Ladakh Without the Altitude Sickness: A Realistic Plan

Leh sits at 3,500 metres. Pangong Tso is 4,350. Khardung La tops 5,350. If you fly into Leh and drive to Nubra the next morning — which plenty of itineraries sell — there is a good chance you spend day three in bed with a headache that no painkiller touches.

Give the first two days away

The single highest-value decision is to do nothing for 48 hours. Two nights in Leh, no passes, no long drives. Walk to the market, drink more water than feels reasonable, sleep badly the first night and better the second. Every itinerary we run is built this way, and it is the reason our clients rarely turn back.

• Fly in rather than driving up from Manali if you are short on days — but then take the acclimatisation seriously
• No alcohol for the first two nights, genuinely
• Four litres of water a day at minimum
• Ask whether your operator carries oxygen and an oximeter — if the answer is vague, book elsewhere
• Go up gradually: Leh, then Nubra, then Pangong. Never the reverse

Altitude is the one thing in travel you cannot push through with willpower. Respect the sequence and Ladakh is straightforward.

When the passes are open

Mid-May to late September, and no serious operator will tell you otherwise. June to August is the reliable window. By early October the passes start closing and the camps come down.