Arrive in Delhi and overnight at a city hotel close to railway station for short layover.

Morning express train at 07:40hrs to Chandigarh arriving at 10:40hrs. Meet with vehicles and drive to Manali (7 hrs). It’s a lovely drive as you leave the plains of Chandigarh and climb to the hills that you see from there. The air quickly gets cool and fresh as you continue this scenic drive along the Beas River to the town of Mandi, known as the Gateway of the Kullu valley. We cross the ancient town of Kullu with its traditional wooden houses with slate roofs and carved pillars. The people look distinct with their wool hats with geometric colorful designs and their lovely shawls which one cannot resist buying. From here it is another hour to the busy hill station of Manali. Overnight in Manali

Spend the day exploring Old Manali about 3 kms from the main bazaar. Here we visit the temple of Manu after whom the town of Manali was named. Interesting also is the old Hadimba temple set in a nice setting amidst deodar trees. One can also visit the famous Vashisht sulphur hot springs where there are piped in Turkish style baths. One can also go and visit the well known Roerich Art gallery at Naggar. Overnight in Manali

Leaving the rich and green valley of Manali, we begin our 473 km journey to Ladakh. We leave the lush green Kullu Manali valley and after 62 km we come to Rohtang pass at 3980m. From here you get fine views of the Pir Panjal range of mountains. As you descend from the pass, the transition in scenery is noticed as the region gets dry and arid. You descend to Tandi where the Chandra and Bhaga rivers meet to become one known as the Chandrabhaga river. We pass through Keylong , the district head quarters of Lahaul and Spiti. Here you will notice the change in the costumes of the women . If you have time, you can visit the Khardang gompa or continue to our overnight stay at Jispa (3200m) at the Ibex Hotel set in scenic surroundings. 145km - 6 hrs

Today’s is a long day of about 9 – 10 hrs (328km). Leaving very early we drive for about 14km to Darcha, the last village in Himachal before steadily winding our way up past Patseo to the Baralachala pass at 4892m. It is at this point that we cross the great Himalayan watershed into Ladakh. We enter a wide valley at Sarchu (border of Himachal and Ladakh) where passports are checked before driving through amazing landscape. We wind our way up the well known gata loops to the Lachulungla pass at 5063m before driving through the wide open Moore plains to Taglangla, the 2nd highest motorable pass at 5360m. All along the stunning barren rocky cliffs keep changing their hues with the changing light. The road gets fairly rough on the passes but is being maintained in reasonably good condition at other places. Descending from Taglangla, the road soon become a smooth journey all the way to Leh passing the monasteries of Thiksey and Shey which we will leisurely visit during our stay.