Some questions to the latest Leh tourers, for my itinerary:

28 Aug Day 1: reach Srinagar, collect the bikes and go for a shikara ride in Dal Lake.
29 Aug Day 2: Srinagar - Kargil
30 Aug Day 3: Kargil - Leh
31 Aug Day 4: rest in Leh and get the permits made (at the same time you can visit Thiksey, Leh Palace etc.)
1 Sep Day 5: Leh - Khardung La - Diskit/Hunder (Nubra Valley)
2 Sep Day 6: Nubra Valley sightseeing and by afternoon, start heading back to Leh
3 Sep Day 7: Leh - Chang La - Pangong Tso
4 Sep sun Day 8: Pangong Tso - Chang La - Leh
5 Sep Day 9: rest in Leh
6 Sep Day 10: Leh - Upshi - Chumathang - Tso Moriri (Korzok)
7 Sep Day 11: spend the day at Tso Moriri and if you want, move to Tso Kar in the afternoon
8 Sep Day 12: Tso Moriri - Tso Kar - Pang - Sarchu
9 Sep Day 13: Sarchu - Manali
10 Sep Day 14: Rest in Manali
11 Sep Day 15: Ride to Chandigadh
12 Sep Day 16: Ride to Delhi
13 Sep Day 17: Get on the Delhi Pune Duronto train with bike for Mumbai
14 Sep Day 18: Reach Pune at 7am.

Is there any direct way from Nubra valley to Pangong tso, via Wari La? How is the road? This will save a full day.

Is Manali - Delhi doable in one day? How are the roads?

Can I do Tso Moriri to Sarchu in one day, and NOT stay at TSO kar, as I would have already seen two lakes already?

There is one route Which directly goes from Nubra to Tangste(near Pangong) .. for details you can contact xBhp.com : The Global Indian Biking Community - View Profile: aman_pulsating

@ani: stay at drass instead of kargil.just a better quaint place.kargil is like city with hustle bustle which somewhat ruins the charm of hill ride.

nubra-pangong:since you will be with wife.avoid this route.As told by many around 35 kms of it is total no roads with riding on river bed.May lead to bike failure of certain parts.

at diskit:stay at sand dunes resort.beautiful place & quite affordable.
(pic attached)

manali-delhi would be possible I guess.Around 500 kms.doable if you leave early.road would be average & good.

other stuff --someone else will answer better as we didn't do tso moriri

Day9: Rest in Leh: Not at all required. It would be a waste. If you leave from Pangong even by 0800 hours, you will be back in Leh by 1500 hours at worst with photostops and all. It is just 150 kms with less than 20kms of bad roads.

Manali - Delhi in a day is a cakewalk after your Ladakh tour. 575 kms I have done it in a day by bus, car, bike etc! Manali till Delhi, excellent roads ALL through! Leave at 0600 hours in the morning.

I am in serious soup

Experienced people, can you please guide what to do? I am having tickets to Srinagar flight for 28 Aug, where I was supposed to collect my bike (which would be already couriered by Gati), and then go for Leh ride with wife.

Now Srinagar delivery of bike is not promised by Gati people. So I have 2 options:

1. If Srinagar route is open, I will book the bike in train as luggage, not as parcel (already have a SL ticket of Jammu Jhelam express ), i will reroute the flight tickets to land at Jammu, take the bike from station and then will go to Srinagar-Leh.

2. If Srinagar route is closed completely, and I have to take manali - leh route only, I will go to Nizamuddin station by railway, taking the bike along with me, and ride Delhi - Manali - Leh and back by same route.

Please opine about the options.

chances of srinagar-leh route closed compared to manali-leh are very slim as it involves only one serious pass-zozila.

Option 1 would be more feasible as you can ride from srinagar & come back via manali.

are you asking this question with a curfew in Kashmir?

Yes. If at all there is a curfew in srinagar, and they won't let vehicles pass, then I will have to take Jammu - Pathankot - Leh route, which will be very long. I think I would rather take the Delhi - Manali- Leh - Manali -Delhi route than Jammu - Pathankot - Leh - Manali - Delhi.

The bike anyways can travel either to Jammu or by Delhi by train. Can anyone suggest a cargo service that can take the bike to srinagar reliably?

Any cargo service carrying bike as per schedule to Srinagar in the current scenario is NIL.

Delhi - Manali is a better option. Also spending time on travelling to and from Jammu can be avoided. In any scenario, your flight tickets will be Pune / Mumbai - Delhi - Srinagar so you can utilise only the first portion of the ticket.

If I am going to Delhi only, I will travel by Pune NZM express, and cancel the flight tickets. But I wanted to do the Srinagar - Leh - Manali - Delhi route

Are all areas in Srinagar risky? If I start from Jammu, can I somehow bypass the trouble areas and continue to Leh, or do I have no option?

Not all areas in Srinagar are risky. In fact the current trouble started on the day we reached back to Srinagar. We reached at 11 pm and still did not feel any insecurity. In fact, Aman and Paaji tried to haggle for a houseboat and Paaji went and saw the boat at that time.

Next day was a Bandh called by local parties. Still the traffic is normal.

The challenge is that you have to pass through Srinagar for going to Sonmarg - Zozila - Drass. (as far as my information goes) If either the road to Jammu or local Srinagar is closed, your travel plans go kaput and you are stuck.

People like us who have to book train / flight tickets have a problem of availability at a later date.

My suggestion would be to keep the flight tickets as they are and still book train tickets till delhi right now. You can take a call about canceling either couple of days before your travel date looking at the scenario at Srinagar. This way your plans remain flexible.

How about one more option:

I take Mumbai Jammu flight, and send bike by train, so both will reach there on saturday. Based on situation there, I will either proceed to Srinagar - Leh, and if at all it is not possible, I will come to Manali and proceed to Leh. By This option, atleast the Srinagar option is open till last moment. Anyways my hotel bookings are not done, so that's no problem.

Has anyone done Jammu throgh Manali? It seems it is 402 km, so it should be doable in 2 days, with halt in between. What do you think of this way?

This one seems a better option.

A Bad News !!

Leh: Many people are missing and 50 bodies have been recovered after flash floods hit Leh in Ladakh. Reports said a number of people were killed and many injured in a massive cloudburst on Thursday night.

The cloudburst triggered torrential rains, mudslides and flash floods. A number of homes were completely destroyed and around 200 injured people were taken to Army hospital.

With communication links breaking down, the exact number of casualties is not known yet. But authorities fear that the number of dead could be over a hundred.

The Srinagar-Leh Highway has been cut off as a crucial bridge between Syong and Nemu was washed away. The Leh airport runway is completely covered in mud and flight operations have been suspended.

Old Leh city is worst affected, with the main hospital, SNM Hospital, flooded and the main bus stand flattened. The city's main telephone exchange is also submerged.

An Indo Tibetan Boder Police camp and a number of government offices have also been damaged.
The Army has rescued around 50 CRPF jawans trapped in the camp.

The Army's 14 Corps has mobilised 6000 engineers and infantry troops and is using helicopters for rescue works.

Read more at: Leh flash floods: 50 dead, many missing

Ya man, I am seriously thinking of cancelling Leh trip this year Srinagar messy, Leh under water, seems this year there are too many opposing forces