One of the most popular treks in Ladakh, the proximity to Leh brings a lot of people to this valley.
Beautiful landscapes, good chances to spot some high altitude wildlife, moderate terrain, beautiful high altitude meadows, wild yaks and a 5150m pass all make this trek a bucket list item.
A perfect mixture of adventure, culture and beauty.
Transfer to hotel. Relax and acclimatise. Visit Leh market in the evening.
A day for acclimatization. Optional visit to the Leh palace and the Shey, Thikse and Hemis gompas. Last minute shopping in the Leh market.
The trail goes through a flat and desolate plain along the river Indus and swings into the mountains along the pretty, willow-lined Zingchen gorge.
Today’s trail is not too strenuous, rising 300m over 22 km, crossing the Markha river a couple times. There are a few ancient chortens along the trail, and a number of wolf pits used to trap wolves when they roam the valley during the winter months. Markha is a big village, complete with a derelict fort on the hillside and a small village monastery.
Kang Yatse, commands the views for the next two days. On the walk there are sights of some fascinating geological creations of large boulders balanced precariously on top of consolidated earth spikes. Continue down over a bridge to Thachungtse, a popular place to spot blue sheep slide up and down the steep cliffs with incredible agility.
We pass several Mani walls and suddenly come across a small lake. The view is wonderful from here – both of Kang Yatse, whose bulk gets reflected in the still waters of the lake, and also of the Markha Valley which we are now well above. We descend slowly to the valley of Nimaling which has a semi-permanent population of villagers who come from the Markha Valley to graze their livestock on the summer pastures.
As we climb the last short but steep slope to the top there are good views over the Zanskar Range and of the vertical ice walls on the north face of Kang Yatse. It’s about a 3hrs climb to the top. The descent initially is quite steep and then eases out to reach Chuskirmo.
Walk 2 hours to get to our waiting vehicles at Shang Sumdo. Our cars take us to Hemis (optional) or continue directly to Leh. Wash up & spend the evening shopping in Leh.
Early morning transfer to Airport for flight. Trip Ends!
A bunch of us friends recently got in touch with Aquaterra Adventures to set up a whitewater rafting trip on the Tons River in the north Indian state of Uttarakhand. The Aquaterra team were excellent in every way: they were superbly efficient, highly reassuringly safe and extremely warm, friendly and hospitable.
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There isn’t a more classy example of a team that is so well organised, courteous, warm and welcoming! The arrangements right from the camping sights, food, refreshments and stay were so extremely comfortable, of-course the food and the variety offered just beat everything else.
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Camp Bagi (near Mori, Uttarakhand) is a beautifully located and professionally maintained wilderness camping site. Operated by Aquaterra, the gold standard in adventure tours in India, it offered us a highly memorable rafting, hiking and camping experience over the 4 days that we stayed there (May 28-31, 2019)
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Great job by the team, especially Rana. We went with 2 kids aged 2.5 yrs and 6.5 yrs and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. My elder one loved the trek and the rafting experience was great too! Definitely recommend it for others.
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