Ladakh Bike Trip — Detailed Report
We did the Leh —Khardungla Pass — Nubra valley — Pangong lake — Chushul — Hanley — TsoMoriri — Tso Kar — Taglang La — Leh circuit in Ladakh on a Royal Enfield Himalayan bike between October 10th and 18th 2021.
Two of us — me and my cousin, Zain — shared the driving between us. We took turns driving the Himalayan bike while my wife and kid accompanied us on an Innova.
PS: When we checked our total ride distance on our bike, it came up to about 700 kms while Google map shows this distance is about 860 kms — not sure why the discrepancy.
Why Ladakh?
Ladakh is on the bucket list of a lot of people. I see why — Ladakh is beautiful.
Ladakh has the most vibrant landscape — the terrain changes every few kilometers and sometimes the terrain is totally different on two sides of the same road.
There is greenery, there is a lake or a river, there is rocky uneven terrain, and you will even find mountains of sand like you see in a desert — all this within Ladakh itself.
At multiple times, I gave up on capturing Ladakh’s beauty — I felt I could not take enough pictures to capture the entire beauty of Ladakh.
Best time to visit Ladakh (especially for a biking trip)
The best time to visit Ladakh is during the summer season from the month of April to June/ July. From what I have read, August gets warm and due to this, the snow melts which leads to water on the roads and road closures. September and early October are fine as well, but it gets cold during these two months.
Most places (especially the places we went to) are closed between November and April. Ladakh opens up for tourists again after that in April.
But each season has its own advantages and disadvantages.
Dheeraj Sharma (Devil on Wheels) has some great inputs if you are planning a Ladakh trip
Why did we travel in October?
We did this trip after a year and a half of staying put at home due to the pandemic. A vast majority in the country had received at least their first dose of Covid vaccination and the anticipated third Covid wave did not happen — which helped in making up our minds to travel.
My son (studying in 8th grade) got his Dussehra holidays around then and we decided to travel to Ladakh. It was bitterly cold during our trip — and if you can’t stand the cold, then plan to do this trip in September or during the April- June window.
Why riding a bike is so popular in Ladakh?
The landscape is amazing in Ladakh (did I mention that already?). The roads are winding and ride is almost never a dull a continuous straight line. It is an experience driving amidst the mountains and all the wonderful vistas they create.
It doesn’t rain as much in Ladakh. Ladakh is a high-altitude cold desert in the rain shadows of the Himalayas and offers 300 days of (rain free) sunshine.
Since the population in Ladakh is sparse, we don’t have to be worried about getting stuck in one of those endless traffic jams we get to see in bigger metropolitan cities.
It’s indeed a special experience driving through the landscape of Ladakh, without rain or traffic interrupting the connect you build with your soul, the bike and the pristine beauty — an experience you wouldn’t easily be able to replicate at other places.
Choosing a Good Bike
It is critical that you get a good bike if you are going for a long drive such as we did in Ladakh. Put in an effort to find a relatively new, well maintained and serviced bike. During peak season, you might need to book well in advance for renting a good bike.
Make sure you go and check the bike in person, take a test ride and only when you are satisfied, go ahead with the rental.
Among the different bikes available for rent in Ladakh, I highly recommend the Royal Enfield Himalayan.
We ensured we got a fairly new and well maintained Royal Enfield Himalayan for our ride — it still had temporary registration plates on it. It had done about 3000 Kilometers when we rented it and it rode like a dream.
During the trip, I started to believe that Royal Enfield specifically designed the Himalayan for driving on the treacherous off-roads of Ladakh. I have owned a Royal Enfield Bullet (Electra — 5s) for more than 10 years and a Himalayan is definitely a much better bike among all the options available for the Ladakh drive.
We got our Himalayan on rent from Ladakh Bike Rentals for Rs. 2500 per day. They also threw in a puncture kit and a petrol can (when we requested them for help) since we weren’t taking a mechanic along and the places we were planning to go did not have petrol bunks. There are places (where there are no petrol bunks) which sell petrol, but they sell it at a premium.
We bought petrol worth Rs. 4100/- for the trip but were left with about 5 litres when we returned the bike in Leh. It is any day better if you are left with excess petrol rather than you run out of it during the trip.
Tsewang from Ladakh Bike Rental (+91 96229 97541) worked with us to get the bike serviced and ready, prepped us up for the ride and also helped us with additional gear like the knee protectors (Rs. 100 per day) for the ride.
Since we went in October and it was the end of season (season ends in September), we did not have to reserve a bike in advance. Tsewang told us that in peak season, we would have to reserve a bike two to three weeks in advance.
It is recommend that you check the tyre pressure on the bike before you start your journey and keep it at 25ps for the front tyre and 35ps for the back tyre.
Getting a well maintained & serviced bike and maintaining the right tyre pressure would save you a lot of trouble on those long drives in Ladakh where you quite literally don’t see a soul around for miles together.
Riding Advice
One of the things you will be tempted to do (as I was) is to start focusing on the beautiful scenery around in Ladakh while riding the bike instead of focusing on the road in the direction of where you are headed.
A fundamental advice while riding a bike is to focus on the road and look in the direction you are headed in. If you aren’t looking in the direction you are headed in, there is a high likelihood that you will veer off the road and crash. I had a couple of close calls and when I realised what I was doing, I started to focus on the road a lot more and I stopped whenever there was a view which was worthwhile.
The best advice I’ve heard on this is from Powerdrift’s episode on The most important riding skill of all! Highly recommend.
Road conditions
From what I have learnt, the condition of the roads in Ladakh are highly dependent on the season you go in.
During our trip in October, the condition of the roads (wherever present) were better than most roads in India and you can ride on them like a dream — especially if you have bikes as powerful and which handle as well as the Royal Enfield Himalayan.
Out of a total of 700 kms which we drove, about 400 to 450 kms were good roads and we enjoyed them immensely.
Pangong — Hanley and Hanley — Tso Moriri & Tso Kar were mostly dirt roads. If I had known that there was so much off-roading involved, I would not have opted to drive all the way through on our bike, especially in the freezing October Ladakh weather. I was wearing six layers of clothing, but was still cold to the bone.
During the drive, especially when I tried to drive through these places which did not have any or proper roads, I used to wonder who in their right minds would want to do such an off road trip?
It turns out, a lot of people do and it did make some wonderful memories and left me with a sense of achievement.
Accommodation
There’s a lot of construction/ development work going on in the Leh region. There are lots of hotels/resorts coming up which will enable Leh to be one of the top tourist destinations in India.
Below is a list of places we stayed at-
Leh — Padma Hotel: Located on Fort road and a short walk from the Leh Market, this is one of the best places to stay in. The staff was polite and courteous. We had a MAP meal plan (breakfast and dinner included) and we helped ourselves to a delicious buffet breakfast and dinner every day. There was 24hrs of hot water available. Highly recommended.
Nubra Valley — Woodpecker Guest House: This was a lovely place run by a family. The homestay did not show up on the map (it does now) and is slightly away from the other hotels/ homestays in the area. The rooms were large, the food was adequate and the person who ran it — Lotus — went out of his way to make sure we were well taken care of.
Pangong — Lake Tso House (Cottage): This was facing the Pangong Lake. It was a small cottage with barely enough space for a bed and to keep our luggage in. The staff was courteous and the food was adequate (I am not too fussy about food). Since the cottage was facing the lake, it was very cold. Again, the blankets/ quilt provided were enough to keep the cold away. But the power was only until 11:00 PM and there was a limited supply of hot water.
Hanle — Padma Guest House: Hanle is a small town which doesn’t even have a petrol pump. Padma GH is one of the few guest houses in Hanle which is fairly decent. There is no tapped hot water supply and you can get hot water in a bucket for a limited time only in the morning. The host — Padma Aunty/ Didi had a cheerful disposition and ran the place with a lot of energy and enthusiasm. The food was decent.
Tso Moriri — Lakeview Hotel: As the name suggests, the hotel faced the Tso Moriri lake and it had a reasonable view of the lake. It was bitterly cold around the time we went. There was hot water supply only for a short duration in the evening and there was no tap water (hot or cold) in the morning as water in the pipes had frozen overnight. The power supply was also for a limited time. I was wearing six layers of clothes during my stay at the Lakeview Hotel, but was still unable to prevent the cold from seeping through to my soul.
Items to purchase/ take along for the trip
- A good riding jacket. Not the ones you get on the street or local unbranded ones. I borrowed a Harley-Davidson riding jacket from a friend and it came with extra padding to minimise injury from falls (Level 2 jacket). The jacket also was very warm and kept the cold out effectively.
- A well fitting, sturdy helmet. Don’t make compromises on this one. If the helmet doesn’t fit well, the chilled air will seep in, the wind noise will constantly batter your ears and you won’t have a good ride experience. I brought a helmet which fit me well and one which I was comfortable wearing along with me from Bangalore for the trip.
- Riding gloves — are a must if you are planning to ride a bike in Ladakh. You would also need an inner layer of gloves to wear underneath the riding gloves to keep out the cold. You should get both the outer and the inner gloves at Decathlon (Forclaz). You won’t get the traditional riding gloves with knuckle padding at Decathlon — you can buy them elsewhere, but you do get a good set of waterproof gloves which would work well for the Ladakh trip.
- Waterproof shoes — Decathlon has a good collection starting around Rs. 2K. There are good chances that your feet might get wet while crossing the multiple streams which you will come across while riding in Ladakh. The water might seep through from the top through your shoes might be waterproof. You might want to consider having an extra pair of shoes and dry socks handy if your feet do get wet. It is not recommended if you have to ride with wet feet for a long duration especially in cold weather — you might end up with a frost bite. There are gum boots available which are not as comfortable to ride in, but if you are okay with them, they are a good option. Another option is boot rain covers — not sure how effective they are to keep out the water from the streams.
- Woolen socks — You get good ones at Decathlon for Rs. 499/- a pair. Keep extra ones in case your feet get wet and you need a change of socks.
- Flask to carry hot water for drinking — A good one at Decathlon costed usRs. 899/-
- A balaclava to wear underneath the helmet to ensure a snug fit and to keep out the cold. The balaclava at Decathlon is an excellent option (costs around Rs. 200/-).
- Hot water bags — They costed me Rs. 400/- each in Ladakh.
- Sunscreen Lotion — Sun rays at high altitudes locations like Ladakh can cause serious harm to the skin. It’s recommended that you opt for a sunscreen with a minimum SPF rating of 50 for the Ladakh trip. We bought a Lacto Calamine Sunshield Sunscreen SPF50 for the trip and it served us well.
- UV Sunglasses — UV rays at high altitudes harm your eyes as well. Look for and buy a UV400 rating sunglasses for your Ladakh trip.
- Lip Balm — Lips can get chapped and cracked in the cold conditions of Ladakh. Apply lip balm several times during the day to keep your lips moisturised.
- Torch light — Since all places we went to (except Leh) did not have power later in the night, it is recommended you buy and keep a torch handy. Decathlon sells head-torches — a basic one costs Rs. 299/- which should be enough for most places. A more powerful one costs Rs. 699/-.
- Cash — Keep cash handy. Only cash transactions are possible in a lot of areas in Ladakh and ATMs aren’t commonplace — except in Leh. When you land in Leh, withdraw enough cash so that you can do the rest of the trip without card/ UPI payment. Even in Leh, we experienced long lines and it would be best if you can withdraw cash even before arriving in Leh.
- Bottled water — you might not get bottled water in different areas of Ladakh. It is recommended that you purchase enough bottled water in Leh and take it along with you for your entire Ladakh trip.
- Snacks — Take enough quantity of dry fruits and chocolates along with you for your trip. Food joints/ restaurants aren’t commonplace and you might have to travel for miles together before you find places which serve you a hot meal. Be prepared to eat Maggi or Bread Omelette for lunch on most days as there is a high probability that you would not get anything else — especially in remote off beat places.
- In case you weren’t able to pick these up before you land in Leh for your trip, you can visit the Main Bazaar — the shopping market at Leh where you get most of these items at reasonable prices. The Main Bazaar is also an excellent place to pick up souvenirs to take back home at a reasonable cost.
Other Notes…
Planning the route
We flew into Leh and started our journey from there. Instead of going first to Nubra Valley (Hunder) from Leh, we considered going to Hanle and Tso Moriri first instead. This is not recommended because Hanle and Tso Moriri are at a much higher altitude (14,200 ft and 15,000 ft respectively — as shown in the map) than Nubra Valley (10,000 ft). Going to Nubra Valley first is recommended as it would give more time to acclimatise at a lower altitude before we move on to the higher altitudes of Pangong Lake, Hanle and Tso Moriri.
We spent only one day in Nubra Valley and if you have an extra day, you can consider visiting Turtuk.
There might also be road closures due to rivers overflowing (especially during August) or due to the army closing the route due to other issues and it is always recommended to have a buffer day for your trip so that you don’t get stuck and miss your flight back home.
The map below (Courtesy — www.falconridersindia.com) gives you information about the altitudes at different destinations, the road conditions, availability of petrol pumps and options for stay. We referred to this map plenty of times to plan our drive.
Diamox — Do we really need it?
Leh is at an altitude of 3,500 m (11,500 ft). We were flying into Leh from Bangalore and such a steep rise in altitude could cause Altitude Sickness — also called Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS). AMS is caused by ascent to high altitude, characterised by hyperventilation, nausea, and exhaustion resulting from shortage of oxygen. It is recommended that we rest between 24 to 48 hours after you land in Leh to get acclimatised.
Diamox tablets were recommended by many to avoid AMS. We started on a dose of half a Diamox tablet three days before we flew in and continued with it until we had two days left to fly out. One of the side effects of Diamox is that it makes you weak. In Ladakh, with the body getting only about 60% of Oxygen, you feel tired and out of breath more often than you expect.
Permits and Government ID (Aadhaar Card)
Work with your travel agent well in advance to get your permits done for the places you are travelling to.
Self-drive car
There are no self-drive car rental places in Ladakh — you can hire a taxi but you cannot hire a car and drive it yourself. You are only permitted to drive a car/ four wheeler in Ladakh if the vehicle is in your name (or your father’s name). You cannot drive a four wheeler which is in the name of someone else though you hold the right set of permits. There is a strong taxi driver union in Ladakh and they are very strict in implementing this. It is not worth the risk or effort to fight this rule in Ladakh.
Taking elderly parents and very young kids (toddlers) to Ladakh
A point to note — Ladakh is not a place you travel to with babies/ young children or with elderly parents, especially to some of the off beat places we went to (Hanley and Tso Moriri). The Leh — Nubra Valley — Turtuk — Pangong Lake circuit can still be done with older parents and young kids, but Hanley and Tso Moriri aren’t recommended.
Keeping warm
Ladakh is known for its extremely low temperatures almost all through the year. Most of Ladakh is not developed enough and none of the hotels/ home-stays we were accommodated in, had centralised heating or a heater to keep us warm in our rooms. The blankets which were provided were thick enough to withstand the cold, but as soon as you get out of them — even for a short visit to the restroom — you are cold to your bones.
Hot water and Hot water bags
We regularly drank hot water. The hot water cleared up congestion and helped us breathe easier in the cold air. By drinking hot water, we also eliminated the risk of any water borne infection during the trip. We got a flask along with us (we got one from Decathlon for Rs. 899/- which was adequate) and the hotels/ home-stays filled the flask with hot water when we requested them to.
Hot water bags were a life saver. We brought hot water bags along with us, but they leaked. So we threw them away and bought new ones in Leh (cost us around Rs. 400/-). The hotels/ home-stays we stayed at, filled them up with hot water when requested and helped us get through the frosty nights with lesser suffering.
Food
We went with a MAP meal plan — our breakfast and dinner were taken care of in all the places we stayed at.
Most of the places we stopped for lunch during the trip only offered bread-omelette and Maggi noodles. A lot of places had only one person cooking and serving the omelette and Maggi — which means that, if you are with a large group, your food order is bound to be delayed.
Alcohol and smoking in Ladakh
An important point to note is that Ladakh is not a place where you go to booze and smoke your worries away. The altitude and the lower oxygen levels already play havoc with your system and you feel breathless — you don’t need alcohol or nicotine to mess your system up further. You are in one of the most beautiful places in India — do take this opportunity to relax and enjoy what nature has to offer, without being a irritant to your own system and to others around you.
Maintaining Decorum
The local Ladakhi folks are warm and friendly — they will go out of their way to make you comfortable and feel at home. The least you can do is to treat them with respect and dignity. Use water & other resources minimally and don’t litter. You will also be doing yourself and the folks around you a huge favour by maintaining peace and quiet in this lovely place.
In Conclusion
Ladakh — especially, on a bike has been an amazing trip. Every other trip I’ve been to in my life has been relegated to a far second. Ladakh on the Royal Enfield Himalayan has set the bar — and it has been set really high in terms of an immersive and fulfilling lifetime experience.
Plan well and have a wonderful time.
Disclaimer: This report is intended to serve as a guide to anyone planning a Ladakh trip. I have provided as authentic information as I could based on what we experienced during our Ladakh trip. But I still recommend you do further research before you make critical decisions for your trip based on the information I have provided or what I have recommended here.
