Find your way through Ladakh by air, train, bus and other modes of transportation. Travel conveniently with the latest information on train timings, flight timings in Ladakh.
Get in
Buses run directly to Leh from either Manali or Srinagar. The sensible choice from Manali is to take the bus that goes as directly as possible as there are few sites worth visiting until near Leh. This is the choice that most travelers will want to take due to the tense security situaton in Kashmir, however the road is only open from June to mid October due to snow fall. There are shared taxis from manali which start early in the morning and reach Leh in the night. Buses, however, stop overnight in Sarchu. Coming from Srinagar there are a few interesting places to stop on route (Lamayuru and Alchi that offer accommodation). Status of both roads can be checked anytime at the official Leh website
Daily flights to Leh are run by Indian, Jet Airways and Air Deccan from Delhi, Srinagar, Jammu and elsewhere. These are, however, subject to inclement weather and may be cancelled at any time, keep your schedule flexible. Altitude sickness is also a worry given the altitude.
Get around
By bus
Ladakhi buses run from Leh to the surrounding villages. They are often overcrowded and generally disorganised and poorly run. Daily buses or mini buses run to Alchi, Basgo, Dha-Hanu, Likir, Nimmu, and Saspul; twice daily to Chemray, Hemis, Matho, Stok, and Tak Tok; hourly or more often to Choglamsar, Phyang, Shey, Spituk, Stakna, Thiksay.
By taxi
You will find in Leh a number of local taxis, that will take you to the surrounding monasteries much faster and more comfortably than Public transport. Rates are fairly steep compaired to elsewhere in India.
By truck
Trucks often stop for hitchhikers, who are usually expected to pay half the bus fare, bargaining may be necessary. They are slower than the buses and sometimes stop for long periods to unload cargo.
By motorbike
In Leh there are a number of shops that will rent motorbikes, mostly the world famous Royal Enfield 1948 model, still made in India today (350 and 500 cc model). Rents are fairly cheap, and if you are are used to old bikes and left hand side driving, it is certainly a great way to move around if short of time, and certainly far cheaper than local taxis. Be careful though, this are mountain roads and will surely encounter a great number of Indian army vehicles to and fro.
By bicycle
The scenery would be magnificent at the pace of a bicycle, however one would need to be well prepared with full camping equipment. There is a bit less than 1000km of paved roads in Ladakh. The Manali-Leh-Srinagar road makes up about half of that, the remainder being spurs off it. As such it's not possible to string together a loop, and the only route that would avoid backtracking would be to follow the Manali-Leh-Srinagar road. You would need to check the current situation and think carefully to decide if travling in Kashmir is more of a risk than you want to take.
In addition to the paved roads there are some trekking routes that would be possible to ride a lightly loaded sturdy mountain bike on, perhaps hiring a horse and handler to take your baggage?
By foot
For the traveler with a number of months it is possible to trek from one end of Ladakh to the other, or even from places in Himachal Pradesh . The large number of trails and the limited number of roads allows you to string together routes that have road access often enough to restock supplies, but avoid walking on motor roads almost entirely. See below in the Do section for more info.
