Manali to Leh in 2 Days! | Road Trip Guide in 73 Pictures!

Manali to Leh road trip is the most spectacular road trip in the world! Whether you are doing Manali to Leh bike trip or doing a Manali to Leh Ladakh – as it is popularly called – road trip by car, we bet that this will be a journey of your life time! We share our experiences travelling from Manali to Leh by car. We did this in 2010 and it was a journey of our lifetime.

We did another trip on this road in June 2016. This time around we ran on the same highway in Great Himalayan Running Festival aptly known as “Hell Race”.  

“It’s breathtakingly beautiful” – we tell our friends as soon as we reach Leh after the spectacular journey of 473 Kms on the Manali Leh road. The road clings and wriggle through some of the most stunning terrain in the world crossing five high altitude passes, fords, streams and waterfalls tumbling from mountains!

We start our journey from Manali to Leh on a cold rainy morning with overcast sky. We are ordered (!) by our Driver Sumit Singh  on the previous day to be ready at 6 AM to leave Manali. The wisdom of driving in Himalayas is “Leave early and Reach early” as you can not trust the fickle mountain weather as day pass by.

Poorna In front of Johnson hotel. Before the epic journey.

Being our first trip in the Himalayas, ascent upwards unfolded a lot of surprises – the omnipresent apple trees with “red juicy” apples, the streams gently flowing down mountains creating numerous waterfalls, the green carpet of cedar trees in the valley, the clouds which seem to caress the mountain peaks was a “visual” poetry which can be best seen than written.

The road from Manali to Rohtang is an ascent and is surrounded by beautiful valleys. Let the pictures tell the tale.

Please click on the pictures to see them in larger size.

Beas river flanked by Cedar trees, Manali…

Overcast sky as we start from Manali

The start of mesmerising landscape……..

Misty gorges with cedar trees…..

When mist clears, we see these lovely waterfalls….

Another beauty

……and another!

We start climbing to Rohtang Pass

And the landscape gets more gorgeous

Trucks climbing slowly up the hill.

Our car slowly climb towards the snow-capped Rohtang Pass only to wait behind a “Kilometre long” pile up of cars due to a “mudslide”. We have a long journey ahead as the plan was to stay overnight at Sarchu – at 14,000 feet – which is approximately 220 KMs from Rohtang.

Employees from Border Road Organisation clear the “mud slide” and when our car cleared this hurdle, we have lost about 2 hours of precious time. (BTW, the road from Manali to Rohtang has been done up beautifully and gone are the days of such mud slides. It was a pleasure to drive on it last year when we were there for “Hell race”)

The start of mud road….

……and the agony….

An enterprising chaiwala making best use of the opportunity!

We have breakfast at Marhi and continue our journey towards Sarchu. We don’t stop at Rohtang, the place where the day trippers from Manali – majority of them newly weds – gather to play in snow. Some glimpses of Rohtang landscape.

A meadow and the first glimpse of snow

The scenery gets better and better….

The journey beyond Rohtang is suddenly silent. The only noise we could hear is the air rushing against the mountain or the tip – tap of the melting snow. Or the screech of the car tyre on the road. Or sometimes when a “Bullet rider” overtook us with that “Thumping” sound.

The Manali Leh road is either “cemented” or “patch of mud” . Very soon the green valleys and mountains are replaced by shades of brown with snow peaks in the background. Driving along the Bhaga River and listening to its different notes take us into a different world. We could see many water falls in the mountains with water trickling away under the sheets of snow. Valleys capped with snow. Rocky mountains painted green by wild grass and flowers…..

Some wild flowers…..

From now onwards, we are treated to a spectacle of nature – Mountains, greenery, streams, waterfalls…….

We drive along Chandrabhaga river…..

A lovely waterfalls!

….and quiet flows Chandrabhaga....

This was stunning! A huge ice cap on the mountain melts and creates a beautiful, gentle waterfalls!

The sign board says it all!! Fill the tank now!

We cross Thandi and Jispa  – last villages on Manali let road – and begin our ascent again towards Baralacha la which is at about 16500 ft. The journey is an absolute delight. We stopover at beautiful and pristine Suraj tal lake.

The winding snow-capped roads , the low hung clouds with sun breaking in between and creating a beautiful rainbow, we could not just take our eyes off the road. We wished we had a 360 degree vision. Barlacha la was white sheet spread out in every direction and made us sway between dream and reality!

The climb to Barlacha La starts

A lovely Deepak tal

Streams flowing between huge rocky terrain

This stretch is just beautiful – look at the sculpted sand walls

Now that you have seen the spectacular pictures of Manali Leh road, it is time to see the other way round because mountains look different in other direction! Click this

Getting there

The journey on the Manali Leh road starts at Manali. Hence make Manali as a base.

By Road

a) There are overnight buses from Delhi to Manali. One can book the luxury Volvo buses run by Himachal Pradesh Transport Corporation from Delhi to Manali.

http://www.hrtc.gov.in/hrtctickets/Default.aspx

By Train

The nearest railway station is Chandigarh. If you are coming by train, then the convenient station will be Chandigarh. Unless, you want to visit Chandigarh, we would recommend you to take the bus as mentioned above.

By Air

The nearest airport is at Kullu which is around 40 KMs from Manali. The flights to Kullu from Delhi are notorious for cancellation/delay due to weather condition in Kullu. Keep this in mind while booking your plane tickets.

Stay Options

There are many options to suit all budgets in Manali. We stayed in Johnson Hotel which is one of the oldest in Manali and regarded as an institution. Huge and excellent rooms with a laid back atmosphere. The continental restaurant in the hotel is one of the best in Manali.

http://www.johnsonhotel.in/index.html

Other information

1. The Manali Leh road trip is not for faint hearted. You really need to rough it out on the treacherous roads. So be prepared mentally and physically!! (Latest update – The roads on this drive has been done and is excellent except for few places)
2. Remember that you will be driving from a height of 6000 ft in Manali to close to 18000 in Tanglang La.  Acclimatisation is the key. Else, AMS – Acute Mountain Sickness – is likely to hit you at these heights. Most of the cases will be mild and result in nausea, headaches, sleeplessness http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000133.htm
3. The trip on Manali Leh road can be done in two days with stop over at Jispa.
4. Driving in hills takes more time and speeds are drastically reduced as road condition is not good. Always have buffer time to allow delays due to landslides and flooding of roads. Land slides are particularly common between Manali and Jispa. If you are driving yourself, drive safe. Don’t hurry.
5. Fill up fuel in Manali and carry supplies in Jerry cans. There is only one petrol bunk in Thandi and if it runs out of stock you will curse yourself. Diesel may be available in “black” at exorbitant cost but getting petrol will be difficult.
6. Follow the golden rule of hill driving. Start early and reach early!
7. Carry enough memory cards for your pictures. There is so much to click that you will regret if you haven’t had these chips.
8. Eat less and don’t overfill yourself while driving in hills. Drink lot of water.
9. Carry a good medicine kit. Talk to your family doctor and take necessary medicines.
10. Do not exert and run around in high altitude. Oxygen content in atmosphere is 30 – 40 percent lesser in these areas and will make you tired and sick. Do not stay for more than 10 minutes in passes above 15000 ft
11. Carry a good Binocular.
12. Pack your long johns and woollens. If you have a sleeping bag, carry it.
13. Ensure that you have the complete vehicle accessories and kit. If self driving, practice trouble shooting techniques and become confident. Carry a good map of the area.
14. Dal/Rajma – Chawal , Maggi and Omelettes are staple food you get in dhabhas on the way. Don’t expect anything more!
15. If possible try and plan your drive during full moon day period. You will possibly see the brightest moon ever in these rarefied and unpolluted areas at night.
16. Do not rely too much on your cell phone. It may not work most of the time.
17. Do not sleep on the journey. You will regret having missed on some of the outstanding scenery in the world.
18. Lastly, if you get stuck up anywhere and find an army camp close by, go in and take their help. These great guys will never say NO. Poorna can vouch for it having served in Indian Army!!
19. We would recommend that spending one day in Manali will help in seeing some nice places around and also prepares you for the long journey. The transport for the drive can be hired in Manali. The transport charges are generally expensive and it will be good to have at least four people travel in the taxi to reduce the cost burden.
20. You need to take a permit for driving to Leh from Manali. Here are the latest updates for 2019
    1. You can’t drive from Manali to Leh without a confirmed hotel booking
    2. Online Permit System for Beyond Rohtang is not yet operational
    3. Permits have to obtained manually during office hours (on office working days) at Manali only
    4. We have no idea what will be the new rules when the Online Permit system resumes (if at all)
    5. 

Postscript

Important Update on Road condition

• We travelled on the Manali to leh road in June 2016 while participating in Great Himalayan Running Festival or “The Hell Race” as it is called.

• The road conditions on Manali Leh road have improved drastically. The Rohtang loops are lovely tarmac today and there is no mudslides anymore. Except for few kilometres between Rohtang Top and Koksar and again from Sarchu to Pang the road condition is good.

• In fact, one need not have to stay in Sarchu and drive straight from Jispa to Leh which will help avoid AMS. You will also find dhabhas at many places on way like Zing Zing bar, After Nakkee la, Pang, Moreh Plains. One can also stay in these dhabhas in emergencies.

Planning a trip to Ladakh? We are here to help……

Planning a Leh Ladakh tour including Manali Leh road for the first time is a daunting task. With so much of information available in public domain, you will go crazy with options available and places to see. Going for a regular package tour is no fun as you will visit only those places which everyone visit but miss out many lovely places.

You can read all about our Ladakh travel – 18 posts including a drive to Siachen base camp – by clicking the following post below.

Ladakh Travel – 18 Tales to Inspire you!

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