VISIT LADAKH —» Getting to Ladakh

Getting to Ladakh

By Air
The regular Indian Airlines flights into and out of Leh get heavily booked in the tourist season - book as far in advance as possible. Whichever way you're flying, try to book your tickets in Delhi, as the Indian Airlines office in Leh invariably has long queues and the computers are frequently down. Delays and cancellations are common because the high mountains that surround Leh airport make the approach difficult if there is any cloud cover. For this reason, flights will leave Delhi only if they can be assured of clear weather on arrival in Leh. If you can't get a seat on a direct flight, you could go via Jammu or Srinagar instead (but see the warning on p79), or via Chandigarh. It's also possible to fly to Bhuntar, near Kullu, 40km south of Manali, with either Archana Airways or Jagson Airlines most days of the week. All these operators have a habit of frequently changing their services check the flight schedule with a travel agent or with the airline (see p90) before making rigid plans

Indian Airlines Flights from Delhi to Leh

• Direct Indian Airlines fly direct from Delhi to Leh (US$105, 11/. hours) daily at 6.10am from mid-May to the end of August. Throughout the rest of the year there are four flights a week departing at 5.40am.

• Via Jammu There are flights to Jammu (US$105, 70 minutes) every day, leaving at 9.50am. Onward flights to Leh (US$65, 55 minutes) depart Jammu on Thursday and Sunday at 9am.

• Via Srinagar There are direct flights from Delhi to Srinagar (US$115, 11/. hours) on Monday, Wednesday and Friday leaving at 9.30am. Flights from Delhi to Srinagar via Jammu depart every day at 9.50am (21/. hours). There's only one onward flight a week to Leh (US$55, 40 minutes) which operates on Saturday at 9am. Don't be tempted to break your journey and stay overnight in Srinagar.

• Via Chandigarh Flights to Chandigarh (US$65, 40 minutes) leave Delhi on Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 11.20am. The weekly flight to Leh (US$70, 55 minutes) leaves Chandigarh on Tuesday at 9am.

Flights from Delhi to Bhuntar, Kullu

• Archana Airways have daily flights at 7am (1'12 hours).

• Jagson Airlines have daily flights at 7.30am (1 hour 50 minutes).

By Bus
Getting to Manali or Srinagar from Delhi is possible all year round but the two roads on to Leh from there are free of snow only during the summer. If you are entering Ladakh from Srinagar, the main obstacle is the Zoji La which is usually snow-free from the beginning of June to the end of October, but bad weather can significantly shorten this season. The Rohtang La and the Taglang La, between Manali and Leh, usually remain snowbound for longer and this route is only guaranteed to be open from the first week in July to 15 September.

• Via ManaIi Buses from Delhi to Manali take about 16 hours. See pl00 for details of onward buses to Leh. Himachal Tourism (HPTDC) have comfortable buses to Manali leaving from their office at the back of Chanderlok Building, 36 Janpath, at 7pm daily (Rs450) and they also allow you to book a seat for the Manali to Leh section of the journey from their office in Delhi. Private buses to Manali are available from many of the tourist agents around Janpath for Rs350 but standards vary widely. There are also several state-run buses to Manali every day which leave from the Inter-State Bus Terminus (lSBT) near Kashmiri Gate. Prices vary between Rs220 and Rs450 depending on what class of bus you choose. Make sure you give yourself plenty of time, as you've got to book a seat at the relevant counter before you can board the bus.

• Via Srinagar Because of militant activity, overland travel in Kashmir is not recommended.

Modrn Routes of Leh & Ladakh

The Route From Kashmir:Today, travellers from Srinagar drive on this route in the relative comfort of taxis, local buses or their own vehicles, taking two days and breaking journey at Kargil.

It provides the best possible introduction to the land and its people. At one step as you cross the Zoji-la, you pass from the lushness of Kashmir into the bare uncompromising contours of a trans-Himalayan landscape. Dras, the first major village over the pass, inhabited by a population of mixed kashmiri and Dard origins, has the local reputation of being the second coldest permanent inhabited spot in the world. But in summer when the pass is open and the tourists are going thourgh, the standing crops and clumps of willow give it a gently, smiling look.

After Drass, the valley narrows, becoming almost a gorge. Yet even here it occasionally allows space for small patches of terraced cultivation, where a tiny village population ekes out a precarious existence. This is indeed a mountain desert, greened only by such scattered oases.

On departure from Kargil, the road plunges into the ridges and valley of the Zanskar range over a huge mound of alluvium, now made fertile by a huge irrigation scheme. Mulbekh with its gigantic rock engraving of Maitreya (Buddha-tocome) and its gompa perched high on crag above the village, is the transition from Muslim to Buddhist Ladakh. It is followed by two more passes, Namika-la (12,200 feet/ 3,719m) and Fotu-la (13,432 feet / 4,094 m).

From Fotu-la, the road descends in sweeps and shirls, past the ancient and spectacularly sited monastery of Lamayuru, past amazing wind-eroded towers and pinnacles of lunar-landscape rock, down to the Indus at Khalatse- a descent of almost 4,000 feet/ 1,219 m in about 32 km. The Indus valley from Khalatse up to Upshi, where the road from Manali comes in, is Ladakh's historical heartland.

The road follows the river, passing villages with their terraced fields and neat whitewashed houses, the roofs piled high with fodder laid in against the coming winter. Here and there the observant traveller notices the ruins of an ancient fort or palace or the distant glimpse of a gompa on a hill a little way from the road. The last of these is Spituk, only eight km. Out of Leh. And at last, Leh, the capital town of the region is visible, dominated by the bulk of its imposing 17th century palace.

Ancient Routes of Leh & Ladakh

For all its seeming inaccessibility, Ladakh's position at the centre of a network of trade routes traditionally kept it in constant touch withthe outside world.

From Chinese Central Asia,the mighty Karakoram range was breached at the Karakoram pass, a giddy 18,350 feet (5,600m).The trail from Yarkand crossed five other passes, of which the most feared was the glacier, encumbered Saser-la, north of Nubra. Travellers from Tibet could take one of two main routes. From the central part of the country, the Tsang-po valley, they could pass the holy sites of Kailash-Mansarovar and reach Fartok, on a tributary of the upper Indus, from where they followed the river down to Leh.

Trade with the pashm producing areas of western Tibet flowed by a more northerly route, taking in the village of Rudok, a few miles into Tibet, and from there across the 18,300 feet (5,578m ) Chang-la to the Indus, and so to Leh.

Baltistan, joined administratively with Ladakh for 100 years, was linked to it either via the Indus up to its confluence with the Suru-Shingo river, and on up to Kargil; or by the Chorbat-la pass over the Ladakh range, the trail dropping down to the Indus 40 km below Khalatse, and following the river up to Leh.

The two main approaches toLadakh from south of the Himalaya are roughly the same as today's motor roads from Srinagar and Manali. The merchants and pilgrims who made up the majority of travellers in the premodern era, travelled on foot or horseback, taking about 16 days to reach Srinagar; though a man in hurry, riding non-stop and with changes of horse arranged ahead of time all along the route, could do it in as little as three days.

The mails, carried in relays by runners stationed every four miles or so, took four or five days. That was before the wheel as a means of transport was introduced into Ladakh, which happened only when the Srinagar- Leh motor-road was constructed as recently as the early 1960s.