Leh, Ladakh & Glory

[Ravi]

“You don’t have to visit Switzerland to see this beauty, you have everything in India”-  A traveler from Switzerland

5 days … 2500 kms … 18380 ft … What would you call a trip traversing three of the five highest motorable passes in the world with a region touching two borders, the second highest saltwater lake in the world, the second coldest inhabited place in the world, three different terrains, three distinct cultures and five mountain ranges, possibly accessible for only three months in a year? Leh,Ladakh & glory …

 

Having read so many blogs and travelogues about Leh, this trip was always on the cards. Tickets booked 8 months prior, leave applied for a week and all set for one heck of a trip.

 

The itinerary

 

Day 1: Hyderabad to Delhi by flight. Delhi local and evening train to jammu.

Day 2: Jammu to Srinagar via Bannihal (Bannihal to Srinagar by train)

Day 3: Srinagar to Kargil (Via Zojila Pass)

Day 4: Kargil to Leh (Via Namikla Pass)

Day 5: Leh to Nubra Valley (Via Khardungla Pass)

Day 6: Nubra Valley to Leh and Leh local

Day 7: Leh to Pangong Tso (Via Changla Pass)

Day 8: Leh to Delhi by flight. Return to Hyderabad

 

Pictures speak louder than words.... So here is the teaser!

 

 

 

Day 1: Hyderabad to Delhi to Jammu

 

The excitement was palpable the night before, bags packed and we hit the sack early and woke up early to catch early morning flight to Delhi.

 

We reached Delhi by 11am, waiting for the others to join as they flew in, in different flights. It was then decided to explore Delhi local as we had almost 9hrs time before we board the train to Jammu at 8:30 pm

 

In the sweltering Delhi heat, strolled to Jama Masjid and spent time gazing at the beauty.  

The heat was way too much to handle for us, we walked back to the railway station and spent the rest of the time relaxing in the Delhi Metro Station. We boarded the train to Jammu and retired for the day.

 

Day 2 : Jammu to Srinagar via Bannihal

We made our foray into the enchanting state of Jammu & Kashmir with a mixed feeling of thrill and romanticism. We were introduced to 'The Paradise on Earth' by The Rajadhani Express from Delhi to Jammu.Reached Jammu by 6 am, hired a cab to reach Bannihal via Patnitop. The plan was to reach Bannihal by 2p.m to catch a train to reach Srinagar before sunset .

 

The views en route Bannihal

We stopped for breakfast at a punjab hotel,Punjabi Haveli. The food was amazing and sublime!!

After a sumptuous breakfast, it was zoooommm all the way

 

We took a small detour to cover Patnitop 

 

The roads opened up to some majestic views... every corner was jaw dropping

Then came the first break. The first of many traffic snarls/jams that we would come across in this trip. "common hai yeha pe,yeh sab" we were told. And the agonizing wait begins.

Time for some stretching!!

The long serpentine line of trucks started to move at snails pace!

And more views!

We reached Bannihal by 3pm, thereby missing the train to Srinagar. There was another train at 5pm, the wait begins!!

The picturesque Bannihal Station.

We reached Srinagar by 6:30p.m. The city was very much isolated by then. We could only see police patrol running amok. Our homestay/guest house manager was kind enough to arrange a pick up from the station.

The train journey was beautiful. One would fall short of words describing the beauty that we could behold. Sadly we could'nt risk taking out our cameras as the train was running chock-a-block (imagine mumbai local)

This was the first view of the Himalayas in the far ground

The Srinagar Railway Station

Lonely Guest House, was the name of the place we resided in. The set up of rooms were exquisite. The dinner was amazing , roti, egg bhurji and dal. Have a look at the typical Kashmiri traditional way of having food

After dinner we spoke to the homestay/guest house owners about their lives and livelihood. All excited about the next day, where the main leg of the journey was to begin. We had to start off by 6 a.m to avoid traffic at Sonamarg.

 

Day 3: Srinagar to Kargil Via Sonamarg

We woke up early and were ready by 6 a.m. Our driver/guide for the rest of the trip, Ali, was waiting with his Innova outside the guest house.

The silent,serene and somber valley of Srinagar

The plan for the day was to reach Kargil, covering War memorial and stopping 'n' number of times to take pictures

We had a quick pit-stop on the banks of beautiful Dal lake. Sad that we didnt have time for a Shikara Ride

We moved on with views being unwound.

We stopped by the banks of River Sind, for some amazing Parathas.

Then the photo-session began...

Paparazzi.... 

Without wasting much time,we moved ahead towards Sonamarg

After having lost considerable amount of time because of a road-block due to some agitation at Sonamarg we sped our way towards Kargil

We reached Zero-Point.

The roads were getting narrower and worse as the altitude increased

The Vistas were amazing

The roads got smoother once we crossed Zojila & entered the District of Kargil

.

We reached The Kargil War Memorial, Drass & War museum and spent close to 3 hours just savoring the aura the place had to offer. A feeling of patriotism sets in with the ambiance.

Drass War Memorial, also known as the Vijaypath, is a war memorial built by the Indian Army, located in Drass, in the foothills of the Tololing Hill.

The Epitaphs of the Martyrs.

A giant national flag, weighing 15 kg was hoisted at the Kargil war memorial to commemorate the 13th anniversary of India’s victory in the war

Our guide, Ali, took us to a place where we could take a peek into the Pakistani neighborhood. The path on the left hand side is the trail laid by locals, carrying supplies to the Indian Army atop the mountain.

After this, we entered Kargil town. We went in search for accommodation and found this. The owner of this hotel, Mr. Feroz, had given us insights and plight of the locals during the war, treating us with the Kashmiri special tea Khawa. 

Day 4 : Kargil to Leh via Namikla Pass

We woke up to this beautiful view, over looking the peak 5179 and the Kargil Town

The plan for the day was to reach Leh as early as possible to explore the town of Leh. With the customary group pic, we bid adieu to Kargil and to Feroz.

The vistas continued to amaze us, and our shutters were never silent

The avenues were smooth 

A small pit-stop at Namik La

We reached Fotula top

Bikers from different countries Austria, Switzerland, Russia, Turkey. They left everything behind just to drive here.

Checked into Lamayaru Monastry enroute Leh

The Confluence, The river Zanskar & Indus

We reached Leh by 3pm,checked into a homestay and explored the Shanti Stupa

The Panoramic view of the city of Leh

The Shanti Stupa

After a long day, had a nice dinner a local restaurant and retired for the day

 

 

Day 5 : Leh to Nubra valley via Khardung La

We started early in the morning as there was a lot of ground to be covered, and the roads are very bad leading to the top of Khardungla.

 

The weather was chilly and there was fog

And to make things worse, a traffic jam+snow. We were stuck for 5 hours in this mayhem.

And there was this scorching sun. The nature at its full fury!

We slowly chugged along

After an 8 hour ordeal, we finally made it to the top

We met these Father daughter duo from Switzerland, a part of the bikers contingent."You don’t have to visit Switzerland to see this beauty, you have everything in India” - this is what the father had to say when we asked him if he liked the place.

It was late evening by the time we reached a homestay. We just crashed onto the bed

Day 6: Nubra Valley to Leh

We couldnt explore much the previous day, thanks to the huge traffic jam. We set out early and explore Nubra local before we headed back to Leh

The panoramic view of the Nubra Valley

The Double humped camels

The desert amidst the snow capped mountains

Diskit Gompa

 

We started our journey back to Leh.

 

Day 7: The last day was dedicated to the "3 idiot" fame Pangong Tso lake

We started off leisurely and hit the road. The road was smooth and beautiful all throughout

Tangste , The only place in the world where you could get hit by a sunstroke and/or frostbite at the same time

World's third highest pass, Changla

The first look

We came back from this magnificient place only to pack our bags for the early flight back home next morning. But we didnt sleep all night. We did this.

Its was very sad that, a trip of such magnitude had come to an end. But wait, I have someone special to introduce.

Meet Ali,our very own Jackie Chan. One heck of a guy, a Ladakhi and person with tremendous agility and tenacity. Anyone planning for a trip to Leh, i recommend to hire him

Contact :09469292449/09419628098

 

Thats all folks!! Keep Travelling Keep Clicking

 

P.S : The photography credits are a must for such a beautiful travelogue. We had 4 DSLR camera holders in this trip. All the Credits goes to Omkar Bharadwaj, Rajesh Taladi, Adithya & Myself

[tejub]

@Ravi This makes me feel l need a holiday right away[emoji85] perfect write up with amazing pics[emoji4]

[Ravi]

@Ravi This makes me feel l need a holiday right away[emoji85] perfect write up with amazing pics[emoji4]

Thank you [emoji4]

[Gowtham]

Excellent write up and awesome pictures. Very informative, will be helpful for the first timers. Thank you for sharing.
We should plan a drive from Hyderabad to Leh. 

[SK01]

Excellent information and awesome pictures@Ravi
Ladakh and Leh are always in my priority bucket list. Have to go there once..

[Ravi]

17 minutes ago, Krish said:

Excellent information and awesome pictures@Ravi
Ladakh and Leh are always in my priority bucket list. Have to go there once..

Thanks bro... I would suggest Spiti instead. @sagar He could give you more info on all this

[Naveen1]

Himalayas is always an addiction, You won't be satisfied with one visit.

Best part about the leh/spiti trip is you stay in trance for at least a month. It will have good impact in our life.

Great things are done when men and mountains meet -- Unknown

Thank you for sharing those beautiful pictures, relived every movement from your pictures, now I want travel again!!
 

Edited February 6, 2017 by driveking

[uday]

@Ravi you have good writing skills and those pictures are eye feast. You made my depressing Monday better.
Would love to hear more stories from you.

[Ravi]

1 hour ago, driveking said:

Himalayas is always an addiction, You won't be satisfied with one visit.

Best part about the leh/spiti trip is you stay in trance for at least a month. It will have good impact in our life.

Great things are done when men and mountains meet -- Unknown

Thank you for sharing those beautiful pictures, relived every movement from your pictures, now I want travel again!!
 

True that, the addiction makes you crave for more. For a person like me with AMS (Acute Mountain Sickness) I would love to visit this place once more

 

1 hour ago, uday said:

@Ravi you have good writing skills and those pictures are eye feast. You made my depressing Monday better.
Would love to hear more stories from you.

 

Thank you Uday... I am glad that I could make your day!

As far as the stories are concerned, I promise to write more often sans my laziness :P.

 

4 hours ago, gowtham said:

Excellent write up and awesome pictures. Very informative, will be helpful for the first timers. Thank you for sharing.
We should plan a drive from Hyderabad to Leh. 

 

When is the drive scheduled?, I apply my leave.

[shiva]

Can't take my eyes off those lake pictures. Snow is very high compared to our visit.

Your opening picture is my desktop wallpaper.[emoji4]

Great stuff and lovely pictures.

[shammy]

Pictures are really beautiful. Excellent write up! seems you had lot of fun and adventure!!
You must visit Spiti valley as well to experience more adventure and driving challenges !!

[santoshk]

Wonderful travelogue @Ravi . Your pictures have been an eye feast throughout the post. If possible can you please share the cost break down too.

[Ravi]

50 minutes ago, shiva said:

Can't take my eyes off those lake pictures. Snow is very high compared to our visit.

Your opening picture is my desktop wallpaper.

Great stuff and lovely pictures.

 

Thank You very much and I am glad my picture made it to your desktop. Its an Honour

 

44 minutes ago, shammy said:

Pictures are really beautiful. Excellent write up! seems you had lot of fun and adventure!!
You must visit Spiti valley as well to experience more adventure and driving challenges !!

 

thank you shammyji

 

38 minutes ago, santoshk said:

Wonderful travelogue @Ravi . Your pictures have been an eye feast throughout the post. If possible can you please share the cost break down too.

 

Ahh the cost. This itself is a whole new episode. Apart from my self, the others in the group booked their flight tickets almost 8 months prior. So that itself brought down the cost significantly.

 

All my bookings were done a month before the trip. I would suggest you to plan much in advance.

To & fro Delhi flight - 7500/-

Leh to Delhi - 14500/- (Which I would have got it for 4500/-, had I booked it along with the others.)

Delhi to Jammu (Rajdhani Express): 1250/-

And the cab from Jammu to Bannihal charged us 7000/-, so that's 1000/- per head

From Srinagar, Ali took over, he charged us around 36,000/- for the rest of the trip. (That's 5,000/- per head)

Food and other miscellaneous costs would come down to 10,000/-

 

Total - Approx 39,000/- (The others were richer by 10,000/-, their trip expenses came to around 30,000/-)

 

Hope this helps!

[sagar]

Brilliant post @Ravi ..Every picture of yours is absolutely drool worthy. Himalayas is just magic and you just have to curse yourself if you are missing to sight this in a lifetime.. Thanks a lot for sharing the every minute details which would help any traveler planning to visit Leh. cheers!!!

[Ravi]

3 hours ago, sagar said:

Brilliant post @Ravi ..Every picture of yours is absolutely drool worthy. Himalayas is just magic and you just have to curse yourself if you are missing to sight this in a lifetime.. Thanks a lot for sharing the every minute details which would help any traveler planning to visit Leh. cheers!!!

 

Thank you ji

[karthik]

Wow mind blowing pictures!!

I always wanted to drive down from Hyderabad to Leh.
Since my college days, my dream is to own a SUV, which can help a conquer unexplored place.

Fat-Forward a decade, Now I own a SUV but time,office commitments, family commitments and the list is endless.
 

If anything can go wrong, it will -- Murphy's law 

Thank you for sharing your beautiful experience. Happy tripping.

 

[Pralay]

Awesome man..!! Very nicely written & obviously super clicks..

[Vivekanand Gunturi]

Beautiful clicks and wonderfully described one of the most wonderful trips of a lifetime ... Kudos to your trip details and clicks ...

[Srinivas Motupalli]

Great write-up!! Greater Pics of lovely and beautiful Nature!!! Ravi 

[venu]

Beautiful pics@ravi and awesome details covered.. good one

[sathyapradeep.p]

You gave lot of goose bumps, very good pictures. Thanks bro, we will definitely plan this trip.

[venu]

Absolutely Glorious, very well written [emoji3]

[sbhamidi]

Quite Impressive.... I already know my holiday destinations for the next few years: Bhutan, North East, Leh-Ladakh having completed Spiti Valley this year, these are on the cards for sure which i do not want to miss in this lifetime...

[RedCruiser]

Words can't describe the beauty of both the travelogue and the places visited. Trips like these keep the forum running and more importantly,inspires mortals like us to travel,explore the vast terrains of India and Ladakh, Leh are certainly the benchmark in it.

 

In plain words, it was a pleasure reading this travelogue. Keep it up.

Just 3 queries.

1- Is it advasable to self drive from Delhi onwards in a Myles/Zoomcar vehicle?  

2- What about food? Please enlighten us the type of local cuisines available there or do i have to carry my avakai/gongura pacchadi and Mutton/prawns pickle jars?

3-  What is the best time to get Leh'd?        

[veeran]

no word excellent writeup and clicks

 

[sbhamidi]

 

Self Drive Hire vehicles might only be allowed until a certain point. Local tourist unions create a lot of problem and do not let these vehicles pass.

Try your own vehicle or companies who give a white board vehicle that might help.

 

 

[sagar]

I heard recently that the taxi issues between these 2 divisions have settled down and are not causing any problems to the tourists. And recently my friends have done this too renting vehicles and car in Srinagar. IF in case the drive is between Manali and Leh, there will not be any chaos but unpredictable traffic. 

[sbhamidi]

I heard recently that the taxi issues between these 2 divisions have settled down and are not causing any problems to the tourists. And recently my friends have done this too renting vehicles and car in Srinagar. IF in case the drive is between Manali and Leh, there will not be any chaos but unpredictable traffic. 

That's welcome news, have also seen recently that Myles is offering vehicles for Ladakh. Not sure of how good they would be after my experience with their XUV500.
The rates are a tad higher than the normal routes for Leh / Ladakh


Sent from my iPhone using India-Drive

[Gowtham]

2 hours ago, sagar said:

2 divisions have settled down

I think this is between Srinagar and Leh taxi unions?

 

1 hour ago, sbhamidi said:

That's welcome news, have also seen recently that Myles is offering vehicles for Ladakh.

 

Self drive guys are still facing issues.
You can drive down till leh, but you need to hire a taxi for local drives. 

[sagar]

Never knew that Myles existed at Srinagar. You can otherwise do it from Delhi Via Manali through Myles.

[Gowtham]

3 hours ago, sagar said:

Never knew that Myles existed at Srinagar.

I think, he men't from Delhi.

[sbhamidi]

Never knew that Myles existed at Srinagar. You can otherwise do it from Delhi Via Manali through Myles.

Yes Myles is from Delhi


Sent from my iPhone using India-Drive

[Nerranjann nerranjann]

Superb but I'm not able to see all the pictures?

[Gowtham]

23 hours ago, Nerranjann nerranjann said:

I'm not able to see all the pictures?

 

I can see the pictures.

 

Your network must be slow.
Try to open them in Chrome and check.

[Guest Kudumula V Reddy]

Fantastic...it is very useful to travellers, who are to go to Leh first time. Thanks alot for beautiful pics.

[ksa171983]

beautiful and mesmerizing ..

[RajG]

Beautiful captures.

You post triggered travel mood today.

 

I'm all over the website, searching for a getaway. ?