I

TINERARYf
orLADAKH

St
artDat
e:15thJune.

Day01(15thJune)
:Ar
ri
val
inSr
inagar
ReachSri
nagarbyearl
ymorni
ng-midday
,ar
rangef
orbi
kes.Compl
ete
documentati
on.

St
ayt
heNi
ghther
eandpr
ep.f
orr
idenextday
.

16thJune)
Day02( :Sr
inagar
-Kargi
l(Roadsar
ecl
osedasofnow,
wil
lupdat
eby
may)
Leav
eearl
ymor ni
ngforKar
gil.

Westartedfordesti
nationKar gi
l.Thefir
stenchanti
ngbeautywhichmadeusspel lboundisdri
ve
thr
oughboul evardr
oadbesi deDal -
lakewit
hhazeandf oggyenvi
ronmentwithcolourf
ul Mapl
e
l
eavesscatteredonther oad.Eventuall
ywet ooktheri
versi
deroadoftheIndusRiver.Withi
nanhour
weleftSri
nagarandst art
edr unningonthecurvesofHimalayawithspect
acularI
ndus.Ast heti
me
passonourey eswereexperiencingthesparkl
eofgreenmountainswithsnowcapov eri
t.
10:
00AM |
|Thebr
eakf
astt
ime|
|16°
C||
58KM

Itwasasunnymor ningwi thscatter

edcloudsonbl ueskywi t
hwi ndchi ll
sf lowingout sideto
welcomet hewint
eronl ateOctoberwest oppedforbreakfastonat owncal ledKull
an.Wef ound
breakfastmenuasBr eadandOmel et.Someofusal sotookKashmi ribreadandPot atocur r
y .Letme
sharet heexperi
enceofKashmi r
i br
eads.Thebreadsare5 i ndiaandar oundi nthickness.It
weighedl essthan15gmsbuti t'
ssohar dthatyouneedt ousey ourbot hhandandt eethtot earitup
andeatwi t
haheav i
lyspicycurry.Anywaylocalguysareeasilyeati
ngi tupandt hesebr eadswer ein
selll
ikehotcake.TheKul l
anwasacal mtownsur r
oundingHi malayaandI nduspassi ngby .We' ve
seenl ocalhawkerselli
ngapricotandCashewwhi lewarmi ngupt heirbackonSunl ight.Event uall
y
weatherbecamehot terthanitwasinmor ning;
west art
edde- cl
othingourj ackets,sweat erandpul l
-
over.

11:
30AM |
|TheSonamar
gVal
l
ey&Thaj
i
wasGl
aci
er|
|18°
C||
82KM

Induspassi ngbyt heroadwascur vyhor i

zontal
lyandv erti
call
ybutsmoot h.Thegl i
mpseof
Sonamar gv all
eywasl i
kegr eenlushwi t
hsnow- cappedHi malay a.Sonamar g, whichmeans' meadow
ofgol d'
has, asitsbackdr op,snowymount ai
nsagainstacer uleanskywi tht heSi ndhmeander s
along.Thecl imateofSonamar gwasv erybraci
ng.Afterthebr eakfastandaf terspendi ngsome
quiescentst at
ewhi lewedr ovefor1hr, whengetof fthecarourener gyl
ev elwasathi ghenough.The
bracingclimateofSonamar gwi t
h18° Candbr i
ghtsunnywi llenv i
ronmentbr ingsmi l
et ot hemost
depressedpeopl eoftheear t
h.Ourphot ographersjustscatteredawayf ort hebestshoot ingposi
ti
on.
Thajiwasgl aci
erwasv i
siblelongawayshi nningwithbrightwhi t
esnowl i
nes.Wekeptphot o
shoot i
ngonwi t
hev erypossi bleposeaswecani nnovateandev erypossiblenat urelandscapecan
becapt ured.Theni cestthingist hatyoucanl ookanydi recti
onandy ou'
¢llfoundasoot hi
ngv i
ewof
Sonamar g.Ther ewer emor ethan5- 6ponyr i
ders,whokeptusof f
eringforar idet oThaj i
wasGlaci
er
formor eenj oyment.We'rer unningoutoft imeso, wekeptt hem r efusi
ng.Ar ound12AM weagai n
start
edf orther estofourj ourney.

01:
00PM |
|TheZoj
i
la|
|8°
C||
105KM

From Balt
al Onwardstheroadcondi tionbecamet oost i
ff,
slippery
, muddyandl otsofpothol es.
Cli
mat ealsotookadr asti
cchange.Al lwhit
e,justwhite.Blackmount ai
nandwhi tesnow.Lov el
y
combination.West eppedoutoft hecaratZojila,t
hought emper aturereadsar ound8° C,butfeels
l
ikezero.Wi ndchil
lsfrom snowymount ai
nsmadeust i
ghtenourj acketzippers.Any way,againi t
wasphot o-shooti
ngt i
me.So, al
ltheguy sandgi r
lsbecameshoot erandmodel respecti
vely.Good
Lucktoust hatsnowf all
soccurredj ustni
ghtbeforewewer et her
e, soallwegoti swhit
e, snow-
whit
e.Ther ewereat eastall
.Wet ookt eaforRs.20/-eachcup.Maggi wasal soav ai
l
able.But ,
we
setoffourjourneyagainaround01: 40PM.

03:
00PM |
|Dr
ass|
|6°
C||
145KM

Wewer ehungr yl
ikehel
l.WereachedDrasandrushedt oahotelforhavi
ngl unch.Gotourhotlunch.
Thenal lwewer estandi
ngonSunt ogetwarmth.Weat herwasbeaut i
ful
.Viewwasamazi ngl
y
beauti
ful.Drassisthesecondcoldesti
nhabi
tedplaceineart
h.Inwi nt
ertemper atur
egoesbelowt o
(-
)55°C.Thepl acescatt
eredwithpeopl
esandshops, wit
hanat t
it
ude“ wint
eriscomi ng-getr
eady".
Thisplaceismai nlyMusli
m area.Manymosquecanbeseen.Hav ingourbellyfil
l
edwi t
hhotfood,
weagai nstartedaround03:50PM.

04:
00PM |
|Kar
gil
warMemor
ial
||10°
C||
152KM

Sur
roundedwi
thMesmer
izi
ngHi
mal
ayanpeaks,
ther
esi
tuat
edourwarmemor
ial
.Youneedt
o
registery ourentry.Gateisont heNH.Fr om gat eifyoul ookt owar dsy oucanseet hepathtot he
memor i
al f
orourVi rj
awans.20#I ndianfl
agwi l
lwelcomey outowar dst omemor ial
.Atthememor ial
,
agi antf l
agwei ghingaround15kgi shoistedandcar ryingt heshi neofI ndi
a.Itconsistsofamuseum
thatt ell
susal lthestoryaboutt heKar gi
lwar .I
tdisplays3Dmodel sofwarst rategyalongtheTi ger
hil
landTol loli
ngpeak; Thefightanddev otionofdi f
ferentr egiment ;Thecaptur edweaponsf r
om
Paki stan.Ther eistwohowi tzergunandMI Gpl anealsof ordisplay.TheVi j
aypat hisendedatbur i
al
groundoft het housandsofSol diers.Wesal uteoursol diersandt hankedthem f ortheservi
cet hey'
v e
givent ousf orpeace.Thenagai nst ar
tedforKar gil
.Ther oadwasawesome.Sur uri
verbesideus
andi nt hecount ryofapricotblossom wehav eenteredKar gilaround5: 30PM.

17thJune)
Day03( :Kar
gil
-Leh

Leav
eKar
gil
byear
lymor
ningandl
eav
eforLeh.

St
opsat
:SARAKS,
LAMAYURU,
ALCHI
,PHEY.

Si
ght
seei
ngonourway
.St
ayatLehov
erni
ght
.
 18thJune)
Day04( :Leh-Khandr
ungl
aTop-Nubr
aVal
l
ey

Leav
eforKhandungl
apassear
lyi
nthemor
ning.
NubraValley 
isoneoft heMUSTVI SI Tplacesi
n Ladakh especiall
yifyouar evi
sit
ingforthefir
sttime.
NubraValleyisamongt hesub-districtsinLadakh,l
ocatedinNor t
hEastsi dehavingDiskitVi
ll
ageast he
i
tsmai nheadquar t
ers.
 Diskit
 i
ssituat edabout120oddKMsf rom  Leh t
ownwhi chisthemai ncapitalof
Ladakhdistr
ict.TheShy okriver
,at ributaryofI
ndusriver,meetst heNubr aorSiachenrivertofor
m al arge
vall
eythatseparatestheLadakhandKar akor
um Ranges.Theul tr
awi delandscapes,
humongous
mountainfaces,lovel
ytrail
s,widev ari
etyofcolorsandmusi cal Shyokriverfl
owingmidstt heval
leywi l
l
takeyourbreathawayatf i
rstsi
ght .St ar
ti
ngMay2014, I
ndianTour istsdoesnotneedI nnerLinePer mit
s
forNubraValley. 

Leh 
– Khar
dungLaPass 
(40KMs)–Khar
dungVi
l
lage(
34KMs)–Khal
sar(
23KMs)– 
Diski
t 
(19KMs)
= 
116KMs
 19thJune)
Day05( :Nubr
aVal
l
ey–Leh

Ret
urnf
rom Nubr
aval
l
eyt
hef
oll
owi
ngdayandv
isi
tlocal
LEHsi
ght
seei
ngs.

(
BUFFERRESTDAY)
.

20stJune&21ndJune)
Day06( :Leh–PangongLake–Leh/Leh-
TsoMor
ir
i-
Leh

Leh–TSOMORI
RI–Leh:
Beautifulandser ene.Untouchedbeaut yoft helakei squiteev i
dentgi v
ent hepopul ationoft heplace
j
ustar ound400peopl eandv er
ymuchont heinski
rtsoft hespl endidmount ainranges.Thel akeis
anydaybeaut i
ful unclai
medwonder .Pureandsoul cal
mi ngf eelofthelakenev ergoesawaywhen
youvisitTsomor iri.
ToreachTsomor irii
sachal l
enge, speciall
yi fy
ouar ev i
siti
ngf rom manal i.From lehit'
squi teeasy
andhav epukkar oadsmostoft het imedur ingthejourney .Ther oadf r
om Tsomor i
rit
ol ehis
Spectacular.I
fy ouwantt oseet hebeaut yofourHi mal ayanmount ainranges, THI Sisther oute.
Fir
stl
y, mostoft her outefrom Tsomor i
ritolehispar al
leltothef lowingr i
ver,surroundedbygi ganti
c
mount ainranges.Andsecondl y,theshadesofmout ai
nsIsawwer ejustoutoft hewor ld.Hav eyou
evert
houghtofaGr eenmount ain?APur plemount ain?Ay ell
owmount ain?Aof fwhite/Cr eam
mount ain?At igerski nali
kemount ain?Needi saymor e? ?
?? ?Wasj ustbl ownawaywi ththeentir
e
mount ainswhichsuchv i
vidcolours. 
Imagineent i
remount ainswithsuchcol oursandl i
nedupagai nsteachot her-whatscenewoul dit
l
ooklike.AmazedRi ght! 

Over
all
it'
smustt
ovi
si
tTsomori
rinotonl
ytoadmiretheawesomelake,butal
sobedel
i
ght
edwi
th
t
herouteandt
hemount
ainr
angesinspectacul
arshape,
sizeandcol
ouR!
Leh 
–Karu(
36KMs)–Upshi
(13KMs)–Kumdok(19KMs)–Ker
e(53KMs)– 
Chumat
hang 
(34KMs)–
Mahe(22KMs)–Sumdo(
10KMs)– Kor
zokorTsoMor
ir
i(
53KMs)= 
240KMs

St
ayatt
somor
ir
i.
Leh–PangongLake–Leh:

Thet
rav
elt
imef
rom Leht
oPangongusual
l
ytakear
ound5t
o6hr
sbuti
woul
dsuggesty
out
okeep
somebuf ferti
me..consi
der
ingyoumayt akehaltforl
unchorsomer efr
eshmentorev ent heroad
condit
ionsitmighttakeaslongas7hr soneway .
Pangongl akeisbeauti
fulbutspending2t o3hr s
ther
eismor et
hanenough.Thereisntmucht odot hereotherthansitbythelakeandeatatt he
rest
aurantsaroundandmor eovertheaccomodat ionsinhotelsandtentsareexpensiveandnot
worthstayingovernight
.Anytr
avel agentortaxiwil
ltakeyout opangongandbackt ol ehont he
sameday .

Stayatpangongl akeispossibl
e.Thedrivet
hereisbreat
htaking.Li
ter
all
y.Haha.I
tsonquietan
alt
itude(4250mts).Westay edatonofthepermanenttentsthere.Moreli
keamoder ategl
amping
experienceify
oumaycal litso.Thelakeisj
ustbeauti
fulbutthenumberoftentsthathaveshotup
recentlyhaski
ll
edt hevi
ewandcl eanli
nessaroundthest
ay .

22rdj
Day07( une)
:Leh–Kar
gil

st
ayatkar
gil
andv
isi
tthewarmemor
ial
.

23thJune)
Day08( :Kar
gil
–Sr
inagar

25thr
etur
nfl
i
ght
.

Wehaveoneextradayt
ospare.So,dowewantt
opi
ckanex
trapl
acet
ovi
si
t
ordowerestandmovearoundSri
nagar
?