Gps mapping for Ladakh

[ratkes]

I am looking for mapping that I can put onto a Garmin Zumo for the Ladakh region of India. I have got the wanderlust mapping on my computer but when you check it against it would appear not to be too accurate.
Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.

[Frank Warner]

You can help 'improve' the wanderlust maps by sending in your tracks to smellybiker ..
http://www.smellybiker.com/


There are 'free' maps ... but they will need work from you to get them going ..
http://mapcenter.cgpsmapper.com/catalogue.php Probably less accuracy than wanderlust?
http://www.openstreetmap.com/ Peoples tracks ..

----------------------
On 'world maps' and there detail, use ..
if you bought a paper world map .. what could you expect on that? The GPS 'world map's are a lot better than the paper versions...

And before you buy it you can look at the sample for free and judge what level of detail is avalible. Set your mapsource program to detail - 'highest' and zoom in to 700metres ... sorry I'm metric here. You can use the find function to see what is avalible in POIs if you don't want to zoom in ...

[Chanderjeet]

Where exactly do you want to go in ladakh?

[ratkes]

Chandigarh to Manali. Manali to Leh. Leh to Khardung. Then if possible a circuit from Leh to Pangong Tso, Tsanga, Mahe, Kumdok and back to Leh.
Then Leh to Kargil. Kargil to Padum and back. Kargil to Srinagar. Srinagar to Chandigarh.
I gather it is fairly straight forward, but it would be good if we could get some GPS mapping for the route. Perhaps we are expecting something that is not available and as we are accustomed to GPS mapping being the norm as we go to remoter areas we cannot expect that level of detail.
However I am constantly surprised by the amount of infomation out there for free.
Regards And thankyou Ratkes.

[Chanderjeet]

Honestly, i dont think theres a lot of people who would have GPS waypoints of that area or maps worth uploading on a GLOBAL PINPOINTMENT SYSTEM. There are detailed maps of that area also when in india use the indian GPS (read ask the people around).

So,

Delhi to Chandigarh - Straight Simple Highway.

Manali:-

Route 1 --- Chandigarh - Roopnagar (also called Ropar) - Manali.
Route 2 --- Chandigarh - Shimla - Manali.

I would prefer route 1 if i want to cover the route fast and would prefer route 2 for more picturesque riding. You will lot of touristy places but once you cross shimla the road is fabolous.

Manali to Leh is a simple highway. You should start early for this day of riding.

There you will require Security permits which can be obtained from Deputy commissioners office but do a day prior to going to Khardungla.

The problem is after Pangongtso. Not many go to mahe, kumdok etc and its very trecharous. Plus theres no fuel available.

I can scan up and post a map of that area later.....

[ratkes]

Thanks for the reply. We intend to take the train to Chandigarh to experience your Indian train service. We see this as part of our trip. Thanks for the advice about the route to Manali. Is route 2 acheivable in 1 day? As far as the route from manali, it would appear that we will either have to stay at Keylong or Sachu, then the next day make Leh, am I correct?
I have tried to research the area and the trip using 60kph and the BCM touring site ( both have lots of usefull info) I understand about the permits.
As for Pangongtso do we just go to Chushul and Erath to get back to Leh. We are adding this to do another pass, not really top priority so we could miss it out if you think it is not worth it.
The main objective is the route to Leh and Khardung La then back to Chandigarh via Kargil (and adding the Padam trip)
We intend to start in the 3rd week in june next year and have 14 days on the route. Any comments or advice would be appreciated.
Regards Ratkes
June 2009 can't come fast enough!

[arn]

routable map of India available with streetatlas@hotmail.com

5.5K INR (about 120 USD)

Manali Leh rd is shown, but some snafu prevents it from routing properly there.

[billyt53]

Ratkes, have a look at the itinerary for the Himalaya Heights trip in the link.



http://www.ferriswheels.com.au/pdf/2009HHItinerary.pdf

http://www.ferriswheels.com.au/index...d=39&Itemid=55


This may help you.

Billy

[alfonso-lanka]

Originally Posted by ratkes

I am looking for mapping that I can put onto a Garmin Zumo for the Ladakh region of India. I have got the wanderlust mapping on my computer but when you check it against it would appear not to be too accurate.
Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.

I don't know if you have alreay gone on your trip or not yet, but there are not yet any detailed maps available. That's why I have made a series of maps myself (and am still making them). The whole of Ladakh (and north of Leh up to the border with China & Pakistan. And down to HP, including most of Lahaul and the whole of Spiti Valley, further throuth Sutlej Valley up to Shimla. These are more or less ready and reasonable calibrated.
I found that some areas, for which I have satellite imagery, are NOT very accurately calibrated. Apparently the coordinates on the images (from Google and Wikimapia) are wrong when I compare them with actual GPS tracklogs taken. But even if you're half an inch 'off-the-road', the actual road is quite perfectly paralel to the one on the maps. So quite useable.

I will visit the area described extensively next July/August to make the necessary corrections, but meanwhile you can have a copy of the maps.

However, they are NOT made for Garmin. So you will have to use a PC software (like the free Trackmaker on www.gpstm.com) to create your own routes and POIS and theN upload these into your Garmin.

If you have a windows-bsed PDA or smartphone with Ozi Explorer, which is what I am using, you can directly use the maps on your device.

Alfonso

[alfonso-lanka]

To give you a little sample of the detail, here's a piece of Nubra valley. Beware of the placenames: these need BIG corrections, as they were mostly plucked from Russian maps (and converting Tibetan names from Russian into English is not my strongest point).

[Frank Warner]

Originally Posted by alfonso-lanka

Beware of the placenames: these need BIG corrections, as they were mostly plucked from Russian maps (and converting Tibetan names from Russian into English is not my strongest point).

Rather you than me. Some ideas for you -

DEM data can be used to generate the topo lines - and they look fairly accurate in other parts of the world. (lots of work there)

City/towns can be had from some us site - the resoultion (accuracy limited) is not good - but if you used the russian maps as an under lay (calibrated to the topo lines above) you could move them to a more accurate location. (less work than what you are doing? There should be a link on teh Oziexplorer site ?)

Then it would be a matter of tracing out the roads - roughly where it does not matter .. with more precision where they cross.

After you get tracks - include them for accuracy. POI for fuel/places to stay/ATMs/views .. etc .

Look forward to seeing your work ..

[stormsearcher]

i dontknowif u can get gps coo rdinates or anything like that. its all pretty straight forward.the whole place is under army control.
u just cant go wherever you like its restricted area.dont think from memory u can go past pangongso.my friends and i tried to get to 'marsimik la'-apparently higher than khardungla in 2003 and even thouugh we had very high military connections and were guests of the border roads org it was not not possible.otherwise most of the other roads are pretty simple.
ordinance maps from the army are the best for the area.
nubra valley is pretty simple too. most are army roads made to get supplies to outposts in the summer months .

[stormsearcher]

from chandigarg whether you take the road thro kulu or the one thro simla you will enjoy the trip.stunning scenery.and u can from memory end up in baralacha pass bypassing manali. pm me when you are going and will set you up with a few himalyan pioneer adv riders who can get you maps/info as needed.

[tsk1979]

Openstreetmap has most of Ladakh mapped. I plan to fix some missing sections like Dha region soon.
Went there, did 5000kms but since I do not ride a bike.....

Anyways, by month end, I should have everything mapped on openstreetmap

[greystoke]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

Openstreetmap has most of Ladakh mapped. I plan to fix some missing sections like Dha region soon.
Went there, did 5000kms but since I do not ride a bike.....

Anyways, by month end, I should have everything mapped on openstreetmap

cloudmade.com then generates files that others can use to build maps in various formats.

http://downloads.cloudmade.com/asia/india#breadcrumbs

Heres an example of the output they generate from OSM:
Last maps update: 07 October 2009
WorldAsiaIndia

• india.img.zip (9.7M)
• india.navit.bin.zip (9.6M)
• india.osm.administrative.bz2 (334.8K)
• india.osm.bz2 (23.9M)
• india.osm.coastline.bz2 (6.1M)
• india.osm.highway.bz2 (12.5M)
• india.poi.gpx.zip (258.4K)
• india.poi.tomtom.zip (172.6K)
• india.poly (59.9K)
• india.shapefiles.zip (19.8M)

I've been usine these to generate maps of Ladakh for my Explorist (a PITA). The POI's are a bit light on so I make new shapefiles with the POI's I want and build them into the maps.

I think you can go straight to Garmin from some of these files. From the FAQ...

<table class="file-formats"><tbody><tr><td>Garmin Map Files - OSM err edition </td> <td>.zip</td> <td>.img</td> <td>The Garmin Map Files (OSM err edition) are maps that can be loaded onto many Garmin GPS units and used to assist mapping for OpenStreetMap. The files highlight features that are likely to be incorrect, such as roads with no name, which are highlighted in red. The files are created using the Mkgmap utility. </td> <td>To find out more about Garmin Map Files, take a look at the Mkgmap project home page. </td></tr></tbody></table>
Keep on mapping tsk1979