Jeep Safaris in India

There is driving and then there is driving! While some may enjoy the safety of going for an overland trip on the National Highways that criss-cross the region, we prefer to do our driving in the Himalayas. The impossible roads, difficult conditions, high altitude, hair pin bends, astounding beauty, panoramic views, snow capped mountains are what give these journeys that extra zing!

TRANS HIMALAYAN JEEP SAFARI

Ladakh the remote borderland at the end of the Western Himalayas and cut off for the road communication for seven months of the year is now accessible from Manali in Himachal Pradesh through the highest mountain passes in the world.

The safari takes off from the green, verdant valleys of Kullu-Manali, skirts the mysterious valleys of Lahaul and Spiti, climbs over the passes as high as Tanglang (5112 Mts.) and Baralacha (4891 Mts.) to the awesome vistas of the tableland of “ Little Tibet”. You drive across three major mountain ranges of-the Greater Himalayas, Zanskar and Ladakh-to the foothills of the highest mountain mass of the world. The Karakorams or Mustagh, embossing the world’s second highest peak, K2 (8611 Mts.).

In between high passes and grotesque gorges you traverse extensive, stark moonscapes, the legendary Moore plains and the surrealistic steppes of Sarchu. The valley heights range between 1700 Mts. to 4600 Mts., where cold, wild, winds scrape the rubble and whistle past a lonesome Chorten or a Mani-stone wall.

Atop high passes you are face-to face with a maze of snow-capped mountain tops and serrated craggy ridges which hide some of the worlds largest glaciers outside the polar region. This daunting terrain did not deter the lone wayfarer or the caravans of yore who travelled back and forth on this route on foot, camel and yak, carrying spices brocades and jewels.