The Manali Leh highway is open only for a short period of time during summer between mid May to mid October. The road condition on this route keeps changing. However, here is a gist of what to expect and how to prepare yourself for the ride. Start your ride from Ride Inn and you will get a 6km head start and beat a lot of the traffic in Manali. In the months of May & June we advise starting at 3:00 a.m. as most tourists visiting Manali go to Rohtang Pass. All tourist vehicles leave at 4:00 am, so you can imagine the sheer volume of tourist traffic at Rohtang Pass. July onwards tourists reduce and it is no longer necessary to leave that early in the morning. The road up Rohtang, when clear and not covered in clouds, is by far one of the most scenic rides in the greener parts of the Himalayas. From Marhi village (3,300m), the view of the entire Beas valley is just breathtaking.

Post 2013 the road up Rohtang is well paved and one no longer needs to face the nightmare of climbing up the 3950 meter hight pass. At Rohtang top is where one leaves all the crowds behind. Along with the crowds you also leave behind the greenery. Post Rohtang one enters Lahaul District of Himachal Pradesh, a tribal high altitude region with barren landscapes. After Rohtang one will cross a junction called Gramphoo. From there one road goes straight (the Manali Leh Highway) and one goes to the right (Spiti valley). Do try out the meat chawal at the Dhaba at Gramphoo which is to die for.

From Gramphoo 43km ahead lies Tandi (2,570m), a must stop to refuel as the next gas station is 300km away in Karu. Another 8 km after Tandi, situated at an altitude of 3,080m is Keylong, the only town on the Manali Leh highway. 25 km after Keylong is Jispa (3,200m), a beautiful quaint settlement with just a couple of hotels and camps. Jispa is followed by Darcha (3,360m) and Zing Zing Bar (4,080m). Do not be fooled by Bar, it is actually the name of a place where an army settlement is present. From there you start your ascent to Baralacha La at an altitude of 4900 meters. Enroute to Baralacha La, you will see the first high altitude lake at Suraj Tal.

From Baralacha La you descend to Bharatpur City,  which is not a city but just a couple of Dhabas with LCD tv sets, serving food and providing bedding for a night’s rest. After Bharatpur and 30km from Baralacha La top comes Sarchu. Sarchu is the last point of Himachal Pradesh before you enter Ladakh. It has some decent options for a stay, most of them being tents. Accommodation in Sarchu ranges from basic alpine crawl-in type tents to luxury swiss style tents with attached bathrooms and chaddar/tin structures offering dorm type accommodation. We suggest staying in the tin structures as Sarchu can get extremely cold and windy and your tent could be flapping all night leading to a sleepless night. Sarchu is at an altitude of 4290 meters and adjusting to this altitude is difficult. Reach Sarchu by evening and your body will acclimatize even better. After Sarchu the chances of getting AMS is low and if in Sarchu one feels any symptoms then one can go to the army camp where oxygen is available. Getting a good nights sleep in Sarchu is a bit difficult. However, when one wakes up to one of the most stunning landscapes at dawn, one automatically feel fresh and ready to ride.

Soon after crossing Sarchu, a sign board reads Welcome to the paradise of India. You are now in Ladakh. Next come the Gata loops, a series of 21 hair pin bends at an altitude of 4190m. After Gata Loops are two mountain passes at Nakee La & Lachung La at an altitude of 4,740m & 5,060m respectively. Lachung La is followed by Pang, an army settlement at an altitude of 4600 meters. There are stay options here but due to the high altitude, one should avoid staying here. Between Pang and Debring lies a 45 km stretch of clean crisp tarmac fit to race on. This area is called More plains and back in the day this used to be a dirt track. From Debring you begin a 25 km ascend to Tanglang La (5,330m), the third highest motorable road in the world. A 52 km descent from Tanglang La leads to Upshi. Another 14 km from Upshi is Karu, which has a gas station to fuel up. Karu to Leh is another 35km.