Query Approved.

I think this will be a bit helpful.
Ladakh travel guide: Leh ? Khardung La ? Nubra Valley Travel Guide | BCMTouring

more information awaited from others also.

@ mike autherton - Thanks for the link but I dont need information about the route or the guide to prepration for the tour.
What I want is concrete information about when is the earliest this route opens up this year. Anyone has any idea or some contact at Hp tourism who can provide this information.

@ Aryan - Finally found this thread. Was looking for it in the touring section and wondering where it disappeared. I think it will be more appropriate there as we can discuss the scenario for doing manali-leh this year. Others can pitch in also ask querries as well.

cheers
vishwas

Topic Moved to Tourer section.

Manali-Leh opens up mid/late may. The status of this route as well as the leh-srinagar highway 1A can be tracked here: www.leh.nic.in

Since you are keen on doing spiti as well, i would suggest late may or early june as the time to start. By then, the kunzum pass(gateway to lahaul from spiti) would also be clear of snow.

For any other info, feel free to ask.

@ Aryan - Thanks a ton for the prompt action.

@Kurtrules - I intend to go through Shimla via narkanda, sarahan, tabo, kaza etc and come out right after Rohtang at Gramphoo??. I would like to know about probable areas where I can get stuck on this route. As for beyond here to Leh I'm pretty clear been done this a few times earlier as well.
I think a major concern would be maling nala. Can anyone throw light on this stretch?

cheers
vishwas

Vishwas, kaza is 412 kms from shimla. For sarahan u wud get off he NH at jeori and turn right. Otherwise The road is pretty decent except for a few bad patches enroute till kaza. Another route bypassing malling has been built so the road til kaza is now almost all weather. The major concern is the 80 odd km stretch from losar(~50 km ahead of kaza) to grampoo which is pretty bad in shape. Ride carefully here, carry all spares and tools in case of a breakdown...Other precautions u must be knowing, as u ve done leh many times

@kurtrules - Done leh few times not many times :-).
The link for leh site that you provided puts the status for both the road routes manali-leh and manali-srinagar as closed. Is there no way to find by when it will be opened.
Now since I am unfortunately stuck in a job don't have the liberty of getting up and leaving anytime anymore. Have to manage work commitments et al.
Now option is there to play safe and plan for late june but I want to do this route as soon as it opens and when it has those fantastic ice walls on both sides and that too white. Later the diesel fumes of trucks turn them into repulsive grey/black that one dont even feel like touching.
We did try spiti last year but got stuck on the third big glacier point from gramphoo. The car we had with us just sat on its belly over the boulders with all four tires in the air. We managed to push it through but the people there suggested not to carry on as the maling nala they said is the big daddy of these glaciers and our car will never be able to cross it. So we backtracked and spiti got left.
Now if you are saying that maling nala is now open all year that means one can do spiti as soon as rohtang opens up. I wont mind skipping leh and just do round trip from shimla to manali if it can be done early. Where does one finds status of rohtang?

cheers
vishwas

Yeh lo bhai

Normally it's closed on Mon for civilians. The traffic controller will come with new schedule by April. Their no. is 0194-2455164. Call them up to confirm. The check post is at Baltal just after sonmarg.

Cheers
PS: All thanks to guruji ashwani khanna.
PPS: If you come near gurgaon sometime, let's meet up - have read too many reports of yours
PPPS: Rohtang is simple - call the relevant B&R division.
PPPPS: Even better to finally read of someone who likes snow walls as much as I do - I find it hilarious that people want to try safer trips, that mean that they capture snow only from afar - how boring - Real men do it in May (tm)

You the man Hitanshu. Thanks a ton for information and supporting me.
Yes the fun is to do it as early as possible. If i'm stuck enroute for a few days than it will be even better.
Not interested in doing it from srinagar side. The ride from delhi to srinagar is too damn boring. Arrow staright highway where your poor 150 cc bike screams all the way in protest while you rev her nuts off at 110kmph @ 8000~9000 rpm.
Thinking of not doing even delhi-manali. Trying to convince some volvo owners to take me along with my bike in their monsters. If this materialises than will start riding from manali onwards and will take atleast 4 days to do manali-leh.
Thinking of doing a solo this time or maybe a new unknown riding group/partner. Taking care of a group of friends and their steeds is too much hassle. Have to repair their bikes all the time with the spares I carry for mine. Heck mine dint even had a puncture in any of my runs to leh. Talk about bad luck.

You put up at gurgaon. Sure can meet up sometime.



cheers
vishwas

Aryan I think you can close this thread

cheers
vishwas

srinagar to leh route is open now..plz check OFFICIAL WEBSITE OF DISTRICT LEH (LADAKH)

Thanks kunjal,
But i'm waiting for manali - leh route to open.
Not interested in reaching leh from srinagar

It normally opens by end of may or first week of June. Still its very unpredictable as it can get blocked overnight.