Ladakh Expert

A day after the devastating cloudburst and flash floods in Kargil, BRO has managed to restore road connectivity on the Srinagar – Leh Highway. While the road conditions are poor at places in and around Kargil, however traffic is trickling through and Ladakh remains connected via both its land routes to rest of India.

This is welcome news for the locals and army, as well as tourists, who need not cancel or postpone their plans and can visit Ladakh without any issue.

Traffic movement on the Srinagar – Leh Highway has been disrupted, due to cloudburst which took place in Kargil yesterday evening. No loss of life has been reported thus far and the Srinagar – Leh Highway is expected to reopen soon for vehicular traffic.

For all those who are planning to visit Ladakh in the coming days, please keep an eye on the developing situation and do not cancel your plans as of now, unless the situation changes drastically in the coming days.

Update: Srinagar – Leh Highway has reopened for vehicular traffic.

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.

Manali – Leh Highway has officially reopened for 2013, 7 days after the initial deadline BRO had set for the reopening of the highway, earlier in the year. This delay has occurred due to heavy snow accumulation on Baralacha La and Tanglang La, which took longer than usual to clear.

With the Manali – Leh Highway as well as Rohtang Jot reopened for tourists; it is time to rejoice for travelers, who had been waiting eagerly for this beautiful yet treacherous route to open, after it closed for the winter last year.

Of course reopening of Manali-Leh Highway and Rohtang Jot does come with some strict restrictions this year by the administration, in a bid to reduce traffic snarls. So if you too are planning to head to Rohtang/Ladakh/Lahaul soon, please read our post Traffic Rules and Restrictions for Rohtang Jot in 2013.

Another thing to keep in mind is, due to the High Court order, restaurants and temporary tea and food stalls at both Marhi and Rohtang Jot have been removed by the administration and although the court has directed HPTDC to provide mobile food vans, it is highly likely that there will be few if any places to eat/drink once you go past Kothi.

So make sure you are carrying food and water with you, whether you are heading to Ladakh, Lahaul and Spiti or Rohtang Jot itself.

Wish you a very happy and safe Journey to the land of the lamas.

BRO has managed to clear snow from the road to Rohtang Jot and is expected to throw open the pass to public in the first week of May 2013.

This is due to the fact that BRO is trying to repair some of the road and stabilize it, before it lets tourists on to the pass. However, taxis from Manali, carrying passengers to Lahaul Valley are already crossing Rohtang Jot illegally at night and in a way, hampering BRO operations to some extent.

BRO still has to clear and stabilize Baralacha La and Tanglang La, before the Manali – Leh Highway can be reopened for 2013, which is expected to happen by the middle or end of May.

As always, we will keep a track of all that is happening and you can be sure to get up to date and accurate info on LadakhExpert.com, so watch don’t forget to subscribe to our RSS feed and follow us on Twitter.