BEST SEASON – TREKKING IN LADAKH, JAMMU AND KASHMIR

The best time for a trek in Ladakh is July to September.

TREKKING ROUTES – TREKKING IN LADAKH, JAMMU AND KASHMIR
High grade trek routes (3/4 C) converging on Leh via Padam in Zanskar also start from Kishtwar over the Umasila, Udaipur in Lahoul over the Sersank and Poat La and from Zanskar crossing the streneous Charchala. Perhaps the most popular pass of all is the Shingola which still serves as arterial route (19 days/3C) from Lahoul to Zanskar extending over to Lumayuru (3C). The routes to Kargil over the Pensila is now partly motorable.
7/8 trek days from Leh over moderately high passes (3C) end with visits to the Markha valley, Stok village and the celebrated Hemis monastery. The season is also marked by higher water volume in the Indus, enabling rafting excursions from Leh down to Nimo near its junction with the Zanskar river. Acclimatisation is essential. Day cists from Leh can take in the Buddhist monasteries dotting the Indus valley, high altitude polo and the unique amalgam of Buddhism and Islam in the high altitude desert. Leh Bazar itself harks back to the oldest trade routes to Tibet.

INNER LINE PERMIT – TREKKING IN LADAKH, JAMMU AND KASHMIR
Inner Line Permit is required for trekking in certain areas of Ladakh which may be obtained from Jamu&Kashmir tourism office in Delhi or the District Magistrate office in Leh or from the Indian Mission overseas.

SPECTACULAR ZANSKAR – TREKKING IN LADAKH, JAMMU AND KASHMIR
The Zanskar sub-division of Kargil district is centered around its main settlement at Padam(3505 m). Four main routes over passes up to 5000m converge here from Lahoul in the Chenab valley, Kishtwar, the Suru valley and Leh. Truly one of the most desolated places in the Himalaya, Zanskar is known for its spectacular scale, hardy mountain folk and extreme winter when the Zanskar river freezes to form the “chadar” over which mail runners operate.

MOTORABLE PASSES – TREKKING IN LADAKH, JAMMU AND KASHMIR
On the north and eastern exits of the Indus valley in Ladakh are two of the world’s highest motorable passes : Kharungla at 18,300 ft. for the Nubra valley and Taglangala at 17,500 ft. on the Manali road. The former is the Karakoram gateway to the vast confluence of the Shyok and Nubra rivers, Saser Kangiri peak and its associated lofty ranges. Eastwards in the same district, over the Changla at 17,000 ft. the road winds its way to the brackish Pangyong-tso and Tso Moriri lakes at 14,000 ft. on the edge of the Tibetan plateau, where the traveller may sight the nomadic herdsmen of the Changthang, the black-necked crane or the elusive snow leopard.

SIGHT AND SOUNDS – TREKKING IN LADAKH, JAMMU AND KASHMIR

Down the Indus from Leh, the route branches off for the Hanu region inhabitant by the Dards, reputedly descended from the armies of Alexander and the Great.
Kargil (2705 m) is now a district headquarter, 234 km west of Leh. It held its own importance on the earlier commercial map. A further 60 km west of Kargil is Drass (3230 m), reportedly one of the coldest places in winter. But it is Kargil’s Suru Valley on the edge of the Great Himalayan range that leads into the region of Pannikhar, Saukhoo, the Ringdum monastery and its wildly special beauty. A number of 2/3 C treks in the area provide close-ups around the Nun & Kun peaks.