Arrived in Delhi from Thailand, I met Manisha at our CS host Gautam. We went straight to buy the ticket for the first leg: Delhi to Manali. Waiting for the city bus, getting to the bus terminal close to the main railway station, buying the ticket and coming back took us almost 4 hours! Resting one night at Gautam’s place was then very nice, I enjoy the dinner a lot!
We took a night bus ‘Volvo’ from Delhi to Manali. The road was sometimes bumpy and once the bus hit the ground, but all in all, I could sleep some hours. It was raining in Delhi when we left it; it was even more raining in Manali when we arrived the 25th in the morning. Manali is already in the mountains, about 2000m high, and very green. The 2nd day was much better: we enjoyed the sun in the morning walking through the city and I then to some waterfall a little outside.
From Manali, there are at least 4 options to reach Leh by road (475km): the official state bus starts in the morning, you stay one night in a tent and come the day after around 6pm. The ticket costs 2000 Rs. You can try the local buses (with bank instead of seats) but getting a place in hazardous. You can hire a jeep and organize your over night yourself. Or you do it in one leg by mini bus starting at 2 am and arriving around 8pm. The later is the mostly used as every travel agency in the corner propose you this service. Although I would have preferred resting a night, we chose this solution for only 900 Rs. Not the best idea: the road is partially very bad and the bus very bumpy.
At ca. the km 200, a truck was down in the valley and 2 recovery vans tries to get it back. If it was fascinating in the beginning, the 2h needed by the rescue process were quite long!
The main motivation to go by road was to enjoy the marvelous landscapes. And indeed, it was amazing to change from a green area to a dry scene over two 5000m peaks, i.e. higher than the top of Europe. Already the highest altitude I have been, but to be beaten in the next days!