Leh Ladakh — Best of Tibet Experience

Route: Leh airport to hotel

Your guide and driver meet you at Leh airport and take you straight to the hotel. The flight into Leh crosses the Himalaya, and every flight lands in the morning, because winds pick up later in the day at an airport about 3,250 m high.

Leh is at 3,500 m. The Ladakh tourism advisory asks new arrivals to rest on the first day and add no more than about 500 m of sleeping height a day after that. Today is for rest. Drink plenty of water and skip alcohol tonight.

Experience of the Day

–  Met at Leh airport by your guide and driver.

–  A flight over the Himalaya into the Indus valley.

–  A full rest day at 3,500 m, as the Ladakh tourism advisory asks of new arrivals.

Food

Lunch and dinner at the Leh hotel.

Activities to Do

Light rest only today. No sightseeing is planned on arrival day.

Route: Leh – Old Town – Leh Palace – Choglamsar – Leh

The morning starts with a walk through Leh's Old Town with LAMO, the Ladakh Arts and Media Organisation. It takes two to three hours through narrow lanes, past craft workshops and wood-fired bakeries. In 2008 the Old Town was placed on the World Monuments Watch list as an endangered site.

Leh Palace was built around 1600 by Sengge Namgyal, in the style of the Potala Palace in Lhasa, with nine storeys. Ladakh's royal line goes back to the 10th century, when Nyimagon, a descendant of the Tibetan emperors, took his family west after the empire broke apart, and his eldest son received the kingdom of Ladakh. That is the root of the name Little Tibet. From the palace roof you can see all of Leh.

In the afternoon, drive south to Choglamsar, where the Sonamling Tibetan Settlement was established in 1960 under the Central Tibetan Relief Committee. The settlement has its own schools, medical facilities and five monasteries. Your guide asks the settlement office which monastery or workshop is open to visitors that day, and takes you there.

Experience of the Day

–  A two-to-three-hour LAMO heritage walk through Leh's Old Town.

–  Leh Palace, built around 1600 by Sengge Namgyal.

–  The Sonamling Tibetan Settlement at Choglamsar, established in 1960.

Food

Breakfast and lunch at the hotel; dinner at the hotel.

Activities to Do

Walking Leh's Old Town lanes and craft workshops; climbing Leh Palace's stairs to the roof; a guided visit to a monastery or workshop at Choglamsar.

Shopping

Tibetan handicrafts and woollens are sold around Choglamsar and in Leh's Old Town workshops, visited as part of the day.

Route: Leh – Likir (about 52 km) – Alchi (about 65 km) – Hemis Shukpachan (about 70 km from Leh) – Nurla

Likir monastery sits on a hilltop about 52 km west of Leh, reached by a short diversion road off the Srinagar–Leh highway. It was founded in 1065 at the order of King Lhachen Gyalpo, the fifth king of Ladakh, and belongs to the Gelug order today. A gilded Maitreya statue, 23 m tall and completed in 1999, is visible from the roof.

Hemis Shukpachan is a Sham valley village about 70 km from Leh. Shukpa is the Ladakhi word for juniper, and the groves around the village are held sacred; monks burn the wood as incense in prayers. The village has a large Buddha statue at its centre, red rock formations on the hill called Dakmar, and homestays, which are the only way to stay here. Your guide takes you on a short walk through the juniper grove, and tea is served in a village home.

Alchi Choskor stands at about 3,100 m on the south bank of the Indus, roughly 65 km west of Leh. It has six temples from the 11th to 13th centuries. Local tradition names the translator Rinchen Zangpo as its founder, and wall inscriptions point to a noble called Kaldan Sherab; scholars still debate which is right. In the Sumtsek stand three bodhisattvas, each about four metres tall. The night is at Nurla, about 25 km further on.

Experience of the Day

–  Likir monastery and its 23 m gilded Maitreya statue.

–  A walk through the sacred juniper grove at Hemis Shukpachan, with tea in a village home.

–  Alchi Choskor, the temple complex of the 11th to 13th centuries.

Food

Breakfast at the Leh hotel; lunch at Alchi Kitchen; dinner at the Nurla hotel.

Activities to Do

A short walk in the juniper grove at Hemis Shukpachan; a guided visit to the Alchi temples after their midday break.

The Human Story: Alchi Kitchen

Lunch is at Alchi Kitchen. Nilza Wangmo, who grew up in Alchi, opened it in 2016 and trained young women from nearby villages to cook and serve. The menu is Ladakhi: skyu, a wheat-pasta stew; chutagi, bow-tie pasta in a local sauce; khambir, a fermented bread; and Tashi Tagye tea, an eight-ingredient blend.

Route: Nurla – Lamayuru (33 km) – Fotu La – Mulbekh (about 66 km) – Kargil (about 40 km)

Lamayuru sits at 3,510 m, about the same height as Leh. It is one of the oldest monasteries in Ladakh. Its oldest surviving temple, Seng-ge-sgang, is credited to Rinchen Zangpo. The monastery once housed up to 400 monks and has around 150 today. It belongs to the Drikung Kagyu order today, a different school from the Gelug monasteries at Likir and Thiksey, and it was once the leading Bon monastery in Ladakh. Below it the ground is pale and wind-cut, and it is called the Moonland.

The road then crosses Fotu La, at about 4,100 m, and Namika La, and drops to Mulbekh, at about 3,500 m. Here a Maitreya Buddha is carved into the rock beside the road. It stands about nine metres tall. Scholars usually date it to about the 8th century, while older accounts place it in the Kushan period. Two old gompas, one Drukpa and one Gelug, stand above the village.

Kargil is a market town on the Suru River at about 2,700 m. It is lower than Leh, and the night here is the last easy one before the Zanskar road.

Experience of the Day

–  Lamayuru monastery and the Moonland landscape below it.

–  Fotu La, at about 4,100 m.

–  The rock-cut Maitreya at Mulbekh.

Food

Breakfast at the Nurla hotel; lunch en route; dinner at the Kargil hotel.

Activities to Do

A guided visit to Lamayuru; a short stop at the Mulbekh Maitreya.

Route: Kargil – Sankoo (40 km) – Panikhar (24 km) – Parkachik (16 km) – Rangdum (46 km) – Pensi La – Padum

The Suru River valley is green where Ladakh is usually dry, fed by glacier melt from Nun and Kun, two peaks over 7,000 m that stand on the skyline from Panikhar onward. Nun, at 7,135 m, is the higher, and Kun, at 7,077 m, sits just north of it. The villages along this stretch, Sankoo, Panikhar and Parkachik, are Muslim, part of Kargil district's Dard and Balti population, a different community from Buddhist Leh and Zanskar.

Rangdum monastery stands on a steep hill at about 4,031 m, at the head of the Suru valley. It was built in the 18th century under King Tsewang Namgyal II and belongs to the Gelug order. Although it is physically in the Suru valley, it is part of Zanskar's culture, and a halt here for tea is the first sign that the people ahead follow Tibetan customs.

Pensi La, at about 4,400 m, is the pass between Suru and Zanskar, and the Drang-Drung Glacier lies close to the road on the far side, a long tongue of ice. The road follows the Stod River down into Zanskar. Padum, the valley's small capital, is at about 3,660 m, a little higher than Leh.

Experience of the Day

–  The Suru Valley, with Nun and Kun on the skyline.

–  Rangdum monastery on its hill.

–  Pensi La and the Drang-Drung Glacier, then arrival in Zanskar.

Food

Breakfast at the Kargil hotel; lunch at Rangdum or a roadside dhaba; dinner at the Padum hotel.

Activities to Do

Tea and a short visit at Rangdum; photo stops at Pensi La and the glacier.

Route: Padum – Sani (6 km) – Karsha (about 10 km) – Stongde (18 km north) – Zangla (about 32 km) – Padum

Karsha, about 10 km from Padum, is the largest monastery in Zanskar. It belongs to the Gelug order, has around 100 monks, and its oldest part is traditionally credited to the translator Phagspa Shesrab in the time of Rinchen Zangpo. The Avalokiteshvara temple has wall paintings of that early period. Whitewashed walls with maroon borders climb the hillside like a fortress.

Stongde, about 18 km north of Padum on the Zangla road, is Zanskar's second-largest monastery, with about 60 monks. It is also Gelug, set on a hillside some 300 m above the village. Sani, on the way out, holds a stupa said to date from the Kushan period, one of the oldest religious sites in Zanskar.

Zangla, about 32 km from Padum, was a royal seat of Zanskar. Its ruined fort stands on a hilltop above the village, and a Buddhist nunnery lies in the village below. Alexander Csoma de Kőrös, the Hungarian scholar who founded Tibetology, studied Tibetan here in the 1820s.

Experience of the Day

–  Karsha monastery, the largest in Zanskar.

–  Stongde monastery on its hillside.

–  The ruined fort and nunnery at Zangla.

Food

Breakfast at the Padum hotel; packed or village lunch on the loop; dinner at the hotel.

Activities to Do

Guided monastery visits at Karsha and Stongde; a walk up to the fort at Zangla.

The Human Story: A Scholar's Summer

Csoma de Kőrös came to Zangla already fluent in several languages, looking for the origins of the Hungarian people in Central Asia. He found Tibetan instead, and read Buddhist texts here with a local lama. The Tibetan–English dictionary that followed, published in Calcutta in 1834, was the first of its kind.

Route: Padum – Pensi La – Rangdum – Suru Valley – Kargil

The road retraces Day 5 in the other direction, and the light falls differently on the same hills. Stops are shorter today: a last look at Pensi La and the glacier, a tea break at Rangdum, and photo stops through the Suru valley as the afternoon turns.

You reach Kargil by early evening. Dinner and an early night, since tomorrow is also a full drive day.

Experience of the Day

–  Pensi La and the Drang-Drung Glacier in the afternoon light.

–  Rangdum monastery on the way back.

–  The Suru Valley at the end of the day.

Food

Breakfast at the Padum hotel; lunch at Rangdum or a roadside dhaba; dinner at the Kargil hotel.

Activities to Do

Photo stops at Pensi La and in the Suru valley; a tea break at Rangdum.

Route: Kargil – Mulbekh – Fotu La – Lamayuru – Nimmu – Leh

The road runs east over Namika La and Fotu La, past Lamayuru, and follows the Indus down to Leh. If you missed a stop on the way out, your guide can add it here.

Near Nimmu, about 30 km before Leh, the Zanskar River joins the Indus. It is the same river system you followed through Zanskar, now arriving in the Indus valley. Basgo, at 3,292 m, was once an important cultural and political centre and appears often in the Ladakhi Chronicles. If time allows, walk among its ruins and gompas before the last stretch to Leh.

You reach Leh by evening. Your guide will meet you at the hotel in the morning.

Experience of the Day

–  Fotu La and Lamayuru on the road east.

–  The meeting of the Zanskar and Indus rivers near Nimmu.

–  Basgo's ruins and gompas, if time allows.

Food

Breakfast at the Kargil hotel; lunch en route; dinner at the Leh hotel.

Activities to Do

A stop at the Zanskar–Indus meeting near Nimmu; a walk among the ruins at Basgo.

Route: Leh – Khardung La (40 km) – Khalsar – Diskit (about 120 km from Leh) – Hunder (8 km)

The road climbs from Leh through two military check posts, South Pullu and North Pullu. Your guide handles the permit paperwork, and you carry your passport. Khardung La is 5,359 m by GPS survey. Signs at the top claim about 5,602 m, and the claim to be the world's highest motorable road is out of date, since higher roads now exist in eastern Ladakh. Stay at the top for no more than 15 minutes; the air is thin and colder than you expect, even in summer.

The descent runs through Khardung village to Khalsar, where the road forks, and on to Diskit, the headquarters of Nubra, about 120 km from Leh. Diskit monastery was founded in the 14th century by Changzem Tserab Zangpo, a disciple of Tsong Khapa, and belongs to the Gelug order. On the ridge beside it stands a 32 m Maitreya statue; building began in April 2006, and the Dalai Lama consecrated it on 25 July 2010.

Hunder is 8 km beyond Diskit. Its cold-desert dunes stretch for about 7 km between the two villages, at around 3,050 m. Come in the late afternoon, when the light is soft and the wind has dropped. Nubra sits lower than Leh, so tonight is physically easier than the past nights.

Experience of the Day

–  Khardung La at 5,359 m, the first high pass of the journey.

–  Diskit monastery's 32 m Maitreya statue, consecrated by the Dalai Lama in 2010.

–  The sand dunes at Hunder in the late-afternoon light.

Food

Breakfast at the Leh hotel; lunch en route or at Diskit; dinner at the Nubra hotel.

Activities to Do

A short stop at the Khardung La summit; a monastery visit at Diskit; an optional camel ride at Hunder, or simply watching from the dunes.

The Human Story: The Camels of Hunder

The double-humped camels here are not native to Ladakh. Silk Road traders brought them across the passes, and when the trade route closed in 1950, many were left behind in Nubra. A count in 2015 found 211 animals, including 21 calves. Hunder families began offering camel rides in 2003, and the income helped the herd recover. The picture is mixed: owners say nose reins can cause minor bleeding, and the valley has no dedicated vet service, so the ride here is optional and brief, and you can watch from the dunes instead.

Route: Hunder – Khalsar – Agham – Shyok village – Durbuk – Tangtse – Pangong Tso

The route runs direct along the Shyok River without returning to Leh first. Between Agham and Shyok village the road crosses a stream at Rong Nallah, which swells as the day warms, so the drive starts early to cross it before about 10 am. Your guide knows the current state of the road and adjusts the timing.

Diskit has the last reliable fuel pump on this road, so the vehicle fills there before the drive. Tangtse, the last town before the lake, has another.

Pangong Tso sits at about 4,250 m and runs more than 130 km long, most of it inside China. You arrive at Spangmik in time to watch the lake change colour, blue to green to near-black, as the light moves across the water in the evening.

Experience of the Day

–  The Shyok Valley road, direct from Nubra to Pangong.

–  First view of Pangong Tso on arrival.

–  The lake changing colour through the evening at Spangmik.

Food

Breakfast at the Nubra hotel; lunch en route; dinner at the Pangong camp.

Activities to Do

Watching the lake's colour change from blue to green to near-black as the evening light moves across the water.

Route: Pangong Tso – Durbuk – Chang La (5,360 m) – Karu – Shey – Thiksey – Leh

The road back to Leh crosses Chang La, at 5,360 m, the second high pass after Khardung La. It is a working pass with a small army post and a roadside shrine, so the halt here is brief. Below the pass the road follows the Indus valley through Karu, and Shey and Thiksey sit right beside it.

Shey was the summer capital of Ladakh. The present palace and monastery were built in 1655 by Deldan Namgyal in memory of his father, Sengge Namgyal. Inside is a 12 m copper Buddha, gilded with about 5 kg of gold, made by a Nepalese sculptor with copper from the Lingshet mines in Zanskar.

Thiksey monastery stands at about 3,600 m and has twelve storeys. It was founded in the mid-15th century by Palden Zangpo and belongs to the Gelug order. Its 15 m Maitreya statue, installed for the Dalai Lama's 1970 visit, is the largest in Ladakh. You reach it in the afternoon, after the morning prayers have ended.

Experience of the Day

–  Chang La, at 5,360 m, the second high pass.

–  Shey Palace and its 12 m gilded copper Buddha.

–  Thiksey monastery's 15 m Maitreya statue.

Food

Breakfast at the Pangong camp; lunch en route; dinner at the Leh hotel.

Activities to Do

A brief stop at the Chang La shrine; an afternoon walk through Shey and Thiksey.

Route: Leh hotel to airport

Your driver and guide take you to the airport. Every flight out of Leh leaves in the morning. If your onward flight is later in the day, the morning is free for the main bazaar, where pashmina, Ladakhi jewellery and prayer flags are sold.

Experience of the Day

–  Transfer to Leh airport.

–  Departure on your morning flight.

Food

Breakfast at the hotel; other meals as you choose.

Activities to Do

None scheduled. If your flight is later, the morning is free for the bazaar.

Shopping

Leh's main bazaar, for pashmina, Ladakhi jewellery and prayer flags, is a short walk from the hotel.