Since 25th of January, Ladakh is digitally disconnected from rest of India, due to a fault with BSNL Optical Fiber Cable near Zoji La.

With some of the heaviest snowfall seen in Ladakh and Kashmir in recent years, Drass has been cut off from Kargil. And while the army team has confirmed technical issue with OFC at Shaitan Nallah near Zoji La. BSNL’s team from Kargil is unable to travel to Drass, in order to further investigate the issue.

Broadband, WiMAX, WLL, mobile, STD/ISD and even army telecommunication has been affected due to this OFC fault.

As per the BSNL TDM, Phunchok Dorjay, if there is any technical fault, it will be restored within 2-3 days, once BSNL technical team is able to travel to Drass. However, if there is a major damage to the cables, then it can only be repaired, once the road is clear.

We hope, it isn’t a major fault with the OFC and it can be repaired within the next few days. Otherwise, Ladakh will continue to remain cut off both digitally and by land from rest of India for the next couple of months or more!

For travelers visiting Ladakh in the upcoming days, it is best to inform your loved ones in advance, that it would be difficult to call them during your trip, so that they do not worry unnecessarily.

And for the sake of travelers and locals alike, we really hope BSNL and other private operators lay OFC through Manali as well, in order to provide some redundancy to their network.

Himachal Road Transport Corporation has begun its Delhi – Leh Bus Service for 2013 from Monday. Ticket for the HRTC Bus from Delhi to Leh is priced at a fairly affordable Rs. 1,203 per person and is about as cheap as it gets.

HRTC Delhi – Leh Bus starts its journey from Delhi in the evening and reaches Manali in the morning and after an hour long pit stop, it begins its journey to Leh and stops at Keylong for the night. From where it restarts its journey to Leh, next day at 5am.

Unlike the HPTDC Bus from Manali to Leh, accommodation and food aren’t included in the price of bus ticket and passengers are responsible for arranging their own accommodation at Keylong (there are plenty of guest houses in Keylong).

While the 33 hour journey from Delhi to Leh is going to be tiring for most, the attractive price of the ticket and the short duration of the journey and hassle-free nature of traveling directly from Delhi to Leh makes this HRTC Bus an attractive option for many travelers.

For more details you can contact HRTC’s Delhi Inquiry Desk at 011-23868694.

In view of recent incursion in Ladakh by the Chinese Army, many tourists planning to head to Ladakh are asking one question, “Is Ladakh safe for tourists?”

Answer to this question is a simple and a resounding, yes!

Incursions in Ladakh by the Chinese Army are nothing new, in fact since 2010, they have occurred 600 times, though most of the time they just come in and go out, instead of staying afoot, like they are doing at the moment.

However, the places where these incursions take place are nowhere near the tourist circuit, so as of now, tourists planning to visit Ladakh have nothing to fear about and there is absolutely no restriction in traveling to places like Nubra Valley, Pangong Tso, Tso Moriri, Dah and Hanu Villages.

Though like last year, inner line permit for places close to LAC eg. Chushul, Tsaga, Chummur etc. remain mostly out of bound and tough (if at all) to procure.

So if you are planning to head to Ladakh soon, don’t worry, go out there and enjoy one of the most beautiful part of India, full of wonderful and cheerful people.

Jammu and Kashmir Government has decided to open more areas of Ladakh to tourists, in a bid to promote tourism in the state.

Now Indians and Foreigners alike can travel up to Pachathang and Tyakshi Villages in Nubra Valley.

While foreigners can now travel up to Merak Village along Pangong Tso and up to Loma bend in Nyoma District.

Jammu and Kashmir Government has also opened the following routes for foreigners in the Kargil District.

Kargil – Khangral – Shaker – Chiktan – Leh

Dah – Garkone – Darchik – Batalik- Slimo – Kargil

Permit norms for foreigners have also been relaxed and now foreigners in a group of two or more can apply for permit, earlier four or more foreigners had to apply for permit.

We hope that J&K Government continues to open more and more sectors of Ladakh to not only Indian tourists, but also foreigners and thus provides employment opportunities for people living in the remote areas of Ladakh.