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ROUTE CARD · DEPART 10 OCT · 2 MOTORCYCLES + 1 SUV · 14 DAYS
Up the Srinagar side, and decide about Manali in Leh
The ascent is settled for acclimatisation reasons, not weather ones. The descent stays open as a live choice made on day ten, on advisories rather than forecasts.
Ascent, committed Descent, conditional First safe overnight coming down
Why this way round
Srinagar wins on acclimatisation before it wins on anything else. It steps you from 1,585 m to 2,676 m at Kargil and only then to 3,500 m at Leh, across two sleeps. The Manali side puts you at Sarchu, around 4,290 m, on your second night out of Manali — that is the single most common way riders get altitude sickness on this circuit.
Weather is the second argument, not the first. Manali–Leh is not shut in mid-October: it closed for winter on 20 November 2025, and on similar dates in 2023 and 2022. What makes 10 October marginal is not the calendar but the chance of one weather system arriving while you are between Darcha and Upshi.
Two-wheeler restrictions past Darcha belong to the opening season, not the closing one. In late May 2025 bikes were kept off the road for the first couple of weeks while snow walls were cut back. That rule does not reappear in October.
What the support vehicle changes
Most of the standard case against Manali in October is really a case against riding it unsupported. The 365 km fuel gap from Tandi to Karu exists in July too, and jerry cans close it. Punctures, a rider who stops coping with the cold, an early AMS presentation — all of these become manageable when there is a heated cabin and a spare seat moving with you. Keep the SUV behind the bikes, not ahead.
Passes, honestly compared
| Ascent, Srinagar side | Height |
|---|---|
| Zoji La — the one bad stretch, roughly 15 km, icy till mid-morning, one-way convoy timings | 3,528 m |
| Namika La | 3,718 m |
| Fotu La — highest point of the ascent, and still below Sarchu | 4,108 m |
| Descent, Manali side | Height |
|---|---|
| Taglang La — first and highest, hit it before noon | 5,328 m |
| Lachung La | 5,065 m |
| Nakee La | 4,739 m |
| Baralacha La — black ice at Zingzingbar is the known bad patch | 4,890 m |
Fourteen days
Distances are riding days, not record attempts. Sunset is around 6 pm and shortening.
Kurukshetra → Jammu
Plains running. Get it done early so nobody is riding the Jammu approach in the dark.
Jammu → Srinagar 1,585 m
Patnitop and the tunnels. First real altitude, still comfortable.
Srinagar → Kargil 2,676 m
Zoji La in the morning window. Check convoy timings the night before in Sonamarg.
Kargil → Leh 3,500 m
Namika La and Fotu La. Long day, easy gradient.
Leh — rest day
Not optional with motorcycles. Permits, servicing, oximeter readings morning and night for everyone.
Leh → Nubra 3,050 m
Khardung La crossing, then down. You sleep lower than Leh, which is the point.
Nubra — Turtuk and back
Low, warm by regional standards, and the best rest you will get outside Leh.
Nubra → Pangong 4,250 m
The Shyok road. Cold night — confirm the stay has real heating before you commit to it.
Pangong → Leh
Chang La in daylight, no later. Ice re-forms on the descent side by late afternoon.
Leh — decision day
Rest, refuel, and make the call below.
Leh → Jispa 3,200 m
If Manali is a go. One long push, first light, all four passes in a day.
Jispa → Manali
Atal Tunnel. Once you are through, you are effectively out of the mountains.
Manali → Kurukshetra
Or Chandigarh if the group is tired.
Buffer
Spend it on weather, a breakdown, or a slower ride home. Do not plan anything into it.
Two ways in, by the clock
Moving time only — no tea, no photographs, no punctures, no convoy waits. Assume a riding window of 8 am to 6 pm, so anything past about eight and a half hours is already eating into the dark.
Both tabs are the same closed loop — Kurukshetra, Manali, Leh, Srinagar, home — ridden in opposite directions. So the kilometres and the hours are identical by definition, and totals tell you nothing. What differs is where in the trip the hard legs fall.
| Leg | km | Moving |
|---|---|---|
| Kurukshetra → Jammu | 470 | 8:30 |
| Jammu → Srinagar | 265 | 7:00 |
| Srinagar → Kargil, over Zoji La | 205 | 6:30 |
| Kargil → Leh, over Namika and Fotu La | 220 | 6:30 |
| Leh — rest day | — | — |
| Leh → Nubra, over Khardung La | 120 | 4:30 |
| Nubra → Turtuk → Nubra | 170 | 5:30 |
| Nubra → Pangong, the Shyok road | 160 | 6:30 |
| Pangong → Leh, over Chang La | 225 | 7:00 |
| Leh — decision day | — | — |
| Leh → Jispa, four passes | 335 | 9:30 |
| Jispa → Manali, Atal Tunnel | 137 | 4:00 |
| Manali → Kurukshetra | 420 | 9:00 |
| Buffer, unspent | — | — |
| Eleven riding days | 2,727 | 74:30 |
Where you sleep
| Halt | What there is | Mid-October |
|---|---|---|
| Jammu | Hotels of every grade near the station; gurudwara sarais and dharamshalas for a nominal donation; Katra has hundreds of dharamshalas if you divert | Open all year |
| Srinagar | Hotels around Dalgate and the Boulevard, Dal Lake houseboats, family guesthouses | Open. Houseboats are cold after dark — ask for a room heater, not a bukhari |
| Kargil | Town hotels, a JKTDC guesthouse, a growing set of homestays | Open all year. Garrison town, so the most dependable halt on the route |
| Leh | The full range — hotels, Changspa guesthouses, Old Town homestays | Open, but properties begin closing from late October. Book heated rooms, confirm hot water |
| Nubra — Hunder or Diskit | Hotels, desert camps, village homestays, and the monastery guesthouse at Diskit | Camps fold up through October. Homestays and permanent hotels carry on |
| Pangong — Spangmik, Man or Merak | Village homestays and a shrinking number of camps. Nothing else exists | Your coldest night. Most camps gone by mid-month; homestays run on solar with little or no heating |
| Leh | As above | As above |
| Jispa or Keylong | Small permanent hotels, a PWD rest house, seasonal camps | Hotels run into November. This is your safe halt coming down — see the rule above |
| Manali | Everything, at every price | Open all year |
| Leg | km | Moving |
|---|---|---|
| Kurukshetra → Manali | 420 | 9:00 |
| Manali → Jispa, Atal Tunnel | 137 | 4:00 |
| Jispa → Leh, four passes | 335 | 9:30 |
| Leh — rest day | — | — |
| Leh — second rest day, not optional here | — | — |
| Leh → Nubra, over Khardung La | 120 | 4:30 |
| Nubra → Turtuk → Nubra | 170 | 5:30 |
| Nubra → Pangong, the Shyok road | 160 | 6:30 |
| Pangong → Leh, over Chang La | 225 | 7:00 |
| Leh — turnaround day | — | — |
| Leh → Kargil | 220 | 6:30 |
| Kargil → Srinagar, over Zoji La | 205 | 6:30 |
| Srinagar → Jammu | 265 | 7:00 |
| Jammu → Kurukshetra | 470 | 8:30 |
| Eleven riding days | 2,727 | 74:30 |
Where you sleep
| Halt | What there is | Mid-October |
|---|---|---|
| Manali | Everything, at every price | Open all year |
| Jispa or Keylong | Small permanent hotels, a PWD rest house, seasonal camps | Hotels run into November. Sleep here, not at Sarchu |
| Sarchu — the one you skip | Tented camps only. No permanent building, no medical help, no mobile network | Camps largely dismantled by early October. At 4,290 m this is the halt that hurts people |
| Leh | The full range — hotels, Changspa guesthouses, Old Town homestays | Open, but properties begin closing from late October. You need two nights here, not one |
| Nubra — Hunder or Diskit | Hotels, desert camps, village homestays, and the monastery guesthouse at Diskit | Camps fold up through October. Homestays and permanent hotels carry on |
| Pangong — Spangmik, Man or Merak | Village homestays and a shrinking number of camps. Nothing else exists | Your coldest night. Most camps gone by mid-month; homestays run on solar with little or no heating |
| Leh | As above | As above |
| Kargil | Town hotels, a JKTDC guesthouse, a growing set of homestays | Open all year. Garrison town, so the most dependable halt on the route |
| Srinagar | Hotels around Dalgate and the Boulevard, Dal Lake houseboats, family guesthouses | Open. Houseboats are cold after dark — ask for a room heater, not a bukhari |
| Jammu | Hotels of every grade near the station; gurudwara sarais and dharamshalas for a nominal donation | Open all year |
None of the above is a booking. In October availability changes week to week, so ring each halt yourself and ask two questions: is the property open on your dates, and is there working room heating. Get Nubra, Pangong and your Jispa night confirmed before you leave home — those three have the fewest fallbacks. Everywhere else you can improvise. Carry cash; card machines fail past Kargil.
Day ten, in Leh
Depart 10 October, so day ten is 19 October.
Do not settle the return route before you leave home. Settle it here, on the rest day in Leh, with four days of visibility ahead of you — using the Lahaul–Spiti district administration advisory and the BRO position, not a long-range forecast made weeks earlier.
- Road open to civilian traffic all the way through, with no advisory pending? Manali is a go.
- Anything ambiguous — a system forecast, a partial restriction, one-way movement at Baralacha? Turn around and go back the way you came. You lose the loop, not the trip.
- If the bikes go Manali and the weather turns marginal, the SUV can carry both riders and the loop still ends safely. Agree this with everyone on day ten, not on the pass.
Whatever you decide: never sleep above Jispa.
Sarchu at 4,290 m is where this route actually hurts people — sub-zero, thin air, no heated rooms open in October, no help within hours. Jispa and Keylong have proper hotels running into November. Leh to Jispa in one day is long, and it is the correct kind of hard.
Sort these before you leave
- Postpaid SIMs Prepaid connections from the rest of India will not activate in J&K or Ladakh. Every rider needs a postpaid number, arranged at home. This catches people out every season.
- Heated rooms at Nubra and Pangong Tented camps fold up through October. Book permanent structures and get heating confirmed in writing, not over a phone call.
- One medical oxygen cylinder in the SUV Portable cans are theatre. Carry a proper cylinder, plus a pulse oximeter, and take readings on the rest days so you know each person's baseline.
- Fuel discipline Tandi to Karu is 365 km without a pump. Jerry cans in the SUV, filled at Tandi, and top the bikes up at Sarchu and Pang rather than running them low.
- Inner Line Permits Needed for Nubra, Pangong and Khardung La. Do them on the Leh rest day, and carry printed copies — checkposts are not interested in your phone battery.
- Cold rated for −10 °C, not −2 °C Leh nights sit near freezing by mid-October and Pangong goes well below. Heated grips earn their price on Chang La.
On the Srinagar side, budget for the Kashmir valley's own rhythms: convoy movement days, one-way timings at Zoji La, and occasional restrictions that have nothing to do with weather. Ask locally in Srinagar the evening before you ride, and keep the day-14 buffer intact for exactly this.
Marking this up together
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