Leh Transportation

Altitude sickness is more or less a non-issue on the Srinagar-Leh road IF you make a night stop in Kargil @ 2693 meters.
Don´t plan before mid-May , the road has opened later. Last ten years openings here : http://vistet.wordpress.com/2010/02/08/srinagar-leh-opening-dates/

Road updates : http://korta.nu/sleh

The main problem with the Manali-Leh road conditions is the fifty klick distance from Manali to the Rohtang La pass . This comes from the combination of monsoon rains & land slides , and increasing tourism - mainly thousands of Indian daytrippers Manali-Rohtang-Manali. This year it has been worse , and the road has come to complete standstill a number of times/days over the last weeks. Road updates at my blog , http://korta.nu/manleh

Safety ... the one factor you can have some control over is planning your route to avoid altitude sickness. Shared taxis and minibuses are the worst options , since they try to gun for the tent camps at The Vomit Hilton ( aka Sarchu ) @ 4253 meters . The state HRTC ("local bus") and tourist buses stop overnight in Keylong at 3080 meters , a far better alternative . There are also some other options at the same level , see http://korta.nu/sleepless

The speed gain with cabs, jeeps etc is largely an illusion : everyone travel on a mostly one lane road , and the slowest vehicles set the pace. Forty klicks an hour is a VERY good speed on these roads.

One way of side stepping the messy situation around the Rohtang is to use the looog detour via Kinnaur and Spiti : Shimla-Sarahan_Kalpa-Tabo-Kaza ... the main risk here is never arriving in Ladakh becuse you get hooked on Spiti.

Delhi to Manali : overnight buses around Rs 900.
HPTDC tourist buses Manali-Leh Rs 2000
HRTC buses Rs 109(to Keylong) + Rs 560( Leh)
Minibuses and cabs Rs 1500

All travel agencies in Leh have a booklet with the fixed price for taking a taxi to different destinations. A booklet with the new fare is published every year.

Before leaving Ladakh I wanted to visit Lamayuru, Alchi and Likir. It can’t be done using public transportation in one day so I chose to take a car with driver. The fixed price to visit those three places was Rs 3750 (July 2010). I asked around at some travel agents and at Oriental Guesthouse to find some people to share the price with, but no one signed up. So in the end I went alone.

First we drove to Lamayuru which is furthest away. It took almost three hours to go there and for long we drove along Indus River. When we had crossed the river and the road was ascending there was a new road and the old road to take. The old road takes one hour and the new road is supposed to take half an hour. The new road was still under construction, but we took it, as did many others. Along the way we passed a small minivan stuck in the gravel. We stopped to help them push their car and they could continue. Well, it seemed the road was not good enough for all cars jet.

After Lamayuru we went to Alchi and then to Likir. When we came back to Leh the daytrip had taken 10 hours.

My guide on the Markha Valley trek told me it is possible to visit Takthog, Chemrey, Stakna, Thiksey and Shey on a daytrip from Leh using public transportation, if you start early. I didn’t want to be in a hurry in the morning and decided to visit only Stakna, Thiksey and Shey, which have more frequent buses. The Leh - Thiksey bus pass by Shey, then Thiksey and then has its end stop near Stakna Gompa. The bus leaves every half an hour from the main bus station in Leh.

This is how much I paid in July 2010 and how long the bus ride was:
Leh - Stakna Rs 20, 40 min
Stakna - Thiksey Rs 5, 10 min
Thiksey - Shey Rs 5, 5 min
Shey - Leh Rs 10, 25 min

Leh is a beautiful place. Going to Leh by road (from Manali) adds a lot of fun and adventure to the journey. There is a website where you can book buses from Delhi to Manali. These are mostly overnight buses. They are confortable but you may not be able to get a sound sleep. Try Volvo buses. They are better than others. While in Delhi, there are numerous travel agents in Pahar ganj/Karol bagh area who offer bus tickets on Delhi Manali route.
http://www.luxurybusesindia.com/ Online bus seat booking for Himachal, UP, Rajasthan from Delhi. I have not used this website.
The buses on Manali-Leh route are seasonal, meaning they run only in particular months. I guess they run from April to Oct-Nov. Rest of the m onths, because of heave snowfall, the road route remains closed.
Leh although a part of Kashmir, is not a disturbed area at all. This part of the state is away from the Srinagar valley area, where most of the incident occurs.
The ticket for the bus journey from Manali to leh ban be best purchased at Manali itself. I understand the journey takes 2 days, with a night stay at an intermediate place.
Leh has numerous hotels. No need to book in advance. But if you want to book in advance, it will be advicable.

The weather at Leh (Ladakh) in January month will be quite cold, but not much of rains. Most of the time, you will encounter clear sky.
I am not very sure if you can travel to Leh by bypassing Srinagar. Even if there is one, it would be covered by snow, as Dec-Jan period sees a heavy snaowfall in this region. Why dont you take a flight to Leh? There are direct flights from Delhi/Jammu

A good news is that the Airlines have started giving "Check Fare" to Leh, resulting in a very good deal.
A ticket by economy class to Leh is Rs 8000, but you can get early bird price of Rs 3500. Thats a deal.

Catch is do it fast, FAAASTTTT...

Its feb and check fare for Jet Airways in June/July is already taken (for that matter many normal seats as well)... Plan your trip and Book it fast.

http://www.jetairways.com/
http://indian-airlines.nic.in/index.asp

One more good news, that Kingfisher is also planning to start flights to Leh. Look out for any offers!!!

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People say road journey to Leh is worth it but I would say plane journey is also worth every cent. The kind of view one gets from the plane is an experience to shoot and treasure.
As far as local transportation is concerned, Qualis, Innova are available for tours to Khardong pass, Pangong lake and all the monastries and palaces.
Only, be prepared for higher amount.
Journey to Khardong La : Almost Rs 1500 to and fro
Pangong: Rs 6500
Stok Palace: 600

Vehicles are available from the hotels only. They arrange evrything for you.
So no tensions at all.