Skip to main content

Le(h) Gayi, Le(h) Gayi…


Just 3 more days before we board our flight to Chandigarh enroute to Leh! It all started with a Facebook message from Jungleore, a company that plans adventure travels, describing their upcoming tour to Ladhak. I forwarded the email to some close friends, one of whom was as interested and flexible with dates and then we began planning…
I spoke to several people about their trips and chatted with many agencies to finally configure our route. Would like to thank Kaustabh at Junglore, Neha at Country wide travels, Shehzaad, Nishreen Aunty, Juzer, Rakesh, Gaurav, Hasnain, Aditya, Devangi, Amanjyot, Aiman, Namrata Kothari, the several agents in Leh and Delhi and the myriad travel blogs and websites that helped us plan our trip. I had no idea so many of my friends had been to Ladhak!
From the various itineraries available online we could figure out the key destinations in Ladhak, but were confused about our access to Leh. Should we drive from Manali or Srinagar or fly directly. The ultimate route I was told is to drive from Manali to Leh and then onwards to Srinagar and fly out of there. The landscape upto Rohtang pass is supposedly lush green vegetation and then it converts to stark barren lands as one approaches Ladhak. On the descent too, we are going to leave behind the dry lands of Ladhak to reach the dense forests in Sonmarg valley through the Zoji La Pass, offering stunning views. So here’s what we are hoping to do:

12th : Chandigarh to Solang
13th: Solang to Sarchu
14th: Sarchu to Leh
2 nights
16th: Leh to Pangong (overnight)
17th : Overnight in Leh
18th: Leh to Nubra (overnight)
19th: Overnight in Leh
20th: Rafting/Trekking (enroute to Alchi preferred)
21st: Alchi to Lamarayu to Kargil (overnight Kargil)
22nd: Kargil to Srinagar (overnight Srinagar)
23rd: Return to Bombay

The simplest option is to just book an organized tour and not have to worry about any bookings, however this option does not give one the flexibility to just be and explore. Alternately, if you are a group of 4, you can rent your own taxis and just head out. This is the ideal way to do your trip, in terms of cost efficiency (taxi cost split 4 ways) and flexibility. Since we are just 2 travelers, we were tempted by the tour, but then decided to just get to Leh through an organizer and once there find other groups to travel with and keep our options open. We booked at Water Mark camp in Pangong (since we are going in peak season) and at the Taj Vivanta in Srinagar (newly opened property) and some hotels in Leh for our first 2 days, and kept the rest open.
We have been advised to carry lots of warm clothes, motion sickness and altitude sickness tablets, hand sanitizer, ID, sun block and cold creams.
Booking camps and hotels has been a nightmare, since most places do not have websites to book directly and the agents in Leh do not confirm via email etc. The agents in Delhi are slightly more professional but bake in a comfortable margin for their service. We are hoping that once we are in Leh, we will be able to figure out the rest of the trip and book taxis, hotels, camps, rafting etc. from there.
I will post details of our trip once back. For now, I’m getting ready to get mesmerized.
Link we found useful: http://www.bcmtouring.com/travel-guides/ladakh-travel-guide/leh-pangong-tso-travel-guide.html


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Vietnam - Where history meets modernisation

One can spend over a month discovering Vietnam. If you, like us, want to touch on the primary toursist sites, a week should suffice. You can cover the country from N-S or S-N and book flights either into Hanoi and out of HCMC or vice versa, saving both time and money. The currency is grossly depreciated to the dollar, so you will have to re-align yourself. We ate many a meal costing over 5 million Vietnamese dong for 3 people ;) Overall, tourism is very affordable, as are meals and getting around. If you choose to stay in luxury hotels, needless to say, you have to pay a price. Hanoi We stayed at intercontinental west lake - standard upscale business hotel. As the name suggest, it was, well, "located on the lake". We walked to the pagoda and the Ho Chin mausoleum- stopped at a temple long the way. Honestly, wasn’t over whelmed by any of the sights.. the vibe is relaxed since we didn’t encounter many tourists so there is no major hustle bustle at the spots. Lunch was th...
Post a Comment
Read more

Looking beyond the lights - Finland

Much like all travel enthusiasts, we too, wanted to “see the light(s)”! First question is which country to see it from. Well, we tried Iceland already and were unsuccessful in our attempt, so this time the toss up was between Norway and Finland. The Norwegian fiords, train through Bergen and the cruises to see polar bears pulled us towards saving Norway for a summer holiday (the activities and place change completely with seasons here), pointing us towards Finland. Also, turns out Finland is more “affordable” compared to Norway. Destination being decided, we had to plot how long and which cities to visit. After much research and conversations with friends who had visited, we narrowed in on flying into Helsinki, which at least in the winter was bitterly cold, windy and hence really not much fun to walk around. It’s also relatively small, so a half day there gave us sufficient time to see the main sights which are: 1) market square 2) sebilious monument (Must visit the tiny but full of c...
Post a Comment
Read more

24 hours in Jaw-dropping Jaipur

Looking for a walk down regal Rajasthan? Or are you a history buff looking to step back in time? Headed to Jaipur for a wedding/event and not sure what to do? If you checked off any one of these 3 options, the sights and locales of Jaipur are tugging for your attention.   I had just one day to soak in Jaipur, before leaving for Alwar the next morning, so I meticulously planned my day to absorb whatever I could. Upon arrival, went directly from the airport to the famed (over-hyped!) Taprri. There are many branches, but I was advised to head directly to Tapri Central (which has outdoor seating and a view of the garden greens). I reached around 9:30 am and was given a token and asked to wait in the queue! While the tea and service were good, I really didn’t see what all the hype is about! Having had tea/breakfast, I would advise you to finish all your city shopping since Tapri is located in the city centre. The shops begin to open their shutters by 10am, so spend 1-2 hours buying your...
Post a Comment
Read more