Leh Ladakh bike trip itinerary — How to spend 6 days in Ladakh by motorbike?

Traveling to Ladakh in general and traveling to Ladakh in particular by motorbike in terms of routes are almost the same. This article shares my own experience. Especially coming from a guy who has never ridden a clutch and a large displacement. You should only consult and synthesize more people and especially prepare carefully what you can prepare. Only then can we decide through practice in Ladakh: What motorbike to rent, which route to take, and how to get around by bike. Because before leaving, I searched for information and then messaged each person to ask. When I finally come to Ladakh, I went in a direction that had nothing to do with what I initially thought.

How much does Leh Ladakh road trip by bike?

Depending on each person’s needs, the cost of traveling to Ladakh by motorbike will vary. This is the cost that I paid. Note that this is a temporary estimate of the cost of traveling to Ladakh because each time you visit, the price and cost are different. If you want to make a Leh Ladakh road trip by bike, you can refer to and check the price at the time you go for the most accurate before you go.

I flew from Vietnam to New Delhi and below is the following costs:

• Round trip air ticket Vietnam – New Delhi is about $235.80
• Round trip air ticket New Delhi – Leh ticket is about 196.50
• Hotel average cost is around $23.58/night, total 5 nights about $117.90
• Eating and drinking is about $15.72 per day, total about $121.90 including additional expense
• Renting a car is about $18.08 per day, total for 5 days is about $90.39
• Gasoline is about $58.95
• Permit for tourists entering and leaving areas $8.65 per person
• The extra cost is about $78.60
• Total airfare of 432.30 + 8.65 license fee to visit + $463.74 gasoline, hotel fees, and food costs.
• If you go alone (Ladakh trip cost per person), it’s about $903.91 – $982.51
• If you go with two people and share expenses, it will be about $589.51 – 707.41

I limit using cash, so almost all the hotels I book on Booking.com and Agoda.com. Just keep a few Indian rupees and dollars for eat and drink. In Ladakh, food and travel costs are very cheap.

How many days for traveling around Ladakh by motorcycle? (#leh ladakh bike trip itinerary)

Traveling to Ladakh on your own mostly requires a number of days longer than 1 week, which is best to get used to the altitude and habits in Ladakh. Especially when riding a motorbike, you need some extra time to rent a motorbike and get used to driving at an altitude of over 3,000m, and running on the left hand side.

The total time I spent traveling to Ladakh by motorbike was about 6 days. I arrived in Ladakh at noon on October 8 and spent half a day getting used to the altitude and buying a SIM card. On October 9, I rented a bike and drove around to get used to it and wait for the permit. Departing on October 10 and ending on the evening of October 13.

Which is the best month to visit Ladakh?

Ladakh is at its most beautiful starting from April then lasting until mid-October, the closer it gets to November, the colder the weather gets. Some roads will be closed to traffic. So my experience of traveling to Ladakh by motorbike is that you should go around August, September or early October is suitable. Going closer to October will have more yellow leaves, but it will also be quite cold, so prepare clothes carefully at home.

Which season is good to travel to Ladakh?

Fall is the most beautiful time to visit Ladakh. As mentioned above, from early August to early October is a beautiful time to travel to Ladakh. Closer to the end of September, the yellow leaves shine the sky, you will have the feeling of running through rows of bright yellow trees. In the distance, the snowy mountains are beginning to be covered in white.

Some things you need to prepared for a Ladakh trip

Medicines for high altitude shock, some basic medicines. If you go in the cold season, bring warm clothes to wear inside. Bring gloves for driving, trekking shoes or specialized driving shoes. I also prepared snacks and dried fish from Vietnam. Because I was not used to eating curry when I was trekking in Nepal, I have been obsessed with curry until now (this is because I personally do not like curry, no criticism). Regarding my driver’s license, I changed it to a Pet license. Basically, police also doesn’t stop to check the driver’s license at all, only a few stations that need to check the license are allowed to enter that area.

Entry and flight routes

To travel to Ladakh in general and motorbike in particular, you need to fly 2 flights. The first route is Saigon to Delhi, Delhi to Leh. Regarding entry in Delhi, just applying for a visa online is quite easy. In addition, you should prepare 2 additional documents as in the comment below, just print out is enough. Especially, you should prepare a ballpoint pen when you arrive at Delhi airport to fill out the immigration information form (take the initiative to look for the form and fill it out immediately, it will save you having to queue for a long time).

On the Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) – Delhi route, I flew with Vietjet, and on the Delhi to Leh route, I flew with Go Air. After flying to Delhi, after completing the procedures, it will be around 1:00 am. You can stay at the airport early in the morning and take the earliest flight to Leh. If you take a taxi to the hotel to rest, you can go to the taxi counter at the airport for very cheap prices, so you should not book in advance online at high prices, and you won’t be able to take the initiative in the time to get to the airport.

Regarding luggage, if you are bring a flycam, please note one thing: Absolutely do not leave the flycam in your checked luggage. Note, absolutely do not leave your checked luggage. You take out all the batteries and memory cards along with the remote control and put them in your carry-on luggage, and put the flycam body in your checked luggage. All flights do the same, so you no need to worry.

When flying to Leh, you are required to present some documents as noted in my comment below. Please present them if required, because depending on the time you fly, the regulations may change or not.

What to do on the first day in Ladakh?

Resting and get used to the altitude: I landed in Leh around 12am, had already booked a hotel on Booking.com, got off the plane, went out and asked for a taxi to go straight to the hotel, rest and get used to the altitude first. Regarding this, you should not be confident in your health, just rest and prepare some things before departure.

4G SIM card: In the afternoon, start going to Leh market to visit, finding what you need to buy, then visit the Airtel store to get a 4G SIM card. Just bring your passport and they will guide you through it. It’s quite simple but the wait is quite long.

Rent and try driving a motorbike when traveling to Ladakh by motorbike

Renting a bike and permit: you should rent a motorbike on the first day or deposit in advance to ask them to get a permit. Because some areas of Ladakh need a permit to get into, similar to a traffic permit. Any vehicle requires this permit, not just motorbikes. When going on a tour, the tour operator will take care of everything, so I don’t need to worry.

The motorbike I rented was a Royal Enfield 500CC, as shown in the picture, I think choosing this classic model was the right decision. Because when going to Chang La Pass, the snow freezes the road surface. High-clearance bike almost go about 2 meters at a time, but my bike is low so the ride is smooth. When renting, ask someone to prepare a set of backpacks, and a 5 liter can of gasoline. On some long trips, there are no gas stations so you have to have them on hand just in case.

Day 2

I spent 1 day driving around Leh, a radius of about 20-30km. If you do not have a permit, ask the rental shop owner which areas you can getting to. Drive to get used to the bike, and get used to right-hand drive. I have never ridden a clutch and have never touched a bike over 130cc so that day was also the day I practiced riding. At first, I planned to let my friend go with me as a main driver, but because he was not familiar with this side.

I adapted quite well to the altitude and negative temperatures so I didn’t have any problems so I turned around and ran almost the entire route. I admit that the first time I ran a clutch with a large displacement, it was too heavy on the road. Regarding the feeling of driving in Ladakh, people drive quite civilized and not too dangerous, as long as you drive slowly and remember to keep to the left, it’s ok.

Leh Ladakh bike trip itinerary 5 days

Route 1: Leh – Hunder

This is a place to ride camels (actually, I ran astray 60km from Hunder, because the information some of you shared was not the right place to take pictures of camels, just say Nubra, but Nubra is very large. If you search, you will probably find Nubra Valley on Google, You will definitely get lost like me, so you have to find Hunder). You will pass through Khardung Pass, the 4th highest pass in the world for motor vehicles to pass through. After running this pass, you will pass through many passes with different routes. It’s only about 130km, just run slowly and arrive at the village around 5pm and it’s ok.

Route 2: Hunder – Pangong (#Leh Ladakh bike trip itinerary)

This route goes through many dangerous passes. Personally, I think this is the most difficult route. Because the road is small with one side of the small pass is cliffs, on this part, I kept running close to the cliff, not daring to look down the cliff because looking at it for a while would make me dizzy. Going closer to Pangong Lake, the weather gets colder, the road is also very bad, there are many gravel roads so running is quite tiring. You should start early to avoid running late in the cold weather and losing your strength.

Route 3: Pangong – Leh

This route is basically not too difficult when traveling to Ladakh by motorbike. You will go up Chang La Pass, the 3rd highest pass in the world for motorbikes to pass through. If you go in mid-October, there is a high chance that you will run in snow on this route. This is also the road most likely to be locked if the snow is heavy, so you should be careful. When I went this time, I had to stand below and wait for more than 2 hours before I could go up to Chang La Pass. I thought the road was locked.

Above are the 3 routes, you can drive for as many days as you like. I recommend running for longer days. If you go to any village you like, just stay 2 nights and then continue. When I went, I thought the 120-160km route was quite short and could be drive normally. But no, the road is bad and the road is winding all the way, so driving is extremely slow, combined with the cold weather, it’s very tiring. Every time I set out at around 9am, I reach the destination at around 5pm, so tired, so my experience is that you should keep speed at about 60-80km a day to rest. If I’m on a long trip, I’ll play wherever I like, then I’ll get bored and leave, it’s more fun.

Where to stay in Ladakh?

Almost all of the places I mentioned above can be booked through the Booking or Agoda, so just check the room on these apps first to see if there place to stay when you arrive. If you can, book it right away so it will be easier to have a room when you driving to. Besides, you don’t have to bring too much cash with you.

Some hotels that I stayed at when going to Ladakh, you can refer to. I booked all of these hotels on the app.

Reenam Hotel – Leh

This hotel is located near Leh market, it takes about 10 minutes to reach the market. The mountain view is extremely beautiful, especially in the hotel there is an apple tree that I asked the hotel owner for some fruit. Eating apples in the cold weather is sweet and sour, dipped in good salt, that’s the delectable experience, guys.

TIH Hunder Eco Villa – Hunder

I also like this place very much, hotels in the Hunder area or are extremely small ones or are luxury resorts. I kept finding an affordable hotel around $27.62 per night. There is a spacious space overlooking the snowy mountains, and the food in the hotel is also very diverse. If you travel to Ladakh and go through the Hunder region, this is also one of the places worth staying.

Hotel at Pangong Lake

At Pangong Lake, I didn’t book a hotel in advance, just drove there and went to find a hotel. Basically, the place to stay here is quite simple but inside is complete, especially with hot water as well as blankets and pillows to help you not get cold. So when passing Pangong Lake, just walk along and look for it without needing to book in advance.

Is the food in Ladakh hard to eat?

For someone like me who is not fond of curry, it is difficult to eat this food, but there are still dishes that I can still eat. But the general assessment is that the food in Ladakh will be difficult to eat if anyone does not like the smell of curry, and those who like it, you can eat carefree. Up here, I see a lot of vegetables, so the stir-fried vegetables that I order the most are served with white rice.

In addition, you can also prepare some dry food to bring from Vietnam. It will help make the meal richer and eat more rice. For me, when I go out a lot, especially in cold areas, I try to eat as much rice as possible. To have strength and help the body not get too weak.

Scenery and people in Ladakh

Traveling to Ladakh is truly a paradise for those who love the beautiful scenery and people in the Himalayan mountains like me. Especially when riding a motorbike, you have the opportunity to drift more and stop more, so it also takes a lot of time to admire the scenery and take pictures.

On the routes I mentioned above, there is no specific place where you should stop or not. Because basically wherever you like, stop for a little while and you’ll see many interesting places, and if you have extra time, just stop comfortably, especially in the villages hanging off the cliffs.

CONCLUSION: The thing I regret most about this trip is not having time to travel more, to wander more. But it seems that every land under the Himalayas is a place full of charm, rustic and peaceful. In Nepal, I also have a ‘karmic debt’, which is to return to this place to hike for a long time, staying in the villages around the ABC trek. Ladakh now also has a karmic debt that is returning to long-term motorbike riding, to wander around. I wish I could only run 50km a day so I can stop wherever I want.

Trips with many experiences always have many emotions and many stories to tell. Images only make those stories more vivid, so my pictures may not be outstandingly beautiful, but they are my actual experiences. I hope you have more motivation to set out to wander under the majestic snow mountains.

The post first appeared on Cuong Chan and was translated by Living Nomads. If you find any images or text that belong to you, please contact us, so we can credit you or give us permission to use them. Thank you very much!

Some best day tours, trips, activities and transfer services, tickets in, from and to Leh-Ladakh-Zanskar you can refer to

• 10D9N Discover Ladakh, India from Singapore [All-Inclusive]
• 7D6N Ladakh Private Tour
• 6D5N Ladakh Private Tour
• 9D8N Chadar Frozen River Trekking Experience
• 11D10N Stok Kangri Summit Trek from Leh

Read more Ladakh trip blog: Ladakh trip blog — The journey to the fairyland of India and India guide here.