Cropped and resized on the fly

It was always going to be a tough ask to cover so many places in 12 days. In addition to that we had planned a few places like Srinagar and Amritsar without time for sightseeing.
So heres how it turned out to be


Day1 Friday, September 18, 2009
Left bangalore in morning for Delhi
Left Delhi for Shimla
Stayed in Solan

Day2 Saturday, September 19, 2009
Left Solan for Manali via Shimla.
Sightsee Shimla, Stayed at Mandi

Day3 Sunday, September 20, 2009
Left Mandi for Keylong,
Visit Manali and Rohtang pass on the way. Stayed at Keylong

Day 4 Monday, September 21, 2009
left Keylong for Leh.
Stayed at Pang.

Day 5 Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Left Pang for leh
Stayed at Leh

Day 6 Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Left leh for Pangong Tso via Chang La and return
Stay at Leh

Day 7 Thursday, September 24, 2009
Left leh for Hundar via Khardung La and Nubra valley
Stayed at Leh

Day 8 Friday, September 25, 2009
Left for Srinagar.
Stayed at Srinagar

Day 9 Saturday, September 26, 2009
Visit gulmarg and dal lake.
Stayed at Srinagar

Day 10 Sunday, September 27, 2009
Left Srinagar for Amritsar
Stayed at Amritsar

Day 11 Monday, September 28,
Sightseeing Amritsar
Stayed at ludhiana

Day 12 Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Left Ludhiana for Delhi
Flew back to Bangalore

Engineering the trip

The planning started almost 2 months before the start date. Initially we had thought of going only to ladakh for 7 days. But later we changed duration to 12 days and planned to visit whole of kashmir. As 21st and 28th of september 2009 were holidays, we had to plan accordingly to go during these days. This would require us to take leave for only 6 days. This was because there was another long weekend during plan was to utilize the holidays that were

We had to be atleast 6 people to make the trip cost effective. Me , bui, akash and adarsh were in . So we had to find atleast 2 more people. Mayur was in Canada, so we hadnt asked him. He agreed immediately as soon as he came to know. Then adarsh's cousin also wanted to come.
So within 4-5 days , the group was decided.

Then came the most tricky part: getting leave from office. With Akash and Adarsh planning to go home after trip, getting 15-18 days of leave was always going to be a hurdle. Eventually we convinced our manager to give us long holiday. But 20 days before the trip, everyone's team got changed. We were apprehensive about our managers canceling the leaves but thankfully that did not happen.

Transportation was the next thing we had to solve. Most of our friends had been to leh by bike, but going on a bike would be too tiring. So we decided on hiring a taxi from delhi. So after days of searching travel agent from internet and calling them up, we decided on the person who offered cheapest fare. Plane tickets were done a month before. We had booked the tickets around a month back for to and fro. Me, bui and mayur were to return together on 29th september while adarsh and akash would return on 4th of october.
According to our estimate, the journey would be of around 3500 km.
We had always thought of booking the hotels beforehand but it never materialized.

While planning we referred 2 books. 1 of them was driving holidays in the himalayas by koko singh. This one mainly covers Ladakh region and is quite comprehensive. The book also has a map of ladakh region.

Proposed Trip itinerary

We read a lot of blogs, bought a few books and planned the trip. In the end though we had to make changes,but we saw almost 90% of the places


Day1 Friday, September 18, 2009
Leave from bangalore in morning to Delhi
Leave Delhi to Manali
Stay in Mandi

Day2 Saturday, September 19, 2009
Leave Mandi to Manali.
Sightsee Manali

Day3 Sunday, September 20, 2009
Leave to Leh and stay in Sarchu
Visit Rohtang pass on the way.

Day 4 Monday, September 21, 2009
Leave Sarchu to Tso Moriri via Lachung La, Tso Kar and Tso Kiagar
Stay at Tso Moriri

Day 5 Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Leave Tso Moriri to Leh via Tanglang La
Stay at Leh

Day 6 Wednesday, September 23, 2009
visit Leh and near by places, arrange passes for Nubra valley and pangong lake

Day 7 Thursday, September 24, 2009
Leave leh to Pangong Tso via Chang La and return
Stay at Leh

Day 8 Friday, September 25, 2009
Leave leh to Hundar via Khardung La and Nubra valley
Stay at Hunder

Day 9 Saturday, September 26, 2009
Leave Hunder to srinagar
Stay somewhere in between

Day 10 Sunday, September 27, 2009
Reach Srinagar

Day 11 Monday, September 28, 2009
Leave Srinagar for Amritsar
Sight seeing and stay Amritsar

Day 12 Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Leave Amritsar for Delhi
Leave Delhi for Bangalore