Markha Valley Trek

Day 1. DELHI I NALAGARH
Drive from Delhi to Nalagarh (6 hrs). Nalagarh is the gateway to Himachal and a beautiful palace resort.Overnight Nalagarh Palace.

Day 2. NALAGARH / MANALI
Drive from Nalagarh to Manali (6 - 7 hrs). Manali is a scenic hill station in the Kullu valley / Valley of Gods. Overnight hotel.


Day 3. MANALI / DARCHA
Drive from Manali to Darcha (3 hrs) crossing the 4000 m Rohtang Pass into the Lahaul valley. Over in camp.

Day 4. DARCHA / PANG
Drive from Darcha to Pang (3 hrs) driving across Rupshu area and crossing two passes about 5000 m high. Overnight in camp.

Day 5. PANG / LEH
Drive from Pang to Leh (8 hrs entering the Ladakh area crossing the Tanglangla pass) 5200 m. Overnight hotel.

Day 6. IN LEH
AM - Visit to Spitok and Phylang monasteries.
PM -Sightseeing Leh town- visit to the Shanti Stupa, Leh Palace and the local bazaars. Overnight hotel.

Day 7. LEH /STOK
Drive from Leh to Stok where we shall begin the Markha valley trek. Sightseeing Stok Palace museum. Overnight camp at Stok.

Day 8. STOK / STOKLA
Trek from Stok to Stokla . A gradual climb to Stokla takes about 6 hrs. Overnight Stokla.

Day 9. STOKLA / UMRUTSE
Trek from Stokla to Umrutse via Rumbak Pass. A steep climb of 1 to 2 hrs to Rumbak pass. Take a beautiful view of a small oasis that takes about 2 hrs to reach Rumbak and a further gradual climb of 2 hrs takes you to Umrutse. Overnight camp at Umrutse.

Day 10. UMRUTSE / SHINGO
Trek from Umrutse to Shingo via Kandala pass (4900 mt.). A steep climb of 2 to 3 hrs takes you to Kandala pass. You see beautiful views of a small oasis called Shingo village. After steep descent reach Shingo. Overnight Shingo.

Day 11 . SHINGO / SKIU
Trek from Shingo to Skiu (5 hrs). Enroute visit Skiu Gompa meadow with beautiful Chortens.Overnight camp at Skiu.

Day 12 . SKIU / SHALAK
An easy trek of 5 hrs along the bank of river Markha takes you to Shalak. Enroute see beautiful lines of Chortens. Overnight Shalak.

Day 14. MARKHA / NIMALING
A walk of 4 hrs along the bank of river Markha to Hanker. After Hanker there is a gradual climb for 4 hrs along that takes you Nimaling. Overnight camp at Nimaling.

Day 15. NIMALING SUMDO
Trek from Nimaling to Sumdo via Kangmaru pass (5200 mt.) A steep climb for 1 to 2 hrs to Kangmarula pass From Kangmaru it takes 6 hrs to Sumdo. Visit Shang Gompa. Overnight camp in Sumdo.

Day 16. SUMDO / HEMIS
Trek from Sumdo to Hemis via Martselang 4 hr. walk to Martselang. From Martselang a steep climb for 2 hrs takes you Hemis.Overnight camp Hemis.

Day 17. HEMIS / LEH
AM - Visit Hemis monastery, etc.
PM - Back to Leh, enroute visiting Thikse and Shey monasteries. Overnight hotel Leh.

Day 18. FLY LEH / DELHI
Transfer to airport to board flight to Delhi.

Grading : Moderate - Difficult
Best time : July to October


Ladakh HighIights

NUBRA / ZANSKAR / DELHI / LEH / PANGONG / TSO / LEH / PANAMIC / KARGIL / RANGDUM / PADUM / THIMISGAM / HEMIS / SHUK PACHAM / YANGTANG / LIKIR / LIKIR / LEH / DELHI
Day 1. FLY DELHI / LEH
You will be met at the airport and transferred to your hotel. Rest of the day at leisure at the hotel to acclimatise to the high altitudes of Ladakh. Overnight in class A hotel.

Day 2. IN LEH
AM - Sightseeing excursion of Phiyang and Spitok monasteries.
PM - Sightseeing of Leh visiting Shankar Gompa, Shanti Stupa, Leh Palace and the bazaars.

Day 3. PANGONG TSO
Drive from Leh to Pangong Tso Lake passing through beautiful high altitude mountain landscape. Pangong Tso is situated on the India - China border and is 150 kms long, 4 kms wide and at an altitude of 4000 Mt. Overnight camp.

Day 5. PANAMIK
Drive from Leh to Panamik crossing the 5500Mt. Khardungla pass, which incidentally is the highest motorable pass in the world, into the magnificent Nubra valley. Panamik has hot water springs which are said to have healing properties. Overnight camp.

Day 6. IN PANAMIK
Today, we stay at Panamik and take an excursion to Samstaling, an ancient monastery built by Lama Zangpo who was the disciple of Tsonkhapa, the founder of the yellow hat sect. Continue our excursion to Diskit village and visit the gompa there. At Diskit we can probably see the twin humped bactrian camels. Overnight in camp.

Day 7 PANAMIK / LEH
Drive from Panamik to Leh. Overnight at hotel.

Day 8. LEH / KARGIL
Drive from Leh to Kargil via Lamayuru and Alchilit. Today, we shall also cross the Fatula pass (4400 Mt.) and the Nmikila pass (3800Mt.). Overnight in hotel.

Day 9. KARGIL / RANGDUM
Drive from Kargil to Rangdum. Our drive runs through the beautiful Suru valley which is predominantly Moslem except its last village Rangdum where there is a fair share of Buddhists. There is also a lovely Buddhist monastery here, perched on a hill. Overnight camp.

Day 10. RANGDUM / PADUM
Drive from Rangdum to Padum crossing the Pensila Pass (4400 Mt.) and entering the remote Zanskar valley. The Zanskar valley is about 300 kms long and is ringed by mountains and therefore access is over one of the three high passes. The passes are closed for about 9 months of the year. Padum is the capital of Zanskar. Overnight in camp.

Day 11. IN PADUM
Today, we stay in Padum making an excursion to Karsha and Stongde monasteries and visiting Zangla - the old capital of Zanskar and which is still the King and Queen's residence. Overnight camp.

Day 12. PADUM / RANGDUM
Drive from Padum to Rangdum via the Pensila pass. Overnight in camp.

Day 13.RANGDUM / KARGIL
Drive from Rangdum to Kargil Overnight in hotel Siachen / D'Zojilla or similar.

14. KARGIL / THEMISGAM
Drive from Kargil to Themisgam from where we shall start our trek into the Sham valley the next day. Overnight camp.

Day 15. THEMISGAM / HEMIS SHUK PACHAN (5 hrs)
Trek from Themisgam to Hemis Shuk Pachan. Overnight camp.

Day 16. HEMIS SHUK PACHAN / YANGTANG (5 hrs)
Trek from Hemis Shuk Pachan to Yangtang. Overnight camp.
Day 17. YANGTANG / LIKIRAND / LEH (4 hrs)
Trek from yangtang to Likirand drive to Leh. Overnight in Leh

Day 18. IN LEH
Full day excursion to Shey, Thikse, Hemis monasteries and palace. Overnight in Leh.

Day 19. LEH / DELHI
You will be transferred to airport to board your Delhi flight.

Grade : Moderate - Difficult

Optional : Zanskar Extension

12 PADAM / MUNE
13 : MUNE / DORTJON
14 : DORTJON / PURNE
15 : IN PURNE
16 : PURNE / THABLE
17 : THABLE / GOMBORANJAN
18 : GOMBORONJAN / LAKONG
19 : LAKONG / CHUMINAKPOO
20 : CHUMINAKPOO / ZANSKAR SUMDO
21 : ZANSKAR SUMDO / PALAMU
22 : PALAMU / DARCHA
23 : DARCHA / MANALI
24 : IN MANALI
25 : MANALI / NALAGARH
26: NALAGARH / DELHI