Deluxe bus connecting Manali to Leh restarts

A deluxe bus service that connects this Himachal Pradesh town to Leh in Jammu and Kashmir restarted on Friday after remaining closed for over six months due to snowfall, an official said.

The one-way fare for the 475 km-journey is Rs.2,700, which includes a night's stay at Keylong, dinner and breakfast.

"Our deluxe 35-seater bus started plying between Manali and Leh on Friday. It will leave Manali twice a week at 9 a.m. After stopping overnight at Keylong (in Lahaul-Spiti district), it will reach Leh next day in the evening," Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (HPTDC) general manager Vijay Sharma told IANS.

For the night stay, a special camping site has been developed at Keylong for the passengers by the HPTDC, which is running the luxury bus service to promote tourism in Himachal Pradesh.

He said the bus would continue to ply till mid-September.

The bus crosses four high mountain passes in the cold deserts of Himachal and Jammu and Kashmir - Rohtang Pass (13,050 ft), Baralacha Pass (16,020 ft), Lachungla Pass (16,620 ft) and Tanglangla Pass (17,480 ft).

Backpackers flock to Manali from August to September every year. And most of the travellers from there to Ladakh prefer to drive down the Manali-Leh highway.

State-run Himachal Road Transport Corporation (HRTC) restarted 1,050-km bus journey linking Delhi to Leh via Manali on June 6.

--IANS

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