North India in December

[ruixiang92]

Anyone has any advice or suggestions for North India in late Dec to Jan? Looking to do some hiking and self-drive. Heard it's very beautiful in the North and nice to hike!

 

[Meister13]

Bump

10char

 

[Din0saurus]

If you're talking about JK, roads will be closed. Chadar is getting popular but it's gonna be damn cold. If you're interested in heli skiing I can dig for contacts.

 

[ruixiang92]

If you're talking about JK, roads will be closed. Chadar is getting popular but it's gonna be damn cold. If you're interested in heli skiing I can dig for contacts.

Yup was thinking of Ladahk. Unfortunately I don't have budget for heli skiing.

Would it be alright to travel alone there in December - Jan? How many days should I station myself there?

 

[Din0saurus]

Yup was thinking of Ladahk. Unfortunately I don't have budget for heli skiing.

Would it be alright to travel alone there in December - Jan? How many days should I station myself there?

Ok as long as you're prepared to deal with the cold. Have you experienced similar weather? I was there in early October and even the experienced looking angmohs suffered a little on Stok Kangri.

How many days depends on your body. A rare few end up hospitalized for the entire week due to altitude sickness. Some suffer migraines and diarrhea all week.

 

[ruixiang92]

Ok as long as you're prepared to deal with the cold. Have you experienced similar weather? I was there in early October and even the experienced looking angmohs suffered a little on Stok Kangri.

How many days depends on your body. A rare few end up hospitalized for the entire week due to altitude sickness. Some suffer migraines and diarrhea all week.

I'm not sure if my body can handle the altitude well. I went to mt kinabalu and acclimatised after afew hours at the base camp. Would that be sufficient?

Would 8 days be sufficient to visit all the must see places? And would there be tour guides available during January? Was thinking of flying there from 03-11 Jan. Will probably be a very cold period

 

[sendtolee]

I'm not sure if my body can handle the altitude well. I went to mt kinabalu and acclimatised after afew hours at the base camp. Would that be sufficient?

Would 8 days be sufficient to visit all the must see places? And would there be tour guides available during January? Was thinking of flying there from 03-11 Jan. Will probably be a very cold period

Tour guides must be prearranged. Jan is deep winter, vehicle travel is almost impossible as Ladakh is above 3000m. KK is different as plenty of tress to provide oxygen to accoimatised. Ladakh very little tress, after 1 week, I still have mild altitude sickness.

Not sue if the monastery will open in Jan as they would try to preserve heat as much as possible by not opening.

 

[artemov]

Ladakh in winter is not for the inexperienced.

The western himalayas, in general, are much colder and inaccessible than the eastern himalayas, especially the major trekking areas of Nepal.

 

[kitkat2]

Tour guides must be prearranged. Jan is deep winter, vehicle travel is almost impossible as Ladakh is above 3000m. KK is different as plenty of tress to provide oxygen to accoimatised. Ladakh very little tress, after 1 week, I still have mild altitude sickness.

Not sue if the monastery will open in Jan as they would try to preserve heat as much as possible by not opening.

laban rata is 3270m. leh is at least 3600m. besides, for some people it takes a few nights for altitude sickness to develop fully.

air circulates globally. trees have no impact on local oxygen levels. you are more likely to get reduced oxygen in an enclosed room than from lack of trees. furthermore, photosynthesis stops when the sun is down and trees start to breathe in oxygen so will you suffocate at night?

winter is the time when festivals are held at major monasteries.

 

[kitkat2]

If you're talking about JK, roads will be closed. Chadar is getting popular but it's gonna be damn cold. If you're interested in heli skiing I can dig for contacts.

ladakh itself is a high altitude desert and doesn't get much snow. roads leading into
ladakh will be blocked by snow at the first few mountain passes such as rohtang, baralacha and zoji, so road trip along the indus river is very much possible.

if it's not damn cold, then chadar will be damn difficult and dangerous as the river isn't sufficiently frozen for you to walk on.

 

[Din0saurus]

ladakh itself is a high altitude desert and doesn't get much snow. roads leading into
ladakh will be blocked by snow at the first few mountain passes such as rohtang, baralacha and zoji, so road trip along the indus river is very much possible.

if it's not damn cold, then chadar will be damn difficult and dangerous as the river isn't sufficiently frozen for you to walk on.

Nice! My info was from someone who went in Apr when they start bulldozing the roads. Snow/ice was higher than the cars.

I'm contemplating a winter trip. Good to know there's stuff to be done.

 

[kitkat2]

Nice! My info was from someone who went in Apr when they start bulldozing the roads. Snow/ice was higher than the cars.

I'm contemplating a winter trip. Good to know there's stuff to be done.

the indian army will be clearing away snow at zoji la during the last days of spring when they are sure there won't be further snow fall. ditto for rohtang and baralacha la.

flights into ladakh operate all year round.

 

[ruixiang92]

Tour guides must be prearranged. Jan is deep winter, vehicle travel is almost impossible as Ladakh is above 3000m. KK is different as plenty of tress to provide oxygen to accoimatised. Ladakh very little tress, after 1 week, I still have mild altitude sickness.

Not sue if the monastery will open in Jan as they would try to preserve heat as much as possible by not opening.

Any recommendations on the itinerary or tour guides then?

laban rata is 3270m. leh is at least 3600m. besides, for some people it takes a few nights for altitude sickness to develop fully.

air circulates globally. trees have no impact on local oxygen levels. you are more likely to get reduced oxygen in an enclosed room than from lack of trees. furthermore, photosynthesis stops when the sun is down and trees start to breathe in oxygen so will you suffocate at night?

winter is the time when festivals are held at major monasteries.

Thanks, so I guess January will be extremely cold but it'll be a good time to walk on frozen lake then? Any advice on how long I should be there for winter, assuming first day I'll just be acclimatizing (probably in town).

Also, any materials / recommended tour guides?

 

[ruixiang92]

Nice! My info was from someone who went in Apr when they start bulldozing the roads. Snow/ice was higher than the cars.

I'm contemplating a winter trip. Good to know there's stuff to be done.

Any plans? could explore travelling together?

 

[Din0saurus]

Any plans? could explore travelling together?

i already have a 2-week trip planned in jan, so it's gonna be either dec/feb or next year. i haven't decided. all i have in mind is playing ice hockey at the moment...

 

[I_Cannot_Eat_Apple]

Im keen on Ladahk too. Prolly travelling up north from Jaipur.

Im not really into the extreme cold weather but would wanna travel comfortably.

Has anybody done Jaipur - Ladakh? When is a good period to travel ?

 

[sendtolee]

Im keen on Ladahk too. Prolly travelling up north from Jaipur.

Im not really into the extreme cold weather but would wanna travel comfortably.

Has anybody done Jaipur - Ladakh? When is a good period to travel ?

September.

 

[drianist]

Im keen on Ladahk too. Prolly travelling up north from Jaipur.

Im not really into the extreme cold weather but would wanna travel comfortably.

Has anybody done Jaipur - Ladakh? When is a good period to travel ?

before the winter breaks in. as above poster, sept - early oct would be ideal