Manali to Leh, Ladakh
So one of the 'adventure' trips that is recommended in India is to travel the Manali to Leh highway. This path takes you through mountains that form part of the Himalaya range, with one strange addition- that practically no rain finds its way into these mountains. They are in a large rain-shadow valley, where monsoon rains are dropped on either side of the large mountains that form the barrier on both sides of these valleys. So it's still high, still cold, still spectacular mountains- but little snow, no rain, and hence practically no growth.
We decided that the easiest and most relaxing way for us to do it would be taking the bus- it meant overnighting at Keylong, and we wouldn't have to worry about any driving ourselves.
It ended up being a long trip. About 9 hours long on the first day as we climbed through the first two passes. A good way to start appreciating the height and the vastness of the hills and valleys.
The second day, though, was too much- even for a photo-head like myself. We got up at four and ended up in the bus for 17 hours, through dusty valleys, with a 5 minute piss-stop about every 2 hours. People had diarroeha, motion sickness and altitude sickness. It was just too much I think, although some of my fellow passengers were still taking photos of the multi-coloured sand valleys on the approach to Leh.
If I were to give advice to anyone, I would say hire your own jeep (to enable you to travel a little faster than we did), and break it into three days. There are some interesting valley stop where you can sleep in a rather comfortable-looking tent, and it would mean 3 7-8 hour driving days.
These fotos are just to give you a taste. I hope you'll try and look at the big versions of the landscapes in full-screen at: https://picasaweb.google.com/115790948457817636853/IndiaIlkaManaliLeh?authkey=Gv1sRgCOvShN7-n43o4AE
So one of the 'adventure' trips that is recommended in India is to travel the Manali to Leh highway. This path takes you through mountains that form part of the Himalaya range, with one strange addition- that practically no rain finds its way into these mountains. They are in a large rain-shadow valley, where monsoon rains are dropped on either side of the large mountains that form the barrier on both sides of these valleys. So it's still high, still cold, still spectacular mountains- but little snow, no rain, and hence practically no growth.
We decided that the easiest and most relaxing way for us to do it would be taking the bus- it meant overnighting at Keylong, and we wouldn't have to worry about any driving ourselves.
It ended up being a long trip. About 9 hours long on the first day as we climbed through the first two passes. A good way to start appreciating the height and the vastness of the hills and valleys.
The second day, though, was too much- even for a photo-head like myself. We got up at four and ended up in the bus for 17 hours, through dusty valleys, with a 5 minute piss-stop about every 2 hours. People had diarroeha, motion sickness and altitude sickness. It was just too much I think, although some of my fellow passengers were still taking photos of the multi-coloured sand valleys on the approach to Leh.
If I were to give advice to anyone, I would say hire your own jeep (to enable you to travel a little faster than we did), and break it into three days. There are some interesting valley stop where you can sleep in a rather comfortable-looking tent, and it would mean 3 7-8 hour driving days.
These fotos are just to give you a taste. I hope you'll try and look at the big versions of the landscapes in full-screen at: https://picasaweb.google.com/115790948457817636853/IndiaIlkaManaliLeh?authkey=Gv1sRgCOvShN7-n43o4AE
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| Mountain blossom, Manali |
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| Cow herders, Manali |
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| Traditional cap, Manali |
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| The view down, Manali-Leh road near Mahri(?) |
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| Roadside glacier |
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| Tom... jumping?, near 32.3831N; 77.2507E |
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| The most remote toilet in the world (for customers only) |
2 comments:
17 hours on a bus!!!!! Was the driving anything like the buses in Guatemala? I would not have enjoyed it. Liked all the photos and enjoyed raeading as usual. Where is the pic in the kurta that you promised us so long ago?
dad
Actually the only photo I have of that is stored on my work colleague in Samod's phone. And I haven't got the kurta back from my other work colleague so I can't even take a new photo!
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