Leh Ladakh by Road
If you are driving your car or riding your motor cycle to Leh Ladakh from Srinagar or Manali then you are in for an experiance of a lifetime. The route especially the Manali-Leh highway is prone to landslides so be careful.
Its better to start your trip from Srinagar and exit from Manali. By doing so you give your body a better chance to acclimatize to high altitudes and the chances of AMS will be minimized.
If you have to start your trip from Manali then do make sure to stop at Keylong for the first night rather than Jispa or Sarchu.
How to Reach Leh Ladakh
Every year thousand of adventure enthusiasts visit Leh Ladakh. A road trip to leh Ladakh is more like a pilgrimage to many though not for relegious reasons!
Srinagar and Manali are the two entry points for Leh Ladakh and if you are planning a complete trip then the ideal start point is Srinagar. If you start your Leh Ladakh trip from Srinagar it will give your body a better chance to adjust to the high altitudes.
Leh Ladakh by Bus
Govt buses are available from Srinagar as well as Manali to Leh. Its a two day journey to Leh from either of the two places with a night halt at Kargil / Drass if you are traveling from Srinagar or Keylong if you are traveling from Manali.
Best time to visit Leh Ladakh is between May and September. During the other part of the year almost all the high mountain passes will be closed due to heavy snowfall.
The Srinagar – Leh Highway and Manali – Leh Highway gets too risky to commute as you enter the month of October owing to snowfall at passes. A thin coating of glazed ice on a surface of the roads makes driving / riding on the road next to impossible. The only option to Travel to Leh – Ladakh in Winters is to directly fly to Leh from Delhi. During winters Chang La and Khardung La also will be closed.
The nearest railhead from Leh Ladakh is Jammu. There are many trains from Delhi to Jammu which will get you to Jammu from Delhi in 9 hours. If you are taking the train to get to Leh Ladakh then first you will have to reach Srinagar from Jammu. There are private and govt run buses plying between Srinagar and Leh. There are shared taxis and private taxis also available that you can hire from Srinagar to Leh.
Cheapest way to reach Leh from Delhi would be by bus. Take a direct bus to Keylong or Manali. HRTC run a regular bus service to Leh although not from Manali but from Keylong. The ticket between Manali – Keylong costs about Rs 100 – 125 and then Keylong – Leh it costs about Rs 450 – 550, in HRTC buses.
The best way to visit Leh Ladakh and the most fulfilling is a road trip to Leh. If you are riding down to Leh Ladakh do make sure to carry containers to store reserve petrol just in case you run out of petrol. Carrying spare cables is also a good idea.