Blogs from 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

In case anyone is interested in venturing beyond the usual cycling stomping grounds, Ladakh in Northwest India is a fascinating place for a bit of cycle exploring. The majority of my trip has been for trekking and cultural, but I thought I would share my experiences of cycling. The first, and arguably the most important, point to note is that if you fly into Leh, after a brief stop over in Delhi, then you are probably going from sea level to 3500m in less than 24hrs. Your body is not designed for this so you have to give it time to adjust to the altitude, so for the first two days do take it pretty easy. Having said that I did rent a perfectly decent mountain bike (circa £10 per days from Himalayan Bikers) for the ... read more

Leh - Ladakh: 23/8/21 to 29/8/21 There are three mis-matched regions of “Jammu & Kashmir” state: (1) Hindu dominated ‘Jammu’ region, (2) Buddhist ‘Ladakh’ and (3) predominantly muslim - ‘Kashmir’. This is not a political commentary on why and how they came together, but now some sense is being brought in by separating ‘Ladakh’ as a Union Territory with Leh as its capital. Leh-Ladakh has many strange ‘world-records’ to its credit. It is in fact a (world’s highest) desert (rain-shadow area) in the Himalayas. Technically this region opened for tourists sometime in the 1970s but has developed as a major destination in the last two decades only. I will arbitrarily divide Himalayas in to six regions (for tourism purpose only) - (1) Snow clad mountains of Kashmir, (2) Deserted mountains of Ladakh and Kargil, (3) Green ... read more

Day-6: 28-08-2021 - Nubra-Hunder to Leh: The last day of the Ladakh tour included a return journey from Hunder to Leh. Crowded it was, as we had seen while passing through two days back, but the people were simply going mad. There was a real traffic jam at 18000+ ft! Vehicles were parked at will wherever there was some space (see video). We stopped a few feet after crossing the peak and did enjoy the snowfall for a while. It was our first experience of snow. Entertaining it was, but it raises serious issues about sustainability of the environment if such behaviour is allowed to continue. If we can restrict the time a vehicle remains inside the airport pick-up/drop-off zone, why not at such crucial and delicate points? On either side of Khardung La there are ... read more

Day-5: 27-08-2021 - Hunder to Turtuk and back: Turtuk is the second northernmost village of India, captured from Pakistan during the 1971 war. Prior to that it was a part of Gilgit-Baltistan. Four villages of Baltistan are now part of India and Turtuk is one of them. The Line of Control is just about 2-3 km from this village. This entire region is very crucial from the military point of view. Warriors in Siachen glacier (world’s highest battlefield) are maintained through this area. The tip of Ladakh is sandwiched between Pakistan on one side and China on the other. Road from Hunder to Turtuk passes through strategically very important Partapur, forward air base of Thoise and Chalunka. Turtuk (9800 ft) is a small village with beautiful green surroundings. It is the lowest point in Ladakh. Most ... read more