Taxi drivers and tourism entrepreneurs in Manali are gearing up for 15-day-long Ladakh Festival starting from September 1 as hundreds of domestic and foreign tourists are expected to reach Manali to start their onward journey to Leh this week. Thousands of tourists, mostly from abroad, throng Ladakh to witness the unique blend of culture between September 1 and 15. Large part of them stays in Manali to get acclimatized before starting their 2-day-long jeep safari to Leh. Tourists’ arrival would be beneficial for hotels and camp owners in Keylong and Sarchu, the preferred mid-way halts between Manali and Leh. A travel agent in Manali, Ashok Karpa, said hundreds of enquiries are pouring in for Ladakh festival tour. “Many tourists have already booked their hotels, camps and jeeps while booking is continuing,” he said. It’s already off-season in Manali and season comes to end in September in Ladakh. Taxi operators in Manali are offering 10 to 20% discount on booking of the jeep to Leh. “Business is down right now. Hoping that we would get return passengers from Leh, almost all taxi operators have reduced their fare. We hope for good business ahead of Ladakh Festival,” a jeep driver, Rajkumar Singh, said. The devastating monsoon clouds which had disheveled the condition of Manali-Leh highway have disappeared from the sky. Most of the drivers were hesitating in driving on this route and suffered huge losses. Now all of them are looking forward to Ladakh Festival to compensate their losses. (with inputs from Discover Leh Ladakh)
Taxi drivers and tourism entrepreneurs in Manali are gearing up for 15-day-long Ladakh Festival starting from September 1 as hundreds of domestic and foreign tourists are expected to reach Manali to start their onward journey to Leh this week. Thousands of tourists, mostly from abroad, throng Ladakh to witness the unique blend of culture between
