Suggested Itinerary For Leh,Ladakh

Panorama Shot In front of Hall of Fame

Honestly, every inch of Ladakh is a place to Visit such is the wonder of the place. But very few have the luxury of time and money to make that possible (sadly), thus comes the requirement of cleverly planning down the places to visit, and optimally use the time and the budget. My effort will thus be help you in this.

Shanti Stupa

I was there in Ladakh for 10 Days, and had to keep my plans pretty flexible, because no matter how much I claim to be tough ( and my wife even tougher), at the end of the day over 10,000 Ft with much lower level of oxygen, ended up gasping when carrying the lightest of luggage to my hotel room from the hotel gate, the distance being an amazing 10 Mtrs with the only hurdle being a Staircase with Eight even stairs.

Read somewhere that our Brain needs 20% oxygen to survive, didn't quite feel agreeing to that, at that moment.

Well , AMS (Acute Mountain Sickness) is a major issue in Ladakh, and it can turn your idea of Becoming a Superman to being a Sickman overnight. So if you are arriving via air, minimum 24 hours of complete rest is highly recommended to acclimatize yourself. (Doctors recommend 36 Hours, but Hey ...we all know that.. this is absolutely not possible). But don't push yourself. So...



(Details about Altitude Sickness, its symptoms are to be updated in a separate post)

Day 1 : Welcome to Leh....Do nothing...Take Rest

Arrive in Leh, check in, have your food preferable in the hotel itself, without stressing yourself. Take rest in you room, get yourself acclimatized, slowly. Have plenty of water all day, and never mind how much you are contributing back. Avoid climbing stairs, or doing anything that will might trigger AMS. Walk very slowly, take deep breaths. Do not over hydrate.

However in the evening you can take stroll down in the market place , or enjoy herbal tea, select from an amazing array of confectioneries. The Banana Pies, The Apple Pies are amazing over there, in fact all the bakeries were very original and delicious, my personal favourite being the chocolate banana Pie, and Muffins.

LEH Palace

Your first Sunset in the valley will mesmerize you, I bet that. Just soak in it.

In between you walk, you can just check out the posts  and chits in the various travel agencies, cafes and shops, for Shared Taxis in case you are budget conscious lonely traveller OR  have a talk with the various Bike Hiring outlets in Changspa Road to Fix your mean machine for the stay.

 Enjoy your dinner in the varied cuisines offered and go back to Hotel.

Overnight stay in Leh.

  

Day 2: Sight Seeing.....The Travel Starts

In and around Leh, there are so many things to see. The mode of transportation is upto you. You can Hire aTaxi for local Sightseeing, or get a bike and go around.

Biking is safe in and around Leh, since the roads are good, and most of the time you will be riding inside the valley.

Go to DC office first thing , in Leh and arrange for the Inner Line permits, required for Pangong, Nubra, Tso Moriri. The DC office is beside the Polo ground en route to Leh Palace.

Hall of Fame

All the Details for the Inner Line permits will be provided in the next post.

Start with the sight seeing in and around Leh City.

Places for Sight Seeing. 

1. Shanti Stupa .- Must Visit
2. Leh Palace. - Must Visit
3. Shankar Gompa (Monastery) - Can Visit
4. 
   

   

   Shankar Gompa

    Namgyal Gompa (Monastery) - Can Visit
5. Magnetic Hill (can also be covered later if Visiting Alchi, Likir, Lamayuru Monastry).Can Visit
6. Hall of Fame (Army museum)- Must Visit
7. Spituk Gompa (Monastery) - Must Visit
8. Hemis Monastery (Can be covered on the trip to Pangong) - Must Visit
9. Thiksey Monastery (Can be covered on the trip to Pangong)- Must Visit
10. Sangam. (can be covered later if Visiting Alchi, Likir, Lamayuru Monastery)- Can Visit.
11. Gurduwara Pathar Sahib (can be covered later if Visiting Alchi, Likir, Lamayuru Monastry).Can Visit.

Please avoid climbing stairs, and doing too much ups and downs and stressing your body.

Come back to Leh, dig into some good food, loiter around the market , get back to Hotel.

Overnight in Leh.

Day 3: Conquer Khardungla and off to Nubra......



 Leh- Khardungla--Diskit-Hundar-Turtuk(only if going to Turtuk).

On the way enjoy some Momos (dumplings) and amazing herbal tea in Khardungla Pass (world highest Motorable road)

Nubra is on a lower altitude than Leh, hence AMS should not be a problem, and the body gets well aclamatized

Diskit Monastry

Double Humped Camels

If Not going to turtuk, stay overnight in Diskit or Hundar.Enjoy the camel safari, on the double humped tibetan bactrian camels. They are just extremely cute animals amidst the amazing sand dunes.

The Land Scape is very different with the cold desert .

Day 4 : Monastry a hot spring and back to dashboard

Diskit  Budha

Next Morning visit, Diskit Monastry. the tall budhdha statue and a brilliant view for the landscape. (Opens at after 8 AM), then off to Sumur which has another good monastry , Panamik a hot spring, and then  Back to Leh.

Overnight in Leh.





Day 5 : Day trip to Lamayuru Monastry, Alchi and Likir.

Leh- Gurdwara Pathar Sahib - Sangam - Lamayuru Monastry - Alchi - Likir and back to Leh.

The Lunar Lanscape will enthrall  you the roads through the long valley, the tenth centurt architectures and paintings and curvings will work thier magic on you. The route falls on the Srinagar Leh Highway, so the road is good.

Back to Leh, overnight at Leh

Day 6 : Trip to Pangong Tso ..the blue wonder

Leh - Hemis/Thicksey - Pangong Tso.

 Either cover Hemis or THicksey on the way to Pangong, and the other on the Way BAck.

Overnight at Pangong.(Spangmik/Lukung)

Please Note that Day trips are also available for Pangong wherein you ca return the same day to Leh, but night stay in Pangong is recomended , to soak in the beauty, the serenity, and placidness and the shades of blue .

Day 7 :  Back to Leh and some more Monastries....

Enroute cover Hemis/Thicksey/Shey.

Overnight at Leh

Day 8 : Tso Moriri ......

Tso-Moriri via Chumthang

If you have already visited Pangong then Tso Moriri will perhaps look bland to you, but the plac has a nice eco system and the green lake will have some wonderful rare birds to catch up....

 Overnight at Tso Moriri

Day 9: Back to Leh

Day 10 : Shop till you drop

Roam around , shop with your hearts content, drink apricot juice, but the handicrafts, woolen shawls, pashminas, jackets, a good collection of T-shirts....

  

Day 11 : Time to go back ...

And then come Back to Delhi/Srinagar/Manali.......

There are few minor details like costs ,places to stay , etc, which i have skipped out and will share in my next posts....

For Budget Ideas , click here

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