There are essentially two ways to get to leh.
1.via srinagar
2.Via manali
I wanted to take the srinagar way but due to the amarnath band i could not.I went to
pathankot from jammu and from pathankot i went to manali.
The route via manali is called a Cannon ball trip. It is so called because you leave
manali early in the morning and reach leh in the evening.. you see like a cannon ball,
you find little time to enjoy the scenic beauty
On the other hand if you leave friom srinagar you have plenty of time as you have to
spend the night at kargil. i have heard that this a better way but then it all depends
on the ground situation in srinagar.
from manali you get a room, the rooms are pretty cheap some where around 200 per night,
tell the reception that you want to go to leh, he will send a travel agent to you .I
don’t remember so correctly of how much it costs form manali to leh.. 500 per person,i
will ask and let you know.
Rest stop in way to leh
Bargain is the key word, don’t be ashamed to bargain
I landed in manali on a monday morning and left for leh on a tuesday morning at 2am. beer
and wines are cheap in manali,ask for peace cafe.. it is a nice place to eat.Due to the
recession you may find hotels to be even cheaper.I haven’t been around manali much but i
am quite sure there is nothing much to see.(except dope,you do know what manali is famous for don’t you )
make sure you tell the agent that you will pay the next half in the bus when you are
about to climb it..this way you are sure that he comes and wakes you up …. other wise
they just leave..it is not their responsibility if you do not reach the assigned spot on
time… I mean 2 am in the morning and you are drunk …
O ya cops… himachal cops love tourist.. as tourism is the main stay of himachal…don’t
be afraid to approach them they are very friendly.. no really …manali is the heaven for
foreign tourist na .. so they are nice..if you feel cheated or robbed,.,,call the cops
Well i bribed the driver with a 100 rupees so that he does not make a fuss if i want to
take a piss or have a beer in the bus… you might find that to be a good idea.
get “Diamox” tablets.. … they help you slow your body
consumption ofoxygen and something like that.
You will have to stop at a lot of places in the way enjoy the scenic beauty… be
friendly with the driver,,,offer him a cigg…. no…. no…. no….. do not offer him a
beer to risky….you can offer him after you reach to leh but not before that.
Me inside my room leh
As soon as you land in leh.. you will find a person who will politely ask you if you need
a room. the rooms are cheap here too …150-250 … any thing within 400 is good enough.
If you eat break fast in the hostel make sure that you pay instantly as with me the bill
i had to pay for breakfast at the end of the trip made me go red..
you know i suspect that i did not eat 3 packets of bread in 7 days.
There are two atms there…one SBI and one PNB.. the PNB Never worked…there is a huge
line in front of the SBI one…take your money out in early morning
The only two cellphone connections working in leh are BSNL and airtel… and that too
post paid.. so you might want to get a post paid connection of airtel and that too soon.
I will give you the number of my travel agent in leh, just go to him and tell him you are
friends with me and he will beat and chase you out of leh like a lion chasing a deer. 
no seriously he is a very near dear friend of mine,, i met him through a colleague of mine
…had a couple of beers with him in jammu and then had chang in leh..THE IMPORTANCE OF BEER
Pang gong tso
His name is renchan….tell him you are friends of me .. and he will give a discount here
and there.
Leh is essentially a beautiful and try to keep it that way.. bargaining is NOT a way to
go as people here are simple and the first price they quote is the last price.. it is
more or less embarrassing to bargain here.
things to do
1.Brown water Rafting…Dangerous but fun… very long 30km if i remember
correctly…600-750 per person i don’t remember…Ask renchan
2.Chang… the locally brewed beer…ask renchan …no don’t ask him threaten him …he
will arrange some for you ..he is the only one who can arrange it for you
3.Pang gong tso .. very nice place.. you might take into account that you might be stuck
there for one night as the roads are closed after 3pm… fun though spending the night
there is fun. Been there done that.I had to stay there.I will can send you some pics if you want.
TSO in ladakhi mean lake
4.Monastery… you need to go to atleast one monastery ….
Inside a Monastry
you might want to miss the kings places… i did…
5.Drive a bike…well rent a bike and go around the leh and ladakh… don’t go too
far…pick a straight road and start riding … when you feel scared or lost,turn back
and start riding back…. they take your debit card or atm card as a security and Rs.600
per day for pulsar and 700 for a bullet and you need to have a valid driving
license..Renchan will guide you where to get a bike
You cannot steal the bike as you have no where to go …you will be caught either in
manali or in kargil..that was what i was told
test drive a bike before you take it …you can do the local sight seeing on the bike…
you know fun and “Dhoom macha le”….. you might want to be aware of the military trucks…
as they own the roads there… better safe than sorry… when ever you see an army truck
you might want to go down on “dhoom macha le” as the truck driver might not reciprocate the
excitement and you may be under the truck.
5.Trekking… i haven’t done it but you might want to do it ask renchan …he is the best
trekking guide in leh.
6.Food…food is costly in leh…yes it is..very costly… a maggie can cost you 25-40
rupees, so you might want to …i dunno get used to some chinese food …
irrespective…even they are costly… north indian food is costly too
You know what, i just got off the phone with renchan,,,he has made a hotel too so you can
rent some rooms there…that is if you want to .
The Lonely traveler ! Romancer of the Himalayas
You might want to cut down on smoking there… well you will cut down on smoking once you
reach there
The biggest mistake that you could possibly do is to go for rafting the next day you
reach to leh…the first two days you reach to leh should be taken safely..you have to
rest and let your body acclimatise…you might not feel it but your body needs it..it was
also the reason as to why Indian army lost a lot of it troops in the kargil war…they did
not have enough time to acclimatise and hence forth their brain and body could not get
used to the low oxygen level and hence high fatality.
If you don’t then water will start accumulating in your heart and you will die.the only
cure for that is loosing altitude fast.
You don’t want to die on a holiday trip ..do you ?
So take me and harsh advice and rest for the first two days
Renchan has a bar too…go and hang out there…that bar is only visited by foreigners..
who knows you might get lucky 
””. and ask for “MONALISA” beer..it is available
there….remember Abhay deol from eek chales ke akhri local??? “Monalisa “…he was
right…..ASK FOR IT… I HAVE DRUNK IT AND IF YOU DON’T DRINK BEEER,,, THEN PLEASE TAKE
A PICTURE OF IT AND SEND IT TO ME…NO ONE BELIEVES ME WHEN I SAY THAT I HAVE DRUNK IT.
The bar is closed on a Tuesday but with renchan…
O ya ,,,, you might want to rent a bike and go to the war memorial … the pather saheb
and the magnetic hill…. okay there is nothing called the magnetic hill it is just.. i
dunno …i heard a lot about it …when i reached there.. well you tell me what you saw
there and then i’ll tell you what i saw.
Sindhu River
Accha, i would recommend that you leave leh and come via kargil. I have heard a lot about
that route… it is very scenic…you leave on 1st morning and you arrive in srinagar on
2nd night…you get to stay at kargil and have a look at kargil shaheed
I have not been around srinagar but you might want to go to the shankrachayra matt there.Get on
the bus from srinagar to jammu..this again is a very beautiful route.. don’t be scared of
the militants.. there are no militants in J&K ..only the hurriyat…if you follow
politics you will know..if not then forget it.
Jammu …go to the shiv temple … there is a spatik lingam placed by the king of jammu
from jammu keep a couple of days as a rest time …you never know i would keep them and
then get a train back to home…
You might want to pack a leather jacket for the cold in leh ….srinagar is not
cold…just one leather jacket is enough. you will be provided bedding where ever you
go.. i mean hotels,get some gloves and socks.. i hate dirty drippy socks… et clean
socks,,, two towels, undies…lots of undies….. a pair of jeans and 5-6 shirts…travel
light… that is the secret to a trip… the more clothes you have the bulkier…. get a
back pack kind of a thing.
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