Leh Ladakh Bike Trip & Tour

This is the day we have kept for a local tour of Leh region on a car or a motorcycle. Another day to acclimatise to high altitude, as also cover some essential tourist spots - Leh palace, Shanti Stupa, Hall of Fame Museum, a Ride to Shey, Thikse, Stok Palace and Hemis monastery. If you have opted to biking then its a good day to get used to your bike and the traffic conditions.

This day we drive out to explore some very unique landscapes of Himalayan region. A scenic drive through some fine rocky faces to visit the Lamayuru Monastery and Moonland. On our way back we would visit Alchi and Likir Monasteries, the magical phenomenon of Magnetic hill and the scenic Bazgo plains. We ride back to hotel by late afternoon. On this day you would be pretty comfortable with the roads of Ladakh and of course your motorcycle. You are now ready to explore other regiions of Ladakh, the largest district of India.

Having spent 3 nights at Leh you are now fairly acclimatised and used to your iron horse, and this is a landmark day. Today you would ride on to the World's highest motorable pass - Khardungla ( 18,380 ft) and cross into the beautiful Nubra valley through some deep gorges. We stay overnight in a typical high altitude Ladakhi village in Nubra valley - Hunder or Sumur. Witness the rustic lifestyle of people in these most rugged terrains of the World. What you ride today has been for thousands of years a caravan route that used to feed the Silk route through Karakoram pass.

We ride out after breakfast and explore the beautiful Nubra valley. The green hamlets nestled in the valley supporting life. The essential tourist spots we see today are the Hunder sand dunes; double humped bactrian camels and unique Diskit monastery and its Giant Buddha. The bactrian camels are a wonderful remnants of the trading days. At noon we ride back to Leh, via Khardungla pass and check into your hotel. If the route is good and pass is open - we may take a diffrent route to Leh via the less visited pass of Warila.

This day we take on the third axis - a ride to Pangong Tso through some more high altitude passes, beautiful grazing grounds and landscapes. By noon you would arrive at one of the most spectacular vistas of your life - Pangong Tso Lake. It has some of the most beautiful hues of blue, that you would ever see in your life. Its a lake that extends deep into China with only one-third with India. And a night by the lakeside camp is an experience of lifetime.

Having done Pangong Tso - now its time to return back to Leh for your last evening in Ladakh. You could spend the time collecting some memorablia from Leh town, or just have a easy evening looking back at your time spent in this wonderful part of the world. These memories will surely keep coming back to you. If you wish to extend your trip and see Tso Moriri Lake - please talk to us well in advance ...

You have had one of the most unique experiences in life. Its time to fly out of Leh. Our representative will transfer you to airport.

While everything essential is covered on this week long tour. It would take 3 more days if you wish to see the regions of Turtuk ( A Balti village on Indo-Pak border) and Tso Moriri (another beautiful high altitude lake). If you are keen and have time - do ask us to plan your 'Kashmir Valley Tour'.

PS: There may be minor re-routing in case of weather conditions or road conditions at the actual time of travel. Your guide is best qualified to take this call.

The rides would normally start early in mornings - to take advantage of low traffic - and cool ride experience. You will begin the ride the vintage Grand Trunk road (comes all the way from Peshawar) through plains of Haryana & Punjab - the bread basket of India - hamlets and rice fields would be on both sides of the road. Punjab has a distinct cuisine and flavour - do not miss the delicious chicken preparations of Jullundhur.

We ride out relaxed this morning through the rural Punjab. Its all plains till we enter the lower Himalayas and an endless series of bridges over streams - flowing out to the plains of Punjab. We then are in the foothills of Himalayas as we eneter Jammu region - the Hindu settlement of Jammu & Kashmir. You will have to be careful with some potholes and unruly traffic at road crossings.

After an early breakfast, we check out and ride towards Srinagar. Today you would ride through a busy road - passing through the crowded villages and towns - made busier by the Army convoys which have priority rights. There will be a checkpost short of Jawahar tunnel for your identity and passport checks. Jawahar tunnel needs to be crossed with care - and once across you are officially in the most beautiful Kashmir valley. After some quick pictures, we ride down past the Kashmiri crowded towns towards Srinagar. You can expect some traffic snarls as you come closer to Srinagar, the capital of Jammu & Kashmir. We reach Srinagar by afternoon and take a Shikara ride to our houseboats - a unique stay on the famous Dal Lake. You could relax for a while and then in the evening you are free to explore the Lake and surroundings. Shikara ride on the lake is the most popular thing to do in the evening. Once back from your easy and pleasant evening, you will be served a Kashmiri dinner at the houseboat. You could spend some more time on the lakeside seating or retire early for the ride in the morning. This would be another very memorable evening.

Start early in the morning after breakfast. The morning ride will take you through a nice and winding road along a gushing water stream - to Sonamarg. This is a beautiful hamlet - lush green meadows and time for a hot cup of tea. You will cross famous Zozila Pass - this pass gets washed away by heavy snowfall each year. There are at times long truck convoys on Zojila. This one will surely test your riding skills - there is no black top. Once across, you ride on to Dras - rated to be the second coldest inhabited place in the World. You would also pay tribute to the real Heroes of the Kargil War. Overnight we will be at hotel in the small himalayan township of Kargil. This is where the greater Himalayas will begin to unfold.

Wake up early again and start journey toward Leh after breakfast - the roads today too - will be a mixed bag. Enroute you’ll visit standing Buddha at Mulbegh, the famous Lamayuru Monastery among a unique landscape that resembles moon - called Moonland. We take detour off the main highway - and a lunch break at the ancient Alchi Monastery - what a wonderful temple complex. We then ride onto the strangely true Magnetic Hill and the Pathar Sahib Gurudwara. We then ride the Bazgo plains - and reach Leh by the evening. It was a good days ride - you are in a capital town of Ladakh region. Some modern amenities in this high Himalayas - beyond 10,000 ft. So take it easy today.

After four days of riding, this day is dedicated for relaxing and acclimatization. On this day you are free to explore Leh at your own pace, and visit to Stok Palace, Leh Palace, Hall of Fame museum, Shey, Thiksey, Hemis, Shanti stupa, Tibetan market and shops in Leh town. You can also enjoy some local food and buy souvenirs from a local market. Leh is the centre of all the activities in the region and you would love even walking around the town. But take it easy - this is an acclimatisation day. The motorcycles would be put through a servicing routine - for next day's tough ride to Khardungla.

This is a big landmark day of your riding life. You’ll ride on a motorcycle to the world’s highest motorable pass, the Khardung La (18384 ft) - this is the highest one can ever reach on a motorcycle on this planet - click a quick picture and be sure that you leave the pass earliest to ride down on the other side. We now cross over to the beautiful Nubra Valley - riding some of the highest altitudes. Your overnight stay will be at an Organic farm field camp - and you would love it. There would be a dinner by the fireplace and a clearest of the night skies.

Nubra valley deserves more than one day. There are quite a few things one could do. You can explore the Nubra valley on your bike - important places to see would be the Diskit Monatery - which has some great stories to hear from monks and the famous Hunder sand-dunes - where you would be amazed at the double hump bactrian camels. These camels are the remnants of the silk trade that flourished through this valley in the past. About a days ride from Nubra and back would be to the Balti village of Turtuk or may be the hot water springs of Panamik. These are optional activities - and would require special permits and preparations.

This would be an easy morning to wake up and may be take a walk around the village and see the life as it exists beyond 10,000 ft. Around 10 am, post breakfast we ride back to Leh once again via Khardungla. You have another chance to take a photo at highest motorable pass in the world - before you roll down back into Leh valley. Yet another day when modern amenities are available to you. So you may have the long missed pizza or a burger before we once again ride into the wilderness.

This is a wonderful ride to one of the most beautiful vistas of your life - the stupendous Pangong Tso lake. We do pass through various passes and valley and frightening roads. It would be cold in the passes and on the lake - the winds at times are pretty harsh. Try spotting the mormots or ibex on the slopes and meadows if you can. The turquoise blue Pangong lake and the various hues of blue it changes as the sun and clouds play with each other - is a natural wonder. We would be at our camps by the afternoon. Take a walk by the lake in the evening and see the vastness of this crystal clear lake. It is a humbling experience.

With some more morning views of Lake - we need to ride out early, and it is a long day ride to Sarchu. You would pass by Tanglang La and then a drying Tso-Kar lake - often visited by the bird watching enthusiasts. Once across Tsokar, we are on some real nice roads and drives - The Moreh Plains. Here you could ride to your heart's content after a long time. At the end of these plains is a road side camp called Pang. With a quick lunch, we get on to our ride, as we still have quite a bit to cover. By late afternoon we cross the border into Himachal at Sarchu - a windy valley that looks like narrow plains. We quickly check into our camps. Sarchu normally is pretty cold and has wind chill effect. It would be good to retire early, as you still have another tough day ahead, before you are in Manali.

Well here we are - the last of the tough ride days, but with most rewarding views too. We would do well to start early morning to ride some more mountain passes. The roads will be good, bad and ugly - and you would be happy to finally cross the famous Rohtang La - which means the Heap of Dead. A few years from now - you will not have to cross Rohtang, as there is a tunnel under construction below this hill. If we do sustained riding with only very essential halts - we would be Manali by the evening. This would be a tough day, and a few places your IDs would be checked.

Well you have just finished one the most tough ride of your life - given the uncertainties it reveals - it arguably is the toughest commercial ride on planet Earth. Here is one more day of ride, though with traffic increasing as you ride down the Himalayas. Once in plains you are back to your usual mundane traffic on Indian Roads.

Like all good things that come to an end - this is the last day of this tour. We ride back to Delhi by the afternoon and reach our hotels. You would now deposit bikes and prepare for our flights or trains back home. We normally have a review session - and we see all the pictures we took on the ride. You say good bye to your ride buddies, thank you to the staff that made it possible - and go your own way till you meet again on another Viktorianz ride in another unique riding trail.