Ladakh in 5 Days...???!!! (Or 6 or 7 or 10 or 15...!!!)

solo_trekker

Julay
(thatz Hullo in Ladakhi...!)

A friend had been asking me to give him advice and suggestions for an itinerary for a 5 day trip to Ladakh... And I just did... It's extremely useful even if you have a two-week long trip to heaven, I mean, Ladakh...! Thought I'll share it all with all you guys too...!!!

Well, here goes...

About the number of days : Honestly, I would never ever suggest anyone to take such a short trip to Ladakh. Four or five days can't possibly do justice to the phenomenon that is Ladakh. Though it's none of my business, couldn't it be from one weekend to the other...? Time is a constraint, no doubt, but do think it over. In Ladakh, even a slight change in the weather or a minor landslide blocking the road can make all your plans go awry and so it is always better to have a day in handy and not make it too tight a schedule... If possible, do not combine Ladakh with any other sight-seeing trip to anywhere else - this is only so as to give you the maximum possible time in Ladakh itself. The reason I say so is simply because the place is so vast (it is the country's largest district, though bigger than many states in size) and you have to give yourself sometime to see the maximum number of places in the minimum amount of time. And this has to be done while making sure that by the time you return to Delhi or wherever else, you are thoroughly invigorated with your wonderful experience and not absolutely exhausted...!

About the time chosen : The main tourist traffic route to Ladakh is via the Rohtang La (ahead of Manali) and that usually opens only towards the end of June or the beginning of July - and just for 4 months.. June is perfect and you will get to see a lot many more peaks covered with snow than in July or August, which is the peak season. Over 90% tourists in Ladakh are foreigners, and half of them are from Israel. So, you will find even more German n Swiss bakeries in Leh than you have in any other metro in the country...! And believe you me, you actually have restaurants having menu cards in Hebrew...! Leh is the base for all, repeat all, the tourist traffic in Ladakh and so is quite well-equipped for everything. Unfortunately you have zilch infrastructure in the rest of Ladakh...! The more remote parts still have an existing barter trade economy going...! June, you won't run into hoardes of tourists in Leh; and so conversely, there will also be fewer shops and other infrastructure. But, you get everything, including the taxis, all the time. And the Army's regular convoy movement ensures that the Border Roads Organisation (B.R.O.) keeps the roads going right through the year...!

About the Cold : Like I said, Ladakh is the only place where you can go dizzy with the sun's rays, get a tan and also get a frost bite the same day... And this is most likely in June, but only if you are out trekking in the wild open...! So relax, except for the nights, it won't get extremely cold. Sun screen has it's usefulness and it's limitations - to be really effective at that altitude, you need to apply globs n globs of it at least one hour before you step out and keep adding liberal doses every hour...! Use it especially to cover your ears n nose n neck n hands... A cap or a hat is a must and so are sun glasses...

Assumptions : I am assuming you are flying in from and flying back to Delhi . And that you will book yourself a four-wheel drive to move around once you are in Leh...

Day 1 : Ideally, you do nothing. Chill. Leh has the highest airfield in the world at over 11000 feet. Allow your bodies to acclimatize to the high altitude. You may definitely be perfectly fit, but it's got nothing to do with that... To give you an example, 350 c.c. heavy duty Bullet bikes try and chug along like mopeds on the road from Manali to Leh and on the way to Khardung la, and thatz just because there is not enough oxygen in the air to burn the fuel...! Get it...?! Just roam around the sundry bazaars of Leh if you have to... Check out the eating joints in Changs-pa, the Israeli part of town, if you aren't already staying there... Take a short nap... In the evening, take a walk up Shanti Stupa, a lovely monument in Leh itself, ahead of Changs-pa, from where you get a panoramic view of the entire town and watch the sunset from there. Do this only if you feel you can - try not to over-exert yourself this first day...

Also, walk upto the DM's office in the afternoon (near the parade ground) and get yourself an Inner Line Permit for Nubra Valley and Pangong Tso - they could be separate ones. First thing after that - get around 5-6 copies of this tiny piece of paper made - they need to be handed over at various check-points along the way. I remember that I postponed doing this minor thing till 9 in the night and I kept running all over town after that to find a blessed photo-copier shop which was still open...! I almost hugged the guy when I found one who was just about to close shop...! And, I was to leave at 6 the next morning for the Nubra Valley...! Or you could pay a travel agent to do the entire exercise... One person I would suggest for your travel needs is 'Dilli' at Dragon Tour & Travels on the Fort Road in Leh. This gentleman has been staying in Ladakh all his life, is known to a relative, was very helpful to me, and will be extremely helpful to any of you too...

Day 2 : Leave early for Nubra Valley - You are in the Karakoram range now, no longer in The Himalayas...! The Nubra valley is shaped like a 'Y' - on one side you have the Nubra river flowing in from the Siachen Glacier side (North to South) and this meets the Shyok river which then together carry on from the South to the North-West side of the range... You have Sumur and Panamik on the Northern side and Deskit and Hundar on the Western side...

Stop over at Sumur, alongside the Nubra river, where there is the 'Samsta-ling' monastery to see (and also a couple of hotels to stay). If you have the time, you could go right upto the riverbed here for some absolutely amazing photography shots...! Carry on till Panamik, which has hot sulphur springs - thatz as far as you are allowed to go even with the Inner Line Permit. Return the same afternoon / evening to Deskit, the biggest town in Nubra (see the monastery there if you are really interested) and spend the night at Hunder - thats the furthest on the other side of the 'Y' and has several reasonable hotels - this is where they have the two-humped Bactrian camels hanging around in the sand dunes with snow-covered peaks all around on what was a part of the ancient trade route to Tibet...!!! Amazing really...!!! Please note that this place is really up there, even latitude-wise; so it's pretty bright even till 8.30 in the night in the summer...!!!

Day 3 : Leave early to see those camels as it is unlikely you could have done it the previous night... Head for Khardung la on your way back to Leh. Spend time at the top on your return trip rather than while going to Nubra. The B.R.O. guys have their hands full at Khardung la - At 18380 feet above mean sea level, it's a constant fight against nature with the latter always winning... The roads are made with painstaking effort; and they are simply swept away by an avalanche in no time at all... And then, what do they do...? Well, they start again, and again, and again...!!!

You could either check in back into your Leh hotel, rest for a short while (or skip this) and head directly for Thiksey & Hemis monasteries and the Shey Palace towards the south of Leh in the late afternoon - just a half an hour drive or so. There are the huge two-and-a-half storey high Buddha statues here in different incarnations... If you are lucky, you could see the monks in a procession, in all their glory, with all the music and recital of shlokas and what not...! Well, I spent several hours in Thiksey and I definitely was quite lucky...! Night again at Leh.

Alternatively, if you don't have the inclination to head out again; and didn't have the energy to go up Shanti Stupa the first day, do it this evening along with the Leh Palace, which itself would take up a lot of your time.

Day 4 : Check out the option of Rafting on the Indus - again, only if you are adventure-inclined. For this, you would need to book yourself with one of the rafting operators the previous evening - the main operator is 'Splash Adventure Tours' very easy to find in the main Leh Bazaar. Ask for the Phey - Nimoo rafting stretch, which is from East to West, which is how the Indus flows after having flowed South to North before that... Nimoo is where the Zanskar meets the Indus. You have to see this lovely sight whether you take the rafting option or drive down. If you raft, you'll be picked up from the main Bazaar, given lunch after your rafting is done, and get dropped back in Leh by the operator. If you drive, another place to see would be a point marked on the road where there is supposed to be some magnetic activity under the earth's surface and an optical illusion would make it appear that the stationary vehicle is climbing up the incline. Or something like that...!

Our bus driver actually reached Nimoo by road itself...! He was supposed to drop us off at Phey, and then reach Nimoo to pick us up for our return trip later in the afternoon... But, no one really minded the extra time taken, because we were all soo stricken by the amazing stark barren beauty all around us to really care... So, we got to see the confluence of the two rivers both from the road above and then while actually rafting over the confluence spot...!

And you could do the Thiksey / Hemis monasteries / Shey Palace in the evening if you didn't have the time or the inclination the previous day. Mind you, they are in the opposite direction from Leh - towards the South...

Day 5 : You could check out the option of going to Pangong Tso, if the high passes are open; and the army has not made any new restrictions - this is the highest salt water lake in the world. The Inner Line Permit will be needed here too, so it's best you get both for Nubra and Pangong made together, whether you use the latter or not. This is a full day trip and yes, quite tiring. Ideally, if there is time available, one should try and spend the night here, in the tents... That would mean having this trip done on one of the previous days... As this is a longish drive, it does make sense to plan for spending the night here; as otherwise, you would have spent most of the day just travelling to and fro...!

Alternatively, If Pangong Tso is not an option, for whatever reason, you could go to Tso Moriri instead, which is another huge high altitude lake. You would have the Indus alongside for a major part of the route...

A third option could be to drive down to Lamayuru and see this picture-postcard town set on a cliff. On the way there, you could spend a few hours at Alchi, the cultural heart of Ladakh, and is famous for it's caves and wall paintings... It has one of the oldest Gompas of the region...

All these three are in three different directions - Pangong Tso towards the South East, Tso Moriri towards the South, and Lamayuru towards the West, on the Srinagar highway, just short of Kargil... Soo, think and choose...!

Day 6 : Flight back to Delhi.

Please note that it is better to pick up your souvenirs whenever you get the chance rather than postpone doing so till the very last day.
Also note that the weather can change drastically in no time at all... In a matter of minutes, the temperature could suddenly drop from 30 to 15 or 20 to 10...! Good to be prepared.
Keep drinking lotsa water whether you are thirsty or not - ensures that you don't suffer from dehydration without even your realising it...
Start your days as early as possible - by 6-6.30 a.m. - gives you that much more time to cover all the more places...
There are dozens of smaller monasteries which are partly accessible by road and partly by a short trek, the nearest one being Spituk... Most can be done as a day trek if you want to...

Do try the Salted butter tea... wrongly called the Salted Yak Butter tea by everyone... Wrong, because the yak is simply the male of the species...! The female is a Dri...! You don't have Bull Milk, do you...? Soo, the Ladakhis silently laugh at the tourists' ignorance; but serve them the blessed liquid, never the less...!
And by the way, it tastes just awful...! But all tourists just need to have a sippa for the record...!

I tasted the salted butter tea twice - the first time was in a Leh cafe - and it was more than just awful - it was horrible...! But when I had it the second time, after an exhausting trek when I covered a supposedly two day part of a four day trek in a single day, solo, and was spending the night doing a homestay in a village at a remote place called Rumbak (which is the capital of the Snow Leopard territory of the world) , I realised why this horrible tasting liquid is so popular here... It is absolutely invigorating...! With a high protein content and gawd alone knows what else, the butter milk refreshes your body like nothing else possibly could... I reached Rumbak half-dead; but felt totally refreshed after having had a couple of cuppas...!!!

In the almost two week stay I had in Ladakh, I could not see some of the places mentioned above... And so, I have to go there again... Soon, very soon...
Honestly, to truly enjoy your stay and make it more fulfilling, ideally you need atleast a fortnight...!
Or else, you will be left with that incomplete feeling, longing for more...!
Some friends I made there had already spent a month in Ladakh...!

Though mine was a solo trip, not once was I alone...

Cheers...!

Solo_trekker

Check out this map of Ladakh to get a better idea of what I have talked about :
http://www.mapsofindia.com/maps/jamm...adakh-map.html

soledad

Hi solo_trekker!!
Thank you so very much for sharing this important piece of advice,it's going to come handy for first timers there; And it couldn't have come any better time than this,as I am planning a trip down there late next month.
Thanks a heartful dude

puchoo

Thanks for that extensive and informative post Solo!

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Cheers!

Sidharth

puchoo.wordpress.com

solo_trekker

thanks soledad... thanx puchoo...

wrote the blessed thing in one go...!
hope it's useful to all...

and after reading it, i have the urge to take off for ladakh myself, once again...!

cheers...!

Abhay_Mysore

Thanks solo_trekker for this concise 5 day strip trip. I am sure a lot of guys now know how to REALLY do it in a weeks time. You covered the right places for a quick and rich experience. Great job.

shahronakm

Thanks for this piece of info. It will really be of help to people travelling in this region.

Do you need to book Rumbak homestay in advance ? From where ?

Ronak.

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amarshah

interesting and nice writeup Solo

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Cheers

Amar

Year 2008 Trips - http://amards14.googlepages.com/

solo_trekker

About the Homestays...
Whether in Rumbak or any of the other villages in Ladakh...

Yes, you could book a homestay with one of the many travel agents or authorized places for booking the homestays in Leh itself. You could even do the booking from wherever you are...

But honestly, you don't need to...

When you reach the village where you wanna do the homestay, it is most likely that it is one of the major trekking routes and that many people have already done homestays there earlier too... Just walk in to the first village home or ask any local village folk...
And rest assured, you will find a place even if you have not booked in advance - All you really need is a sleeping bag and something for food really... But these homestays now even have separate rooms for homestay guests which have been made in the outer courtyard... And don't forget to ask the host's permission to click those pix... And check out the huge kitchens and ovens... It's an amazing experience...

If you book on the Net or even from Leh, the agent (whether for the Travel Guy or even for the Homestay Village guy) is most likely to charge you much more. But thatz not the point. The point here is that when you do a homestay, you would rather want and ensure that all the money that you pay goes directly to the person who needs it and not to any sundry middleman...

And honestly, there is just soo much poverty in the non-Leh part of Ladakh, that you do feel like contributing as much as you can.

So, it's not a question of just saving a few measly dollars or rupees, but contributing your bit to the rural Ladakhi economy which still mainly survives on a medieval barter trade system...

Cheers...!

shahronakm

Solo trekker, thanks for your detailed answer.

Ronak.

solo_trekker

Thought I'll add one teeny-weeny bit of info...

The Road to Khardung la is closed every Monday - this is for regular maintenance work... And the B.R.O. guys do a wonderful job ensuring that everysingle pothole or newly formed crater gets filled and the longevity of the road is maintained... Stretches of the road keep falling off (thanks to unending avalanches) and then there are mountains of glacial snow - frozen to ice - to be continuously cleared... And it's a job which more or less goes unappreciated...

Hats off to the B.R.O....!

Cheers...!

viskumar

Hi.
my self Vishnu kumar living in Noida.

I am planning to go Leh/Laddakh this season on bike.
Can anybody tell me how many days will be required for this? and suggest me a suitable itenerary (keeping in mind that i have arnd 9-10 days)

Thanks in advance.
Vishnu

solo_trekker

About the Biking trip, I would suggest you check out the many threads posted on biking trips to Ladakh...

How many of you...? 2 weeks is ideal - but if you cut out a bit of the sight-seeing, you can do it in 9-10 days too...

Cheers...!

viskumar

Hi Solo_trekker .

Thanks for the info.

patrickstpanther

The advice was much appreciated, cheers!

rupamgupta

Hi solo_trekker,

That was an amazing story you had put. I have a few questions, cold you mail me at rupamgupta@yahoo.com please.