A trip to Leh/ Ladakh is special, much more so if one travels by road and not by air. Starting from New Delhi there are two ways to get to Leh - one via Manali and the other one via Srinagar and Kargil. We reached Manali the first evening and set out Lehwards the next morning.
Few kms from Manali, we stopped for a bhutta at Rohtang Pass. A popular point for tourists to Manali, Rohtang is usually the highest point of their journey.... for us it was the beginning point.
While the total distance from Manali to Leh is little under 500 kms, it takes atleast twice the time the same distance will take on plains. The roads are winding, climbing, not in a very good condition resulting in a fairly slow drive.
We drove for most of the day to reach Sarchu where we were to rest for the night in tented accommodation.
Sarchu camp is situated at a height of over 16000 ft, almost 4000 ft more than height of Leh – so the drive actually takes you much higher and then descend into Leh. It was easily the coldest and most difficult night ever for most of us – mainly due to the thin air which along with the cold made any activity extremely difficult.
Next morning we bid farewell to the friendly staff at the Sarchu camp and got back on the road – the road winding even more than the previous day.
Sarchu camp is situated at a height of over 16000 ft, almost 4000 ft more than height of Leh – so the drive actually takes you much higher and then descend into Leh. It was easily the coldest and most difficult night ever for most of us – mainly due to the thin air which along with the cold made any activity extremely difficult.
Next morning we bid farewell to the friendly staff at the Sarchu camp and got back on the road – the road winding even more than the previous day.
Crossing some other high altitude passes (Lachulungla at 16616 ft and Tanglangla at 17582 ft), we reached Leh in the evening. The landscape at Leh is very striking – barren yet very beautiful with rocky mountains devoid of any vegetation enclosing a perfectly green valley.
Shanti Stupa and Buddhist monasteries nearby are some of the main tourist destinations in Leh.
Pangong Tso (Tso meaning Lake) is the other attraction – and about a four hour mountain drive from Leh proper traversing through the third highest pass in the world Changla Pass at 17800 ft . The Lake itself is at a height of 14250 ft and has a length of 134kms – one third of which is in India and the rest in China.
A two hours drive to the north of Leh is the Khardungla (La means pass), famous as the highest motorable road in the world. The Pass is also the gateway to Nubra Valley and is at a height of 18380 ft.
Shanti Stupa and Buddhist monasteries nearby are some of the main tourist destinations in Leh.
Pangong Tso (Tso meaning Lake) is the other attraction – and about a four hour mountain drive from Leh proper traversing through the third highest pass in the world Changla Pass at 17800 ft . The Lake itself is at a height of 14250 ft and has a length of 134kms – one third of which is in India and the rest in China.
A two hours drive to the north of Leh is the Khardungla (La means pass), famous as the highest motorable road in the world. The Pass is also the gateway to Nubra Valley and is at a height of 18380 ft.
We decided to take the Kargil – Drass – Srinagar route to return to Delhi. We spent the first night in Kargil and then moved on through the town next morning.
This route was a little easier for the drive part, as the overall altitudes are much lower than the Manali – Sarchu route (highest pass on Srinagar Leh route is Fotula top at 13479 ft) but signs by the army warn you of dangers of a different kind !
We passed Kargil and stayed the night at Drass and reached Srinagar in the morning. The change in landscape was refreshing. We spent the day in Srinagar visiting the Shalimar Bagh and Dal Lake.
In Dal lake we took the shikara ride before we bid adieu to Srinagar and drove back to Delhi.
This route was a little easier for the drive part, as the overall altitudes are much lower than the Manali – Sarchu route (highest pass on Srinagar Leh route is Fotula top at 13479 ft) but signs by the army warn you of dangers of a different kind !
We passed Kargil and stayed the night at Drass and reached Srinagar in the morning. The change in landscape was refreshing. We spent the day in Srinagar visiting the Shalimar Bagh and Dal Lake.
In Dal lake we took the shikara ride before we bid adieu to Srinagar and drove back to Delhi.
