An overview of exploring Ladakh region by road: Part 2: Srinagar - Leh highway NH 1D

Nothing can match an experience what you get while travelling to Ladakh by road. In our earlier posts we have discussed about the possible routes, distance etc. In this post we will be explaining about the road journey to Ladakh through the Srinagar - Leh Highway NH 1D.

Srinagr - Leh Road Map

Although the journey to Leh from Srinagar is completed by local taxis in a single day, but tourists visiting Ladakh should take atleast 2 days for this journey, this includes a night stay on the first night at Kargil or Mulbekh and reaching Leh by next day evening.

Journey by Srinagar - Leh Highway which is known as NH 1D provides an opportunity to visit lots of places like Sonmarg, Kargil, Lamayuru, Alchi Magnetic hill, Zozil-a pass etc on the route toward Leh. Mesmerising landscapes with changing color patterns are indispensable part of this road journey.

Srinagar - Leh Highway NH 1D

Time spend on this road journey is also a very good option because with a slow increase in altitude it allows the body to properly acclimatize, which is very necessary to avoid symptoms of AMS/High altitude sickness. The visitors directly arriving by flights in Leh, need to take ample rest to get themselves properly acclimatized, before they start exploring Ladakh region, in order to avoid any complication related to AMS/High altitude sickness.

Place	Information about the place/ Things of interest	Important
Sonmarg	Landscapes, Base camp for Amaranth, Base for trekking to many Himalyan lakes.
Zozi-la Pass	High Mountain pass.	Altitude – 3528 meters. It’s the first high altitude pass on Srinagar- Leh Highway.
Drass	Small Town.	Altitude – 3230 meters. Small town, second coldest inhabited place in world, coldest in India.
Kargil	Kargil war memorial dedicated to Indian Army	Altitude – 2676 meters. Second largest town in Ladakh after Leh.
Namki-la Pass	High Mountain pass	Altitude – 3700 meters. Second high altitude pass on Srinagar Leh Highway
Fotu-la Pass	High Mountain pass	Altitude – 4108 meters. Third high altitude pass on Srinagar Leh highway and highest among the all 3 passes.
Lamayuru	More than 900 years old monastery, Moon land land scapes	Altitude – 3510 meters.
Alchi	Oldest monastery in Ladakh Region, it has well preserved wall paintings dating back to 11-12th century
Other Attractions	Basgo palace, Nimu, Zanskar- Indus confluence (Sangam), Gurudwara patthar sahib, Magnetic hill, Hall of fame.

Lamayuru Monastery, Srinagar - Leh Highway NH 1D

Zanskar - Indus confluence (Sangam), Srinagar - Leh Highway NH 1D

Magnetic Hill, Srinagar - Leh Highway NH 1D

The continuing posts will be about several travel options available between Srinagar and Leh.

Are you planning to travel to Leh? Get in touch with us by posting a comment below or you may drop an email at k.optimumtours@gmail.com, or get in touch through our face book page @ optimum tours.