markha valley--planning

pip

these bike dudes seriously crack me up! sam, your photo is great, speaks volumes..tents are a great idea if you fancy being, like, self-sufficient and not dependent on the goodness of others.

sam_thind

Thanks PIP.
R u planning ur trip India ( Himalyas)? wn n for how many days?
There r number of places un explored yet in himalyas.
Sam

Mod Note

Sam - you've already been asked once to use full words in your posts. You help with this really would be appreciated.

agantuk

Thanks to all for information regarding markha valley trek!
The 8 day markha valley trek was an awesome experience.
Kolobar thanks regarding the information about homestays. I did not take any guide or ponyman with me. The homestays facility was awesome and trail finding was really easy.
The homestay families were extremely hospitable and caring. You get snacks, dinner, breakfast and packed lunch. The rooms are clean and very comfortable. Also the whole thing worked really inexpensive.

Day 1 - Jingchen - Rumbak
Day 2 - Rumbak - Yurutse
Day 3 - Yurutse - Shingo
Day 4 - Shingo - Skiu - Sara
Day 5 - Sara - Markha -Hankar
Day 6 - Hankar - Nimaling
Day 7 - Nimaling - Chokdo
Day 8 - Chokdo - Martselang - Leh

In Nimaling I stayed in a tent whereas everywhere else it was homestay. I am not sure whether homestay option is as easily available in other trekking routes as it is in Hemis National Park region. On a whole I would say for Markha Valley trek homestays is the thing to do!
Thanks once again to all!

Illusion

Great Experience, thanks for sharing agantuk,

I am planning on a similar venture this Oct. But i am a bit concerned about taking my gadgets, namely a dslr along. Are there enough oppertunities during the trek where you can charge your electronic items at least once a day for an hour?

thanks,

r'.

pip

Well, we are off for a 10 day trek across Rupshu mid-September, so no possibility to charge DSLR batteries out that way, unless the Changspa are seriously connected!

Several pieces of advice:

1. Take 1-2 spare fully charged up batts.

2. Try to minimise chimping at the LCD after each shot - hard for me as I use ETTR (expose to the right) for maximum quality images; and therefore need to check for blown highlights.

3. Turn the camera off when not actually in use.

4. Minimise re-shoots of compositions.

5. Shoot compressed RAW if you have the option - very little difference, 99.9% unnoticeable from uncompressed.

6. If you get low on battery power, shoot high quality jpegs - not an option for me, I do a lot of post-processing work on my images.

7. Take a film camera as backup.

8. Shoot only the best compositions - the ones you want to remember later on.

If you need an hour a day as charge time, get a new camera! Most DSLRs will go 200 RAW shots on a battery charge, and many hundreds of jpegs on a single charge. best regards, Philip.

Illusion

Thanks for all those tips pip. availability of options to recharge my dslr batteries will eventualty decide my itinerary. I guess i am a bit more informed now.