Urgent: Trip to Ladakh / Spiti / Arunachal / North-East from June 1, 2018

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ekapil

New Member
Planning a 11-13 nights road trip from Delhi starting June 1, 2018 (with wife, 2 kids – 10 yrs and 4 yrs) in Toyota Innova (automatic, 2.8L diesel, Sep-2018 model). This is the most ambitious family trip we are planning in terms of terrains, duration etc., though we are regular with short 2-5 night self-drive trips to the hills in Himachal, Uttarakhand. We also did a 10-day vacation in North Sikkim in 2017 (not self-drive one, though [-X). My family is healthy and physically active with 6-day 1hr+ fitness regime (in general), without any known medical conditions.

Since June-18 trip (starting June 1) is hurriedly-planned , would need quick recommendations from travel aficionados in this forum on the following:

  1. Location: Ladakh OR Spiti Valley OR Arunachal Pradesh OR Assam / Meghalaya OR any other location in North East (Ladakh / Spiti is on bucket list for several years now :-$)
  2. Itinerary for your suggested options (11-13 nights)
  3. Route guides / maps for suggested options
  4. Road / weather conditions / fuel availability
  5. Permit requirements (lead-time, documentation etc.)
  6. Car (Innova) preparations – spares, things to stock
  7. Stay options (tents / home-stays / hotels / resorts along with contact details, if possible) – we prefer tents / home-stays
  8. Food options (being an Indian foodie, this is a must in any road trip )
  9. Ready-to-eat food stock (for kids)
  10. Medical kit (kids / adults)
  11. Oxygen cylinder / Oximeter requirement (from Delhi or rent from locals)
  12. Clothing / other gears (like sunglasses, sunscreen etc.)
  13. Anything else, you may suggest to plan for this trip.
Looking forward to have your inputs as soon as possible. Thanks in advance to one and all!!
 
E

ekapil

New Member
Sure, I am open to Spiti Valley and that's the second option in my plans. Any suggestions on above pointers for trip planningwould be most appreciated.
 
Yogesh Sarkar

Yogesh Sarkar

Administrator
With 11-13 days in hand, you can do a fairly relaxed drive to Kinnaur and Spiti or you can do a trip to Ladakh covering the basic circuit without making it too rushed.

As far as North-East is concerned, it should be fine, I believe the monsoon season there also starts in July. So you should be fine for the most part. The only thing is, traveling from here to there and journey back will end up consuming at least 6-7 days of your schedule. Leaving you with limited time there.
 
E

ekapil

New Member
Yogesh Sarkar said:
With 11-13 days in hand, you can do a fairly relaxed drive to Kinnaur and Spiti or you can do a trip to Ladakh covering the basic circuit without making it too rushed.

As far as North-East is concerned, it should be fine, I believe the monsoon season there also starts in July. So you should be fine for the most part. The only thing is, traveling from here to there and journey back will end up consuming at least 6-7 days of your schedule. Leaving you with limited time there.
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Thanks Yogesh !! You are helping me move fwd now..

Could you please help on my questions in original thread OR tag appropriate posts from BCMT, so I can plan complete planning over next 2-3 days for June 1 start from Delhi.

  1. Manali-Leh is closed now, so would it still be ok for June 1 start?
  2. What would be the basic circuit vs advanced circuit for Ladakh?
 
Yogesh Sarkar

Yogesh Sarkar

Administrator
1. Manali - Leh Highway is open.

2. Basic circuit is Nubra Valley and Pangong Tso along with places in and around Leh. More exhaustive circuit can involve Tso Moriri, Hanle, Dah-Hanu and Zanskar. There are a lot of variations that can be tried and you can even do Tso Moriri within 13 days, but then it can get hectic.
 
E

ekapil

New Member
Yogesh Sarkar said:
1. Manali - Leh Highway is open.

2. Basic circuit is Nubra Valley and Pangong Tso along with places in and around Leh. More exhaustive circuit can involve Tso Moriri, Hanle, Dah-Hanu and Zanskar. There are a lot of variations that can be tried and you can even do Tso Moriri within 13 days, but then it can get hectic.
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Thanks YS... with all the encouragement from fellow explorers and day-long planning, I am settling on below itinerary. Let me know your thoughts, based on your feedback, I will modify and book stay:
  1. Day-1 (01/06): Delhi-Chandigarh (reach by evening, night stay with an old friend)
  2. Day-2 (02/06): Chandigarh - Manali
  3. Day-3 (03/06): Manali (rest day or Manikaran Sahib)
  4. Day-4 (04/06): Manali- Jispa / Sarchu (depending on where I get tent, preferring Jispa though)
  5. Day-5 (05/06): Jispa / Sarchu - Leh
  6. Day-6 (06/06): Leh (acclimatization, local easy sightseeing)
  7. Day-7 (07/06): Leh - Nubra Valley (stay in Hunder / Diskit) - should I come back to Leh?
  8. Day-8 (08/06): Nubra - Pangong Tso (stay in Pangong tents / Tangtse) - should I avoid stay in tents with kids?
  9. Day-9 (09/06): Pangong Tso - Leh (stay in Leh)
  10. Day-10 (10/06): Leh - Sarchu / Jispa / Keylong (depending on where I get tent)
  11. Day-11 (11/06): Reach Manali (night stay)
  12. Day-12 (12/06): Manali - Delhi
?? With two kids, I am preferring to book stay to avoid issues in unknown terrain - is that ok OR I can still take risk to look for accommodation on-the-go?
?? Is it ok to go via Manali-Leh-Manali OR should I choose Srinagar -Leh-Manali (mainly to help family cope with acclimatization) ?
?? Is Srinagar - Leh route safe for family (protests / stone-pelting incidents, terrorist threats etc.)?

Thanks and looking forward to accommodation arrangements tomorrow once I hear from fellow explorers here.
 
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Yogesh Sarkar

Yogesh Sarkar

Administrator
Instead of spending 2 nights in Manali, spend it in Leh.

Get accommodation booked at Manali and if possible, at Jispa. Don't go towards Sarchu. In fact, if possible, take the Srinagar route instead while going to Leh, since it will help you acclimatize to high altitude more gradually. Read our Ladakh AMS Survival Guide.

If you still want to go via Manali, then get the beyond Rohtang Permit made as soon as possible for your dates.

Spend the night in Hunder, else you're looking at a 12 hour drive.

You can get rooms/cottages at Spangmik as well, these are better and warmer.
 
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