[AnandB]

My worst fear and the only thing i was hoping to avoid happened. Not once but twice.

Day 1: Raipur to Gwalior
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/trave...ml#post5172517 (Almost a two-year wait for Ladakh | 16 day & 5740 km road-trip in a Skoda Kodiaq)
Day 2: Gwalior to Amritsar
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/trave...ml#post5172679 (Almost a two-year wait for Ladakh | 16 day & 5740 km road-trip in a Skoda Kodiaq)
Day 3: Amritsar
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/trave...ml#post5172743 (Almost a two-year wait for Ladakh | 16 day & 5740 km road-trip in a Skoda Kodiaq)
Day 4: Amritsar to Srinagar
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/trave...ml#post5173512 (Almost a two-year wait for Ladakh | 16 day & 5740 km road-trip in a Skoda Kodiaq)
Day 5: Srinagr to Leh
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/trave...ml#post5174335 (Almost a two-year wait for Ladakh | 16 day & 5740 km road-trip in a Skoda Kodiaq)
Day 6: Leh and surrounding locations
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/trave...ml#post5176780 (Almost a two-year wait for Ladakh | 16 day & 5740 km road-trip in a Skoda Kodiaq)
Day 7: Leh to Hunder (Nubra Valley)
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/trave...ml#post5180292 (Almost a two-year wait for Ladakh | 16 day & 5740 km road-trip in a Skoda Kodiaq)
Day 8: Hunder to Turtuk/Thang to Hunder
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/trave...ml#post5181261 (Almost a two-year wait for Ladakh | 16 day & 5740 km road-trip in a Skoda Kodiaq)
Day 9: Hunder to Man village (Pangong Tso)
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/trave...ml#post5182914 (Almost a two-year wait for Ladakh | 16 day & 5740 km road-trip in a Skoda Kodiaq)
Day 10: Man to Hanle
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/trave...ml#post5183103 (Almost a two-year wait for Ladakh | 16 day & 5740 km road-trip in a Skoda Kodiaq)
Day 11: Hanle to Karzok (Tso Moriri)
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/trave...ml#post5183924 (Almost a two-year wait for Ladakh | 16 day & 5740 km road-trip in a Skoda Kodiaq)
Day 12: Karzok
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/trave...ml#post5183974 (Almost a two-year wait for Ladakh | 16 day & 5740 km road-trip in a Skoda Kodiaq)
Day 13: Karzok to Manali
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/trave...ml#post5184663 (Almost a two-year wait for Ladakh | 16 day & 5740 km road-trip in a Skoda Kodiaq)
Day 14: Manali to Anandpur Sahib
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/trave...ml#post5184735 (Almost a two-year wait for Ladakh | 16 day & 5740 km road-trip in a Skoda Kodiaq)
Day 15 & 16: Anandpur Sahib to Gwalior to Raipur
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/trave...ml#post5185307 (Almost a two-year wait for Ladakh | 16 day & 5740 km road-trip in a Skoda Kodiaq)
Closing Thoughts
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/trave...ml#post5185325 (Almost a two-year wait for Ladakh | 16 day & 5740 km road-trip in a Skoda Kodiaq)

Intro

There isn't enough that can be said about Ladakh. It is probably in every car or bike enthusiast's bucket list to journey there at-least once. I felt the same for years to travel in my good old Santa Fe but it never materialized.

Feb-2020: It was around first week that my initial plans to visit Ladakh in Aug-Sep'20 formed. My trusty Santa Fe had been exchanged and replaced by Kodiaq a month back, one of the reasons to finally do the trip in a new car. Now i had started researching and first task was to find members for the trip. I wished to do this with my wife and 2 year old daughter but after reading about Acute Moutain Sickness (AMS) or altitude sickness issues i dropped that idea. Much to the anger of my wife i still kept the plan on and started looking among friends and extended family to complete the group. In the second week we attended my cousin's wedding and i asked his younger brother if he was interested, to which he immediately said yes. Next i asked my brother-in-law who also said yes, this gave me good leeway with wifey. I was happy with 3 members as with all our luggage and other stuff we could travel comfortably and overall cost comes out cheaper compared to flying there and taking rentals/taxi for such a long trip. The following week planning was in full-flow. I had grand ambitions and added Spiti to our trip. To do a full-circuit starting with Spiti from Shimla and exiting via Srinagar finishing Ladakh. The trip had ballooned to a minimum of three-weeks and we were all excited.

By then Covid-19 has started making regular news. Our group chats had stopped and it all ended once lockdowns started to happen. As months passed by I hoped everything will be back to normal by September but it was not to be.

(RIP our trip; we were supposed to go this week)

June-2021: Fast forward to June this year. Worst of covid-19 seemed to be in the past. Most travel restrictions had been removed and vaccination had begun earlier in the year. The itch to visit Ladakh started again and i asked the guys in our group.

(Guys; this year should we do the trip; only Ladakh)

I decided to plan for Ladakh this time and leave Spiti for later. The other two agreed and were ready. Lots of planning, changes followed. To lessen the AMS issues the plan was to go via Srinagar and exit via Manali thus completing the circuit. Since we were crossing Punjab, visit to Golden Temple and few other historical Gurudwaras were added.

I took help of many online resources to plan our trip and i feel they are good sources of info regarding Ladakh routes, hotels, homestays, etc.:

1. Team-BHP's own thread (Leh, Ladakh and Zanskar - The Ultimate Guide)
2. Devil on Wheels blog and his youtube channel
3. Vargis Khan blog
4. Facebook groups relating to Ladakh (Ladakh Club, Ladakh Return, etc.)

The below plan was finalized and what we started:

As September approached, both my cousin and BiL completed their vaccinations. Few things fell in our favour:

• Removal of Inner-Line Permit (ILP) for Indian nationals. Now the environment and optional red-cross fee that you pay online has become the new permit and you can visit most of Ladakh with just the online permit. This means you don't need to visit the Leh DC office and get a stamp. Exception being Hanle for which you still need to visit there and get a stamp. But these days it takes less than 5 minutes.

• Opening of Banihal-Qazigund tunnel on Jammu-Srinagar highway. I was always in two-minds about reaching Leh via Srinagar or via Manali. I dismissed Manali because of steep climb you do and chances of getting hit via AMS are higher. But the Jammu-Srinagar highway and Srinagar-Leh highway have their own issues. Mainly the traffic and army movement. The opening of this new tunnel reduced the time by more than an hour than before.

• RT-PCR requirement. Earlier you had to carry an RT-PCR report regardless if you are fully vaccinated. But currently if 15 days have passed since your 2nd dose, you don't need to carry an RT-PCR report and your vaccination certificate is enough.

Preparations:

• Car: Coming from Santa Fe, i was a bit underwhelmed by Kodiaq's power. As soon as my Ladakh plan was on I decided to remap it (ECU Remaps : About Tools, Software & Tuners!), am very happy with the results. A week before the trip i took the car to Skoda showroom and got it checked. Everything was fine, got the filters cleaned and the wipers replaced as previous ones had started streaking. The second service would be due by the time i complete the trip. I also got the battery replaced as i didn't want to take any risk. The stock battery was manufactured in 2015(!) and replaced it with Exide Epiq.

• Tyre & Jack: Kodiaq comes with a space-saver as spare. What's worse is even if you want to replace it with a full-size, it will not fit in the space provided. So i had no option but to hope i wouldn't need to use the space-saver (how i was wrong!). I already had puncture repair kits, TUSA tyre inflator and another important thing i wanted was a hydraulic jack. With my experience with Santa Fe, the stock scissor jacks are not the best for such big cars and eventually bend or stop working not to mention the time and effort they require. I got a solid and small portable hydraulic jack for 3k locally which came in a nice box making it easy to store. Later on i will find out why taking one turned out to be a good decision.

• Camera & Flashlight: I love milky way and night sky pictures. Ladakh being one of the highest altitude locations free of air and light pollution is perfect for astrophotography. I had my handy Sony RX100v already but being a small sensor it wasn't going to be enough for what i wanted to do. I bought (Mirrorless or EVIL Cameras) a Sony A7C full-frame mirrorless and 3 lenses to complete the kit. Had two tripods ready. I had left the video duties to my S21 Ultra as it could record at 4k/60fps along with DJI OM4 gimbal. I also bought a powerful LED torch that will be helpful for the trip.

• Jerry Can: We were going to need to carry fuel with us as plan was to back-track as little as possible. Fuel Pumps are located in Leh, Khalsar, Diskit and Karu. If you go towards Hanle, Tso Moriri and don't intend to back-track you will likely need to carry fuel anyway. Instead of getting an expensive metal jerry can i simply got two 20-litres plastic containers for 200rs each, one for diesel and other for water. They worked perfectly fine and didn't have any issues.

• Medicines: We carried the usual stuff. Pain killers, medicines for stomach and digestion issues, Electral, bandaids, etc. Also carried Diamox which supposedly helps with AMS but we never got to use it. A Pulse-Oxymeter to keep track of oxygen because of high altitudes. I had thought of buying portable oxygen cans in Leh but didn't feel any effects of AMS so simply forgot about it.

• Postpaid Sim: Pre-paid doesn't work in J&K and Ladakh. Only post-paid sims work there. I already had a postpaid Jio connection from my Kashmir trip in Feb. My cousin also had a Jio connection. My BiL decided to not take one at all even when i advised him to get Airtel to cover our bases. He spent most of the trip asking for hotspot from both of us I had read that for places like Pangong, Hanle, Tso Moriri only BSNL works at times. Didn't want to bother with it but in hindsight it would have been a good idea to take one as we were completely cut-off for 3 days in our trip.

• Offline Maps and Songs: Thankfully i downloaded offline google maps for the trip and it helped a lot. Similarly downloaded loads of playlists on Spotify and its almost mandatory for such long trip.

My cousin and brother-in-law both reached Raipur on 15th. We spent the 16th discussing the trip and making final preparations. At around 7am on 17th Sep 2021, our Ladakh adventure began.

[AnandB]

Day 1 - Friday, 17th Sep: Raipur to Gwalior

The first two days of traveling we wanted to cover maximum distances possible as they were going to be mostly straight and open roads. Initially Jhansi was the first night target but we were told Gwalior can be reached by night. We decided on it also because of historical Gurudwara Data Bandi Chhor where we planned to stay for the night instead of a hotel. Visiting Gurudwaras before reaching Ladakh also felt auspicious.

My experience with Google Maps is a mixed bag. A lot of times the fastest route it suggests is not the fastest and the issue is compounded when traveling through small town/villages or when network connectivity is not available. As such I asked an experienced friend of mine who travels regularly by road to Punjab and Jammu to the route we should take. He suggested after reaching Mandla, instead of going via Jabalpur like google suggests, turn towards Lakhnadon and there you will join NH-44 (Kanyakumari-Srinagar national highway) which has very good roads. Continue towards Delhi and before Palwal (HR) you can take Western or Eastern Peripheral Expressway depending on where you want to go. Rest of the journey is what google suggests.

This was the route we took on day 1:

We stopped around 10.15am at Chilpi for breakfast which is located on a ghat and the weather was excellent. The restaurant was named Natraj and would highly recommend it. We stopped here again quite late on return journey and food quality was great both the times.

After a good breakfast and tea we continued towards Mandla and Lakhnadon. We were supposed to enter Mandla and take the toll-road to Lakhnadon but took some road before it. This resulted in going through lot of small villages and single-lane roads but they were decent enough. Eventually we touched NH-44 from Lakhnadon and it really is a very good highway. Driving with the remapped Kodiaq was fun and we were munching miles quickly. Around 4.30pm we were on the outskirts of Sagar (MP) and there were some great restaurant options. We stopped at Satyam Dhaba (more a restaurant). Similar to Natraj we stopped here on return route as well and experience was very good. Definitely recommended.

We entered UP which was easy to know because of road conditions. Lots of small holes leading to inconsistent speeds. Near Jhansi we topped the tank to full as the indicator was on. Fuels prices in UP were much lower than MP & CG as much as Rs. 7-8/ltr so it was the plan. Similarly prices were lower in upcoming states of Haryana, Punjab and even J&K.

Finally around 8.30pm we reached Gwalior and headed towards the fort. We arrived at the Gurudwara and got our lodging. The weather continued to be amazing that day with clouds and some rains, and up high near the fort it was quite foggy. We took langar and called it a night knowing tomorrow would be another long journey.

[AnandB]

Day 2 - Saturday, 18th Sep: Gwalior to Goindwal/Amritsar

I had hoped to start today's journey early but all of us were lazy. By the time we got ready, visited the Gurudwara and left from there it was past 10.30am. Since it was morning, as we were leaving we could appreciate the beauty of the fort. It is massive and while coming down the view of the city down below is excellent. I had been here once when i was a kid and it would be good to visit it again with time in hand.

The below is the route we took on day 2. The plan for today was to reach Goindwal Sahib by night and spend the night there. In-between take a detour and visit Gurudwara Takht Sri Damdama Sahib on the way.

The roads were great all the way through. We stopped at Food Street on NH-44 after crossing Mathura around 1pm. Its is pretty good stop if you want branded food. I had KFC.

We took the Western Peripheral Expressway before Palwal as planned and exited it towards Rohtak to eventually enter Punjab. We arrived at our first stop of Sri Damdama Sahib around 7pm. We spent around an hour here taking our blessing and knew we were running late.

Our destination for tonight, Goindwal Sahib, was another 200 kms from here. We reached there around 11pm. But upon arrival we were informed that the yearly 'mela' was currently happening and all the lodgings were booked. After a long day it was not what i hoped to hear and instead of trying to find some other accommodation at this late hour we decided to reach Amritsar tonight itself instead of tomorrow morning as planned.

We spent another hour here visiting the nearby Gurudwaras and left for Amritsar around 12.30am.

[AnandB]

Day 3 - Sunday, 19th Sep: Amritsar

I had pre-booked a homestay which was right next to Sri Harmandir Sahib (Golden Temple/Darbar Sahib) for night 3. I called him up to ask if we could get a room for tonight as well. He said there was room available and our task became much easier. This way we could spend the day in one place without having to drive and change hotels on day 3. It's was only 50 kms from Goindwal and we easily reached there under an hour. The roads of Punjab are the best i drove on on my whole trip. We found almost zero bad roads and that too all the tolls were made free for public.

While we entered Amritsar quickly, reaching the homestay took some time. It is located in Atta Mandi and the whole area is old Amritsar with narrow lanes just big enough for one car at a time. We thought it wouldn't be a problem at this late hour but we had to reverse a couple of times to let other vehicles pass. We eventually reached the location and thankfully found parking too. We checked in and transferred our luggage. The owner was very helpful throughout and i will definitely be staying here again if i don't visit by car and only want to visit Golden Temple and surrounding area.

Instead of going to sleep we thought it would be good time to visit Golden Temple. Visiting it in evening and night is another experience in itself. The west entrance is literally outside the homestay. We thought crowds will be less too but we were wrong. It was saturday night and there were more people at that time instead of next day. Regardless once you enter the premises you will be in awe. We just sat near the pool and enjoyed the ambience of the place.

https://youtu.be/GJAZlOjCYMM

After about 1.5 hours we went back and had a good sleep. There was not much planned for the day, it was a rest day after 2 days of driving. We went out in the afternoon, had the popular kulche and paranthe, visited the the Jallianwala Bagh. We visited the Golden Temple again in the evening.

https://youtu.be/WCPfzNnwRbI

For dinner we tried out Makhan Fish which was suggested to us. It was pretty decent. 4/5. Called it a night around 10 as next day's destination was Srinagar.

[AnandB]

Day 4 - Monday, 20th Sep: Amritsar to Srinagar

The distance to be covered today was less than before but I knew it would still take time because this route has almost daily traffic jams, army movement at times, and as you are now crossing mountains your speed is bound to be slow. There are multiple traffic checkposts in J&K to regulate traffic by allowing or stopping vehicles from either end. This highway used to be closed every Wednesdays for road work until a couple of weeks before our trip. It was one of the main reasons for the days i selected to reach there. Avoiding Wednesdays, and Thursday as well because all the traffic from Wednesday is added. Add to it the Srinagar-Sonamarg road that takes you to Leh is still closed on Fridays. You can get these direct updates from J&K Traffic Police twitter account.

The route taken for the day:

We were up relatively early and before leaving quickly took our blessings and parshad at the Gurudwara. We left the homestay around 8.30am but we had to find a carwash as the car was covered with pigeon crap all over from where it was parked. I refused to proceed because the car looked horrible compounded being black and a wash was due anyway since the day we started our trip. Towards exit from Amritsar we found a decent car-wash but there was a car already being washed. This took more than an hour and we finally exited Amritsar around 10am.

Around 11.30am we saw a Subway on the way and its location was a bit unexpected. We double-checked if it was a real Subway and then decided to have brunch on confirmation. The whole trip we had planned to eat light while traveling as my cousin and myself both suffer from motion sickness. Thankfully it wasn't much an issue for either of us the whole trip. As the driver i was safe from it and a few times my cousin felt it, slowing down and avoiding taking sharp turns helped. He also took Avomine as precaution. Soon we reached Lakhanpur checkpost as we entered J&K. Our vaccination status was checked and were allowed to proceed since we were fully vaccinated.

As i mentioned before about the reason for taking this route over Manali, it really is lovely drive. Eventually we reached the Chenani-Nashri tunnel and wow, its so long! Almost 10 kms in length! Longest among the 3 big tunnels we took on the trip: the Banihal-Qazigund tunnel coming up and the Atal tunnel on our way back to Manali. I have to praise MoRTH for our excellent experience of highways on our trip. The national highways have improved immensely in past few years and i see continuous work ongoing everywhere. Even more praise for the work BRO is doing because of wonderful roads at difficult places and high altitudes taking into account factors like landslides. We saw so many tunnels under construction and i can't wait to revisit few years down the line.

A little bit after crossing the tunnel we had a very bad experience that spoiled the mood that day and almost our trip. A local taxi driver in Etios kept blocking me intentionally when i tried to do clean overtake. After a few times i overtook him which infuriated him. From then on he started driving rash and trying to overtake even if it was not possible. He was waving his hand for me to stop and swerving around and i ignored him for sometime. Eventually i decided to let him go ahead as i had no intention to drive rashly or under pressure. He stopped the car besides mine and we exchanged a few words from the window. He seemed to be on the phone and instead said i was driving rashly and doing risky overtakes. I told him it was him but anyway just go ahead as i didn't want to fight. The matter seemed to have ended and we continued and the Etios now ahead of us. After a few minutes a 2nd gen City overtook us rashly and stopped in-front of our car. A guy got out and immediately started threatening us. He was the brother of the Etios guy and was angry for our treatment of his brother. I was perplexed as it was totally unexpected. He said i am local of Banihal and you will cross it soon and i will show you who i am. It made me angry and i took my car infront of his and intentionally blocked the road so public could see this. We exchanged words and he kept threatening and saying you don't belong here and are a 'pardesi' (outsider). My BiL had started video recording and this annoyed the guy and the Etios driver who kept saying delete it. I told the Etios driver to talk to his brother and calm him instead. A crowd had gathered and forced us to go back to our cars. The City guy gave more threats and rushed ahead. I'll be honest, i was scared a bit. Banihal was up ahead and we were hoping to find a police or army checkpost before entering it but there were none. The road goes through the town and as we entered i was hoping to avoid stopping because of traffic and thankfully the traffic was moving. We recognized the Honda up ahead on road side and some other guy beside it and i tried to just continue ignoring it. As we were crossing the car the main guy came running and tried opening the doors but they were locked and we just kept moving. He threw couple of rocks at us but luckily nothing hit the car. I checked if he tried following but he didn't. Near the town exit we did find police/army post. We decided against reporting or making a complaint as in the end only words were exchanged and we didn't want to ruin the trip. The mood was dampened for the day.


The new Banihal-Qazigund tunnel came soon. Google maps still hasn't been updated and shows the old route using the Jawahar tunnel. I first read about it on TBHP itself from a member's thread (Banihal Qazigund Road Tunnel | New 8.5 km tunnel in Jammu & Kashmir). This is the actual tunnel (credit to member @vharihar):

Originally Posted by vharihar

Also, I show below an image showing the location of 3 related tunnels in the area (ie. location of their north and south ends).

1) Red: Erstwhile road tunnel located at higher altitude, used to get blocked in winters due to avalanche, severe snow, etc. Its a smaller tunnel, less than 2.5 kms long.

2) Blue: The new road tunnel that is due for inauguration in the coming weeks, it is 8.5 kms long.

3) Green: The railway tunnel on the USBRL Kashmir Rail Link project (you may have heard of the Chenab rail bridge, Anji Khad rail bridge, etc under construction; these are on this line). This tunnel is over 11 kms long.

We were on the outskirts of Srinagar around 7. It was night time and raining but lightning made for a great view while driving. We were hungry and wanted to have dinner before reaching our hotel. We decided to checkout the most famous tourist restaurant Krishna Dhaba. It is quite small and was completely full. Sadly the food was bad it is terribly over-rated. I gave it 2/5 on google reviews but would rate it 1/5 to be honest.

We proceeded to our stay for tonight, Hotel Samar. On our trip, we were trying to budget our stays as we knew stays in Ladakh would understandably be costlier. Since i had been to Srinagar in February and our main destination being Ladakh, we were only passing through here. Like Amritsar i extensively checked out reviews trying to guess which are fake and booked directly instead of booking through websites. This hotel was near the main highway road and it turned out to be what we wanted. Mood was better by then as we were finally going to our destination Ladakh tomorrow.

[AnandB]

Day 5 - Tuesday, 21st Sep: Srinagar to Leh

For our Ladakh stays we had decided not to pre-book. September is supposed to be less crowded so you should easily get some stay on arrival. Also with chances of road closures on high mountain passes ruining your plan, money would get wasted if you pre-book. But for Leh i was trying to book a stay since last night as i had (rightly) expected to reach Leh quite late making it hard to find a stay. I had been active on FB groups i mentioned earlier and asked one of the admin to suggest a stay for tonight and tomorrow. He suggested Rigjung Guest House and the rooms looked big and decent so booked it. I had originally planned to stop at Kargil and then proceed to Leh the next day. Srinagar is at an altitude around 5200ft, Kargil around 8800 ft and Leh around 11500 ft. You start to feel AMS effects above 8000-10000 ft so the altitude gain should be gradual. That is why people flying in to Leh are usually hit by AMS and are suggested to stay in Leh for a minimum of 2-3 days. But I later decided to just reach Leh same day as it was easily possible and we were going to spend minimum 2 nights there. If we were to suffer from AMS we planned to increase our stay till we felt normal.

The route for today:

Late start as we left the hotel after having breakfast around 10. I wanted to get the car washed again. We stopped at a car-wash on the outskirts of Srinagar and it added another hour.

Having forgotten yesterday's event the mood was good because the views and the drive were spectacular. After Sonamarg there was only one way traffic while crossing mountains, luckily in the direction we were going, as an excavator clearing the road had blocked route from the other side. There was also an army convoy ahead of us so movement was slow. We were not able to make stops at Sonamarg, Drass (Kargil Memorial), Kargil, Lamayuru, etc as we were running late. It is something i regret now. In hindsight i wish i had more time to visit lot of places i missed in Ladakh. Even if we covered most of main locations of Ladakh i wished i had extra day at each to properly enjoy and explore them. Almost every day were traveling to next location and arriving late so time at each was not enough. But it also means i have something to go back to.

As you go towards Leh the beautiful lushness of mountains is slowly replaced by captivating barrenness. We made multiple stops on the way to take pictures and videos. I'll just show glimpses of the same.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wtmMRWWeZLI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGI8IHg1vYM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jw_U_eBOZBQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RySvz_bwaok

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxNxUXrVoiA

On the route we had to give our details at 3 checkposts. The first one checks your vaccination status and RT-PCR report. But because of new rules we were able to cross with just our final vaccination certificates. We crossed Kargil around 5.30pm and had only covered half the distance. We badly needed tea so stopped at a restaurant for around half hour. It was dark soon and as the roads were new i kept the speed on the slow side. I called the guy with whom i had booked and told him we would be very late in arriving. And as we probably won't be able to get dinner at that time asked him where we could get good food on the way. He said Khalsi has some good restaurants where we should get dinner. It's half way between Kargil and Leh and the time was already around 9. Having not eaten properly since breakfast we had good dinner here. We felt much better now with our tummies full. The night was amazing and it was full moon that nigh. Eventually around 11pm we crossed Magnetic Hill and decided to stop and have some fun and enjoy the weather.

We finally reached Leh and our homestay around 12. The room was decent and not the best. But it was big and bathroom was too. Regardless we slept soon with excitement for the upcoming day.

[AnandB]

Day 6 - Wednesday, 22nd Sep: Leh and surrounding locations

Today was my cousin's birthday and it was going to be a fun day. Early in our planning stages my cousin and BiL wanted to cover a lot of Ladakh on rental bikes. I was opposed to it and anyway it wouldn't have been possible as the route i had planned meant we would not be coming back to Leh. Due to union issues, for rental bikes and cars only Ladakh rentals are allowed (no rental from Srinagar or Manali). And these rentals are only available in Leh and you have to return them to Leh unless you pay some obscene price for someone to take it back for you. As a compromise and i too wanted to do a bit of biking we had planned to rent bikes for today.

This was kind of a rest day too as we were supposed to get acclimatized to the altitude. Its not for Leh as much as for the high mountain passes you cross (17500ft +) to reach your next destination either Nubra Valley or Pangong Tso. You should avoid doing intensive activities during acclimatization. We got up late and i inquired the guy where we could rent bikes specifically Himalayan as both cousin and BiL wanted them. Himlayans are in high demand but he knew a rental operator who had one. The operator came to pick us up and we checked it out. Everything seemed all-right. Luckily a few shops next to him was another rental operator who had a Himalayan available and we rented it too. We were renting only two bikes with myself riding pillion for most of the time. Whoever was pillion rider had photo and video duties to handle. Around 12pm, with the bikes sorted, our first stop was Leh DC office to get permission for Hanle by getting our permit stamped. It took less than 5 mins as it was empty. Now we had not had good breakfast and were hungry. We visited one of 2 popular restaurants there, Lamayuru. Food was very good and would give it 5/5.

Last night as we were very late we missed two places on Srinagar-Leh highway that we wanted to visit today. The first was Gurudwara Pathar Sahib and the other being 'Sangam', the confluence of Zanskar and Indus rivers. Distance was only about 35 kms one side to cover. We fueled up the bikes and were on the way. But first it was time do some photo shoots or videos and there was a nice straight road on the side of highway which would be perfect and safe to use. The gimbal was very useful here.

https://youtu.be/e_SiRUSW3rw

https://youtu.be/pOGA4bA4EQM

https://youtu.be/t_4cLl6gFFE

With that done we headed towards the Gurudwara not stopping at Magnetic Hill. The Gurudwara is wonderful and excellently maintained by Army itself. They record details of all visitors. There was free serving of chai and rusk outside for everyone.

https://youtu.be/wn-eigO2iAE

We continued towards Sangam enjoying the weather which became cooler as sunset approached. The video below is at the point where you turn to reach there (this bit will be important tomorrow). We reached there around 5pm and spent around half an hour here. This was a good spot for rafting and lot of people were doing it. On return we spent 15 more minutes at the view-point on highway above Sangam as it provided a great view.

https://youtu.be/hSCCp6pnBLU

Now there was one last location left to visit today, Shanti Stupa. I had planned this visit around sunset as it was going to be my first try at astro-landscape photography. I had bought all that camera equipment and studied theory work from articles and youtube because Ladakh is probably the best location in India for astrophotography. You stay at altitudes between 11000-15000 feet free of air pollution and light pollution. Now it was time to start learning practically. The sun had set and it was twilight by the time we reached. There were quite a lot of crowds still as i assume sunset is a great time to be there. I got the camera ready and tried some shots. I didn't get the results i wanted, stupa and the milky way together, as there was too much ambient light. For astro you need to consider moon phases as moonlight washes out details of milky-way and small stars. A few days before or after new-moon is the best time for it. I only found this after our dates were fixed and last night was a full-moon! This was my first lesson about the effect of moon but regardless it was not the end of it as i got some amazing shots. The view of Leh City is amazing from there.

All that had took an hour and it was time to go back for the day. We visited the other popular restaurant, Gesmo, which is right beside the one from afternoon. Food was great here too and now we had to return our bikes. Thankfully the rental person said they would collect from our homestay. Everything went smoothly and we paid the balance amounts. We called it a night in anticipation of tomorrow. Tomorrow we cross the mighty Khardung La.

[AnandB]

Day 7 - Thursday, 23rd Sep: Leh to Hunder (Nubra Valley)

We did rise early and were ready to leave around 8am. I spoke to my wife and she asked us to visit the Gurudwara before leaving. I said it wouldn't be possible as its opposite to where were are going. But as it would be for most of our trip things won't always go as planned. As we were leaving i checked the backpack where my gimbal was supposed to be after yesterday's excursions. It wasn't to be found anywhere after checking all our stuff. Since i was carrying it yesterday most of time i assumed i left it at one of the locations we stopped to take pictures. I was ready to let it go because it would be almost impossible to find and we had to continue as planned. But my BiL and cousin insisted we should try our luck as there were not many locations we stopped yesterday. I knew i had it with my after crossing Gurudwara as i had recorded some videos with it. So there were only 3 possible locations: the view-point on highway above Sangam, the turn to Sangam and Sangam itself. My cousin looked at his phone's camera reel and in one of the videos he recorded me holding the gimbal as i am taking pictures with my phone at the turn to Sangam. We had time so we rushed in the car towards those locations. It was not at the view-point but we continued without much hope. As i was making the left u-turn towards Sangam my cousin spotted something that looked like the gimbal sitting right there on the pillar on the side of the road! He exclaimed loudly and we were immediately excited. After the turn and as we got close the gimbal really was there! We were so happy and surprised it was still there after 15 hours since yesterday evening. I had put it down on the pillar when i opened up my camera bag to take pictures with the camera and in a rush forgot to pick it up. As we were coming back we stopped at the Pathar Sahib Gurudwara to thank God and thus my wife's wish also came true.

(yesterday's pic and the pillars below where i had left it)

It was past 10am now. I wanted to get the car washed but because of the above detour dropped the idea. Got the tank full at Leh and we continued towards Khardung La. The journey today was only around 125 kms but we were going to cross Khardung La and were not sure if AMS was going to be a problem.

We started our climb on Khardung La road. The day was cloudy but beautiful. En-route we saw few people/cars stopped on the wayside and did ask one of them if they needed any help. One of their members was hit with AMS so we offered them some meds but they already had it. We continued and were happy that we were lucky ones to not have any AMS issues. Since we knew the distance wasn't much we stopped many times on the way for pictures and videos.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y06AVMP6Su4

https://youtu.be/IBBWk7hYpWU

https://youtu.be/HRXsGX3hL1U

We reached Khardung La top just past 12pm. There was light snow fall happening at the time. My BiL and cousin had never seen snow before so it was also a special occasion for them. We stopped at the cafe there to have hot maggi and coffee. It was crowded as expected. We did find out the effects of low oxygen there as even little exertion caused us heavy breathing. It is why its also suggested to not stay there for more than 30 mins to an hour. We also spent around 45 minutes there before continuing ahead.

https://youtu.be/SqDIYNQwc_E

https://youtu.be/bWnHHzN5InU

https://youtu.be/2MW5v8toAoY

https://youtu.be/vYrxSq8p85k

With the snowy peaks behind us we descended towards Nubra. Nubra Valley is at an altitude around 10,500 feet, around 1000 ft lower than Leh. We continued making multiple stops enjoying the journey. On the way we saw lots of tracks that by-pass the main road though not all can be called shortcuts. We took few of these and while it was fun I will suggest to avoid. Not recommended even if you have a 4x4 and if you still want to try then understand the risks of car damage, tyre puncture or burst or getting stuck.

https://youtu.be/BwAv_h4SqNA

https://youtu.be/cLAiilOSdPI

At the end of Khardung La road you touch Shyok river. Here you can take left towards Nubra Valley (Khalsar, Diskit, Hunder, Panamik, Siachen, etc.) and right takes you towards Pangong Tso along the Shyok river. This will be the route we will take day after tomorrow to reach Pangong Tso. Khalsar is just ahead and a lot activities can be done here. There is river rafting, ATV rides, even a zip line. But what we were interested in was go-karting. Again i read about this first on T-BHP itself (Data Bank Of Racetracks Across India (Go karting & dirt tracks included)) and all of us wanted to do it. They also had a restaurant and we were hungry so grabbed some food while we waited for our turn.

https://youtu.be/oZTgHH8qiJ8

It was a fun experience. Now it was time to finally reach our destination because we had to find a stay. The petrol pump in Nubra was just ahead and we topped up again. This will be important stop on the way to Pangong as we will have to fill our fuel can.

https://youtu.be/hVBTVAngj0k

Originally I had planned to go all the way to Turtuk and stay there for tonight but that was another 2+ hours from Hunder and it would be quite late to find a stay at that time. We reached Diskit past 6pm and but the places we checked out had no network coverage so continued towards Hunder. We reached Hunder and started searching for guest-house or homestay. But some were over-budget and some had rooms that were too small for three of us. I wondered if it was just better to pre-book and leave all the hassle. Also this was supposed to off-season but there were loads of tourists. Eventually around 8pm we found a guesthouse that fit our bill. I would definitely recommend it to everyone. The person in-charge was very active and helpful and food was decent too. Later in a conversation he told us how if we had tried to book the same room online it would have cost much more but they would only get the amount we were paying and difference would be pocketed by the hotel aggregator. We decided to stay here tomorrow too instead of Turtuk. Make a day trip to Turtuk and Thang as we also had to come back and cover Nubra sand dunes and camel rides. After dinner and catching up with the day's activities we went to sleep.

[AnandB]

Day 8 - Friday, 24th Sep: Hunder to Thang to Hunder

Started late than when we should have done in hindsight. We left around 10.30am towards Thang hoping to explore Turtuk on the way. Distance to Thang from Hunder is just over 90kms.

It was another beautiful day and ride along Shyok river. We made stops in the middle to take more pictures and videos.

https://youtu.be/6J6_GoIsFBg

https://youtu.be/45LbzCtvxkQ

https://youtu.be/oIQ7aBMaJwE

Just before Turtuk there is small waterfall with fast moving water. Wanted to try out long exposure photography which smooths out the water movement.

We continued without stopping at Turtuk hoping to cover it on return. Before you reach Thang you have to stop at an army checkpoint where you need to give details of yourself and your group along with your id which you can collect on the way back. A little drive ahead you find end of the road where you park your car. After some walking you reach the view point where you can see PoK. The locals rent binoculars to use and i also captured lots of opposite side's bunkers and the village on the other side using my 300mm zoom lens. Taking pictures of Indian camps, bunkers, posts, etc, even movement is strictly forbidden all over Ladakh because of border issues on both sides of Ladakh.

There is a small cafe right there and we had some maggi and tea. My cousin found a biker group that also came from his hometown so it was nice to catch up and talk while there. It was almost 3pm when we left. We wanted to visit Nubra sand dunes and BiL wanted to do camel rides so we decided to skip Turtuk completely. It would take about 2.5 hours to reach and it will be almost sunset by then. On the way there was dust storm in Nubra Valley it made for a great view.

https://youtu.be/g0-j7H_UBnw

We reached around 5.30pm, just in time before sunset. But it was crowded and due to dust storm and low light my BiL wasn't able to take a camel ride. There were also other activites like ATV, etc which we didn't partake. Spent another hour or so here before going back to our stay.

We settled down in the room before dinner checking our pics and social media. In one of the Ladakh FB groups a notice was posted which i checked out:

This roadwork was starting from tomorrow for 10 days. All traffic on this 22 km patch would be blocked from 12pm to 4pm and this is on the route from Nubra to Pangong we were going to take tomorrow. Unlucky that it had to start tomorrow but lucky we found out and it meant we had to leave very early so as to cross it before traffic movement is stopped. We went for dinner and spoke to taxi drivers of other guests and they had this info already. It was around 9pm now and i wanted to try photographing the milky way again from the roof. The results were better than from Leh but still now what i wanted.

Went to sleep soon after as plan now for tomorrow was to leave early around 7am. It would give us enough time to cross that section. But fate had very different plans..

[AnandB]

Day 9 - Saturday, 25th Sep: Hunder to Man village (Pangong)

I was up early around 5am and got ready. While others did the same i went outside on the balcony to enjoy the view as the sun was rising but clouds diffused the lights.

It was 7.15am when we left, happy that we were on-time and would easily reach Pangong Tso without getting blocked on the way. As Pangong is huge lake you can essentially stay in three villages there. First comes Spangmik, then Man, then Merak. They are spread out over around 20 kms. Spangmik is the most popular and crowded destination as it comes first if you come from Leh or Nubra. Because of this its more expensive and mostly stays are camps. But you can get decent homestays at cheaper prices in Man or Merak villages so i had planned to go straight to Man. We also had to find one so leaving early was important. This was the route for today with red arrow the section that would be blocked for movement. It was about half-way from Hunder.

The route was scenic and weather perfect that day. We got the tank full at same fuel pump while coming to Nubra. We also filled an additional 18 litres in the 20 liter plastic container as the next pump we would get would be in Keylong before Manali (approx 800kms). The roads are mostly good except for some portions where there are sharp rocks either because of water crossings or because of rocks falling down on the road. This route is not as maintained as your typical routes of Leh to Nubra, or Leh to Pangong, or Leh to Hanle. Those are well maintained for the most part because of army movement. There were a lot of cars traveling at the same time because everybody wanted to reach Pangong without getting blocked. I was driving around 60-70 kmph and overtaking slow movers. But one Traveller didn't want to let me pass. As I was overtaking him once i had sufficient space he made a sharp cut to the right and hit my left side mirror and the rear bumper. We were angry and all got out and he also got out and immediately started saying it was my fault. One couple in a Xylo who were right behind us immediately came and told the driver that it was his fault and they had it all recorded as the wife was taking a video recording of the journey. The driver immediately backed down and while checking the car for damage my cousin noticed something. And once he told me my heart sank. All that was happening with the driver was forgotten now as my rear left tyre had a big fat hole in its sidewall.

I had prepared for almost everything and this was the one thing i truly wished wouldn't happen to us. But it did. My cousin told us that with faded markings all around the tyre as if it was driven touching a kerb meant that the tyre was driven quite a while with a puncture and the tyre burst eventually. Sure enough there was a sharp metal object that had punctured the tyre. With the roads and speed i was not able to realize that tyre got punctured and if i had found out immediately the tyre probably could have been saved. It is why i kind of curse Skoda to not have provided TPMS on such an expensive car.

The hydraulic jack made it very easy to change the tyre. It was also only a month back that after around 1.5 years and 19000 kms since i got the car that i had a puncture. I was very happy with the stock MRF Markus tyres and even now i can't fault the tyre. It was also the first time i had taken out the spare wheel to use it. On the tyre it says in big words that it shouldn't be driven over 80kmph, make sense but not confidence inspiring because of its size (145/85), its a space-saver after all . Also on it it says you have to fill the tyre to 60 psi! That was unexpected to me. I put the tyre inflator to use as it had around 30 psi only. It was quite slow and eventually stopped at 52 psi. I guess that high pressure was out of its capabilities. Still i thought it was good enough and pressure would increase when driven.

There was no network coverage here so no one we could contact. We asked a couple of taxi drivers who crossed us where we could find a tyre shop and they told us there is one in Durbuk/Tangste. That was past the blockage and it was around 10am now. It was still about 40-50 kms to reach the starting point at Shyok and if we crossed it before 12 we should be able to reach as planned. We continued and i was cautiously driving slowly as in my mind the thought kept going what if another tyre gets irreparable damage. Having not experienced tyre burst before i only assumed they couldn't be fixed. I had searched before and tyre of this size was not easily available let alone in Ladakh. We eventually reached Shyok just before 11.30am and just then they decided to stop all traffic. I couldn't believe our situation could get worse as i had planned to avoid exactly this. Everyone was angry and they started complaining to the person in-charge who said he can't do anything as work was starting from other end. We pleaded too to let us go as we had to get tyre fixed and there were only 4-5 cars to let pass but it didn't work. I was in no mood to argue and let others solve it if they could. I was resigned to the situation and let fate do what it planned.

Now we had to kill time for the next 4 hours. There was a cafe right there and we decided to relax there and have lunch. One by one cars started to pile up and lot of people tried to get past but couldn't. The cafe was going to have bumper sales for the next 10 days. We were lucky to get food as we were early. By the time we finished they were out of stock for a lot of stuff because of so many people. There was still a lot of time left. We went on the road below and it had a good view so took some pictures. Still more time to kill which we did by trying to sleep.

(hello fellow BHPian. I didn't approach you because you were with your family.)

At 3.30pm they opened up the path. Everyone rushed to their cars and tried to get ahead. It was understandable as many people only stay at Pangong for a night. Being late they would miss evening views and sunset as they would leave the next morning. Some even plan to go back to Leh the same day itself as by night the temperature dropped between 0-5 degrees that time of the year. Even if we were the 4th car and were one of the first to leave, I had to let everyone pass as i was driving slowly. I just wanted to reach the tyre repair shop first and foremost. Durbuk was only about 25 kms from there and thankfully we found one there. It was almost 5pm now. The tyre repair guy was pessimistic and said that he couldn't do anything. He was busy with another work and as there was some network there we made calls in search for a a new tyre. As expected no-one in Leh, Jammu, Srinagar, Kullu, Manali had this size tyre. We could get it in Delhi or Chandigarh but getting it sent here would take days. My cousin had some experience with burst tyre and he also had a friend who runs a big tyre shop. He consulted him who said it could be patched and if done properly tyre can run fine. We asked the tyre guy again and he reluctantly agreed to try to patch it. It was not a proper tyre shop so he didn't have a proper patch or even new tubes let alone an 18-inch one. He used a cut tyre piece as patch with lots of glue and a used 16-inch tube to fix the tyre. He seemed confident with his work and assured us that tyre should be good to use now. We put the tyre back on. My cousin was optimistic and said we should be good to continue and not over worry. It was also the last place where we would have network coverage for the next 4 days. We told the same to family. In Pangong, Hanle, Tso Moriri Jio/Airtel don't work at all. Only bsnl has some coverage but we didn't have it.

(car with the space saver)


(patched tyre put back on)

It was 6.15pm when we finally left and sun was about to set. Man village was around 60 kms from there and would take at-least 2 hours to reach. Tyre seemed to be holding up fine and speed remained low because of curve roads and night time. After an hour or so I had one of my best experience of the trip. This was the first time we were out there in complete darkness. As its phase was changing moon was yet to rise. It is hard to describe how beautiful the night sky was. You see thousands of stars with your eye and even the milky way arch can be clearly seen across the sky. We had to stop to enjoy this and i used this opportunity to put my camera to use again. We almost forgot all that happened that day.

(If you zoom in on the car you can see the stars on the other side being reflected!)

We moved on past 8pm and there were still around 20 kms to cover. Soon we touched the start of Pangong lake but couldn't really see it to appreciate it properly. Also the road google maps shows is the old road which has been replaced with new road that is a bit farther than the lake compared to the old road (which is awful btw). We crossed Spangmik and all we could see were camps so didn't bother stopping there. Eventually we reached Man village past 9pm. It was difficult to search for a stay and it took another hour to finalize one which was reasonable and much better than the ones we checked out. It was right on the new road and at some height so it had a direct view of the lake. It was quite late so there was no proper dinner but the owner did make excellent vegetable maggi for all of us. Thankfully the altitude of almost 14000 ft didn't pose us any problem. The room was small and it was quite cold but the blankets were so comfortable and cozy that we all slept very well that night.

[AnandB]

Day 10 - Sunday, 26th Sep: Man to Chushul to Loma to Hanle

Day before yesterday in Hunder when we found about the route closure, later at night there was another official notice that turned out to be good for us.

Since the start of the year tourists were not allowed past Merak/Chushul towards Hanle/Tso Moriri and your only option was to go back to Karu and from there go to Hanle/Tso Moriri. That is what our original plan was and because of the long journey you would likely have to make a stop at Chumathang before going ahead. But the notice issued above allowed nationals to take the Chushul route once more. This saved us a day and approx 200 km of travel.

(left is the route we will take today till Hanle, right the original route we had planned)

I was up early around 6am as i wanted to enjoy the lake at blue and golden hour and try capturing it. Lake is right ahead but little bit of walk from the homestay.

(Man village at sunrise)

https://youtu.be/cPm6cmDHc7s

We were relaxed today after long day yesterday. Hanle was approx 150 kms from here but this route is desolate as very few use it. Last night i was in two minds whether to just turn around and shorten our trip because of the tyre situation. I decided that having used the spare and the patched tyre we will continue and handle whatever happens. We had typical Ladakh tourist breakfast of bread and omelette. We said our goodbyes to the owner and left just before 11am.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A90Ve6ydaJg

(view outside Khemtse Homestay - 9469674414, 9596976192)

Just as we left the village there was another road repair happening on a small bridge and as a result road was blocked. NOT AGAIN! My cousin and BiL went ahead to see if we could pass. The work in-charge said the repair will take time but you can try taking the off-road path that takes you past of the bridge. My BiL came over and informed the same and said we can easily do it. Not wanting to wait and wanting to do some off-roading anyway i went ahead.

https://youtu.be/YFgoVomPerw

We could truly enjoy the massive lake as we drove along it. Since we couldn't take pictures or videos of the lake yesterday we were going to do it now. Soon after crossing the bridge there was off-road path that took us below to the lake. There were already a couple of cars down there on left side so we took it as it was the perfect opportunity to go right at the lake.

https://youtu.be/OaazzVdeqK4

https://youtu.be/SYM0b6j_bsc

https://youtu.be/u7cU9GVpcMQ

Now we were back on-road but made more stops to capture the majestic lake.

https://youtu.be/vYO0mv4K8ds

https://youtu.be/wRupBOgbO80

Just before Merak village, the newly made perfect road turns to no road. All our excitement turned to anticipation of when the road will improve. Let me just tell you that it doesn't happen till you reach Loma. That's almost 100kms of no proper road. Its either sand, gravel or stone roads. You see multiple tyre tracks not knowing which is the main road. A couple of times we had to turn back because the track we followed led to a dead end (not that far though as its mostly flat land so easy to get back). I was regretting my decision to continue because on these roads the patched tyre could give away anytime. We soldiered on enjoying the view instead and hoping for the best. This area is very close to China border and the reason why the route was closed this year. On the way we had to give our details at 3 check-points. We saw a total of 3 cars and 2 trucks the whole way.

We finally reached Loma just before 5pm relieved that we were able to without any problems. This is an important checkpost where you have to give your details and they check if you have permission to visit Hanle. The road from Leh joins here. My cousin met some friends from 7-8 years back who were also going to Hanle in a bike group. Small world. We continued towards Hanle which was just over 50kms from Loma. The road to Hanle is butter smooth and it felt great after the earlier journey, not to mention the time and view made it more amazing.

https://youtu.be/_QNB1YIO_SI

It was past 6pm when we reached Hanle. Hunt for homestay started hoping to find one before sun set completely. The most popular homestay there is Padma homestay. I had contacted him a month before the trip asking for rates but never booked because the date could have changed. So we went there but they had no rooms available. Right next to it is Gua homestay and i had read its name as another recommended homestay. Thankfully they had rooms available and like we wanted big enough for 3 of us. What's even better is the owner and his family are wonderful people. We settled in and my cousin's friends from earlier also checked in here. It was past 7.30pm and there was complete darkness. I wanted to go up near the observatory and shoot the milky way core with observatory in foreground but the owner said they close the road after evening. Not losing hope i told my cousin and BiL i am going out of village bounds so the light has less of an effect. I didn't have to go far to get a suitable location. The milky way galactic core was visible above the horizon so i could photograph it.

I was elated as this was exactly what i hoped to capture on this trip. All the learning i did and equipment i bought mainly for this. I spent around 1.5 hours here and moon would rise soon with its light already affecting the night sky. I went back to our homestay just in-time for dinner. Before we went to sleep the owner was helpful in letting us use his BSNL connection to call our family. They were happy as we were not in touch for 2 days now and more concerned because of the tyre situation. We informed them we would be without network for another 2 nights as our destination for next 2 nights was Karzok village at lake Tso Moriri.

[AnandB]

Day 11 - Monday, 27th Sep: Hanle to Loma to Mahe to Karzok

I had planned 2 nights in Karzok for two reasons. First, as it was going to be our last location in Ladakh i wanted to spend a day without much traveling and be able to relax. Second, I wanted to shoot the milky way core along with a lake in foreground. This was not possible with Pangong Tso. During this time of the year the core appears in south-west and Pangong Tso is north to us meaning i couldn't shoot both the core and lake together. And it was not possible to go to other side of the Pangong. But I could do exactly this at Tso Moriri. The additional day meant i could plan my shoot properly.

Distance today was similar to yesterday's, approx. 150 kms.

(Loma doesn't appear in google maps, 194404 above is Loma, the checkpost intersection where the roads meet)

We left the homestay around 10.30am and had to check out the Indian Astronomical Observatory before leaving Hanle. It is located on a small hill which provides beautiful view of the surroundings. We were lucky that to be able to go inside and check out the actual telescope. I am not sure if public are allowed inside but few army officers were visiting the same time and we were able to tag along with them. The astrophysicist(?) inside explained to us how the observatory worked. It was a special experience and one that I was not expecting.

https://youtu.be/h9p9dB4_cHo

(newly setup MACE telescope along with smaller Hagar telescopes)

Satisfied, we left for our destination. Everything was going well until it wasn't. Midway to Loma i felt a tyre had punctured. Sure enough the patched tyre had finally succumbed and we were back to using the space-saver. I am not sure why as it worked well on worse roads of yesterday but failed on this near perfect road.

We reached Loma checkpost and enquired about tyre repair shop nearby. There was one in Nyoma which was around 23 kms from Loma. The roads were very good and we reached Nyoma around 2.15pm. The tyre guy was away for lunch so we also had lunch at a nearby restaurant while we waited. When he came back we told him how the tyre was already patched but it didn't last. Thankfully this tyre shop had a proper patch that he applied using heat. It was a size 5 patch and seemed like a good solution unlike the previous improvised patch work. The old tube had a small cut so couldn't be used again but he had new tube albeit 16-inches and nothing bigger. All done we left around 3.30pm much confident with this repair work.

Karzok was another 75kms from here. We should reach in time still even though after the turn to Karzok from Mahe Bridge, the roads are supposedly very bad. We crossed Mahe Bridge checkpost with the customary stop to show the permit and give our details. After the turn the immediate road was new and I thought maybe the road to Karzok won't be as bad. But it only lasted about 2-3 kms. There was fresh road-work being done and road had sticky hot tar. My cousin commented it might not be a good idea to go over it but there was no other way. After crossing it we saw an alto on the side of road with an apparent puncture and driver changing the tyre. The road now was nothing but gravel and stones. I felt sorry for him and we continued. Not even 5 minutes after that i felt something was not right. Since the first tyre burst i had been asking my cousin or BiL to have a look at tyres whenever i felt something. My cousin said it should be nothing as we were driving over bad road but i insisted he check it from outside. As he checked he shouted its a puncture and my heart sank. I assumed the patched tyre gave up already. But the situation was worse. He said its the other rear tyre that had a puncture and it was fully deflated. We removed the tyre and saw a cut that looked small but was big inside. We tried to use the puncture repair kit but the cut was too big to be fixed that way. We put the space-saver back on. It was almost 4.30pm and we had to make a decision where to go. A taxi driver crossing us informed that there is a puncture shop in Chumathang and another in Nyoma. From our location they were 25 kms and 27 kms away respectively. We decided to go to Nyoma as we already got the other rear tyre fixed there and road was very good. We reached the tyre shop at 5.30pm just-in-time as the shop closes at 6pm. He used the same process from afternoon with size 5 patch and 16-inch tube. The tyre was patched and back on by 6pm. Now both the rear tyres were using patch and 16-inch tubes. I decided to continue with the plan and reach Karzok.

We covered the same route again and soon it was dark. The 54 km road from Mahe to Karzok is awful. Like Pangong the maps have old road that have been replaced with new road. But this new road is not an actual road. Its full of small and medium size stones along with gravel and there is no alternative road on the side to avoid it. You can't drive over 20-30 kmph and its worse for cars with bigger tyres as you feel everything and chance for getting another cut or puncture is higher. This road and the previous Pangong to Loma road i felt would have been so much easier on a bike. If i visit Ladakh again i will completely skip Tso Moriri and that Pangong to Loma route unless these roads improve significantly. We slogged through and reached Karzok around 9.30pm. There is a police camp right at the start where you have to provide your details before going into the village. It was quite late and the options here were limited. Looking at the taxis there were many people visiting Tso Moriri and many guest houses were full. We failed to find any decent stay and it was 10.30pm now. There was a small restaurant where we decided to eat first. Turns out they have a guest-house called Milky Way guesthouse that is bit inside from the main road. We checked it out and again our patience paid off. The room was pretty big and cost very reasonable. They had a balcony facing the lake where you could sit and enjoy the view. We checked in and then had our dinner. It was almost 12am and we finally slept. Thankfully we had tomorrow to relax and enjoy as it would be our last night in Ladakh.

[AnandB]

Day 12 - Tuesday, 28th Sep: Karzok (Tso Moriri)

Not having to travel today we woke up around 9am. Enjoyed the view of the lake from the guesthouse balcony while having breakfast and tea.

https://youtu.be/vqC2HF9RhoM

As i mentioned earlier i wanted to shoot the milky way with the lake in foreground. And not just that i wanted to make a timelapse of the milky way core rising above horizon and going below again. I used the PhotoPills app to plan this.

With this i knew the core would be visible from 7.30pm for over 2.5 hours and moon rising half an hour after that. This meant if i did it right i could get the pictures for timelapse that i wanted. So first we left to find out a spot on the other side of the lake as it would be difficult to in evening and we explored the lake as well. The location i liked was approximately 15kms from Karzok village. The milky way and the core will rise above the mountains with Karzok town below it and lake in-front. There was also a cemented slab that would be perfect to keep the tripod stable while the camera continuously took pictures. Now we went back towards town. Clicked some pictures on the lake in-front of town. Had lunch afterwards and rested for sometime.

(the chosen location)

We left at 5pm for the spot as due to roads it took half an hour to get there. We carried a lot of snacks as i had planned to stay there till 10.30pm. Out on our thermals and carried jackets and gloves as it was going to very cold. Just before our spot took a small detour off-road to take more pictures.

Eventually we reached there at 6pm. It was perfect timing as sun was about to set and it would be golden hour. The pink effect on the sky and clouds made for a beautiful picture.

But the same clouds covered the sky putting my photo shoot in jeopardy as the stars and milky way won't be properly visible. I kept taking test shots fine-tuning the FoV of the camera. Photopills app has a great AR feature that you can use and using your camera in live-view it shows there the milky way will be and its movement over time. Soon it was complete darkness. I misjudged where the milky way would be at first because clouds completely covered it. I found it just about visible on the left side and adjusted the camera. I started the interval timer on camera and let it start taking pics at 7.36pm.

We were passing the time listening to music, eating and enjoying the night sky. It is so clear you see loads of shooting stars. I realized i also had my smaller RX100v with me. It would be perfect to experiment with while the main camera kept taking pictures. We had a lot of fun that night. Of course being a 1-inch sensor it wouldn't be as good as my full-frame but i was happy with the results.

It was too cold and now we were waiting in the car for 10.30pm when i had planned to stop taking pictures and leave. Around 10.15pm I decided to check the camera if it was still taking pictures. But it seemed to have stopped. It couldn't be the battery as i had it hooked to a power-bank. It turned out the 64gb card i had put specifically for this session was full. The camera had taken around 1250 pictures in those 2.5 hours. I could only see the results once i came back home and i can say now it turned out to be lot better than i wished.

https://youtu.be/WlIp17W1Ix4

(the clouds clearing up made it even better)

We went back to our guest-house and the hosts waited for us as we still hadn't had dinner and we slept soon after. They were very hospitable and i would definitely stay there again on next visit. It was going to be a long day tomorrow as we say goodbye to Ladakh.

[AnandB]

Day 13 - Wednesday, 29th Sep: Karzok to Sumdo to Keylong to Manali

Keylong is approx 330 kms from Karzok and knowing the roads won't be great it was important to leave early. We left the guesthouse at 7am happy that we would be on time today. But like few days back fate had a different plan for us again.

(the actual distance we covered today)

https://youtu.be/3q-W6kn-aFE

We reached Sumdo which is a bigger village than Karzok. It was around 9am so we stopped at a place for tea and maggi. It is a big general store that seemed pretty well stocked. One problem we faced then was that the next fuel pump comes at Keylong and the car MID showed us short of fuel for the last 40-50 kms. We had filled the tank with the 18 ltrs we were carrying back when we left Hanle. This shortage was a result of back-tracking we had to do getting our 2nd tyre fixed at Nyoma and the trips we did going to the other side of Tso Moriri. Now the only hope was to acquire fuel from locals selling it on the way. I had wanted to avoid it because you can't be sure if the fuel is not adulterated. So we asked the shop owner if he had diesel. At first he said no but we explained our situation and asked if anyone else in town had it as in Karzok they told us we could get it here. He then said he did have it and it was going to cost 2000 for 22 ltr he had in a jerry can. I asked him a few times if it was not adulterated which offended him and he almost took it back. I explained to him that i didn't want to damage the fuel pump with adulterated fuel and i will give him 2500 even as long as the fuel is good. He said he only wanted 2000 and assured that fuel is good. We didn't really have any option and we knew that it was not really 22 ltrs as the can looked like a 20 ltr one and it had about 17-18 ltrs. But money was not an issue and that fuel would easily get us to Keylong. So we paid him the amount and added the fuel with our fingers crossed.

From Karzok to the point where you join Leh-Manali highway is approx 100 kms with Sumdo in the middle. And these 100 kms are simply awful roads. At-least from Sumdo onwards sometimes you see tyre tracks that go over sand which is comfortable than the rocky main road. We took them ourselves and had no issues but a red Nexon rental car was not so lucky. We saw it stuck in sand and we stopped to see if we could help, they were 5 friends going towards Sumdo. Since we started today we had only seen one Bolero mini-truck on that road and this Nexon was the other one. It was a bit away from the road and where it was stuck had more sand. The driver almost burned the clutch trying to get out and the engine had heated up. An Innova taxi was going the same way as us and the driver also stopped to help. He said we should push it towards the road as there were so many of us. It took a lot of effort but we pushed the car back on road. The friends we very grateful and we told the driver to let the engine cool for some time before going ahead. Both the Innova and us left wishing them luck.

Around 11am we joined the Leh-Manali highway and I was happy after that tiring road since Karzok. I had read that the Leh-Manali highway was not in good condition and i thought it wouldn't be that bad from what i saw. As soon as the car gained speed we realized that even though the road looked perfect it was far from it. It had small uneven bumps that made driving fast on it dangerous. My cousin and I discussed the same and not 5 mins after we found a XUV300 that had an accident for the very same reason. I detailed this in our T-BHP accident thread. With the help of a truck driver's jack rod we were able to push the car down. The car was running fine but had front body damage and the burst right tyre needed to be changed. Even though the son acted like he was fine, he was in shock and wasn't even able to change the tyre so we helped him with our jack and changed it for them. The father thanked us profusely. We wished them luck and continued ahead. Helping both times had added 1.5 hours to our schedule.

As we kept going we found out why they say the highway is not in great condition. There are sections where there is no road and you have cross over big rocks or roads with big holes because that is the only way. We didn't have any problem yet but wondered how bad it must be for small cars. We crossed Pang, Nakeela Pass and the famous Gata Loops.

https://youtu.be/gceIpCmIqIc

It was around 3pm. Just past Gata Loops there is a bridge called Whiskey Bridge. There was an empty truck speeding ahead of us so i had kept quite a bit of distance to it. It had crossed the bridge and we hadn't. Ahead of him was an Eicher LCV that failed to climb the slope and immediately started moving backwards. We could see this unfold and it seemed like he would soon hit the truck. The truck driver couldn't reverse fast enough but the Eicher driver decided to steer left and he hit the mountain side and his truck flipped over blocking the road completely. It was a lucky decision as the other side was valley and if he hadn't turned it would have crashed into the truck behind him. The driver and passengers weren't hurt and were able to get out. Now we were stuck again.

There was no network coverage here and no way to contact anyone. Slowly by slowly traffic piled up. There was just enough space for bikers to pass. Everyone asked them to inform ahead at Sarchu about this and hopefully they send help. The Eicher was carrying DJ equipment and the other drivers helped unload it because it would have to be done anyway if it was to be flipped back. There was an army convoy and they joined in in helping unload the truck. More than 1.5 hours had passed now. Army suggested to drag the truck to a side to make just enough space for movement but some drivers didn't agree as it would cause damage to the trucks chassis. Once unloading was complete the drivers decided to flip the truck over on their own. They actually did it!

https://youtu.be/7fzKxcpIikQ

https://youtu.be/35kGsCHcpPo

We were one of the first ones to leave. Soon after we realized why it would have taken a long time even if help was sent from Sarchu which was only 22 kms from there. It has the worst sections of the whole highway. Roads are being constructed which meant you have to drive off-road and it all dust and sand with big holes where tracks are that meant the centre of the road scrapes your car. It scraped a couple of times for us but thankfully Kodiaq comes with underbody protection. There were loads of small cars behind us and i only wonder what damage it causes these car in long term even if they are able to cross it. While we were stuck even the accidental XUV300 had caught up. After some time the road gets better but the sun was about to set.

https://youtu.be/1LnhlXcyLJE

At Srachu there is a Jio tower installed recently so we were able to get in touch with our family after almost 3 days. Keylong was still more than 100 kms and even though the roads were good now, all this time you are still at very high altitudes. Sarchu itself is at 14500 ft. It is why you are highly likely to get with AMS while coming from Manali as you spend hours at very high altitudes before reach Leh. The roads are curvy so your speed remains slow along with it being night for us. We finally reached Keylong around 9pm. We were really hungry so we decided to stop over at this restaurant. It is one of the first when you arrive in Keylong. And it had amazing food! After so many days of just eating roti, rice, dal we wanted to have proper food. We tried its chicken pizza and it was one the best pizza i have had. I salivate as i write this. Rest was typical indian food which was excellent too. It was busy so it took us just over an hour to finish.

I had decided instead of staying here we might as well continue to Manali tonight. This way we could leave bit later tomorrow for our next destination. Manali is approx 70 kms from Keylong. We crossed the famous Atal Tunnel which has made traveling so much easier now that you don't have to go via Rohtang Pass. We reached Manali around 11.45 pm. I wanted to stay somewhere on the highway and we found a hotel that had decent online reviews and was very cheap. It was not the best but the room was spacious and comfortable for us. It had been a long day and it didn't time for us to fall asleep.

[AnandB]

Day 14 - Thursday, 30th Sep: Manali to Anandpur Sahib

Our Ladakh trip was over but there was one final destination left before we beeline to Raipur. It was to visit Gurudwara Takht Sri Kesgarh Sahib in Anandpur Sahib. It's around 250 kms from Manali.

I had traveled with both the patched/tubed tyres through worst possible roads from Pangong to Manali and since we were back in cities now i had decided to just go all the way to Raipur using them. I'd change the tyres back home. The only problem they caused was there were vibrations especially above speed of 80 kmph. So we had been driving below it and would keep following that till we reached Raipur.

We checked out of the Hotel quite late around 12pm. First thing I wanted now was to get the car washed. The last time we did it was when we left Srinagar and had covered the whole of our Ladakh trip without a wash. It took a while to find one that was empty so we didn't have to wait.

It was also right next to Beas river so it was pleasant place to wait. Manali seemed a beautiful hill station but too crowded for my liking. I was here years ago when i was kid but don't remember much. All i remember is we went up to Rohtang Pass in our trusty Toyota Qualis and it was winter with heavy snow so we had to turn back somewhere on the Pass as we were stopped from proceeding.

https://youtu.be/3-ALveCuGbg

The roads on this route are overall very good with some bad portions because of fallen rocks on the road and also a lot of tunnels are being made on this route. Like the Jammu-Srinagar-Leh route it would be worth a visit when all these tunnels are completed. It seemed like all the cities of Himachal are built around NH-3 (the river really). The cities/towns don't stop and you don't even know when one starts or when it ends. There was some traffic all along and in the evening we had to wait for an hour or so as an accident had happened and there was movement in only one lane. Also before reaching Anandpur Sahib google decided to take us off the NH and via small roads that had very little movement and speed was slow because of so many hills we had to cross before entering Punjab. We finally reached our destination at 10.30pm. There is hotel-like lodging infront of Gurudwara and we checked in. There is also a restaurant right next to it where we had dinner. The food was really good. We visited the Gurudwara before calling it a night.