Coming up with one more travel experience hope you guys will like it... Well travelling to Ladakh was my dream since 7-8 years. So finally in 2013 i decided we should travel to Leh. With some research and from some information from my friends and cousins i finalized my Itinerary. I wanted to go on a road trip so decided to start our trip from Manali. Our route was from Delhi to Manali (by coach) and then from Manali---Leh---Srinagar by a Suv. Travelling through Ladakh is expensive as its completely passes and the Suv's cost is quite high. So I enquired couple of travel agents and zeroed on one which was reasonable and my friends had used it earlier.But when I finalized the trip there were some Stand off between India and Chinese armies in the border which went on for almost 3-4 weeks. I was quite concerned but finally the stand off ended and trip was confirmed. Few days before we start our trip there were heavy rains in Kedarnath and floods all over Uttarkhand. But after seeing the weather forecast for Ladakh I proceeded as per my plan. So we flew down to Delhi had few hours in the afternoon to go around and the weather in Delhi was super hot. We just managed to go to Karol bagh and had some food. Our coach was already booked by our agent so we took a caoch in the evening and reached Manali the next day around 9 in the morning. The morning route from Shimla,Mandi to Manali were so serene. Once we reached Manali we had a pick up to the guest house and the guest house was fully surrounded with beautiful apple trees and flower garden. 1. Near Mandi enroute Manali 2. In the Guest House 3.Manali market
After fresh up we decided to go for Manali site seeing. We first visited Solang Valley. Took a cable car to the top spent some time there and came down. Later we visited Hidimbha temple and asked the cab driver to drop us in the mall road. We were hungry as we din't have proper lunch and had a nice dinner in Chopsticks restaurant, food was good. Also did a lot of shopping... We took an auto and went back to our hotel. 1. To Solang Valley 2.Solang Valley 3. Tourists enjoying Paragliding 4.Hidimbha Temple 5. Food at Chopsticks Resto
The actual trip started on the next day. We started Manali around 6 in the morning, as our agent suggested to start early to avoid traffic in Rohtang. Luckily there was no heavy traffic in Rohtang pass. We stopped in the Rohtang top for tea and continued our journey further. The views were so beautiful that I was continuously clicking pictures. We stopped in between for break fast. The common breakfast any where in Ladakh and himalayan mountain range is Maggi and Momos. Now seeing the side affects and the ban on maggi don't know what will replace Maggi. 1.Rohtang Pass
Without spending a penny me too enjoyed Ladakh , thanks to your pictures and vivid description @frndlysgp ! Good clicks and write up as well.. Regards, Pavithra
Just wow! Thank you very much for sharing. The place might be divine, like u r in different world(heaven). how many days u stayed there? did u see local people? It might be very interesting to see and know about them. Did u cry on the day when u had to go back? U r brave to go after knowing about floods in uttarakhand. I love himalayan mountain ranges, think some day i can visit those beautiful places.
Thanks @PavithraS and @KashmirFlower am glad you liked the pictues. Will post the pictures of the whole trip as and when i get time. @KasmirFlower :yes:it was altogether a different world the place makes you spiritual. I just want to go back again and again. Nothing like Himalayan range...
So the whole day was travelling through the passes we crossed Baralacha pass and took a break for lunch. Baralacha pass will be completely covered by heavy snow in the winter hence the Manali-Leh road trip can be done only in Summer. The route is opened only from May till October of every year. As we were travelling to an higher altitude there was all chances to have Acute Mountain Sickness(AMS). Few guys in the dhaba gave us some tips to over come this. We drank a lot of water to avoid AMS. After the lunch break we travelled ahead via Jispa and Keylong. These are the 2 common places to break the journey and halt on first day. We travelled ahead and took a break in Sarchu as per our plan. We stayed in Goldrop Camps, Sarchu. At 14,000 feet above the sea level these camps were excellent. They provided clean tents and good food. The dinner was good and we never expected such a buffet style dinner there,with their limited resources. 1.Enroute Manali-Leh Highway 2.Ladakh, Bikers Paradise 3.Baralacha Pass 4.View of Baralacha Pass 5. Super clean Ladakhi Dhaba for Lunch break
