Why this ride
The stored terrain estimate reaches about 5,150 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Manali-Leh Highway · part 2
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 177 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 2 h 38
- Journey
- One way; return travel is separate
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Pang
Pang is not a village so much as a seasonal camp, a straggle of tents and tea stalls on a bare high plateau in the Himalaya, and it earns its place on the Manali-Leh road by being where everyone wants to stop. The altitude is somewhere above 4,500 metres, which means the air carries about half the oxygen of sea level, and the first thing a rider notices is a thumping head and shortness of breath on any slope. Hot sweet tea and a plate of noodles taste better here than they have any right to.
Read the complete Pang write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Pang is where the day begins. Next is Tanglang La.
2. Tanglang La
At 5,328 metres, Tanglang La is among the highest motorable passes in the world, and for many riders it is the day when the Himalaya stops being a postcard. It is the second-highest pass on the Manali-Leh Highway, after you have crossed Baralacha La and Lachulung La, and it marks the line between the high plateau of Rupshu and the Indus valley beyond. The air carries about half the oxygen of sea level, so even a short walk will leave you breathless, and the engine of your bike will feel the difference too.
Read the complete Tanglang La write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Tanglang La comes up about 70 km into the recorded legs. Next is Leh.
3. Leh
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.
Read the complete Leh write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 177 km.
Leg by leg
Pang to Tanglang La
Pang → Tanglang La is 70 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Tanglang La to Leh
Tanglang La → Leh is 107 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
More motorcycle rides nearby
- Leh–Manali Highway: Lachulung La to Leh · 186 km
- Leh–Manali Highway: Sarchu to Leh · 238 km
- Manali-Leh Highway · part 4 · 609 km