about Rs400 for a double room. Full of restaurants, shops and travel agencies, it is a noisy and rather dirty area, but central and easily accessible. To get there, take a metro to Rama Krishna Ashram Marg (RK Ashram Marg) Station, take the exit that leads to the ashram (N) and go ahead. Shortly, you reach Main Bazaar – the main street of Paharganj – that is more-or-less parallel to the metro track, and turn right. The street leads to New Delhi Railway Station (about 1km) and another metro station.
Hotels and guesthouses here include the Metropolis (www.metropolisguesthouse.com, expensive), Cottage Yes Please (www.cottageyesplease.com), Ajay (www.ajayguesthouse.com), Prince Palace (www.hotelprincepalace.in), Hotel Vivek (www.vivekhotel.com, with a good roof-top restaurant) and Vishal Guesthouse. This last one (no website) is quite centrally located, so if you have no reservation it is a good starting point; all taxi drivers should know it. Cafés in this part of Paharganj include the Madan Café (also offering travel services) and Malhotra Restaurant. There are more accommodation options towards New Delhi Railway Station, such as Hotel Down Town (quite basic but relatively cheap, popular and signed from the main street), Hotel Star Paradise and Hotel Star Palace (www.stargroupofhotels.com). The Everest Café (Momo Cave), a nice Nepali restaurant, is nearby. Outside December, January or February (the high season for non-Himalayan India), you generally do not need to book accommodation in this area.
Prayer flags, the minaret of Jama Masjid and Leh Palace
Rajiv Chowk (Connaught Place) is one of the main business and commercial centres in New Delhi with a major metro station. It is quieter than Paharganj, has good access to public transport and is central. Hotels here are more expensive and harder to find. Ringo Guesthouse (17 Scindia House, Connaught Lane) is an old favourite. Go along Janpath for 100m from Rajiv Chowk and turn left into Connaught Lane. The hotel is 50m further on your left.
The third budget area in Delhi is the Tibetan Refugee Colony at New Aruna Nagar, Majnu-Ka-Tilla. There are a few hotels, many restaurants, tourist offices and Internet cafés. It is the quietest of the three areas but is inconvenient for the city, being located about 3.5km north of Kashmiri Gate Inter State Bus Terminal (ISBT), by the Yamuna River (and just north of Gurudwara Majnu-Ka-Tilla Sikh temple). It is convenient, however, for anyone who wants to go to Manali by bus. Take the metro to Vidhan Sabha (Yellow Line) and a cycle-rickshaw (2km, about Rs15) to the Tibetan Colony (recognisable by prayer flags). From the Kashmiri Gate ISBT, take a motor-rickshaw (3.5km, Rs50). Vehicles are not allowed inside. For accommodation check www.majnukatilla.com (choose Services).
Guesthouses may be busy at certain times of the year (such as Tibetan New Year – a moveable holiday dependant on the Tibetan, lunisolar calendar – and occasional gatherings of the exiled community) so check before arriving.
Sightseeing
Delhi has plenty of sights worth visiting, some of which are unmissable UNESCO World Heritage Sites: the Red Fort, Qutab Minar and Humayun’s Tomb. Add the Jama Masjid, Gurudwara Bangla Sahib, Safdarjang’s Tomb and the Bahai’i House of Worship if you have a bit more time. The Taj Mahal in Agra is 200km south of New Delhi, and worth a day trip.
Getting to Leh from Delhi
By air or road?
Which of these options to go for is a question of balancing the advantages and disadvantages of each mode of travel. Your choice will largely be based on how much time you have, the current weather conditions and political situation.
Ladakh’s only public airport is in Leh with regular flights to Jammu, Srinagar and Delhi operated by a few airlines including Air India (www.airindia.in), Jet Airways (www.jetairways.com) and GoAir (www.goair.com). Because of the prevailing weather conditions, most of the flights take off and land in the morning. Flights are often delayed and sometimes cancelled. If you fly in or out of Ladakh, never make your succeeding schedule tight. Prices vary according to season and time of booking, and may be as low as Rs3000 or over Rs20,000 in the high season (one way). According to some Indian travellers, www.makemytrip.com is the best online booking service in India and can be used from Europe; it also enables on-line transactions made from other countries.
But unless your trip is planned at a time when the roads are closed, my advice is not to fly into Ladakh. Of course, if your time is very limited, you have no other option. Leh is at an elevation of about 3500m, at which most people suffer some symptoms of altitude sickness. To let the body adjust you will need to dedicate a few days for rest, and for not-too-taxing sightseeing. Of course, the sights are fascinating and you will not get bored hanging around in Leh, but be aware that flying to Ladakh is not necessarily the fastest way to the start of your trek.
Flying out of Ladakh at the end of your trek is a good idea and will avoid the uncomfortable trip by road. Seeing Ladakh from a bird’s-eye perspective is a great experience, and you might see some of the places you trekked from the plane!
Another option is to fly to Srinagar and then continue by air or road, but this is not a safe option at the time of writing (see below).
The approach to the Zoji La from the Kashmir side
For those with time taking a road route to Ladakh is an adventure itself and gives you the opportunity to observe the immense diversity and landscapes of the Himalayas. But when travelling on any roads in the Indian Himalayas, be prepared for delays. Have an extra jacket, hat, torch and bottle of water in your hand luggage. If you travel by bus, have a string or rope to fasten your bag to the roof (if there is no other option), as no one else will bother to do it.
There are two roads into Ladakh:
From Manali, entering Ladakh from the south
Passing through Srinagar in Kashmir from the west.
Both cross the Great Himalaya Range. There are passes exceeding 4000m on both routes and neither road is open all year round. The current status of roads may be checked at www.leh.nic.in. It takes three days at least to get to Leh from Delhi by either route.
The Manali road crosses higher passes and is more uncomfortable than the Srinagar road. It is more popular, however, as it passes through Manali, a famous destination, and because the Srinagar road through Kashmir is still regarded by most as unsafe, with the possibility of armed militant activity. That road also passes through Kargil, which is almost on the Line of Control with Pakistan. Check the current situation before heading anywhere near Srinagar.
The tiny pathway leading to the Stongde La (Trek 4)
Make sure you acclimatise properly en route: having left Delhi it is crucial to sleep at least one night at an elevation of around 3000m before going any higher. On the main route via Manali, Keylong (3100m)
