Solitude of Manali – Leh Highway | Ladakh Mega Meet

The Journey so far…

Prologue, Itinerary & Road Updates

Preview – 17 High Mountain Passes

Preview – 14 Magical Lakes

Rush from Srinagar to Kargil

Heartbreak over Kargil to Leh

Smiles, Sleep & Steps in Leh

Mess-up at Khardung La to Nubra Valley

Nerves of Wari La Pass Route

Charmness over Chang La Pass to PangongTso

Anxiety over PangongTso – Chusul – Hanle

Freedom around KyonTso 1 &KyonTso 2

Shock on Nidar – YayeTso – Horla

Darkness over TsoMoriri – TsoKar Lake

Night was very cold up at Pang which is usually the case at Manali – Leh Highway in September. My feet

went freezing even inside the sleeping bag and inside that temporary room. I was thanking god that we

did not sleep in tents … No no, the prime reason of frozen feet was my legs were at the side of the

door of that temporary room which was actually just covered with a thin cloth rather being a door. Hence,

it just marginally stopped the cold wind from coming inside …

The Majestic Views on Manali – Leh Highway near Sarchu

Day 9 | Pang – Sarchu – Baralacha La – Jispa – Keylong – Sissu

Anyways, we all were awake by 6.30 AM in cold conditions and started to look out for daily bio – routines

in wide open. Finally, everyone was ready by 7.30 AM as we ordered the breakfast. Tapanji had to

reach Manali on that day so he had left for the day early morning with Benjamin. Gagan and Neha came

back and told us that they don’t want to miss the Moore Plains and TsoMoririlake. So, they decided to go

back to TsoMoriri and come back after couple of days later … Wow, lucky they were!! We

had plans of hitting Chandratal tomorrow which meant we will be heading to Jispa for overnight stay on

this day. Filling our tummies and settling the bills with aunty at Pang, we bid adieus to her team to march

into solitude on Manali – Leh Highway. I am so very much in love with the journey

between Pang to Sarchu to Baralacha La Pass over Manali – Leh Highway. Well, it gives a kind of a

different feeling when traveling on this section of the route and in fact this is the prime reason I am madly

in love with the journey of Manali – Leh Highway. The skies were also clear to help us live those magical

views of this high altitude terrain.

The Temporary room where we stayed at Pang

Inside view of the room at Pang

The Majestic Views on Manali – Leh Highway near Pang

Dhabhas at Pang

Strange Structures seen near Pang due to Soil Erosion Effect

As we drove besides the river, the views of barren landscape around Pang kept getting beautiful and

beautiful. We passed through KanglaJalnalla and then ascended to Lachulung La Pass at an altitude of

5059 Mtrs. It was the 13th Pass of our trip and the cold winds were hitting the face ferociously but that did

not let our spirits down. We enjoyed good 20 minutes rest over there before descending towards Whisky

Nalla After reaching the base at Whisky Nalla, we again started our ascend toNakee La Pass, 14th Pass

of our trip at an altitude of 4750 Mtrs. At Nakee La, you can actually see the views towards Lachulung La

which were quite amazing with deep blue skies on offer over the top of barren-scapes. The natural beauty

makes you insane over there midst extreme solitude …

The Majestic Views on Manali – Leh Highway between Pang and KanglaJal

A Strange Rock Formation near KanglaJal on Manali – Leh Highway

Nabeel riding ahead of us

Views from Lachulung La Pass

Lachulung La Pass on Manali – Leh Highway

The wind was harsh so we rolled down and were soon greeted with Gata Loops. Gata Loops are quite

famous for its stories but for me it is well known for its lovely views specially I love the direction from

Leh to Manali on them. While coming from Manali, these 21 Hair Pin Bends known as Gata Loops takes

you from an altitude of 4190 Mtrs to 4630 Mtrs just on the base of Nakee La pass. There are loads of

shortcuts in between, so one should be careful and respect his/her drive before moving on to those

shortcuts else enjoy the serpentine like I do

Gata Loops – As They End

As soon as the Gata Loops end, Sarchu remain about 20 odd KMs and we had planned for lunch over at

Sarchu. However, none of us was able to resist clicking the beauty of Manali – Leh Highway. Hence,

every other turn we were kind of stopping, clicking and stopping again :D… Soon we reached Sarchu

where we crashed onto a dhabha to fill our tummies. We ate alooparanthas and someone just ordered

couple of Red Bulls. When we got the bill, we were shocked to see that just two Red Bulls at Sarchu cost

us almost equal to the price of lunch for 12 people … Nevertheless, we crossed the border

into Himachal Pradesh and followed the dark clouds in distance overBaralacha La Pass range. There

was a minor landslide as we crossed Killing Sarai but thanks to BRO guys who were working there to

clear it.

Dhabha at Sarchu where we had lunch

Snow flakes started to roll down though very lightly as we reached the top of one of the passes that I love

most, Baralacha La Pass at an altitude of 4890 Mtrs. It was 3rd pass of the day and 15th of the trip …

For the first time I saw it devoid of snow, so no point staying there and we rolled down to base of it to

click Suraj Tal / Vishal Tal … Well, at this time of year with no snow around, it was unfortunate to see

this lake (though for the number it was the 12th Lake of our trip :)). It lacked the beauty which it use to

have when snow is around. Hence, just couple of clicks and we moved further down.

Roads were fantastic in this leg of journey and we reached Zingzing Bar for a tea stop. It was cloudy

there too with very light drizzle. I was feeling very sleepy on these good roads so I decided to take a

knap. As I woke up, we were at Deepak Tal (13th Lake of the trip) where we spent good time. Everyone

tried their skills for popping stones over the water of the lake as much as possible. This is the time when

roads are best in shape, so we were not worried of the rest of the journey and we had ample of time on

hand too. So, instead of initially planned Jispa as night stay we decided to reach further ahead and stay

at Sissu for the night. We passed by Darcha that looked quite lovely from the vantage points while rolling

down and mobile signals were restored as soon as we reach there. Time to call home after a day as we

rolled down to Jispa along the Bhaga River Jispa looked wonderful with black tarred road in the middle,

lush green cover of high mountains at the back, Bhaga river flowing aside… just like a perfect countryside

to spend your life. At one stage I thought let’s sleep here only but then we had to get our Scorpio’s

shocker spring fixed at Keylong

A Mountain near Darcha that collapsed into rocks as per history

There is a popular mechanic shop that comes on the left side while going from Leh after you cross

Keylong town. We handed over the spring to him and 40 minutes all it took to get it fixed. The drizzle had

not stopped yet but it was very pleasant to hike around outskirts of Keylong as our car got fixed. Sissu

was just an hour, at max, away from Keylong and there was ample of daylight left. We started from

Keylong went pass Tandi and reached Sissu to stay at Hotel Triveni that falls right on the road. We got

an amazing price of Rs 500-700 depending on the room and number of people in it. But, it was a steal of

a deal with comfort levels this Hotel offers. You can go in and refer DoW at Hotel Triveni and I am sure

they will be happy to offer you a good price

Bhaga River flowing through Keylong

Anyways, I took a bath as cold conditions have turned out into pleasant conditions now and rested there

for couple of hours before the dinner. At night a very sad news hit us as we came to know that Sonamji

(the Xylo driver) had lost his mother a day ago and because of no connectivity he was unable to know

about it … His mother was aged and was running ill for past few months BUT

it’s always the most major loss in anyone’s life … We all were very very sad and

asked both Rigzin and Sonamji to leave back early morning for Leh. Rigzin was feeling bad but our trip is

not more important than the loss and he, being with his dear friend at this critical time of life. We are

tourists, we come and we go but Sonamji was his friend cum relative. We made him understand this so

that he does not feel any guilt whatsoever for leaving us in the middle. We very soon managed taxis for

rest of the trip from Keylong with the help of uncle at Hotel Triveni, that is to Sissu to Chandratal and back

to Manali. This made him felt eased out a bit and they agreed to leave at 3 AM in morning. Finally, we

had dinner together which tasted quite good and local to our tastes of North India after so many

days … We all gave both Rigzin and Sonamji a tight hug, settled their bills along with tips and passed

on this emotional moment to sleep for the night, praying for the blessed soul to rest in peace.

Have you taken this amazing journey of Manali – Leh Highway? If yes, do share your experience with me

too.. Or if you have any queries feel free to share them in DoW Community or in the comments section of

this Travel Tale of Ladakh.

The Journey ahead…

Charisma of Chandratal Lake in Spiti

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