Trip To Leh | June 2022 | Maruti Brezza AMT

[allhyundaicars]

I always wanted to go to Leh and this time me and my wife could finally visit the magical place. After last year's terrible spiti trip we decided not to take our parents along.

• Trip Duration - 2nd June - 16th June.
• Total Expense for two - 1 lakh.
• Distance Covered - 3500 kms
• Roads Condition - 90% good tarmac. Manali to Leh is perfect and you won't find any problem reaching Leh. the worst route starts from nubra valley to pangong tso and continue till Chang la.
• Route taken - Manali - Jispa - Leh - Hundar - pangong tso - Leh - Kargil - Srinagar - Amritsar - Delhi.

Important - if you have the time and you can stay 2 nights in manali and then 1 night in jispa before reaching leh then i will suggest manali route since while going uphill in many passes i found the roads to be in much better condition than going downhill. this means if you are coming from srinagar side you will get a whole lot of bad roads while going uphill which will be problematic and chang la in this matter is the worst.

• Average Mileage of the car in whole trip - 18kmpl
  
• Total Fuel Expense - 16000rs (included in total expense)
• Average accommodation rate - 2800rs per night
• Hotel Bookings - even in peak season we didn't do any hotel bookings besides manali. rest all of the bookings were made by checking the hotel first.
• Problems faced - My diesel powered car didn't get enough oxygen at high pass of Taglang La. for 30 seconds car produced white-ish blue smoke and there was only 20% power output from the engine. was really scared after this but this happens and car performed fine after this without hiccups. Just don't turn off your car in scenarios like this , i kept the engine running for 30 minutes when it started snowfall at pangong tso.

Special Items to be carried

1. Oxymeter
2. Portable Oxygen Cylinder (atleast 1 per person)
3. Hydraulic jack
4. puncture repair kit
5. tow rope
6. lots and lots of food items
7. cotton clothes with different type of jackets(bomber , windcheater , sweatshirts)
8. at least 3 pair of shoes
9. body wash , shampoo and other day to day things since many hotels keep only 15ml sachets of these items.
10. M seal , screw driver , zip ties , emergency lights , torch , umbrella and other necessary things you can think of.

Day 1: June 2nd 2022

Delhi to Manali 550kms

Started early in the morning at 6:00 AM and reached Manali at 6:00 Pm. this includes multiple stops of 1 hour total plus 45 minutes of traffic jam because of ongoing tunnel work.

Hotel : White Mist Cottage (3000\night for family room ie 2 double beds , the only option available at that time.

Since this was peak season our usual amazing homestay Idylicc inn was full and we really don't like to stay near the mall road or any place where there will be lots of tourists.

Hotel room although a little old was spacious and the food was good. ample open sitting area.

Day 2 : June 3rd Manali

Visited local Village in the morning , had breakfast at Drifter's Inn cafe

Night dinner at Fat Plate which was amazing.

Day 3 : June 4th Jispa

Manali to Jispa 70 Kms 4 hours

I didn't want to take risk of AMS by staying at Sarchu so stopped at Jispa at Hotel Ibex (3000rs/night)

Food quality was brilliant and rooms and washrooms were clean.

We left Manali at 11:00 am and reached jispa at 3:00 Pm. this was because of tourist rush in Manali plus big line at tandi petrol pump. FYI , there's another petrol pump which opened near Keylong.

Jispa is colder than Leh and Manali. we couldn't stay near the river for more than 45 minutes. Every place we visited had it's own charm.

 

[allhyundaicars]

Day 4 : June 5th Leh

Jispa To Leh 340 kms 11 hours

This was very tiring journey for me. woke up at 5:00 AM and left the hotel at 6:00 AM. We didn't eat anything in the morning and just munched on wafers,maggi and biscuits etc the whole way.

Just after Jispa check post there was 100 meter of stretch comprising of only water plus rocks and the car did stop on the steep hill but managed to climb without any efforts.

Some guy from Maharashtra came with his AUDI A6 on this road and he literally created a traffic jam for all the others including us. obviously his car has very low GC so he was driving very slow even on dirt roads. That didn't make any sense. Maybe he was being cautious about the tyres?

Enroute Baralacha La

We were stuck for 30 minutes near the beautiful Suraj tal lake. what a nice place to get a traffic jam

Also we didn't know that the main point of this pass was just around the corner. till now we didn't feel any breathlessness or any symptoms.

10:00 AM we reached the sarchu camps. again a wonderful place and scenery instantly changed after coming to this road. so much snow\water erosion in these parts. Sissu, jispa and sarchu all had their charms.

Stuck at Gata Loops for 10 minutes. Commendable job done by the white bus by reversing the fully loaded bus. Enjoyed driving here.

Just before Lachung La pass. Amazing scenery. Tempo travelers looked like ants in this.

Didn't know that Moore Plains will be this beautiful in person. photos don't do justice to this place. Huge flat land between the mountains. By far the most scenic place on this route.

This is the place where car gave me troubles. For 30 seconds there was no engine power output and i got scared not for the car but for ourselves getting stuck at this height.

I drove a little fast as i could , not minding the potholes just after crossing this pass just to get to Leh. Fortunately i arrived Leh in the evening.

 

[allhyundaicars]

Day 5 : June 6 Leh

In the evening because of waking early up, not eating anything proper , driving above 4000 meters constantly and stressing about the fact that we will be left stranded at taglang la my health deteriorated.

We had inquired about a hotel by looking online and we were going there , i had such a headache i just drove the car inside this gate without thinking. And i am so glad that i did.

Wang villa

Owner Sonam was really a good host. he helped me a lot in every possible way.

He saw my condition and assured me that there is no need of a doctor and a good night's rest will make me back on my feet. My oxygen level was at 85.

Some photos of the homestay. He has maintained the property very well. Rooms and bathroom were clean and spacious. Sorry i was in no shape to click room photos so i didn't. he also grow their own vegetables and also has a greenhouse.

View from the common balcony.

Day 6 : June 7th Leh

Maruti A.s.s at leh was of no use at all. i visited them and they didn't know what the problem of my car was ( it was only after contacting my FNG mechanic and another hotel guest that i came to know that the car also needs proper oxygen\air so that the engine can breathe and function properly)

they were adamant on changing the diesel filter and cleaning the intercooler and the air filter. by doing this they were solving the problem of pickup on steep slopes , a problem that i didn't face even once because of less load in my car. when i told them to change the diesel filter they told me they can't since server is down. server was down the following day as well

I gave up and decided just to clear the air filter and luckily car didn't give me any problems.

got the car washed for 500rs.

Visited Shanti Stupa in the evening and what a place this is. you get full view of the city and the amazing surroundings. we went here twice , the second time after coming back from Nubra Valley.

In the evening went to the Leh market. just visited the cafe and came back to the hotel. all this time i was not feeling 100% healthy.

We decided to visit the local sight seeing places and covered the Shey Palace and the Thiksey Monastery.

Shey Palace you can skip. nothing to do there , you just climb lots of steps and there's nothing to see there.

Thiksey monastery on the other hand was beautiful and we liked the place. we decided to skip the Leh Palace and Hemis Monastery too.

















Hall Of Fame























Day 7 Hundar 8th June

Khardung-La Pass

















Leh to Hundar

Left Leh around 10:00 AM and visited the Diskit monastery.

Saw the Wonderful statue of Buddha and the panoramic views of the beautiful Nubra Valley.

Took us 90 minutes to find a decent hotel. Basically every hotel was charging 3500-4000rs and they had no electricity.

Found this hotel although a little expensive at 5200rs per night but it had 24*7 electricity and all the services one can ask for. The Hotel Hill crest.

Visited the Famous Hundar sand dunes in the evening. Didn't opt for the camel ride since there were atleast 400 people waiting for their turn.

Again this place was so unique , there were strong winds and just like any desert, all the sand was moving from one place to the other.

 

[allhyundaicars]

Day 8th : June 9th Hundar

Turtuk Village

We were confused between panamik and turtuk but in the end we decided to go for Turtuk.

The weather changed in the morning and it started raining heavily for a good 40 minutes. We left the hotel at 10:30 Am and reached the village at 2:30 Pm.

There were a lot of checkpoints and at one of the military checkpoint you have to submit 1 ID with them so that they know you didn't get left behind.

The main attraction point is at village thang. You can see the pakistan village , bunkers as well as the Barbed Wire border through Binoculars. it was amazing to look at but nothing like the wagah border in Amritsar.







On the way back you go to the actual village of turtuk. there's a museum which used to be a king's home and there you can see how they used to live among other things.

On our way back we gave stopped to give some chocolates to the kids and we were so glad that we did. If we hadn't stopped i am sure my trip would have ended there and then. Look at the video.

on the way back to Hundar , amazing views.

Retired for the night at the hotel.

Day 9th : June 10th Leh

Pangong tso

We left the hotel at 8:45 Am and reached Leh at 7:45 PM.

Car again gave trouble. Didn't start for 10 minutes. I opened the bonnet, tried after a minute and the car started. Still have no idea what the problem was, was it the air again?

This was the most dangerous drive of the trip. roads were so bad at some places that me and my wife both used to come out of our seats to look at all the hurdles ahead. We both used to take a deep breathe together after crossing a bad stretch and no this was not intentional.

stuck at this point for 40 minutes because of a landslide.

The sceneries changed once again coming near to the lake. saw a different breed of cows here or maybe they were yaks but the size was similar to cows.

And behold the Magical Lake. There were atleast 3-4 different shades of blue here. It was so amazing. Pictures don't do justice. You have to see this in person.

Now look at the time stamps of both the videos.

I arrived at 14:20 and after parking the car and going near the lake what do i see? Snow storm coming. we were unable to even stand near the lake because it was so windy and chilly.

Snow was literally attacking us at full speed.

After this we stopped at some restaurant and I parked the car's front opposite to the snowy wind and didn't turn off the car for 40 minutes while we were eating.

But i am glad to say that the weather again changed and it was sunny once again or else we'd have to stay the night at pangong and we didn't even have any hotel bookings with us.

On our way back to Leh

Frozen lake near Changla Pass.

For me the Changla pass was the most dangerous and i seriously applaud the people who came to this pass from the Leh side. i'd have taken a U turn if i were coming from leh side.

While going uphill from the lake side 3 bikers asked for our help. They needed lift till Leh and they were ready to ditch their bikes. I think they were too tired of this pass but unfortunately i didn't want to take any risk loading another two guys fearing gearbox will heat again which happened last year in Spiti. I sincerely said no stating the very same reason and left. There were many public transport coming so i hope they made it all fine.

I was so relaxed after coming to the straight roads leading to Leh.

 

[allhyundaicars]

Day 10 : June 11th Leh

Decided to rest in Leh for another day. Visited the Leh market and bought some things like seabuckthorn juice , dried apple and apricots from a government shop having fixed rates.

Day 11 : June 12th Kargil

Left the Hotel at 11:00 AM and reached Kargil at 5:30 Pm.

First Visited the Holy place Gurudwara Pathar Sahib which is maintained by the Indian Army. you must visit this Gurdwara.











After This we tried the Famous Magnetic Hill and the car literally moved at 20kmph without any accelerator input.

I think i read somewhere that it's just an illusion but it's actual downhill slope so the car moves forward but looking at the slope it was definitely upwards.

After this we stopped at the Sangham Point of the river Indus and the Zanskar river i think.

Awesome roads of the Srinagar-Leh Highway.

Again saw something unique.

Hotel The white Castle 3400rs for breakfast and dinner.

Truth be told we didn't like Kargil. you see so much poverty there, roads are a mess. some few kms back there were 2-3 villages which are much better but no options of stay there.

 

[allhyundaicars]

Day 12 : 13 June Srinagar

Today we started for Srinagar and covered the Kargil War Memorial.

So now the scenery changed and most of the mountains started having some greenery.

Initially I wanted to stop at Sonmarg but it was so full and so bad with awful stench of horses. i felt like puking and i was so glad that i didn't book any hotel here. it was hell there.

After some time stopped at this beautiful government park. food was so-so but we were hungry and sonmarg was a big no.

Ae looked at the hotel in srinagar main city and again it was so bad there. we have paharganj area in new delhi and it looked better in front of the main city. i literally had a headache looking at this. Finally found a resort online and it looked so much better and it was an amazing stay. Exoticca the resort. it had a panoramic view of the dal lake and the city. instead of staying 15 minutes towards the opposite side , it's better to stay towards this side.

look at the video of the stay.

 

[allhyundaicars]

Day 13 : June 14th Srinagar

Today we planned to visit pahalgam. another beautiful hill station but with so many tourist we didn't stop at betab valley. instead we found a quiet place and sat near the river for an hour. there were just 2-3 families there.

On the way back stopped at Dal lake and they were asking 2500 rs for shikara ride. what's so special in shikara other than the shape ? one can do the same thing in nainital at fraction of the price. we just enjoyed the view and came back to the hotel.

Day 14 : 15th June Amritsar

Left srinagar at 9 AM which is a little late. there's traffic at srinagar jammu highway. Initial plan was to stop at jahlandhar but when we arrived police barricaded the highway and stopped all of us saying that PM Modi Ji will be using the highway so you have to take a detour of around 90 kms.

there was no option but to go there but on that route amritsar was close so we decided to stop at Amritsar.

Reached amritsar by 7PM.

Day 15 : June 16 Delhi

Hotel manager told us that there's around 3 hours waiting line to visit the golden temple so with a heavy heart decided to cancel the visit. the best time according to them is 3:30 at night.

Left the hotel at 11:00 am and reached home at 6 PM and this concludes my Leh trip.

 

[350Z]

Note: Thread now live. That’s one spendid and much awaited travelogue. Thanks a ton for sharing, @allhyundaicars and also for those spyshots in various threads.

Drive Safe,
350Z

 

[ABandy]

Beautiful travelogue with nice pics and crisp detailing. Thanks for sharing.

 

[GrandRk]

Nice and detailed travelogue. Can you let us know what difficulty you faced at Chang La pass?

 

[allhyundaicars]

Of all the passes that I encountered, changla seemed the most dangerous to me.
5 kms before the pass the roads were slippery wet muddy. It had snowed earlier at this pass also perhaps the same time it snowed when we were at pangong. Main problem was they were building roads near the pass so it was all flat with mud. No rocks for traction at some places.
And after crossing changla the height didn't reduce much while going downhill for many kms. It was not that steep but it was around 15kms of bad road. 2-3 places extreme tight for cars , I wonder how trucks managed to cross those sections. ( I plugged in air pump in the 12v socket to fill air in the front tyres near the frozen lake so I forgot to plug in dash camera otherwise would have updated it with videos)
So if you are coming from leh side you will get 15kms of bad road climbing up.

 

[bbarve]

Lovely travalogue and nice pics too! Thanks for sharing!
Reminded me of my Leh tour back in 2011. We also took the same route from Manali. The route also has some advantage in terms of acclamatization as it is a gradual ascent, as opposed to Shrinagar-Leh route.
Lovely route and makes you come back again.

 

[vijesh_360]

So if you are coming from leh side you will get 15kms of bad road climbing up.

When I rode my bike to LEH in 2019, the roads from the pass to Leh were newly laid. The other side was tough.

 

[GrandRk]

Lovely travalogue and nice pics too! Thanks for sharing!
Reminded me of my Leh tour back in 2011. We also took the same route from Manali. The route also has some advantage in terms of acclamatization as it is a gradual ascent, as opposed to Shrinagar-Leh route.
Lovely route and makes you come back again.

Somehow i have heard the route from Srinagar Kargil is gradual and safe when it comes to acclamatization. Most of the road travellers take it

 

[bbarve]

Somehow i have heard the route from Srinagar Kargil is gradual and safe when it comes to acclamatization. Most of the road travellers take it

Ah, that's what we were told about Manali-Leh route, but yeah it looks what you saying is correct. I also read it on some sites that Shrinagar-Leh route is better for acclamatization.
Thanks for correcting