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How I Got Leh'd - Fact File and Trivia Bits

Actual Itinerary: 
3rd August - Pune - Delhi early morning flight, Delhi Manali Bus
4th August - Reached Manali in morning and Left for by Himachal Tourism's bus, stay at Keylong (Via Marhi, Rohtang La, Khokhsar, Sissu, Tandi)
5th August - Keylong - Leh via - Jispa, Darcha, ZingZingbar, Baralacha La, Sarchu, Pang, Tanglang La, Rumptse, Upshi, Karu
6th August - Rest, Local site Seeing - Sakthi Monastery - Festival, Chemday Monastery, Hemis Monastery
7th August - Spituk Monastery, Guru Pather Sahib - Gurudwara, Hall of Fame, Shey Palace & Monastery, Thiksey Monastery, Shanti Stupa
8th August - Pangong Lake
9th August - White Water Rafting from Chilling - Nimmo - 28 kms
10th August - Khardung La, Panamik, Sumoor Monastery, Hunder Sand Dunes & Camel Ride (Nubra Valley)
11th August - Diskit Monastery and Back to Leh Via Khardung La
12th August - Tso Moriri and back to Leh ( Mahe Bridge)
13th August - Left for Manali - Stay at Keylong
14th August - Reached manali - Left for Delhi, got stuck 5 kms after Pandoh - Night at Dhaba
15th August - Left Dhaba at 11:30 in Morning &
16th August - Reached Delhi Airport at 02:30 in Morning, took flight back to Pune at 05:05 AM reached Pune at 07:00 AM

Photos:
https://www.facebook.com/shraddha.mehta/media_set?set=a.10152203867452680.588232679&type=3

Reaching Leh: 
1) Air: Delhi to Leh flights are available.
2) Road:

Via Manali: Himachal Pradesh Tourism Corporation operates buses from Manali to Leh
http://hptdc.nic.in/bus.htm
      You can ride a cycle or a bike through this adventurous road. Private/ shared taxis also available.
Via Srinagar: You can take private transport from Srinagar.

Refer this to finalize site seeing:
http://www.thrillophilia.com/blog/leh-ladakh-tour-travel-planner/

Detailed information of Ladakh on: 
http://devilonwheels.com/


Trivia Bits/ Learning Points:

1) There was an aunty from Kolkata, when we reached Tanglang La, the second highest pass of the world, she suffered from AMS. When we reached Upshi; she was treated with supplementary oxygen at the military centre. There was visible improvement in her health.
2) We had hired a moped on first day, August 6. Since we hadn’t tested the moped before hiring it, we couldn’t argue much with lender.
3) On our way to Pangong, the Innova had LCD screen and Zulfibhai played movie Maine Pyar Kiya. It was quite fun to watch this movie on one of the most scenic roads.
4) We were just five rafting in one raft; obviously the power was less and had to put more efforts to raft through calm waters of Indus. The more , the merrier.
5) The Itinerary / expectations from the particular travels should be discussed between all the people travelling. If the expectations are not discussed the entire travel can become a mess. One or the other may feel dragged.
6) Be friendly with drivers but don’t let them cross the line. At the same time, do respect them. During all my travels, I usually make friends with a lot of people. But this uncle from West Bengal, with whom we shared the taxi to go to Tso Moriri and return, I didn’t even want to speak much to him because he never ever spoke well to or about Zulfibhai.
7) There was a small shop bang opposite to our guest house,. An elderly person ran this shop. We usually filled our water bottles there. On our last day in Leh, we went to bid adieu to this guy. After Juley, he said, “If I have hurt by mistake or whatever reasons, please forgive me.” This was touching. We had barely spoken to this guy beyond our daily business.
8) There was a cute little girl at our guest house- Padma. She helped around the house after her studies and school. We made good friends with her.


The Manali Story

Reporting Hotel Pushpak in Manali near Mall Road. On August 14, 2014, We had checked in for few hours between 1 pm & 5 pm, they charged us rs.500 for 5 people which was well economic.

However, 2 people went for lunch & 3 left later for siteseeing. The ones who left later submitted the key at reception & the ones who went for lunch had no idea of this.

Later, the hotel management denies access to room. We requested duplicate key which they said was not available.

Later the manager / owner, agreed to cut open the netted window pane. He charged rs.200 for damages.

A careful review of the netted window pane revealed that such incidents had happened in past & it was cut earlier as well. Additional thing that was noticed was that the main door of the room didn’t not have any opening facility from inside and the only way to open the room was from the latchkey outside. So should anyone forget the key inside is also jammed.

The girls who had been for site seeing returned in the meanwhile & said that they had left the key at reception.

The manager / owner called filthy names to us when called upon for discussion & threw money on our face and asked us to vacate the room immediately.

According to me this implies 2 things: first being dishonesty of hotel staff & second being safety of the luggage.

Please keep a note of this before checking into Hotel Pushak opposite New Bus stand Mall Road Manali Himachal Pradesh.

This place was not chosen because it was cheap but it was chosen as it was mentioned in Lonely Planet book.

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