Julley!! Budgeted Trip To Heaven Called Ladakh - The Land Of High Motorable Passes & Lamas!!

We took a sharing cab from Srinagar Taxi Stand and headed towards Kargil (10 hrs drive) via enchanting Sonmarg and dangerous Zozila Pass (11,575 ft). We started near by 10am from Srinagar and reached Sonmarg by 12:30pm after that started heading towards Leh via Zozila Pass-the mountainous road was very narrow. We reached Drass by 15:30 and ate our drunch (lunch at drass) popular meat & rice and headed towards Kargil War Memorial within next 10min we reached there. It was just next to the Tiger Hill and well maintained by Army after that within next 2hrs we reached Kargil Taxi Stand and we took a hotel for our night halt. The hotel was just near the Taxi Stand facing the Suru River which is flowing towards Pakistan.

Expenditure -

Sharing Taxi for Kargil - 900/person

Hotel at Kargil - 500/ room for 02 persons per night

Day 2 :- We took a sharing cab from Kargil Taxi Stand for Leh. We started our journey around 10am in the morning from Kargil and reached Futula Pass (13,478 ft). We reached Lamayuru around 13:00am and we requested our cab driver to stop the cab for 30min as we wanted to visit the famous "Lamayuru Monastery", he asked his other co-passengers and i got really overwhelmed when nobody said NO. We also enjoyed the scenic beauty of "Moonland". Then we again started towards Leh Via Nimmu (Where Zanskar River meets Indus River and flow towards Pakistan). We came to Magnetic Hill where we feel the magnetic phenomena of gravity how without gear our car rotate its wheels...then we passed by the Gurudwara, Hall of Fame (Army Museum) and Leh Airport and entered Leh Taxi Stand. We took a hotel (Namkha Guest House) just near to the Taxi Stand just opposite to it situated Leh Bus stand.

Note- Leh main market is 20mins walk from this Taxi / Bus Stand. There are many hotels and guest houses at Leh main market also. Even 100rs/bed was also available. So will suggest d'nt book rooms in advance through online or so.

Expenditure -

Sharing Taxi for Leh - 900/person

Hotel at Leh - 600/room for 02 persons per night

Day 3 :- We took a rented bike for the full day as we planned to visit the near by places at Leh. So as per our plan we started around 10am after having maagi along with Ladaki Chai (Also known as Gur-Gur chai a combination of salt & butter with milk).

We took the Leh-Manali highway for visiting "Shey Monastery". Within the next 4kms it came "Rancho's School" (Originally known as Druk Padma School) famous for 3 Idiots movie shooting. It is boarding school so be silent while visiting the school premises also we took pics near that building where Chatur from 3 Idiots did susu..the wall is painted on them now. Next we moved to visit "Thiksey Monastery" which came within the next 08kms. After that we headed towards "Hemis Gompa" which is 15kms away from our present location. So in total from Leh to Hemis Gompa the distance is 50kms on the Leh-Manali Highway the all the major sightseeing places we covered. We covered all those by 05pm in the evening and now we headed towards our Hotel in Leh.

Expenditure-

Rented Bike - 800/day (6am to 8pm as per Ladakh Bike Union Timings). Note- There are several other bikes also which cost around 1,500/day.

Petrol - 350 Full.

Hotel at Leh - 600/room for 02 persons per night

Day 4 :- We again took a rented bike for the full day for visiting Leh local sight seeing places as you can't cover Leh full Sight seeing places in 01 day.

This time we took Leh- Kargil -Srinagar Highway for visiting "Hall Of Fame" just after the Leh Airport. It is a defence musuem maintained by Army. After this we visited "Stok Gompa", from there we headed towards Nimmu for visiting "Gurudwara Pathar Sahib " and next 08kms for "Magnetic Hill" to feel the phenomena of gravity where i drove my bike without any gear, that's truly something magic. It was 03pm and we headed back towards Leh for visiting "Leh Palace" ( which resembles (Potola Palace In Tibet) and next to it "Sanchi Stupa". Again we covered alomost 45kms and we came back to our Hotel in Leh.

Expenditure-

Rented Bike - 800/day

Petrol didn't required as we took the same bike of Day 1.

Hotel at Leh - 600/room for 02 persons per night

Day 5 :- We booked a sharing cab last night from Leh main market area near by "Leh Jama Masjid" for Pangong Lake which is 140kms from Leh. One can also reach Pangong by rental bike.

So we started around morning 8am from Leh for Pangong via Leh-Manali Highway. We reached Changla Pass after 80kms. Changla Pass is the 03rd Highest Motor-able Pass in the World at 17,590 ft. We took some pics and done with our breakfast there at the highest point and again started our journey. We reached Pangong Lake by 13:00pm in the afternoon and we gone straight to the lake which is fully blue in colour due to crystal clear sky reflection above it. We took Yak ride over there. Remember that Yellow Scooter of Kareena Kapoor in the movie 3 Idiots with her Red Helmet. Yes it is there and we took many pics of Pangong. 30% of this lake situated in India rest 70% is in China. There are nothing much to see but one if want can do night halt over there but we came back to our Hotel at Leh on the same day near around 20:00pm.

Expenditure-

Sharing Cab for Pangong - 1700/persons (same day return).

Yak Ride - 100/person

Kareena Kapoor Scooty Ride - 50/person

Hotel at Leh - 600/room for 02 persons per night

Day 6 :- We booked a sharing cab last night from Leh main market area near by "Leh Jama Masjid" for Nubra Valley which is 150kms from Leh. One can also reach Nubra by rental bike.

Nubra Valley is the name of the region in which the places should cover i:e; Diskit , Hunder, Sumur & Panamik.

Note- One can also take Sharing Local Taxi from Leh Taxi Stand near Leh Polo Ground for Diskit which will cost around 400/persons.

We started around 11am from Leh for Diskit & Hunder.We reached Khardungla Pass after 40kms. Khardungla Pass is the Highest Motor-able Pass in the World at 18,379 ft. We took some memorable pics and did our breakfast with hot tea and maagi there at the highest point and headed towards Diskit first. We reached Diskit near by 16:00pm and visited Diskit Monastery where one can see the giant Gautam Buddha touching his head in the crystal clear sky almost. Then from there we moved to Hunder which is 08kms. Hunder is the Cold Sand Desert of India. We saw and took pics of two humped bacterial camel over there as this camels were used for transporting purpose over the previous Silk Route of India. One can also do camel ride over here. Panamik is next 50kms from here and we are not interested to see the Hot Spring for which Panamik is famous, so we came back to Diskit and took a hotel for our night halt.One can also take camps/tents for night halt at Hunder but it will due to less budget we prefer to stay at hotel in Diskit which is reasonable than Hunder.

Expenditure-

Sharing Taxi for Diskit - 400/persons per way i:e; 800/person both way.

Hotel at Diskit - 600/room for 02 persons per night

Day 7 :- We started early in the morning after our breakfast from Diskit Taxi Stand for Leh and we reached by 14:00pm. As we got some time so we rested for next couple of hours and then visited local souvenirs shops and market, also bought some T-shirts stitched with Ladakh Gompas and many more. We tried out some Ladaki dishes in the evening as our dinner.

Expenditure -

Hotel at Leh - 600/room for 02 persons per night

Day 8 :- We booked a slot for us for the River Rafting at Zanskar River (The 02nd most dangerous river in India that meets River Indus and flow towards Pakistan).

The cab picked up from our hotel and took to Nimmu-30kms from Leh. They gave us the require gadgets and jackets for rafting and before starting also they briefed us the Do's & Don'ts. The water was ice cold and very fierce. It was an unforgettable experience doing the same. It was a long raft of 29kms which almost took 04hrs to complete. Will recommend to try this adventure sport while in Ladakh. One can contact 'Wet & Wild Adventure" near Leh main market to book.

Expenditure-

River Rafting - 1400/person with Lunch.

Day 9 :- We booked our bus ticket last night for Manali via one night halt in Keylong(HP) from the J&K Bus Stand.

So as planned we woke up by 03am in the early morning and boarded the Himachal Pradesh Paribahan Bus and by 04am it started from Leh towrads Keylong.

Expenditure-

Bus Ticket - 550/person till Keylong & 200/person from Keylong to Manali. Hotel fare at Keylong Bus Stand - 600/room for 02 persons.