Hi Laura,
Thank you for the great book. As you probably know, the information is a bit dated, below are some updates from my trip in June, 2017.
Road conditions (as of June, 2017)
Manali – Kothi – Rohtang pass New tarmac all the way to the pass. Caution: The road is currently very busy with tourist traffic with standstill traffic jams from Kothi to the checkpost. It is advised to start when Rohtang pass is closed to tourist traffic (Tuesday). Otherwise it’s a bike pushing exercise to Marhhi. There can be bad traffic after Marhhi as well.
Rohtang pass – Koksar Poor road surface, partially washed away, makes for a very slow descent
Koksar – Keylong – Darcha New tarmac all the way
Darcha – Patseo Mostly new tarmac, except for a climb out of Darcha (3km)
Patseo – Baralacha La New perfect tarmac all the way to the pass
Baralacha La – Sarchu New tarmac ends 2km from the pass, the rest of the road has very poor road surface which gradually improves the closer one gets to Sarchu
Sarchu – Top of gata loops Good tarmac
Top of gata loops – Whiskey Nalah Poor road surface, mostly broken tarmac, hard to ride
Whiskey Nalah – Lanchulung La – Pang Poor road surface, gets worse on the descent
Pang – Morey Plains – Tanglang La – Upshi New perfect tarmac all the way to Upshi. Some roughness near nalahas on descent from Tanglang La
Upshi -Leh Good tarmac
Leh to Zoji La checkpoint Great new tarmac all the way. Caution: Minamarg checkpost before Zoji La is an unsafe and potentially dangerous place in the evening. The Indian police closes the checkpost arbitrarily which often leads to violence and stone pelting by angry Kashmiris. Bikes are always allowed through but it is advised to avoid riding through the checkpost in the evening. Sonamarg to Srinagar is not safe at the moment due to unrest and stone pelting. Avoid riding this section on and around July 7-14. A local martyr was killed by Indian forces on July 7 which leads to annual unrest roughly at the same time every year.
Food and accommodation
Kothi Good hotel with running hot water and restaurant
Marhhi HPW rest house (extremely run-down and filthy), rest house keeper asks guests to leave at 5:30am. Many restaurants.
Koksar A few hotels with limited facilities and many restaurants it is 11km on perfect tarmac to Sissu and makes no sense to stop in Koksar (no-one does).
Sissu Three big hotels with running hot water and restaurants, also 1-2 tented camps 2km before Sissu. Also a filthy HPW rest house.
Keylong Hotels with running hot water and many restaurants
Jispa Four hotels with running hot water and restaurants, and countless tented camps.
Darcha The village itself is a few kms from the road and there are no guesthouses there.
Patseo Hozers tented camp is no longer there. The only stay option is a small dhaba parachute tent 3km after Patseo. It is small and filthy, camping is advised.
Zingzingbar 1 Parachute tents with beds available
Zingzingbar 2 Seems to be “the” Zingzingbar now-days, at 4300 meters with better parachute tents (and better views). Not as filthy as the original Zingzingbar
Sarchu Best tented camps are 5km before Sarchu itself. There are tented camps after the checkpost in Sarchu but they are not as good, although they are much cheaper.
Whiskey Nalah Filthy parachute tents
Pang Two “hotels” offering rooms under a roof and behind brick walls, best one is the last one on the right side if facing Leh, amenities include a sit-down toilet and bucket shower. A few parachute tents. Many restaurants.
Debring 1 At the intersection with the road to Tso Kar (which is now new tarmac all the way). Three basic parachute tents with separate sleeping tent.
Debring 2 Around 4 km after Debring, a more sophisticated stopping place with “hotels” like Pang (brick walls and a roof). A few basic restaurants.
Tanglang La Parachute dhaba
Rumtse Three new guesthouses with running hot water and sit-down toilets and good restaurants.
Upshi Restaurants and a filthy guesthouse. Meagre place.
Thiskey Fancy and expensive Monastery hotel with a good restaurant.
After Leh it is mostly as described in your book. Apart from Nimoo village which now boasts three excellent hotels with water and wi-fi and Mulbek which also has a few guesthouses (one of which is in the Paradise restaurant, the other around 2km after the Paradise restaurant).
Kind regards,
Philip Ravicher