23/05/2014
Manali Leh Highway Tips
Come May and bikes will zoom into Manali announcing the start of the riding season to Ladakh, a season which would last for only four and a half months before the mighty Himalayas are again covered with snow.
Every year bikers from across the globe plan to ride on what is termed as one of the best routes to ride in the world, the 475 kms long Manali-Leh Highway.
The road from Manali is open from the month of June to mid October. For almost half of its length, it is over 13,000 feet. The route passes through five high altitude passes. The terrain is so high and so barren as to have no settled habitation. Infrastructural support is at a bare minimum. No repair or service stations after Keylong, no petrol pumps either. But this scenario on the Manali-Leh Highway gives the excitement of planning, adventure and bliss while riding and lifetime memories after the ride.
The Plan
There can never be a perfect plan to ride on this highway, simply because the road conditions are different every year owing to landslides, amount of snowfall, glacial melts and the progress of Border Roads Organisation (BRO), an Army support organization whose job is to build and maintain all roads leading to the Indian Borders.
Each individual or group of bikers have their own plan for the Manali-Leh highway; some want to do it in one day, some in two days and others have no specific plan.
Many bikers rush through this stretch, which is a crime. Manali-Leh should be done leisurely. Your first ever ride on this stretch will be the best; no matter how many times you ride on this road thereafter, you cannot beat your first experience on this route.
