Blogs from Hemis, Ladakh, Jammu & Kashmir, India, Asia

It was with a degree of trepidation that I departed the fabulous Indus River Camp, after a hearty breakfast, to go on a 4-5 day trek along the Markha Valley. I had done quite a bit of research and it appeared that it was possible to do the trek staying at homestays dotted along the route, with food provided as part of the package. Most of the shorter Markha Valley treks seemed to start at Chilling, about 1hr 15mins from the camp, but I decided to start the trek at Zingchen which was a bit closer to Leh (in distance but not necessarily time), taking in an extra 4900m pass to get to the Markha Valley. The taxi soon turned off the main road into narrow, twisting, lumpy bumpy lanes steadily climbing towards the snow capped ... read more

Rumbak Valley - Ladhaki Loving From Leh, we drove one hour to the entrance of Hemis National Park, Ladakh. From the beginning of the Rumbak Valley, we began a hike towards our new home for five nights. About ten mules were transporting our belongings plus camping equipment as we hiked ahead into the valley. Embarrassingly the mules overtook us, and were clearly better acclimatized! Once at camp, we erected tents in the most stunning location I think I have ever camped. Before nightfall arrived, we hiked up a short but steep hill nearby to observe the surrounding jagged mountains, and to look for snow leopards…no easy task! The Rumbak Valley is considered the capital city of Snow Leopards, but has no real significance when there are only about nine of them roaming around this whole area! ... read more

Hey there, Une fois n'est pas coutume! Indeed, today (-60 days still) not much happened besides organizing and traveling, so I am posting a video that I shot yesterday (-60 days) at Hemis Gompa (Gompa = Monastery). So we had been warned, that at Hemis, we might not have a very good experience, because it is the biggest and most visited monastery in Ladakh. But on the contrary, it was very peaceful (albeit construction works going on) and we were very welcome. After that we were looking to organize our trek through an agency from Leh but without much success, also my hard drive starts to behave erratically but I could fix it in a cybercafe. For the rest see the other 2 videos.... ... read more

On our third day in Ladakh it was finally time for our first longer excursion. We were still quite groggy in the morning after yet another exhausting night; it seemed we were not yet fully recovered from the change of altitude. The thought of leaving the warm bed, now a fortress of blankets and jackets layered on top of each other like the Earth's geological strata, and setting foot on what must surely be ice cold tiles in the bathroom felt just as alien and uninviting as trying to walk on the moon without an encounter suit. Then there was the promise of hot water nagging in the back of my head, I just knew I would be in for disappointment on that front. But surely the hotel manager had reassured us that yes hot water ... read more