This morning, departure transfer to Delhi airport to board the flight to Leh, over the Himalayas. A 90 minutes’ flight to Leh is perhaps the most splendid flights you will ever take which will pass above the Greater Himalayas and then will pass through a chain of steep turns. You will land at Leh’s military airport.

During the flight, you should have good views of the distant Karakoram including K2, the second-highest mountain in the world. Meeting on arrival at Leh Airport and transfer to the hotel. Rest of the day is at leisure to get acclimatized to the arid high altitude of Leh (3505 m).

Overnight in Leh

This morning after a leisurely breakfast, we proceed for our visit. The visit starts with Shankar Monastery which is a 200-year-old monastery famous for its large collection of wall paintings, impressive images, sculptures, etc. After this, we will move to our next destination, the Japanese built Shanti Stupa which is a peace pagoda. The winding road which leads to this place provides some gorgeous views of the countryside in the surrounding.

Retrace to the hotel for lunch. In the afternoon, we will visit the imposing Stok Palace which was constructed in the mid 19th century, when the Dogra forces dethroned the King and vacated the Leh Palace.

Overnight in Leh

This morning, we start early. Drive about 17 km to Thiksey Monastery to witness the Puja {Prayer} ceremony with monks /Lamas. Quite similar to Potala Palace situated in Lhasa, the structure of the monastery is mesmerizing and offers incredible views of Indus Valley which looks like painted green from its vantage point. There are several chambers in the monastery which have countless number of thankhas, stupas and statues along with one of the biggest libraries of Ladakh. The monastery also has 60 lamas who live here.

Later visit of Shey & Hemis Monastery. Located on a hillock Shey monastery has a giant-sized image of seated Buddha Shakyamuni which is said to be one of the biggest metallic statutes as well as the largest statue of Buddha in Ladakh. The statue is made up of copper sheets that are gilded with gold. At a distance of 40km from Leh, Hemis Monastery is located where 500 monks stay. The walls of the monastery are painted with Buddha’s life. The museum of the monastery also has a great souvenir collection. Later drive back to Hotel.

Overnight in Leh

After breakfast, drive to the mystical Nubra Valley over the exhilarating Khardung La Pass (5600m); the highest point of our journey and highest motorable pass in the world.

The top offers magnificent views of the surrounding which extends to the South. You will also get to see panoramic views of Indus Valley as well as ridges and peaks of Zanskar Range. When you turn North, you will be welcomed by amazing vistas of Saser Massif. After a short break, we continue our drive down to Nubra.

Overnight in Nubra

This morning, we will drive to the Diskit valleys and Hundar, for around 40km. We will walk for around 45 minutes to reach Diskit Monastery. On the way, we will come across a series of chortens. A disciple of Tsongkhapa who founded the ‘Yellow Hat’ sect, Lama Tashscholing Changsem Sherap Zangpo built the gompa. After visiting the monastery, we will head to Hundar which is located around 7km away. We will pass through the desert valley of Sany. There, we will visit the Chamba Lhakhang Monastery which has large statues of Buddha Maitreya and one rock carved statue. From there, we will take a walk down by the riverside to the dunes. Here, you will take a ride on a double-humped Bactrian camel. On the trade routes of Central Asia, people used these hairy, double-humped animals as pack animals. We will cross the high altitude desert which has dramatic rolling dunes, and landscape which is totally barren. At some places, you will get to see greenery with river valleys. We will drive for around 25km to reach Skuru after this camel safari.

Overnight in Skuru

Morning transfer on a difficult track of about 40 km, before starting our trek to the bridge Patsathang. We will take a small climb to cross Thesegang La, a small pass before we get to join Largyab Yokma (3600m) by the side of the stream. The views here are scenic. We will camp in the village. The village has around 15 houses only.

Overnight in Tents

It is better to change shoes on this short day. You can have plastic sandals which have good sole since there will be many streams to cross on the way, In the morning, we will take a walk on the plane terrain towards Spollu Shuru. After a walk of around 1:30hrs, we will reach the village of Largyap Goma, across the river. You will get to cherish the incredible vistas of Ombokong Glacier. There are two valleys. On our route, we will pass across the river. The route will pass again by the river bank side. After some 20 minutes, we will reach our campsite (3970m), set up on green lush ground along with the steam.

Overnight in Tents

This morning, immerse yourself in the superb views of the glacier Thago. After a climb, you will find yourself surrounded by many colourful rocks in a beautiful valley. Here, you will also get to see several animals including yaks grazing in the pastures of Largyap Yokma village. After crossing the valley, there will be magnificent scenery waiting for you. The walk will lead us to our campsite at Larsey Spangpochey (4500m).

Overnight in Tents

This is a challenging day as we have to traverse through Tia La (5420m), the highest pass on the trek. You can see it from a distance. In the beginning, the climb is slow but as we move towards the pass, it gets difficult, passing through the spiral, uneven passage by the mountain side. For around 20 minutes, we will walk through the snow before we reach the pass. You will receive incredible views of the peaks in surrounding regions from the pass. After descending for around 1 hour, we will catch glimpses of 4 small lakes. We will trek through the valley to reach a suitable place to set up our camp on pastures grazed by yaks.

Overnight in Tents

In the morning, the trail continues to the left bank of the course down the river. You will witness panoramic vistas of the valley. We will take an easy walk on the way which directs us to the valley floor which is a nice area for a picnic, spread in a large meadow. Arrive at the Camp in the afternoon (4400m), located at Chutangmo.

Overnight in Tents

This morning, we keep descending by the river side, across this beautiful valley. We will pass through the old hamlet of Tia Dok. This village has several old houses. The valley ends at Tia village which has a small monastery where Khatsa nuns live. After reaching the village, we will walk around, interact with the local people and will also visit the nunnery. The nunnery offers a superb vista of Temisgam, a small village, surrounded by greenery and orchards of apricot, on a rock. We will camp at 3550 surrounded by apricot orchards.

Overnight in Tents

We will continue our hike by the side of the valley and will cross tracks at few places. After this, we will leave the track and a small path will lead us, passing through green fields to reach a small bridge. We will cross the stream which flows on the left side. After crossing the stream, the path gets spiral, uneven with stones on the way, ending at cervical Temong La (3900m). After crossing the pass, we will take a gentle climb to the left where the path will lead us to the valley, reaching the cervical Cham (4040m). From the pass, there will be two paths that will lead us to Skyndiyang. This is where we will embrace the night. The path on the right is easier than the left, so we will take that.

Crossing a source, we will keep walking the trail on the right; we will reach a valley forming V letter shape. Here you will get to witness the remains of the chortens above Skyndiyang (3640m). After taking a few sharp descents, we will set up our camp here.

Overnight in Tents

Longer as compared to the previous day, we will cross many mountain passes on this day. On the way, we will also get to see magnificent mountain vistas. Above the village on the right side, we will climb a small path. The trail will pass through stream, old houses, leading us to uneven paths to reach Sedhchan La (3950m). The views of the peak from this pass are mesmerizing. After an easy descent, the trail will lead us to green pastures (3740m) with many herds of yak grazing in the pasture. We will continue walking on the trail to reach one smaller pass. We will then descend to the green terrains of Dok Yarmu where we will stay for a picnic and relaxation by the streamside. We will continue our trek for a few minutes more by the riverside, ascending the zigzag trek to the left by stiff peaks. We will then reach the pass Lamamo (3830m). We will have a look around to get stunning views of the surrounding. We will then descend the same uneven path, to the right along the small path. Houses should go lower than the group, then to return from the other side instead of our nice camp (3600m), in a meadow and around a big old tree.

Overnight in Tents

This is also a challenging day just like yesterday. We will start a green track from the camp along the river which leads us to a stony path. Along the left bank, we keep walking the track and will branch off to the right to climb an uneven path to pass The Samun at 3940m where from the top; we will enjoy some incredible views. We will take a small rocky path to descend which suddenly plunges down a hundred meters. We continue on the same trail to pass through pastures and river, following the river’s left bank. We continue to reach the Dhomkhar track which is on the valley’s other side. We will then cross the river and will continue on the same track to finally reach the motorized road of Dhomkhar. After leaving the village behind, we will reach our camping site at 3920 close to the stream.

Overnight in Tents

We will start ascending in the morning from the valley to the left, from a big cairn to reach Col Tang La (4550m). As we move to the top, the hike gets sharper. We turn to the right at the pass to The Yakra (4720m) and the views here are breathtaking. Bypassing the hill to the right, we will descend to Skyurbuchan Dok to the valley. The path is steeper, sharper, uneven and opens to the valley floor. We keep walking on the right to reach our campsite.

Overnight in Tents

With a short hike, we will reach Skurbuchan village at the end of our trek. In the afternoon, we can visit Apachi Choksi Dolma, the monastery’s patron goddess. Surrounded by apricot orchards near the school, we will set up our camp.

Overnight in Tents

From Skurbuchan village, we start our day excursion to the Dha Hanu village area, located in the Kargil region which is just 20km away from Pakistan border. The local people with a population of around 2000, living here are known to be the pure Indo-Aryan race with clear blue coloured eyes who consider themselves to be the descendants of Alexander the Great. These people reside in 5 different villages which are located on the top of the main bed of Indus River, preserving the local cultures of the region. These people cultivate apricots and other vegetables including peas, tomatoes and potatoes. The people also grow flowers and use them for decoration purposes (their caps used by both males and females). Here, we will interact with the locals to know about their lifestyles, cultures, heritage and traditions. We will return to Skurbuchan village by the late afternoon. By late afternoon, return to the village of Skurbuchan.

Overnight in Tents

This morning, you will be transferred to the main highway road which leads to the Lion River Indus, passing through Dhomkhar and Takmachik Sayse Dho. In Khalatse, we reach at a fork and cross Indus through a large bridge that leaves the vale and branches off the right heading to Lamayuru (3900m). We will continue ascending through a chain of hairpins on the snake lake road to reach an intricately beautiful monastery and the moon-land Lamayuru village Drikung-Kargyuk Monastery is based on a wonderful geological site. The place has been a matter of research for several geologists who are studying it to know its secrets. In the late afternoon, we will drive to Leh by Indus riverside. On the way, we will stop to capture the breathtaking views at Nimnu the place of confluence where both Indus and Zanskar River embrace each other.

Overnight in Leh

This morning you will be transferred to Leh airport to board the flight over the Himalayas – a true farewell to the memorable trip Karakoram to Indus.