Mobile phones, Internet and data connectivity in Leh, Ladakh

Phones, IPhone does not work in leh. BB n nokia seem to be the best option. None the participants had Android devices.
Out of the three operators, cellone (bsnl), aircel and Airtel my phone (two voda connections) was working only on Aircel. 
Prepaid phones do not work in Leh or Kashmir due to security considerations.
On some mobile handsets automatic network connections does not work, and most often rmanual also does not seem to work. In such cases one needs to continuously try (unto 10 times) on manual configuration to connect to a network. (aircel seems to be the preferred option here)
On some handsets the regular phone speaker does not seem to and one has to use loudspeaker function to make/answer calls.
SMS function can also be highly unreliable in Leh. In my cases, all my outbound smses were reaching recipients but I was not getting here smses.
Internet charges can be between Rs.90-100 per hour. And if you have your own computer or tablet, it comes down to Rs.70per hour. There are some restaurants which offer wifi for almost unlimited duration for a cover charge of Rs.100 per person/device.
Broadband speeds are pretty decent when things are working. But there can be cases when the city is without mainstream broadband for upto 3-4days if the broadband backbone cable gets damaged. And in those cases satellite internet or dialup Internet is the only option.

Great Tibetan marathon 2010 on July 18

GTM now has a new website. They are now also available on FB with a fan page http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Great-Tibetan-Marathon/274442991265

This year the marathon takes place on July 18. you can tweet and connect with one of the organisers on twitter - @jsuchede

Three running categories: The Full Marathon, Half Marathon and 10k.

To take care of altitude related sicknesses during the race, all runners need to spend a 5-6 days for acclimatization in Leh at an altitude of 3500mts.

Contact details for registration

Please contact Jiten and he will help you with the registration, please ask him to give you the forms for registration for Indian residents (excl. -travel and stay option), It should cost around Rs.10k (Pl. note its applicable for Indian resident citizens only). You will not find this option on the official website. This purely is an effort by the adventure marathon organisers to encourage Indians to participate in the marathon (a special gesture indeed).

Should budget not be a constraint, you could take their complete package, which includes travel and stay from Delhi (starting at USD 2600 per person) or visit http://www.great-tibetan-marathon.com/prices.aspx

Attention: Nazir Rah (Director International sales GTM)
or Jiten Suchede (Project Manager GTM)

Address: 26/27 LGF, Charmwood Plaza
Near Suraj Kund, Eros Garden,
Charmwood Village,
Faridabad – 121 009, India

Ph. no: +91. (0) 129.4117492/93
Fax: +91. (0) 129.4117491

Email: gtm@mountainadventuresindia.com
Web: www.mountainindia.com

Budget for participating in Great Tibetan Marathon

Budget Rs.30-35k is the bare minimum, if you include the race fees!

Registration fees were 8K (2 years back) so budget 10k, to factor in inflation! (Pl. note this is a special rate for Indian resident citizens, the regular rate is about 40K)

Bom-Del - Bom - 6.5K (book now and you will get full service airlines)
Del-Man - 1k (Bus)
Man-leh - 1-1.5k (Bus or four wheel drive taxi)
Manali stay - 0.5k (overnight stop over at a yatri nivas)
Leh stay - twin sharing about .3k x 10days - 3k (but budget for .5k per day) - ref. link below or use travel sites to find deals.
Leh/manali food - 0.5k per day x 10 - 5k
All terrain bike trip Khardungla to leh - 1k (downhill)
visit to lake - 1k (in a group)
Nubra valley (in the group) - 1.5k (trek will cost you a lot more, the hotel will be able to organise it)
Manali - Srinagar - 1k (bus)
Trek in manali - 1k
Shopping - 1-2k (t shirts & shopping at monastery)
Srinagar - Delhi - 4k (Air)

Above is the bare minimum cost. let me know if anything has been missed out.

My Place of stay was silverline Inn (can't find their number, pl. check
online, i will also look for it).
http://greattibetanmarathon.blogspot.com/2007/08/room-with-view-in-leh.html

Must visit desert rain cafe
http://greattibetanmarathon.blogspot.com/2007/08/desert-rain-cafe-leh.html

scroll from bottom to top on the blog..to view pics and other details from the adventure marathon.

Results of Great Tibetan Marathon 2008 and next GTM on July 18, 2009

It was quite an exciting Great Tibetan Marathon (GTM) this year on July 19, 2008. This year the marathon was a lot bigger and better, the full marathon participants increased from 32 in 2007 (the year I participated) to 46 people this year. This includes Men and women participants. Quality of a marathon should be judged by the number of full marathon runners it attracts, and GTM has seen a quantum jump in registrations for the full marathon.

This year the mens winner finished in 3hrs 45mins, which is a lot slower than the mind blowing time set by Jan Peterson in 2007. He was really quick and he ran very effortlessly, it was almost as if the altitude did not just matter to him. It will be very difficult for someone to beat the time set by Jan, as the terrain and climate are quite hostile.

To view complete race results visit - http://www.great-tibetan-marathon.com/Results.aspx
To view 2007 results for comparison - http://www.great-tibetan-marathon.com/2007.aspx

This year again the organisers had four categories, full marathon, half marathon, 10km and 5km run. The organisers have also decide the date for the Great Tibetan Marathon (GTM) 2009 marathon. Its July 18, 2009 at Leh, Ladakh.

Since I was not able to make it this year, it would be really nice if runners of 2008 could post their comments on the blog, I will then update it on the blog, so that we all can make this event bigger in the coming year.

Great Tibetan Marathon 2008

Registration for the 2008 marathon has closed now. The marathon takes place on Saturday, July 19, 2008.
visit for more details.

Races details for this year -
Four distances (men and women) - Half and Full Marathon, 10K and 5K

Course details
- Starts at Hemis Gompa monastery,Leh 3,800 meters above sea level
- Terrain varies between tarmac, gravel, wooden bridges, sand and village unpaved dirt roads (about 70% on tarmac)
- Water Stations, set up every four (4) km, will have water, shaded area, and toilet tents
- Kilometer signs will be counting down from 42.195 km to zero
- Finish in the courtyard of the Spituk Monastery with an altitude of 3,400 meters (so you are gradually going downhill)

This time the organisers have arranged for ChampionChip timing system, chip will be provided and must be returned. The cut off this year is 8 hours (everyone finished within 6.5hrs last year and yes, everyone finished)

If you havn't registered for this year then you will have to wait for the next edition. It takes place on July 18, 2009.

Raceday picture (pre start)