhi/Jammu.

 

[Joystan]

Please keep in mind that during June, plains would be burning hot, and won’t really make for a good riding experience. You always have the option of shipping your bikes till Srinagar and starting your ride from there. If you still want to ride, then let us know number of hours each day you would be comfortable with riding and we can help you draft your itinerary.

@Yogesh Sarkar thank you for your support. We are aware of the weather conditions during this time of the year and we are up for it. We have spoken to people who have done this ride during the same time of the year from Goa, taken their inputs and we are ready to face the challenges along the way.

I understand that by transporting our bikes we would have more days in hand, cover more places and have an enjoyable experience. We have discussed this among the group and we are ready to face the heat as part of the whole adventure. Please help us make the most out of what we have with your expert knowledge to this experience.

Thank you

 

[Joystan]

Since you have so many days, I suggest you visit both Ladakh & Spiti.

Transport your bikes to Delhi and ride via Shimla - Kalpa - Kaza and then onto Ladakh. This route has couple of extra benefits as well. Firstly you'll not have to bother about the big mess that Rohtang is. Secondly you'll enjoy the high passes more as you'll be better acclimatized.

Actually you can cover Spiti, Ladakh, Zanskar (if open) as well as Kashmir in 20-25 days if you transport your bikes to Delhi/Jammu.

Hi @Prasham
I completely agree with your opinion. May be the next time we do this trip again which is bound to happen, we will transport our bikes to explore more places in the region and make it an enjoyable experience as you mentioned.

But this time it's all about the adventure of riding from Goa to Ladakh and back on our own bikes. We understand the challenges and the days we're spending in traveling, but at the end it's all about the ride and the challenges to accomplish this route