India Travel

The bus details here apply during the tourist season between July 1 and September 15 only, after which date the Manali-Leh highway is officially closed. Most other roads, including the highway from Leh to Srinagar Kargil, remain open till the end of October. Despite heavy snow falls, the road from Leh to the Nubra Valley over the open all year.

Buses

Leh to: Alchi (1 daily; 3hr); Chemrey (3 daily; 2hr); Dishit (Nubra) (1 weekly; 6hr); Hemis (1-2 daily; 1hr 45minl; Kargil (2-3 daily; 6hr 30min); Lamayuru (2-3 daily; 6hr 30min); Likkir (1 daily; 3hr); Manali (6-8 daily; 28hr); Matho (2 daily; Ihr); Panamik & Sumur (Nubra) (2 weekly; 10hr); PHyang (3 daily; ihr 15min); Shey (hourly; 30mm); Spitok (4 hourly; 20min); Srinagar (1-2 daily except Sun; 24hr); Stok (3 daily; 40min); Temisgang (1 daily; 5t«);ThakThok(3daily; 2ht 30min);Tikse (hourly; 45min).incredibly high Khardung La is kept

Kargil to: Drass (2-3 daily; 2hr); Leh (2-3 daily; 6hr 30min); Mulbekh (2-3 daily; Ihr 30min); Padum (3 weekly; 18hr); Panikhar (2 daily; 3hr); Sankhu (3 daily; ihr 30min); Srinagar (1-2 daily: 12hr).

Flights

Leh to: Delhi (daily, 2 daily in high season; 1hr 15min-3hr); Chandigarh (1 weekly; 1hr)); Jammu (2 weekly; 50min); Srinagar (1 weekly; 45min).

Public transport around the Zanskar Valley is virtually nonexistent, so unless you can afford the vastly inflated fares demanded by Padum’s taxi union, you can only get as far into the sweeping plains around Padum as you can hike in a day. For all but the most athletic and determined, this leaves just two possible excursions, of which the hike across the fields to KARSHA gompa, Zanskar’s largest Gelug-pa monastery, is easily the most rewarding. From a distance, this cluster of whitewashed mud cubes clinging to the rocky lower slopes of the mountain north of Padum looks like some strange geological formation. Only close up is it possible to pick out the individual monks’ quarters and temples, which date from rhe tenth to rhe fourteenth century. Of the prayer halls, the recently renovated Du-khang and Gon-khang at the top of the complex are the most impressive, while the small Chukshok-jal, set apart from the gompa below a ruined fort on the far side of a gully, contains Karsha’s oldest wall paintings, contemporary with those at Alchi.

The quickest way to get to Karsha on foot is to head north from Padum to the cable bridge across the Stod, immediately below the monastery. Set off early in the morning; the violent icy storms that blow in from the south across the Great Himalayan Range around mid-afternoon make the ninety-minute hike across the exposed river basin something of an endurance test. Karsha is a far more pleasant place to stay than Padum and some villagers rent rooms to tourists. Try the wonderful glass room belonging to Thuktan Thardot in Shading Ward just below the gompa.

Karsha can also be reached by road, via the bridge at Tungri, 8km northwest of Padum. En route, you pass another large gompa, SANI, lauded as the oldest in Zanskar, and the only one built on the valley floor. Local legend attributes its foundation to the itinerant Padmasambhava (Guru Rinpoche) in the eighth century. Though the name of the Kanishka Chorten, behind the main temple, suggests it may have been established by the Kushan King Kanishka in the first or second century, it is more likely that it was named after the emperor centuries later. There are two small temples in the Du-khang grounds: one, in which Naropa is said to have meditated around nine hundred years ago. is permanently locked, while the other, the La-khang. has unique painted stucco bas-reliets whose deep niches enshrine dusty gold-faced icons, most of them manifestations of Padmasambhava. Set apart from the temples a little to the north is a 2m-high Maitreya figure, carved out of local stone some time between the eighth and tenth centuries.

Finding food in Padum only tends to be a problem towards the end of the trekking season; by mid-October, stocks of imported goods (virtually everything except barley flour and yak butter) are low, and even a fresh egg can be a cause for celebration. Earlier in the year, temporary teashops and cafes ensure a supply of filling and fairly inexpensive meals. The best place to eat is at the Hotel Ibex restaurant. For cheap Chinese and Tibetan food, try the Chanqtkaaa near the Tourist Bungalow, or the Zanskar Moonlatid Restaurant nearby. Most guesthouses also provide half-board if given enough warning.

Accommodation in Padum is limited to a handful of grotty guesthouses and rooms in private family homes. In both cases, bathrooms are usually shared, and toilets of the “long-drop” variety. One exception is the simple but comfortable J&KTDC Tourist Bungalow, whose well-maintained en-suite double rooms have running cold water. The Hotel Ibex (01983/45012) is the best Padum has to offer-with pleasant doubles set around a courtyard; other options include the grotty Hajial and the more salubrious Chomla (01983/45035), which offers reasonable doubles and even has a travel desk, both near the bus stand. The least shambolic of the budget guesthouses in the village proper is the Greenland, near the mosque, which boasts a couple of lightand airy rooms.

Camping is also .in option and pitches at the J&KTDC site, up near the tourist reception centre, cost Rs50 per night. Trekkers arriving from Shingo La sometimes camp beside the stream in the Tsarap Valley.

Arriving in Padum by bus, you’ll be dropped in the dusty square at the far south end of the village, close to the old quarter and a couple of the cheaper guesthouses.Tickets for the trip (Rsl20 & Rs200) go on sale around 2pm the day before departure at Kargil bus stand. J&KTDC’s tourist reception centre (July-Sept Mon-Sat 10am-7pm; 01983/45017) lies lkm north of the square in Mane Ringmo on the side of the main road, two minutes’ walk from the other main concentration of guesthouses. Unlike their branches in Leh and Kargil, this one doesn’t rent out trekking gear, but is good for general advice. Due to the short season and the limited tourist trade, renting a car in Padum is expensive, with rates available through the Padum Taxi Union office near the bus stand: a trip to Karsha and back costs around Rs800.

As yet, there is nowhere in Padum to change money, although you can post letters at the GPO next door to the tourist complex. STD telephone facilities are available nearby at the Zanskar Telecom Service (01983/45046).

Basic trekking supplies are sold at the hole-in-the-wall stores above the bus stand. Prices are much higher than elsewhere, so it pays to bring your own provisions with you from Kargil. Most trekkers arrange ponies through the tourist office or guesthouse owners but you can also try Zanskar Tour & Travels (01983/450646) who also supply guides and other help for treks. Either way, expect to pay Rs300—350 per pony per day, depending on the time of year (ponies transport grain during the harvest, so they’re more expensive in early September). If you have trouble finding a horse-wallah, ask around Pipiting village, thirty minutes’ walk north across the fields from Padum, where most of them hang out. Guides and porters cost a lot more at around Rs2500-3000 a day, especially over high altitudes.

After a memorable trek or bus ride, PADUM, 240km to the south of Kargil, comes as a bit of an anticlimax. Instead of the picturesque Zanskari village you might expect, the regions administrative headquarters and principal roadhead turns out to be a desultory collection of crumbling mud and concrete cubes, oily truck parks and incongruous tinrooted government buildings, scattered around the sides of a stony hillock. The settlement’s only real appeal lies in its superb location. Nestled at the southernmost tip of a broad, fertile river basin, Padum presides over a flat patchwork of farm land fringed with grey-pebble riverbeds and enclosed on three sides by colossal wails ot scree and sricw capped mountains.

Straddling a nexus of several long distance trails. Padum is .m important trekking hub and the only place in Zanskar where tourism has thus far made much ot an impression. During the short summer season, you’ll see almost as -many weather-beaten Westerners wandering around its sandy lanes as locals’” a mixture of indigenous Buddhists and Svmni Muslims. Even so, facilities remain very basic, limited to a small tourist office, a handful of temporary tea-shops and guesthouses, as well as the inevitable rash of Kashmiri handicraft stalls. Nor is there much’ to see while you are waiting for your blisters to heal or your bum to recover from the bus journey down here. Apart from a small mosque, the Jami Masjid, whose plate-metal roof and multi coloured minarets are Padum’s most prominent feature, the only noteworthy sight within easy walking distance is a small Tagrimo gompa. ensconced amid the poplar trees fifteen minutes’ walk to the west.

A motorable road along the old caravan route through the hills between Likkir and Temisgang makes a leisurely two-day hike, which takes in three major monasteries (Likkir, Rhizong and Temisgang) and a string of idyllic villages. It’s a great introduction to trekking in Ladakh, the perfect acclimatizer if you plan to attempt any longer and more demanding routes. Ponies and guides for the trip may be arranged on spec at either Likkir or Temisgang villages, both of which have small guesthouses and are connected by daily buses to Leh.

The beautiful Markha Valley runs parallel with the Indus on the far southern side of the snowy Stok-Kangri massif, visible from Leh. Passing through cultivated valley floors, undulating high-altitude grassland, and snow-prone passes, the winding trail along it enables trekkers to experience life in a roadless region without having to hike for weeks into the wilderness - as a result, it has become the most frequented route in Ladakh. This will, however, change when the new road from Chilling presently under construction is completed. Do not attempt this trek without adequate wet- and cold-weather gear: snow flurries sweep across the higher reaches of the Markha Valley even in August.

The circuit takes six to eight days to complete, and is usually followed anticlockwise, starting from the village of Spitok, 10km south of Leh. A more dramatic approach, via Stok, affords matchless views over the Indus Valley to the Ladakh and Karakoram ranges, but involves a sharp ascent of Stok La (4848m) on only the second day: don’t try it unless you are already well acclimatized to the altitude.

From Spitok, the trail crosses the Indus via an iron footbridge, then follows the south bank of the river 7km west to the narrow mouth of the tree-lined Jingchen Valley. Camp beside the stream at Jingchen village, 4km further on, or higher up the valley near the Rumbak. Day 2 takes you five hours south down a side-valley, via the picturesque village of Yurutse, to a camp at the foot of Kunda La (4907m), crossed after a long climb on Day 3. Shingo, the first settlement below the pass, is a pleasant spot to set up camp if you are doing the trek in short stages. Otherwise, press on 6km down a wild-rose- and willow-lined stream gorge to the River Markha. A boggy campsite below the village of Skiu, hidden in a side-valley 2km further upstream from the confluence, marks the end of this stage.

The next two days’ walking are relatively easy, winding west along the river via a series of footbridges and small villages such as Markha, where you can visit a ruined fort and small gompa. Beyond Umling, 3km east, the valley widens, and the peak of Kang Yurze (6400m) rears up to the south. Hankar stands at the mouth of a side-valley which you follow up to the Nimaling plain, a rolling pasture crisscrossed by gurgling streams and grazed by the yaks, dzos, sheep and horses of nearby villages. The ascent of Kongmaru La (5274m), the highest pass on the route, begins shortly after Nimaling on the penultimate leg. It takes two hours if you are properly acclimatized, and is rewarded with fine views north across the Indus Valley. By the time you reach Chogdo after the steep and zigzagging descent from the ridge, you may well be more than ready to call it a day; if not, carry on through Sumda to Martselang on the main Indus Valley highway, from where a dusty trail winds up to Hemis gompa. The campsite in the woods below the monastery, serviced by a couple of chai stalls, marks the end of the trek.

The ancient footpaths that crisscross Ladakh and Zanskar provide some of the most inspiring trekking in the Himalayas. Threading together remote Buddhist villages and monasteries, cut off in winter behind high passes whose rocky tops bristle with windswept thickets of prayer flags, nearly all are long, hard and high - but rarely dull The best time to trek is from June to September. New areas where restrictions have recently been lifted such as the Nubra Valley and Rupshu (Tso Moriri) are gradually being developed, and Leh- and Manali-based trekking agents are busy exploring new itineraries.

Whether you make all the necessary preparations yourself, or pay an agency to do it for you, Leh is the best place to plan a trek. Equipment, including high-quality tents, sleeping bags, Karrimats, boots and duck-down jackets, can be rented through one of several agencies along Fort Road including J&KTDC’s tourist information centre. Alternatively, buy your own Indian-made kit in the bazaar and resell it again afterwards. To find ponies and guides, essential for all the routes outlined below, head for the Tibetan refugee camp at Choglamsar 3km south of Leh.

Several agents in Leh advertise five-day climbing expeditions to Stok Kangri (6120m) via the village of Stok with a comparatively nontechnical final climb for around $35 per head per day for a group of four. However, though popular, you should be aware that these expeditions are unofficial and, strictly speaking, you should first apply for a permit to the Indian Mountaineering Foundation in Delhi, but today no one bothers.

Trekking is undoubtedly the most rewarding way to explore the region, but it can also be highly disruptive. Minimize your impact in culturally and ecologically sensitive areas by respecting the following “golden rules", set out in LEDeG’s Guidelines For Visitors To Ladakh. Be as self-reliant as possible, especially with food and fuel. Buying provisions along the way puts an unnecessary burden on the villages’ subsistence-oriented economies, and encourages strings of unsightly “tea shops” (invariably run by outsiders] to sprout along the trails. Always burn kerosene, never wood - a scarce and valuable resource. Refuse should be packed up, not disposed of along the route, no matter how far from the nearest town you are, and plastics retained for recycling at the Ecology Centre in Leh. Always bury your faeces and, if you can’t convert to water, burn your toilet paper afterwards. Finally, do not defecate in the dry-stone huts along the trails; local shepherds use them for shelter during snow storms.

Although by no means the largest settlement in the Sum Valley, PANIKHAR, three hours’ bus ride south of Kargil, is a good place to break the long journey to Padum. Before the Kashmir troubles, it was a minor trekking centre, at the start of the Lonvilad Gali Pahalgum trail. These days, the scruffy collection of roadside stalls and poor mud-brick farmhouses sees very few tourists, even in high season.

The main reason to stop is to hike to nearby Parkachik La. for panoramic views of the glacier-gouged north face of the mighty Nun-Kun massif. The trail up to the pass, known locally as Largo ("Nothing") La, begins on the far side of the Suru, crossed via a suspension bridge thirty minutes south of the village. It may look straightforward from Panikhar, but the four-hour round-trip climb to the ridge gets very tough indeed towards the top, especially for