Leh to Manali Motorcycle

Leh · India

Challenging7 daysAsia~£1,800 est.

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Overview

The Leh–Manali Highway is 428 km of high-altitude theatre: five passes including Tanglang La at 5,328 m — signposted for decades as the world's second-highest motorable road, a claim newer Ladakhi roads have overtaken without making the ride through it any less breathless. From Leh you climb through Upshi and the moonscape of the More Plains, camp at Sarchu (4,290 m) on the Himachal border, hairpin down the 21 bends of the Gata Loops, and finally drop into the green shock of the Kullu Valley. The variable that catches riders out is altitude, not the road surface. Sleeping at Sarchu with an unacclimatised body is miserable and occasionally dangerous — spend two or three nights in Leh first, or ride south-to-north and gain height gradually. The season is roughly mid-June to early October; outside it, snow closes everything. Hire a Royal Enfield in Leh or Manali (about £15–20 a day), carry cash, a puncture kit and spare fuel — pumps are 365 km apart at the worst gap — and expect snowmelt stream crossings that deepen after midday sun. Around £1,800 covers a week with bike hire, fuel, tent camps and dhaba food, excluding flights.