Things you should know before going to Ladakh

Traveling to Leh Ladakh is an incredible adventure, but it requires some preparation due to its unique geography and high altitude. I have curated my experience below to help someone going for trip. Here are some key things you should know before going to Ladakh.

Do’s

• Leh is situated at 3,500 meter height from the sea level which is high altitude compared to other places. Tourist spots or passes, like Chang La pass, Khardung La pass (situated at 5360m), Umling La pass (situated at 5883m) are at very high altitude compared to Leh and have very less oxygen. So, If you are reaching via flight, please stay in Leh for 1-2 days, so that your body acclimatize with the high altitude and low oxygen. If you are going by road they you are ready for the adventure.
• Purchase one oxygen can for emergency. One can is enough for two people. It is usually not needed but it is better to be prepared if needed
• Purchase Diamox tablet from the pharmacy store to prevent mountain sickness. It only works if we took the tablet before going to the high altitude places. It doesn’t work if person is already suffering from mountain sickness. After taking the tablet it common to feel tingling sensation in finger-tips and other body parts.
• Most importantly always wear sunglasses in day, because of high altitude and less pollution sunlight has very high intensity (especially when sun is around the horizon). Sunlight can do the permanent or temporary damage to the eye if faced directly. You will also observe that most of local people and military guy were also sunglasses (especially while driving).
• Wash your face 2-3 times in a day. Then use sunscreen, and lip balm.
• Drink plenty of water even when you are not thirsty and always carry extra amount of water with you.
• Do purchase a SIM card while entering in Jammu and Kashmir state, the normal SIM issued from other states won’t work in Jammu & Kashmir (including Leh-Ladakh). Early BSNL postpaid SIM used to work, but I don’t know about the current situation .

Don’ts

• Do not stay for more than 5-10 minutes on high passes.
• Do not drink water from Pangong Lake. It taste very brittle, salty and will spoil you taste and mood.
• Do not check all the places while registering for Inner Line Permit (https://www.lahdclehpermit.in/), only select the places you want to visit, because the permit registration price is based on destinations. Some foreign nationals require special permission to visit some regions of Ladakh, please refer to the given website for detailed information. Carry multiple photocopies of the documents and Inner Line Permit, In case if asked for submission at checkpoint.
• Do not eat oily or fast food, keep your diet light and healthy. Cary some emergency food items with you like chocolate, protein bars, fruits, etc.
• Avoid drinking and smoking, if you think you are fine, enjoy little bit.
  

In Winters

• Winter is not the best time to visit the Leh. Weather in Ladakh is very harsh in the winter due to extreme low temperatures and snow. There would be few number of operational accommodations. Please check for the central heating or electric bedsheet with the hotels before booking the accommodations.
• Have good gloves to protect fingers when going outside. Temperature will be in minus during winters at all places in Ladakh.
• Do not overtake vehicles on the snow and keep very good distance from the vehicles. Avoid hard breaking, steering, and acceleration, on snow all these are very less effectively to work. So, maintain slow speed and more distance. Driving would become very easy if your following all these.
• Avoid going with motorbike and prefer using four wheelers.
• If heavy snow, use snow chains in all wheels or using cross pattern (one in rear tire and one in front tire in opposite direction). If having 4×4 or AWD use these to gain traction or driving on slippery condition.
• In winter places in Ladakh are prone to random snowfall. So, my recommendation is not to stay in remote location to avoid getting stuck and return to the Leh everyday.
• If you are going from Srinagar to Leh via road. Keep in mind that Joji-La pass is prone to snowfall and could be closed if there is heavy snowfall, and it might take few days to several days to reopen again.
• Tourist vehicles are not allowed after the Sonmarg in the winter. However, it is not impossible to cross the checkpoint, you can request the checkpoint person for the permission (please mention that you are only going to the Kargil and will return from the Kargil, also have printout of Hotel stay at Kargil and show that at the checkpoint). In Winters, only one side traffic is allowed at a time (please confirm the timing at the checkpoint, during our visit, from morning to 11 AM Dras->Sonmarg traffic was allowed and from 1pm to evening Sonmarg->Dras traffic was allowed).
• Don’t not keep the BS6 diesel vehicles running at night, Might cause issue with DPF. If you have petrol vehicle, use that one for trip. Petrol vehicles are usually less affected by the extreme low temperature conditions. Diesel vehicles also works but more prone to freezing conditions than petrol vehicles.
• During our visit in end of December, we registered ourselves for Inner Line Permit (ILP), from the https://www.lahdclehpermit.in/, but nobody checked the permit anywhere (maybe because they are very less tourists in the winter season). There are checkpoints at different places, but they only asked for the vehicle number and number of peoples (for tracking).
• Due to low temperature, water in normal plastic bottle can become very cold. So, Keep a thermal water bottle with you.

Please feel free to comment, I will answer your queries as soon as possible.