2010 Ladakh


  

Planning

 

My last trip to Ladakh in 2006 with Rudra Sen was cut short by the heaviest of rainfalls in Ladakh since many years. Infact, we could just cover Manali-Leh route to only get stuck in Leh due to bad weather throughout Ladakh region. In the end, we had to backtrack the way we came and that was the end of Ladakh 2006 tour !

So we had thought to cover the region again one of these years. Originally, I had planned to stay in Ladakh for few weeks this summer and cover the whole region. But when Rudra got his holidays approved, we decided to make it together. That was the end of our thought process and the start of Planning.

We did not want to go through the same scenario like in 2006, so we planned the trip before the rains, to get some shots of melting snow and to cover the area before the rains hit. That decided the timing of this trip. We both wanted to cover the route via Srinagar-Kargil-Leh even though we needed to cover almost 1000kms just to reach Srinagar as the starting point. The route was fixed keeping in mind to cover Ladakh and then take the Kaza route on return covering Lahaul and Spiti valley. Big plans, long route and 4 weeks at disposal!!

 

 

 

Preparation

 

I got the 4x4 Off-roader Maruti Gypsy King 1.3Liter (make April 2006) serviced. This time, upon insistence of Rudra, I replaced all the tyres, although the existing Goodyear Wrangler RTS had done only 38000kms. I wanted to increase the ground clearance a bit more, so I imported Calmini Reverse Shackle Suspension Kit from USA . This kit is made for Suzuki Samurai SJ413 and fitted perfectly well on my Gypsy (of which I was initially apprehensive but took a 700 US Dollars chance). With special bushes and the kit, I raised the Gypsy by another 5cms. So now the ground clearance was 26cms (19cms+2cms using 215/75/R15 tyres and 5cms from the kit). Talking to the Regional Sales Manager of Yokohama and Gary, an Off-roader, I decided to go for Geolander Yokohama ATS (embossed in white on sidewalls). They were still one size larger 215/15R/75. The AC was checked and as usual we went through the complete checklist from nuts and bolts to clothing, Insurance papers, Medical care, Cameras, GPS, Notebook and Tools etc.

 

Rudra took the flight from Bangalore and landed in Delhi on 28th May. A recheck of Cameras, Notebook and everything else was done on 29th May. Finally, we were ready to go.

 

 

 

Route

 

From the previous trips to Ladakh, I was well aware of the roads. But especially Ladakh is a region where a single rainfall can change everything. I was never on Delhi-Jammu-Srinagar-Kargil route. That sector was new to both of us. We knew that Delhi-Jammu (610km) in June heat will be very demanding. We were also aware of the security issues around Srinagar area. But like unless you eat Mango, you will never know how it tastes. So we decided to include this route in our itinerary. In all, the planned distance was about 4000kms. The route being:

 

Delhi – Jammu – Srinagar – Kargil – Leh – Nubra – Leh – Pangong – Leh – Tso Moriri – Tso Kar – Keylong – Kaza – Sangla – Narkanda – Simla - Delhi.

 

Since the Kaza sector was still closed, we decided to follow the route from Srinagar side and hoped that by the time we finish Ladakh sector, the route via Kaza will be open.

 

And so we started our journey to Ladakh.

 

 

 

Roads

 

Delhi to Jammu and even to Srinagar is a normal Indian standard highway. Some sectors are pretty well done like from Delhi to Ambala while other sectors are relatively good. Indian small towns on the highway are very dirty and traffic congested. The road conditions throughout this trip was very mixed, from non-existant to extremely good in parts. At many places the roads were either being repaired, broadened or newly made.

There is a new stretch of road under construction between Darcha and Padum as also between Leh and Padum. These additions mean that Padum will be easily accessible from Lahaul valley and also from Leh via Nimmu and Chilling. One will not have to go via Kargil. Furthermore, once the tunnel of Rohtang starts functioning, also Rohtang Pass can be skipped. In other words, from Manali, you can skip Rohtang Pass as well as all the three passes of Baralacha, Nakeela and Taglang La on way to Leh. Only time will tell if this new stretch will be interesting enough for Off-roaders. But a huge fact will be that Padum and Leh will be more easily accessible for a longer period of the year.

 

 

 

Weather

 

Like in year 2006, this time also the weather played a major part. As we came to Leh, almost all the passes were still having fresh snowfalls, landslides and remained closed. We tried to cross to Tso Pangong twice but without success due to fresh snowfall. Luckily, we could cover Tso Moriri which was extremely cold like -6 deg. in the night with water pipes bursting. After initial blockade due to snow, we could still cross Khardung La and reach Nubra valley to find beautiful weather there. But on return from Nubra to Leh, we again were confronted with fresh snowfall near Khardung La, although we could cross the pass and reach Leh as we had planned. We waited in Leh for the Manali route or Pangong Tso route to open. In the meantime, we could cover some local villages and a short drive of about 80kms towards Rumtse. But the news of landslides and fresh snow on Manali route seemed hopeless. At the end we had no option but to break our journey and head back home back-tracking via Kargil-Srinagar-Jammu to Delhi .

 

 

 

Return via Jammu

 

On return, from Kargil to Srinagar , we started from Kargil at 06.00hrs and were so well in time to reach Srinagar that we decided to continue our journey to Jammu the same day. However, enroute Srinagar to Jammu , we were caught in a massive traffic jam from 17.00hrs to almost 23.30hrs due to landslide. The traffic on this route is very heavy and due to landslide, there was a traffic jam of almost 15-20kms with everybody trying to get past everybody else. Like it is on Indian roads, blocking complete oncoming traffic and making the jam even worse. Finally, we could reach Jammu at 04.45hrs the next morning. That was a no-stop journey of over 22hrs except for a brief halt outside Srinagar to have a quick but a delicious lunch at a roadside Dhaba (roadside shack Restaurant). That was heavy journey and my prime concern was to continue with safe driving through out the night on these hilly roads in order to reach home safely….and we did !

 

 

 

Journey

 

The Trip to Ladakh as we had planned was not completed.

The major sector of Leh-Manali had to be dropped as well as the trip to Tso Pangong. And we had to completely skip Lahaul and Spiti valley. The thought of taking the route from Jammu to Manali and then to Lahaul and Spiti valley had to be dropped as Kunzum La (the access to Kaza) was still having snowfalls and landslides.  A month trip was reduced to 20 days and we must have overstayed in Leh for at least 4 nights. The original thought of covering Ladakh before rains was only a partial success. Should we have started few weeks later ? I don’t know...! As I came back home now, I read the great tragedy of Cloud-burst in Leh and near Nimmu on 6th August. Over 160 people have lost their lives and above 500 persons are still missing (official figures). This is just about 7 weeks after we left Leh. And I am now sure that the rains never left Ladakh these 7 weeks. So even if we had started a bit later, the probability of completing this Trip was quite less. At least with these thoughts, we can still console ourselves. On the other hand, the positive side was to see the fast weather changes including snowfalls and being able to take some images of these areas. This has been very rewarding as we could get some really good shots.

The final Kilometer reading came out to be 4300kms.

 

That leaves me with a will to go there again and cover this region completely once more as I initially wanted….!

 

 

 

Photographs

 

We have been shooting this trip with Canon 1DS Mark II, 1DS Mark III and Powershot S90. All Pro L Series Lenses of 20mm, 50mm, 24-105mm, 70-200mm (4.0) and 70-200mm (2.8), 100-400mm alongwith other accessories like Tripod, Monopod Filters etc.

84 images from the total shooting are being published on this Website under Ladakh 2010 Picture Gallery.

 

Besides this, we also filmed with Canon IXUS200 IS 1280x720 pix 30fps movies while driving. Some portions of these movies are compressed to 640x480 pix in iPhone 3G format to see it also on Mobile devices. It gives relatively good quality to watch it on a TV. Downloading all  movies will cover complete impression of the sectors that we covered. Mind you, the total size at the end is around 500MB…how is your Netspeed !!

 

All the Photographs are Geocoded. The movies are also Geocoded but I have not published the Geocodes alongwith the movies.

 

 

 

GPS logging

 

Complete trip has been logged on my Garmin 60CS. The Google Earth Satellite image as the first slide shows the GPS route in a Skyblue color in Photo Gallery.

I also carried and tested MapMyIndia console with latest version of All India Map. I can say that within the cities, the Maps are reasonably good including National Highways. The State Highways and roads outside towns are unreliable. In Srinagar , we wanted to locate a reasonably good Hotel and opted for ‘Premium Hotel Shangrila’. An old half-crumbling building with dirty rooms is definitely not my idea of a Premium Hotel POI. On way from Srinagar to Jammu , inside the Jammu city, it showed a motorable way through a extremely narrow back street where we could hardly enter. We had to retrace our way back to the main road. However, as we followed the main road, it did take us to Hotel Asia in Jammu . So you can use MMI but don’t let your own ‘antenna’ down….you may need it more than you think!!

Besides Garmin 60CS and MapMyIndia, I was also using PathAway Pro 5 on my HTC Sedna 6500 PPC. I have always used PathAway Pro on all my trips and find it very comforting depending upon how good you are at map calibration. It gives you a visual idea of the region and a sense of direction which keeps you going. Mind you, most of the new PPC and Mobile devices DO NOT have built-in GPS Module but only AGPS (Assisted GPS) and that includes iPhone 3G or even the latest 4G. These new Models generally work through Telecom transmission towers and not directly through Satellites. In a region like Ladakh, you may not get a transmission signal for miles and keep on wondering why your GPS is not working !!!

I have included the Elevation Profiles for the sector Delhi – Jammu – Srinagar – Kargil. The rest of the Elevation Profiles are already available on Ladakh 2006 and Ladakh 2007 Travelogues.

 

 

 

 

30th May 2010

Delhi – Jammu

 

Start 06.00hrs. Finish 20.40hrs. Distance 609kms. Time 14h 40m. Avg 42kmph

Accommodation: Hotel Asia, Jammu ca.2800INR with BF. Extras expensive

 

 

 

 

31st May 2010

Jammu – Srinagar

 

Start 08.50hrs. Finish 20.00hrs. Distance 297kms. Time 10h 50m. Avg 27kmph

Accommodation: Hotel Highway , Srinagar ca.3000INR Room Only

 

 

 

 

1st June 2010

Srinagar – Kargil

 

Start 06.55hrs. Finish 17.22hrs. Distance 204kms. Time 10h 26m. Avg 20kmph

Accommodation: Hotel Siachen, Kargil ca3300INR Full Board

 

 

 

 

2nd June 2010

Kargil – Leh

 

Start 07.50hrs. Finish 19.50hrs. Distance 231kms. Time 12h 00m. Avg 19kmph

Accommodation: Hotel Hill Town , Leh ca.3300INR Full Board

 

 

 

3rd June 2010

Leh – Hemis Monastary – Leh

 

Start 14.00hrs. Finish 17.45hrs. Distance up/down 88kms. Time Half Day. Avg 32kmph

 

While we waited for the Permits, we visited one of the well known Monasteries 44kms from Leh.

 

 

 

5th June 2010

Leh – Tso Moriri (Cottages)

 

Start 09.07hrs. Finish 15.50hrs. Distance 214kms. Time 6h 40m. Avg 32kmph

 

Tso Moriri was pretty cold. Luckily we were provided with heating arrangement in the room which made life a bit comfortable. In the morning, we saw snow flakes around us and it was -6 degrees in the night.

 

 

 

6th June 2010

Tso Moriri - Leh

 

Start 08.47hrs. Finish 15.47hrs. Distance 213kms. Time 7h 00m. Avg 30kmph

 

 

 

7th June 2010

Leh – Chilling – Leh

 

Start 07.50hrs. Finish 19.50hrs. Distance 231kms. Time 12h 00m. Avg 19kmph

 

We did a full day trip to Chilling from Leh. As said earlier, a diversion starting from Nimmu takes you to Chilling where currently the road finishes. This road when completed, will join the one coming from Padum in Zanskar valley. A major portion of this road now needs to be blasted out of mountain sides all along Zanskar river. Referring to my GPS Log of year 2007 when I followed the same road from Padum, I see on the Map that close to 100km was left to join these two roads. Three years later, now, I take it that only a small portion must be left now to make Padum accessible directly from Leh. 

 

 

 

8th June 2010

Leh Pangong failed attempt

 

Start 09.10hrs. Finish 15.08hrs. Distance 120kms. Time 5h 59m. Avg 23kmph

 

Today we had to return back after doing about 120kms up and down. Tso Pangong this time was beyond the snowfall which had restricted us to cross Chang La Pass. And we had no choice to drive back, enjoy a cup of hot tea on the way and look forward to the next day.

 

 

 

10th June 2010

Leh – Nubra

 

Start 09.09hrs. Finish 17.22hrs. Distance 131kms. Time 6h 13m. Avg 16kmph

 

Many taxis go on a day return to Khardung La pass. Also those not in conditions to face abrupt changes in the weather. So the moment rain comes or today as in case of snowfall, the day taxis with bald tires or hot engine due to steep climb and overload, start a fast traffic jam on these already narrow roads. And if by any chance a military convoy comes with their heavy trucks and tens of them one after the other, the Chaos is complete. With this initial scenario, we patiently waited while most of them went back. The army convoy passed by and we followed them with almost no other traffic. Finally, as it happened, the snowfall stopped and we were greeted with bright sun at Khardung La and beyond. The weather in Nubra was completely sunny and beautiful.

 

 

 

11th June 2010

Nubra visit

 

Start 09.14hrs. Finish 17.14hrs. Distance 139kms. Time 8h 00m. Avg 17kmph

 

We covered today both the sectors of Panamic and Hundar. There is a Petrol Pump in Hundar but it was closed presumably because of no fuel. We had not refueled in Leh for this excursion as we carried an extra 20Litre Jerrycan with us. So we now used that which was then more than enough for our journey back to Leh. The weather throughout our stay in Nubra was excellent for photography. The double humped Camels are being used to give rides to tourists. Fully commercial and perhaps fun for the children.

 

 

 

12th June 2010

Nubra – Leh

 

Start 08.43hrs. Finish 16.38hrs. Distance 119kms. Time 7h 55m. Avg 15kmph

 

The return journey showed us how fast the weather changes. As we left Nubra, the weather started deteriorating and then came the snowfall again. The worst part is that you do not know if it will get better or worse. If you continue and it becomes worse, then there is a chance that you cannot even go back. But we continued and it became better. The civilian traffic convoy is released for Khardung La towards Leh around 12.30PM, so we had to wait for a while before continuing with our journey. The rest of the journey to Leh was greeted with snow-laced bad roads near Khardung La but we had no problems in returning back to Leh.

 

 

 

13th June 2010

Leh Pangong failed attempt, then visit to local villages around Leh

 

Start 06.36hrs. Finish 16.50hrs. Distance 218kms. Time 10h 14m. Avg 21kmp

 

The second attempt to cross Chang La Pass towards Tso Pangong failed again, this time with even more severe snowfall. This time we had hired a Taxi thinking that we could also lean back and see more of photo frames for a change. That was good decision as it gave us plenty of time to be able to decide our shots. But with Tso Pangong out of reach for us, we decided to visit some villages around Leh. That was also good. But Tso Pangong remained elusive from us on this trip.

 

 

 

14th June 2010

Leh – Rumtse – Leh

 

Start 10.42hrs. Finish 17.13hrs. Distance 170kms. Time 6h 30m. Avg 26kmp

 

With both Tso Pangong as well as Manali route closed and fresh landslides and snowstorm near Baralacha, we finally decided to head back the way we came. As a last day, we made a trip towards Rumtse about 85kms towards Manali route. Talking to local people there, it was now clear that Manali route will take time. But this journey to Rumtse was also very nice and we took time to enjoy our last day before heading back home.

 

 

 

15th June 2010

Leh – Kargil

 

Start 09.06hrs. Finish 18.47hrs. Distance 226kms. Time 9h 40m. Avg 23kmph

 

This was really uneventful journey except when we reached Kargil, there was a confusion about our Hotel room which was finally sorted out. We were hardly shooting on the way back.

 

 

 

16th June 2010

Kargil – Srinagar – Jammu (on 17th morning)

 

Start 06.09hrs. Finish 04.31hrs. Distance 489kms. Time 22.22m. Avg 22kmp

 

Kargil Srinagar sector was covered pretty well due to one side traffic. With army convoy in our front and back, the going was slightly slow than we had wished, nevertheless we were already hitting Sonmarg around 10.30A.M. We then decided to skip Srinagar and head further to Jammu . The going was pretty good and we would have made it to Jammu by 19.00hrs in the evening but for the traffic jam due to landslide. And the traffic pile-up went on and on till the night fell and finally it started to move very slowly. We got out of the jam only around 23.30hrs and after all night drive finally made it to the Hotel around 04.45hrs in the morning. 

 

 

 

18th June 2010

Jammu - Delhi

 

Start 08.25hrs. Finish 22.42hrs. Distance 613kms. Time 14h 17m. Avg 43kmph

 

This journey was just driving and driving with A/C switched-on. The heat was penetrating especially after coming from Leh. And when we reached near Delhi , the city pollution joined the heat. Finally we were happy to reach back home. And that was the end of the trip for this year.

 

 

 

Fuel consumption, Geolander Yokohama and Calmini Reverse Shackle Suspension Kit

 

Fuel consumption was around 12-14kmpl on the hilly tracks while we could get 13-15 throughout plains depending upon A/C usage and speed. With speed around 65kmph with non-A/C, the vehicle gave its best performance with over 14.5kmpl.

I was happy that I agreed to Rudra’s suggestion of going for new tires, and in Geolander Yokohama ATS found really what I was looking for.  Exceptionally good tires for on- and off-road usage. Never once they failed and the white sidewall markings which Gary ordered were just the right thing to have. I bought 6 tires (4800INR each) but on this trip we carried only 5 tires. I generally use the 6th tyre for rotation in pairs. The sidewalls are pretty good and the tread excellent. They matched my previous choice of Goodyear Wrangler RTS by all means and a bit more. A recommended tires by any means.

On way to Kargil, we tried a bit of jump with all wheels in the air. The Calmini modification were absolutely great and especially their Polyurethane bushes, which are far superior to the stock bushes. The Gypsy is raised by 5cms but a better or smoother ride is only possible when the articulation is further improved with better arched leaf springs and not the flat ones like I have. So while I could feel the advantages of raising the vehicle, the ride is not ‘much’ smoother as the road bumps make the Leaf-Springs hit the Bump-Stop-Extensions due to limited articulation. Well, something to think about…!!

 

 

Additional Information

 

Please also see Ladakh 2006 and Ladakh 2007 trip articles which cover other Ladakh region.

 

 

 

©Ajay Narayan

11th August 2010, Zürich

www.ajaynarayan.com