{"id":19417,"date":"2019-12-05T22:37:00","date_gmt":"2019-12-05T21:37:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/travelandkeepfit.com\/2019\/12\/06\/ladakh-in-himalayas-when-to-go-how-to-prepare-what-to-see-a-practical-guide-before-the-trip\/"},"modified":"2023-03-29T16:03:46","modified_gmt":"2023-03-29T14:03:46","slug":"ladakh-in-himalayas-when-to-go-how-to-prepare-what-to-see-a-practical-guide-before-the-trip","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/travelandkeepfit.com\/en\/2019\/12\/05\/ladakh-in-himalayas-when-to-go-how-to-prepare-what-to-see-a-practical-guide-before-the-trip\/","title":{"rendered":"Ladakh in Himalayas – when to go, how to prepare, what to see – a practical guide before the trip"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Indian Ladakh, being a so-called bridgehead of the Himalayas, is an absolutely unique place. However, due to a specific climate, high altitudes and challenging nature of this place, this is a journey you should definitely prepare for. In my last post – Ladakh – knocking at the Himalayas\u2019 door<\/em><\/strong><\/a>, I wanted to inspire you to think about this destination as of worth visiting at least once in your life. If I succeeded and Ladakh has already nested in your thoughts, it\u2019s time for the next step – planning the details.<\/p>

I went to Ladakh at the invitation of India Someday<\/a><\/strong> and Unplugged Life<\/strong><\/a>, who greatly facilitated my exploration of this region and instilled in me the desire to return and see even more. Visiting the region with local operators has many advantages, especially at the end of the season, when many places are already closed – guest houses, rentals. There are not so mnay tourists, so it is also harder to team up with someone \u2013 for example – \u00a0to rent a driver and share the costs. Therefore, these two companies can relieve in aspects such as transport, recommend local accommodation and help design a tailor-made journey according your needs. And they support eco-tourism, employ only local drivers and are very aware of caring for the environment. I believe that traveling with local companies and supporting them it\u2019s a good thing, because who will show you the country better than local people?\u00a0<\/p>

However, before you decide to come, you should know exactly what to expect from such \u00a0journey and how to prepare for it.I\u2019ve prepared a practical guide to Ladakh to make everything easier.<\/p>

Enjoy!<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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BEFORE THE TRIP<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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When to go?<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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The peak of the season falls in the summer, so from the second half of June till about first half of September. It\u2019s warm and dry then and the climate is desert-like. Temperature during the day can reach even 30 Celsius but because of huge diurnal range, it can get cold at night and high in the mountains temperature can drop even to 0 Celsius.<\/p>\n

Beginning from October, temperature during the day is close to 0 and snow might appear as well. I was in Ladakh in the first half of October and it had its good and bad sides. The good sides included an undoubted fact that it was after the touristic season, so I did not experience crowds of summer tourists. There was peace and quiet almost everywhere. Besides, the beginning of the fall is really beautiful in here, trees in valleys become very colorful, enlivening the landscape. The worse part was that even though the sun was shining, it was chilly during the day and simply cold at nights. In Ladakh there is no central heating, so in private lodgings or guest houses it\u2019s really cold.<\/p>\n

In this region winter lasts about 6 months and it\u2019s very harsh. In this time tourism almost completely vanishes there. The high mountain passes are not available. And there are very few accommodation options in Leh then. The land access roads are closed and you can only reach Ladakh by plane.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Visa<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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Indian e-visa program makes it possible for you to do everything online, including payment and printing – all without the necessity to visit a consulate. However, it only includes people applying for visas of following categories: tourist, visit, short-term medical care or short-term business trip.<\/p>

Moreover, e-visa allows you to enter India only through one of the following 16 airports: Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Bengaluru, Chennai, Cochin, Delhi, Gaya, Goa, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, Tiruchirapalli, Trivandrum and Varanasi.\u00a0It entitles you to stay in India for maximum 90 days.<\/p>

The procedure of getting a visa is quite simple and doesn\u2019t last long. You can apply for it HERE<\/strong><\/a>.\u00a0It costs USD 50. Applications are investigated really fast (usually in about 48 hours) but just to be safe, I recommend applying for it in advance of at least a week.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Reaching Ladakh by air<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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The optimal variant is flying to Delhi and then catch another flight to Leh (it lasts about an hour). The bad side of this solution is that you land directly at 3500 meters above the sea level in the capital city of Ladakh, which is a solid guarantee for a shock for your organism, which doesn\u2019t have enough time for acclimation and would be more prone to more severe effects of altitude sickness. So if you choose this option, plan at least 2 days for staying in Leh just for acclimation.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Reaching Ladakh by land<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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The second option is travelling to Ladakh by land. However, it is available only during summer season (roads are usually open from May to October). Such a trip is time consuming but allows your organism to get used to the environment. You should consider two options:<\/p>\n

OPTION NO. 1 \u00a0Jammu \u2013 Srinagar \u2013 Kargil \u2013 Leh<\/strong><\/p>\n