Leh–Manali Highway (708 km)
Manali to Leh · one way, about 708 km back to the start
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Why this ride
From Manāli it runs 708 km to Leh; allow about 10 h 05 of riding. It goes by way of Atal Tunnel north portal, Baralacha La, Sarchu and Lachulung La. The highest point is about 5,350 m. Baralacha La, Lachulung La and Tanglang La are open in summer only - check it is open before you set off. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.
Roadbook
- Manali
start
Manali is where the plains give up and the Himalaya begins in earnest. The town sits in the Kullu valley in Himachal Pradesh, on the banks of the Beas, among deodar forests and apple orchards, with snow peaks rising behind. Old Manali, across the river, is the quieter half, a tangle of lanes, wooden houses and cafes, and in the cedar woods above the town stands the Hadimba temple, a pagoda-like wooden shrine built in the sixteenth century and dedicated to a figure from the Mahabharata. The valley has long been a stopping place for traders, travellers and, more recently, backpackers and motorcyclists.
For riders, Manali is the gateway to some of the most famous roads in the world. The Spiti Valley circuit sets out from here, climbing through the Atal Tunnel, a nine-kilometre bore under the Rohtang Pass that opened in 2020 and cut hours off the journey to Lahaul. Beyond lie high, bare mountain roads, river crossings, landslide sections and passes over four thousand metres, including Kunzum La at about 4,550 metres, the entrance to Spiti. The surface can be broken and muddy, and conditions change quickly, with snow possible even in summer. The season runs roughly from June to October, and many high roads close in winter.
Manali has a few thousand people, plus thousands of seasonal visitors, so fuel, workshops and food are plentiful. Nagar, a smaller town about eleven kilometres away, has an old castle with a view of the valley. Fill the tank and take spare fuel in a container before leaving, since stations on the Spiti route are few and far between, with Kaza the main supply point inside the valley. Altitude is a serious matter, so acclimatise, drink water and listen to your body.
The food in Manali is a pleasure, from momos and thukpa to trout from the Beas, and the sun in the morning is warm even when the air is cold. Rise early, because the road is quietest then, and the light on the snow peaks is magical. Carry warm clothing, and always tell someone where you are going.
- Atal Tunnel north portal
scenic
The Atal Tunnel changed the Himalayan road map. For generations, the road north from Manali climbed over the Rohtang Pass, which was open for only part of the year, snowed in from late autumn to early summer. In 2020 a tunnel of about nine kilometres was opened under the pass, one of the longest highway tunnels in the world at such a height, and named after the former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The north portal, where you emerge into Lahaul, is one of the great moments on the road to Ladakh.
The contrast is striking. On the Manali side the valley is wet, green and wooded, with pine and deodar forests and apple orchards. When you come out of the tunnel's north end, you find a drier, harsher world: bare slopes of scree and rock, a few poplar-lined villages, and the Chandra River running through a broad glacial valley. The light is sharper, the sky is bluer, and the air is thinner. The Lahaul valley lies in the rain shadow of the Pir Panjal range, so it gets much less monsoon rain than the south side, which is why it has become a popular route in July and August when the rest of the Himalayas are soaked.
The road beyond the portal is generally good, with long curves and a wide surface, and it follows the river towards Keylong, the district headquarters, some thirty kilometres further on. Traffic can be heavy with trucks and tourist vehicles, and the tunnel itself has speed limits and no overtaking, so be patient. The tunnel is not immune to snow and avalanche, and it can close in bad conditions, so check the latest news.
Simple restaurants at Sissu and Keylong offer dal, rice and tea. The height here is around three thousand metres, and acclimatisation is wise. The best months are June to September, when the roads are open and the air is warm, and the waterfall at Sissu is a reason to stop.
- Baralacha La
scenic · 4890 m
Baralacha La is a pass that feels like the roof of the world, and at 4,890 metres, it nearly is. The name means the pass with crossroads on the summit, because it sits where roads from Lahaul, Zanskar and Ladakh once met. The rivers tell the story: the Chandra rises near here on the south side, and the Yunam flows north, and a few kilometres below the pass lies the clear, round lake of Suraj Tal, one of the highest lakes in India, from which the Bhaga River begins.
The riding on the Leh–Manali road is dramatic but demanding. The tarmac is mostly good on the south side, with long, graded curves, but it breaks up into gravel and mud where snowmelt streams cross it, and in places the road is a rough track. At altitude, the engine is short of air and the rider is short of breath, so go slowly, drink plenty of water and be ready to stop if your head aches. The landscape is spectacular, with red and orange mountains, snowfields and glaciers, and a huge sky. Weather can change from sun to snow in minutes, even in summer.
The pass is open only in summer, usually from around June until September or October, depending on the snow, and the road is often closed by landslides or heavy snow. Basic tented camps and tea stalls operate in summer, but they come and go, and you should carry food, water and warm clothes.
The silence on the summit is memorable. A cold wind blows over the stones, prayer flags snap, and there is a sense of being a very long way from anywhere. The Himalayan marmots whistle among the rocks, and you may see herds of sheep and goats driven up from the villages for the summer grass. Take care to rest at the lower camp, because sleeping high is when altitude sickness is most likely to hit. For a rider, it is a place that demands respect and rewards it with views that stay with you.
- Sarchu
scenic
Sarchu is not a town, and calling it a stop barely does it justice. It is a high, bare plateau at about 4,300 metres, on the boundary between Himachal Pradesh and Ladakh, where the Leh-Manali Highway crosses a wide, windy basin beside the Tsarap river. In the summer season, a collection of tents and camps appear on the plain, serving riders, truck drivers and travellers who need a place to sleep halfway between Manali and Leh, and in winter everything is gone and the snow takes over.
The history is longer than the camps. The route here follows an old trading path between Kullu, Lahaul and Ladakh, along which caravans carried wool, salt, pashmina and grain for centuries. Sarchu was a natural halting place, since the climb from either direction is long and the distances to the next shelter are great. The camps today have simple beds, warm blankets and hot food, usually dal, rice and tea, and they are well used, so expect company.
The riding is some of the most demanding in the world. From Manali the road climbs over the Rohtang and Baralacha La passes, with long stretches of broken tarmac, loose gravel, stream crossings and sharp drops, and after Sarchu come the Gata Loops, a sequence of twenty-one hairpin bends, and the long climb to Nakee La and Lachulung La. Mornings are best, as meltwater on the road freezes overnight and streams swell in the afternoon. The altitude is a danger in its own right: headaches, breathlessness and sleeplessness are common at Sarchu, so go slowly, drink water, and do not rush upward.
Fuel is the practical worry. There is no reliable pump at Sarchu itself, and the last known petrol station before the long gap is at Tandi, a day's ride south, so carry a reserve, and fill up at Karu, near Leh, when you arrive on the other side. Check the news and the road status before you leave, since landslides and snow can close the highway at short notice, and the season usually runs from June to September.
The night here is cold, often below freezing, and the stars are astonishing. Hearing the wind outside the tent and seeing the Milky Way over bare brown hills is the reason people come.
- Lachulung La
scenic · 5059 m
Lachulung La is the second great pass on the road between Manali and Leh, a bare, windswept saddle at 5,059 metres, with prayer flags snapping in the wind and the road clawing its way over a ridge of crumbling rock. It lies north of Sarchu and the Gata Loops, in the high desert plateau of southern Ladakh, where the air is thin and the land is a bare, tawny colour streaked with red and green minerals. There are no trees and almost no plants, only rock, snow and sky.
The pass sits between the Nakee La and Tanglang La, forming the central part of a sequence of high crossings that makes the highway one of the highest in the world. Between them lie the More Plains, a wide flat basin at over 4,000 metres, where the road runs straight for miles across what feels like the surface of another planet. The area is sparsely populated, with a few nomadic herders and army posts, and the camps at Pang, to the south, serve those crossing the passes.
For riders the road is raw and unpredictable. The surface alternates between rough tarmac, broken sections, gravel and water crossings, and the gradients are steady rather than steep, but the thin air makes every bike, and every person, slower. Carburettor and injection engines lose power at altitude, and you may notice the bike feeling flat and sluggish, so be patient and avoid hard braking on loose surfaces. The weather can change in an hour, with sudden snow, hail or high wind, even in midsummer. Start early, to cross the passes before the afternoon meltwater, and carry warm layers.
The nearest supplies are at Pang and Sarchu to the south, and Upshi and Karu on the Leh side, and the long gap between pumps means a reserve of fuel is wise. Altitude sickness is the other danger: if you feel dizzy, nauseous or confused, lose height rather than gaining it.
Stop for a few minutes at the top, take a photograph with the prayer flags, but do not linger too long. The view across the folded ridges and distant snow peaks is wide and silent, and the satisfaction of crossing is real. After a brief rest, the road drops toward the Indus valley and Leh, and the air thickens with every kilometre.
- Tanglang La
scenic · 5328 m
Tanglang La is the second highest of the great passes on the road between Manali and Leh, at about 5,300 metres, and it is a place where the air is so thin that walking up a few steps feels like climbing a stair. The pass lies on the watershed between the Indus valley and the high plateau to the south, and the landscape around it is stark and vast: bare ridges of brown and grey, snowfields in the shadows, and a sky that looks very dark and very close.
The ride up from the south crosses the Morey Plains, a high, flat desert at nearly four and a half thousand metres, which is an astonishing place in itself. The road runs across it in long, straight lines, with the surface sometimes smooth and sometimes broken, and the mountains standing at the edges like the walls of a vast amphitheatre. Then the road begins to climb in a series of bends to the summit, where you will find a signboard, a heap of prayer flags and perhaps a few other riders taking photographs.
On the north side, the road drops steeply towards the Indus, passing the village of Rumtse, where the first green returns. Leh is roughly a hundred kilometres from the pass, and the descent into the valley is a long, welcome relief to the lungs. The road here is generally good, with big curves and open views, but be ready for sudden gusts of wind and the odd landslide.
Practical matters are serious at this height. Tents at Pang, on the southern approach, offer simple meals and a bed, but they are basic and the nights are bitterly cold. Spend a few days in Leh before attempting the pass, drink lots of water and stay a short time at the summit, because altitude sickness is real and can strike without warning. The season runs from June to September, and the pass can close at any time with snow.
- Leh
finish
Leh sits in the high desert of Ladakh at about 3,500 metres, in the broad valley of the Indus, with the Karakoram on one side and the Zanskar range on the other, and it is the end of the Manali-Leh highway, one of the great road journeys in the world. The last stage of that road is the best: you cross the Tanglang La, among the highest passes in the world, then drop to the Indus plain, through villages with whitewashed chortens and prayer flags, and the town appears below a hill crowned by the old Leh Palace, a nine-storey building of mud and wood modelled on the Potala in Lhasa. Behind it, the Namgyal Tsemo monastery and a ruined fort hang on the ridge.
Leh was a major stop on the caravan routes between India, Tibet and Central Asia, where traders brought pashmina, salt, silk and spices over the passes. The Buddhist heritage is strong and visible: the Shanti Stupa, built by Japanese monks, gives a grand view over the town, and monasteries such as Thiksey and Hemis stand within a day's ride, painted with bright murals. The old town below the palace has narrow lanes, and the main bazaar is full of Kashmiri and Tibetan craftwork.
The key to Leh is altitude, and it deserves respect. Spend at least two days there doing nothing before you ride higher, drink plenty of water, avoid alcohol on the first night and take headaches seriously, since acute mountain sickness can become dangerous. The sun is fierce, the air is thin and dry, and the nights are cold even in summer. For riders the roads to Khardung La, to Pangong Lake and to the Nubra Valley all start from here, and some of them need an Inner Line Permit, which can be arranged through a local agency or online. The riding season runs roughly from June to September, when the high roads are open, though landslides and snow can close them at any time.
The town has about thirty-seven thousand people, so fuel, mechanics, tyres and food are all available, but remember that the stations beyond Leh, in the Nubra and Pangong directions, are far apart, so carry a jerrycan for long days. Try thukpa, the noodle soup, momos and butter tea, and the apricots that grow in the valleys. Bakeries sell German-style cakes, a legacy of trekkers, and cafes on the main street have good coffee and views of the palace.