Ladakh: Leh, the Nubra Valley and Pangong Tso

Fly to Leh and rest

Delhi to Leh by air, then your hotel in Leh

• Lunch and welcome dinner
• Nuit : Leh
• Environ 15 min de route

Matin

Meet your See Sight Tours guide at Delhi airport for the morning flight to Leh, about an hour and a quarter over the Himalaya.

Soir

Flights into Leh run mainly in the morning, before the afternoon winds, so most guests spend the night before in Delhi; it is not in the price, but we can book a hotel near the airport and quote it with your trip. Leh sits at about 3,500 m, and today is for doing very little. A driver takes us the few minutes from Kushok Bakula Rimpochee Airport to the hotel, where you drink tea, unpack and sleep if you want. Lunch is at the hotel. Your guide checks in with everyone during the afternoon, explains what altitude feels like and when to tell us, and shows the pulse oximeter we use each morning. In the early evening the group meets for a short briefing on the week, then a welcome dinner at the hotel, with Ladakhi and Tibetan dishes such as thukpa noodle soup and steamed momos. No alcohol tonight.

Compris

• Economy flight from Delhi to Leh with your guide
• Pick-up at Leh airport (IXL)
• Lunch at the hotel
• Welcome briefing and dinner

Activités en option

• A hotel night in Delhi before the flight, booked by us and quoted at booking

Leh old town and Shanti Stupa

Leh old town, Leh Palace and the Central Asian Museum, then Shanti Stupa

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Leh
• Environ 30 min de route

Matin

Mid-morning we drive in under one of the painted Buddhist gateways on the edge of town and walk into the old town, a knot of mud-brick houses, prayer wheels and narrow lanes below Leh Palace. The palace was built in the 17th century for King Sengge Namgyal, nine storeys high, its tapering walls echoing the Potala in Lhasa; we go up slowly and look out from its roof over the town and the Indus valley. Below it, the Central Asian Museum, built like a Ladakhi fort tower, tells how Leh lived from caravans of salt, wool and tea between Tibet, Kashmir and Central Asia.

Après-midi

Lunch is in the bazaar, followed by a free afternoon to rest.

Soir

In the late afternoon our vehicle drives up to Shanti Stupa, the white Buddhist stupa built in 1991 on the ridge above Changspa, for sunset over the town, the palace and the Stok range across the valley.

Compris

• Leh old town walk with your guide
• Leh Palace
• Central Asian Museum
• Lunch in Leh
• Shanti Stupa at sunset

Hemis, Thiksey and Shey

Leh to Hemis, then Thiksey and Shey along the Indus, and back to Leh

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Leh
• Environ 2.5 h de route

Matin

We leave after breakfast for the three great monasteries of the Indus valley, starting with the farthest so we reach it before the day-trip vehicles. Hemis, about 45 km up the valley and tucked into a side gorge, is one of the largest monasteries in Ladakh, re-founded in the 17th century; its courtyard is where the masked dances of the Hemis festival are held each summer, and its museum holds thangkas, masks and old copper. Coming back down the valley, Thiksey climbs its hill in tiers of white and red buildings. Inside, a Maitreya Buddha two storeys tall fills its own hall, and from the roof you see the whole green strip of the Indus. A local monastery guide joins us at each.

Après-midi

Lunch is near Thiksey. Last comes Shey, the old summer palace of the kings, with its large seated Buddha of gilded copper. We are back in Leh by mid-afternoon, with the rest of the day free.

Compris

• Hemis Monastery and its museum, with a local guide
• Thiksey Monastery, with a local guide
• Shey Palace and its Buddha
• Lunch near Thiksey

Over Khardung La to the Nubra Valley

Leh over Khardung La to Diskit, then Hunder in the Nubra Valley

• Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
• Nuit : Nubra Valley (Hunder)
• Environ 4.5 h de route

Après-midi

Lunch is in Diskit, and afterwards we climb to Diskit Monastery and the 32 m Maitreya Buddha that faces down the valley. In the late afternoon light we walk on the Hunder dunes, where Bactrian camels graze. The drive is about 125 km and four and a half hours with stops, slightly over our 4-hour cap, because the only road to Nubra crosses Khardung La; the pass stop, tea at North Pullu and lunch in Diskit break it up.

Compris

• Khardung La, with a short stop at the top
• Tea at North Pullu
• Lunch in Diskit
• Diskit Monastery and the Maitreya Buddha
• The Hunder sand dunes in late light
• Dinner at your hotel or camp

Activités en option

• Bactrian camel ride on the Hunder dunes, paid locally

Sumur, Samstanling and Yarab Tso

Hunder to Sumur and Yarab Tso on the Nubra river side, and back to Hunder

• Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
• Nuit : Nubra Valley (Hunder)
• Environ 2 h de route

Après-midi

A shorter day in the valley, and a free afternoon. After breakfast we cross the Shyok and drive up the Nubra river side of the valley to Sumur, a village of apricot orchards and stone walls. Above it sits Samstanling Monastery, its prayer halls painted in bright colours, with a quiet courtyard and a view down the valley. A few kilometres on, a short, steep path climbs to Yarab Tso, a small sacred lake hidden among rocks and willows, where the water is still and clear; locals ask visitors not to touch it, and we keep to the path. Lunch is in Sumur, at a family-run place if the season allows. Then we head back to Hunder for the afternoon: rest, walk through the village and its barley fields, or sit by the stream. Today and tomorrow are opposites, so take the rest; tomorrow is our longest drive.

Soir

Dinner is at the hotel or camp.

Compris

• Samstanling Monastery in Sumur
• Walk to Yarab Tso lake
• Lunch in Sumur
• Dinner at your hotel or camp

Activités en option

• A day to Turtuk, a Balti village near the end of the road, by separate car in place of the group day (about 5 to 6 hours of driving; on request, paid locally)

The Shyok road to Pangong Tso

Hunder along the Shyok river via Agham and Durbuk to Pangong Tso

• Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
• Nuit : Pangong Tso
• Environ 6.5 h de route

Après-midi

We leave at 8 am and follow the river through a narrow, empty gorge of grey rock and braided water, with a tea stop at Agham and a sit-down lunch near Durbuk or Tangtse. The last hour climbs to the lake. Pangong Tso is a long, narrow lake at about 4,250 m, around 130 km long, most of it beyond the border in Tibet. We arrive by mid-afternoon at our camp near Spangmik, when the water is turning from turquoise to deep blue.

Soir

Walk the shore slowly, wrap up as the wind drops at dusk, and stay outside for the stars. Dinner is at the camp. This is the highest night of the trip.

Compris

• Drive along the Shyok river with your guide
• Sit-down lunch on the way
• Free time on the shore of Pangong Tso
• Dinner at the camp

Pangong at dawn, back to Leh over Chang La

Pangong Tso over Chang La to Leh

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Leh
• Environ 5 h de route

Matin

Get up before sunrise, wrapped in everything you brought. The lake at dawn is the reason we sleep here: the light reaches the far mountains first, then the water turns from grey to blue, and there are almost no other people on the shore. After a hot breakfast at camp we drive back to Leh, about 160 km and five hours. The road runs past Lukung and Tangtse, where you may see Himalayan marmots in the meadows, then climbs to Chang La, another pass over 5,300 m, where we stop briefly, with tea if the army canteen at the top is open. From the top the road drops through Sakti and its fields to Karu and the Indus.

Après-midi

Lunch is a sit-down meal on the way down, and we are back at the hotel in Leh by mid-afternoon.

Soir

A hot shower, then the evening is yours, with dinner on your own in the bazaar. The drive is over our cap because there is no shorter road.

Compris

• Pangong Tso at dawn
• Chang La, with a short stop at the top
• Sit-down lunch on the way to Leh

Lamayuru and Alchi

Leh west along the Indus to Lamayuru, then Alchi, and back to Leh

• Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
• Nuit : Leh
• Environ 6.5 h de route

Après-midi

We leave at 8 am, stop briefly at the confluence of the Indus and the Zanskar near Nimmu, and reach Lamayuru, about 125 km and three hours from Leh, before lunch. The monastery sits high on a ridge above the village, and around it the land is cut into pale, eroded hills that people call the moonland. A local guide takes us through the prayer halls; lunch is in the village. On the way back we cross the river to Alchi, where the small Choskor temples hold murals painted around 1200, about 800 years old, painted in a style closer to Kashmir than Tibet.

Soir

We are back in Leh by early evening for a farewell dinner. The day is about 255 km and six to seven hours of driving, broken into four parts, over our cap because both sites sit on the one road west; if you would rather rest, stay in Leh.

Compris

• The Indus and Zanskar confluence
• Lamayuru Monastery and the moonland, with a local guide
• Lunch in Lamayuru
• Alchi Choskor temples and their murals
• Farewell dinner in Leh

Fly back to Delhi

Leh to Delhi by air

• Petit-déjeuner
• Environ 15 min de route

Matin

An early breakfast, a last look at the mountains from the hotel, and a short drive to Leh airport for the morning flight to Delhi, about an hour and a quarter. Your guide flies with the group, helps with bags at Delhi and sees you to your onward connection or a transfer into the city.

Soir

Flights out of Leh leave in the morning, and weather can delay them, so book onward flights from Delhi that leave after about 4 pm, or stay a night in Delhi; we can book it. If you are carrying on to the Taj Mahal and Rajasthan, our Golden Triangle trip starts in Delhi. After a week at altitude, Delhi's heat and air will feel thick, so drink water and take the afternoon gently. Bring a warm layer in your hand luggage too: the plane out of Leh can be cold. This is the end of the trip.

Compris

• Drop-off at Leh airport (IXL)
• Economy flight from Leh to Delhi with your guide