Hello All,

My wife and I booked to go on an escorted tour from Delhi to Kardung La but the tour was cancelled due to others pulling out- we have decided to go it alone-three weeks from 8th August- and have arranged to hire a bike from Lalli Singh, have pretty much sorted out our riding kit and planning to take sleeping mats and bags but not sure whether it would be a good idea to take a small/lightweightt tent?
Any thoughts on whether we will have difficulty finding somewhere to stay in Leh, Khardung Lar,or Srinagar areas's?
Any advice on this -or related issues-would be very much appreciated!

Thanks very much,

Steve+Kate

The state of Jammu and Kashmir (where both Srinagar and Leh are located) are very well developed in terms of tourism and you will not have any problems finding a place to stay (cheap, too), so you do not have to stay in a tent if you do not want to. Although, we did, and had breathtaking scenery just to ourselves when riding off the beaten track (be well prepped for below zero freezing nights tho if you camp above 4500 meters like we did ).

PS: In Khardung La and other high passes, there's no accomodation whatsoever and for obvious reasons.

Thanks very much Margus,think we will take a very lightweight tent just so we can keep our options open!

Kate+Steve

I did the Spiti valley in India and I honestly think you'd be fine without a tent and all the gear that goes with it. I only camped once up there, the rest of the time I could find accommodation almost anywhere. Or to put it another way, I never had to rely on the tent because I couldn't find a bed for the night. I was carrying a stove etc and that got minimal use too as you can get food anywhere.

Unless of course you want to go off into the wilds and then its a different story.

Bloody lovely scenery up there though.

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Hi - you lucky people! Wish I was going again.

I agree with all that's been said here about accommodation.

How far are you going north of Kardung La? Up the Nubra Valley?

A houseboat is a must if you are staying in Srinagar. PM me if you want the name/address of the 1 we stayed on for 2 weeks - lovely people and convenient location.

Mark

overlandcruiser.net

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Thanks Mark,

We are planning to pretty much stick to the route that we have from the travel company that we were originally going with,Shimla to Mandi,then to Manali,Keylong(via Rohtang) Sarchu then to Leh before Khardung Lah. The trip will then take us to Srinagar-very much hoping to stay on a houseboat then Kashmir Valley to Patnitop before McLeodganj and on to Amritsar,return to Delhi.

Would welcome any thoughts,tip's advice on any of our plans-this is our first time in India and haven't undertaken this sort of journey before?

Will drop you a PM about the Houseboat Mark-thanks very much for your offer of info!

Regards all,

Kate+Steve

Hi Kate and Steve

Some words and images from my 2 Enfield Himalaya trips: Indian Himalayas TBSdotCom

Don't bother with a tent or stove. You won't need either. Lalli Singh is highly recommended. Get yourself a LP/Roughguide/Footprint guidebook and they'll tell you everything you need to know about accomodation.

2 tips:
There is only 1 road rule in India: Might Is Right, so on a M/C you're at the bottom of the food chain... Use your horn a lot.

Leave Delhi very early in the morning to beat the traffic. Once you're on the Grand Trunk Road it's easier.

Enjoy the trip. It'll be excellent.
cheers
Chris

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Cheers Chris,

Thanks for sharing your vid's and experience-great stuffcan't wait to start our trip!

Best,

Kate+Steve

Haha - love the comment about 'use your horn a lot'. The airhorn on my Landcruiser had given up the ghost in Pakistan and I got it replaced with an electric one in Amritsar. We left Amritsar early one morning and got to Manali in 1 day......but got as far as Pathankot before I blew the relay on the horn cos I was using it so much Happy days!

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Inder is very good when it comes to maintenance and will also give you a riding lesson in case you want one. You can start up from Karol bagh or wherever you stay and move out of the city in the AM. The highway out of
Delhi is pretty decent and you'll find all your needed being catered too.

There are two ways to reach manali :
via chandigarh (short and faster) and via shimla (long and slow)

You'll reach the city of Chandigarh in 4 hours max and then you'll have to wade through the city traffic. There are enough roads signs in the city that point out the way to Manali. You can reach manali easily in 12-14 hours.

If you want to go via Shimla then keep an extra day at hand.

From Manali there is only one road to Leh and you can't miss it. The trick to get past the first pass (Rohtang - 50kms) is to start up early and reach there in 2-3 hours rather than starting late and getting stuck in uphill traffic and wasting half a day. You will find accomodation in Marhi but then its not worth it. This day you should aim to reach Keylong if not more

Next day you'd probably stay in Pang and its here most probably that you will get hit by AMS so carry drink loads of water, avoid liqour and take some AMS medicine.

Next day you can ride from Pang to leh with ease.

There will be a TON of tent restaurant who also serve up as accomodation if required. Cheap and good way to spend a night.

Leh will be awesome (as it has been always) and you can find accomodation to suit any budget. I usually pamper myself with a good room in leh coz it becomes like a base for us to return to.

Secure your inner line permits for wherever you want to go.
Ride to khardungla and back to leh is hardly 3-4 hrs and then you have rest of the day off. You can ride to Pangong Tso which is a lot more difficult than others coz you pass one of the most difficult passes called Chang La.

woooooooooooo hmmmfffff

That's enough from me................ for now