Every year, thousands of travelers undertake Manali - Leh cannonball run i.e. the infamous one day journey (roughly 16 hours) from Manali to Leh.

While majority of the people do this exhausting journey to save time, few also do it escape the effects of AMS (Acute Mountain Sickness), which they feel they will surely contract if they do the journey in two or three days.

While both are valid reasons to some extent, cannonball runs can actually prove to be counterproductive, here is why:

Dangerous for occupants and other road users: Driving a multi utility vehicle, packed with people and luggage, without power steering, power brakes and air conditioning at that altitude is an exhausting job. Little wonder then, majority of these drivers drive under the influence of alcohol or other drugs, which in turn lowers their reaction time, which coupled with the fact they drive fast, makes for a deadly cocktail for both the occupants and other road users.

I have personally tasted this deadly cocktail during my first trip to Ladakh, the driver driving that Sumo was frozen still and only after hitting my motorcycle did he realize what had happened. Thankfully I survived and thankfully for the occupant of that taxi, I was riding a motorcycle and not a truck, else they will be going back home in body bags!

It doesn’t actually saves a lot time or money: Yes that’s right, doing a cannonball run, wouldn’t actually save you whole lot of money and time. Let’s do the math, shell we:

Delhi - Manali Volvo tickets: Rs. 850

1 day stay at Manali: Rs. 250-1,000

Manali - Leh cannonball run ticket: Rs. 1,500

Total expense = Rs. 2,600-3350

A ticket on the Delhi - Leh Air Deccan flight costs Rs. 4,224, so at the max you will be saving Rs.1,624 and at the same time you will be wasting couple of days of your life, being pushed from one side to another, hoping your drunk driver doesn’t looses control and takes you down that thousand feet sheer drop!

While for a mere Rs. 874-1,624 you can actually sit comfortably, get a bird side view of some of the highest mountain ranges and arrive in Leh in less than 90 minutes!

Cannonball run isn’t scenic or fun: Now a few might argue that Manali - Leh journey is really scenic and should be done by every one. Well it is true, however only for those who can actually experience the journey, not for those who are packed in a sardine can and are being pushed from one side to another, yearning for a break to come so they can empty their bladder, stretch their legs, get something to eat, breathe in fresh air and then maybe click a few snaps, just before it is time to move on!

In journey like this, you won’t even get a chance to properly capture scenery with your eyes, let alone with your camera.

You won’t escape AMS: Lastly those who think they can escape AMS by doing to Manali - Leh Cannonball run, I got news for you, apart from Leh, nothing else is actually situated at a low altitude in Ladakh. So you will end up doing a day trip to Pangong Tso i.e. spend thirty minutes there and hurriedly return to Leh. You will also have just enough stamina to pose for a photo next to highest motorable road, before you will start gasping for air and would want to return to low altitudes.

Why?

Because you didn’t actually get acclimatized, even if you spent next couple of days in Leh (10,500ft), according to the law of acclimatization you were following, you wouldn’t have acclimatized for 14,000ft high altitude of Pangong Tso and certainly not for the 18,380ft Khardung La.

So what is the solution?

1. Divide the journey in two to three days, with night stops at Keylong/Jispa/Darcha and Sarchu/Pang.

2. Skip the Manali - Leh route, if you can’t experience it properly, it is best not to do it just for boasting rights. Go through the Srinagar - Leh route, it is quite scenic and never climbs above 13,479ft (just a tad higher than Rohtang Jot).

3. Take the aerial route, fly to Leh and then spend a day or two acclimatizing and soaking in the local sights and Gompas.

This will not only give you enough time to experience the journey and enjoy it, it should also get you ready for what lies ahead. Also read this thread on Acute Mountain Sickness, apart from the research in the first post (done on trekkers and not on those traveling in vehicles), you will get to hear personal experience of other travelers who have undertaken this journey and methods which they found were effective in helping them acclimatize and fight the symptoms of AMS on the Manali - Leh highway.