Peaks of Ladakh Trekking Expedition

Route: Delhi airport to hotel

Your driver meets you at arrivals and takes you to the hotel. Nothing is planned for the evening.

The flight to Leh leaves early tomorrow. Every flight to Leh leaves in the morning, because winds pick up later in the day at an airport about 3,250 m high. Tonight is for sleep.

Experience of the Day

–  Private airport pickup and transfer to the hotel.

–  A free evening to rest before tomorrow's early flight to Leh.

Food

Dinner at the hotel; nothing else is planned today.

Activities to Do

None scheduled. An easy evening to recover from the international flight.

Route: Delhi – Leh (flight)

The flight crosses the Himalaya into the Indus valley. Your guide and driver meet you at Leh airport, and you go straight to the hotel.

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

–  A flight over the Himalaya into the Indus valley.

–  Met at Leh airport by your guide and driver.

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

Food

Breakfast before the flight; lunch and dinner at the Leh hotel.

Activities to Do

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

Route: Leh hotel – main bazaar – Leh hotel

The morning is free. A slow walk to the main bazaar is fine, and any walking should stay easy. Your guide then holds the climbing briefing at the hotel: the camps, the sleeping heights, the glacier, the summit-day timings, and what the horses carry and what you carry.

After the briefing the guide checks every guest's boots, layers, gloves and day pack, fits the crampons, harnesses and helmets, and records a first pulse-oximeter reading for each guest. The readings are repeated each evening on the mountain and give the guide a baseline for the whole group.

Experience of the Day

–  A briefing on the camps, the sleeping heights and the summit day.

–  A fit of crampons, harnesses and helmets, and a check of boots and layers.

–  A first pulse-oximeter reading, the baseline for the climb.

Food

Breakfast, lunch and dinner at the Leh hotel.

Activities to Do

A slow walk to the main bazaar if you wish, and hire of any missing kit.

Shopping

Down jackets, gloves, gaiters, sunglasses and trekking poles can be bought or hired in Leh's main bazaar today.

Route: Leh – Shey (about 15 km) – Thiksey (about 19 km from Leh) – Leh

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.

Return to the hotel by early afternoon. Pack tonight for the mountain: tomorrow the walking begins, and what you carry is only a day pack.

Experience of the Day

–  Shey Palace and its 12 m gilded copper Buddha.

–  Thiksey monastery's twelve storeys and 15 m Maitreya statue.

–  A half-day at the height of Leh, with no gain in sleeping height.

Food

Breakfast at the hotel; lunch en route or at the hotel; dinner at the hotel.

Activities to Do

A guided walk through Shey and Thiksey; an afternoon rest before the mountain.

Route: Leh – Stok (about 15 km) – Chang Ma (5.5 km walk)

Stok sits across the Indus from Leh. Its palace, built in the early 19th century, is still the home of the former royal family, and part of it is a museum. After a short stop in the village the trail climbs into the Stok valley, following a stream between brown hills, with the snow-streaked mass of the Stok range ahead.

Chang Ma is a meadow camp at 3,988 m, only about 490 m above Leh. The short walk and the modest gain are deliberate: this is a night to sleep well, and the group is in its tents by afternoon.

Experience of the Day

–  Stok village and its palace.

–  A first trail walk up the Stok valley to Chang Ma at 3,988 m.

–  A night in a tent at a meadow camp.

Food

Breakfast at the Leh hotel; trail lunch; dinner in the dining tent.

Activities to Do

A guided walk of 5.5 km with a gain of about 460 m; a short walk around camp in the afternoon.

The Human Story: Stok and Its Mountain

Stok's village council collects a small fee from every climber and keeps part of it for cleaning the mountain and its trails. The village and its guides depend on the climbing season, and the fee is how the mountain is kept from becoming a rubbish tip. Your guide can tell you which families in Stok supply the horses and the cooks.

Route: Chang Ma – Mankarmo (3.5 km)

The trail follows the river up the valley. This is the shortest walking day of the climb, and it is kept short on purpose: the gain in sleeping height is only about 330 m, and the afternoon is free for resting and a short walk to look at the slopes ahead.

Mankarmo is a camp at 4,320 m, surrounded by grassy slopes and boulders. Marmots whistle among the rocks, and the Stok range stands higher than it did yesterday.

Experience of the Day

–  A short riverside walk to Mankarmo at 4,320 m.

–  Marmots on the boulder slopes.

–  A first view of the upper mountain.

Food

Breakfast and lunch in the dining tent; dinner in camp.

Activities to Do

A guided walk of 3.5 km with a gain of about 330 m; a gentle afternoon walk to scout the slopes above.

Route: Mankarmo – Base Camp (4 km)

This is the steepest day of the approach and the largest gain in sleeping height, about 610 m. The trail leaves the grass behind, climbs through loose stone and then reaches a flat patch of ground among small streams where the camp is pitched. The summit is not visible from here, but the glacier below it is.

The group arrives in the early afternoon. The guides check each guest's oximeter reading, pulse and appetite, and the portable altitude chamber is set out beside the cook tent. If anyone sleeps badly or has a worsening headache, the guide decides whether to hold at base camp or descend.

Experience of the Day

–  The steepest approach day, to about 4,930 m.

–  Arrival at base camp, with the glacier visible above.

–  The portable altitude chamber set out beside the cook tent.

Food

Breakfast in the dining tent; trail lunch; dinner at base camp.

Activities to Do

A guided walk of 4 km with a gain of about 610 m; an evening oximeter check.

Route: Base Camp – advance base camp (about 5,300 m) – Base Camp

The day is spent going high and sleeping low. The group walks up the moraine toward the advance base camp, which sources place between 5,300 and 5,400 m, and rehearses the techniques that the summit day will need: putting on crampons, walking in them, holding an ice axe, self-arrest on a slope, and moving roped on easy ground.

After the rehearsal the group returns to base camp, eats early and goes to bed by early evening. The guide gives the summit-day briefing: the start time, the turn-back time, what to carry, and how the rope teams are formed.

Experience of the Day

–  A walk to about 5,300 m and back, sleeping low.

–  A rehearsal of crampons, ice axe and rope on the moraine.

–  The summit-day briefing.

Food

Breakfast, lunch and an early dinner at base camp.

Activities to Do

A guided walk up the moraine; crampon and ice axe practice; rope-team practice.

Route: Base Camp – spur – glacier – south-east face – south ridge – summit – Base Camp

The climb starts in the dark and the cold, with temperatures around -5 °C to -10 °C. A gravel spur leads to the edge of the glacier, which is crossed over about 600 m of moraine and ice. Small crevasses are visible on the ice, and the guides choose the line. From there the path climbs to the base of the south-east face, a steep slope of loose gravel and rock reported at 40 to 50 degrees, where the climbers are above 5,500 m and the effect of the height is strongest.

The face leads to the south ridge, which is narrow and exposed on both sides. This is where the rope teams are used. The last section runs along the ridge to the summit, at 6,153 m by most sources (some give 6,120 m). Crampons are needed early in the season and when the glacier is icy; later in the season, with soft snow, some parties walk without them. Your guide decides on the morning.

The summit is reached by late morning at best, and the guide sets a turn-back time the evening before. If the group is not close to the top by then, they turn around: the summit is optional, and the descent is mandatory. The return to base camp takes the rest of the day.

Experience of the Day

–  Summit day on Stok Kangri, 6,153 m.

–  A glacier crossing, a steep gravel face and an exposed final ridge.

–  A start in the dark and a return to base camp.

Food

Hot drinks and a light breakfast around midnight; snacks and water carried; dinner at base camp.

Activities to Do

The summit attempt, roped on the ridge; descent to base camp.

The Human Story: The Turn-Back Time

A turn-back time is the most important rule of the day. Climbers on Stok Kangri turn around for tiredness, cold, wind and a worsening head, and the guides on the mountain are expected to make that call whatever the summit is worth to a guest. We choose guides who will make it, and we brief you the evening before so that you agree to the rule before the climb starts.

Route: Base Camp – Mankarmo – Chang Ma – Stok (about 13 km) – Leh (about 15 km by road)

Day 10 is the reserve day. If the group summited yesterday, it descends today: down the trail past Mankarmo and Chang Ma to the roadhead at Stok, where the vehicle waits, and then back to the hotel in Leh for a hot shower and a real bed.

If the first attempt was stopped by wind, cold or health, today is the second try, and the group stays at base camp tonight. The reserve is no free extra: climbing two days in a row at this height is hard, and the guide decides whether a second attempt is sensible.

Experience of the Day

–  A reserve summit attempt, or the descent past Mankarmo and Chang Ma.

–  A hot shower and a bed in Leh if the group descends.

–  The end of the mountain section.

Food

Breakfast at base camp; trail lunch; dinner at the Leh hotel, or at base camp if the reserve is used.

Activities to Do

A second attempt, or a downhill walk of about 13 km and a short drive.

Route: Leh hotel – main bazaar – Leh hotel

Today is a rest day. If the reserve was used, it is also a travel day, and the group arrives from base camp. If not, the day is free: laundry, a slow lunch, and a visit to the main bazaar.

The hotel keeps the bags left on Day 5. Repack for the road west: the next five nights are on the road, and the vehicle will be a 4x4 from Day 13.

Experience of the Day

–  A spare day in Leh.

–  Rest after the climb, or arrival from base camp if the reserve was used.

Food

Breakfast, lunch and dinner at the Leh hotel.

Activities to Do

None scheduled. Laundry, a slow lunch and the bazaar are the options.

Shopping

Leh's main bazaar sells pashmina, Ladakhi jewellery, prayer flags and thangka paintings, a short walk from the hotel.

Route: Leh – Nimmu – Lamayuru – Fotu La – Mulbekh (about 66 km before Kargil) – Kargil (about 230 km)

The road runs west along the Indus and then up the Wanla valley to Lamayuru, which 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 belongs to the Drikung Kagyu order today and 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.

Kargil is a market town on the Suru River at about 2,700 m. After the climb it is a lower and warmer night, and 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 Leh 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 – Purne – Kurgiakh – Shinku La – Darcha (about 140 km) – Jispa (7 km further)

The road leaves the Stod valley and follows the Lungnak river through Purne and Kurgiakh, where homestays and seasonal camps stand at the end of the old trekking route to Padum. It climbs to Shinku La, at about 5,050 m by most sources, the pass between Zanskar and Lahaul, and then drops through a rocky canyon to Darcha. The road was completed in 2024 and is gravel in parts; sections are still rough, and a bridge failure closed the pass for two weeks in May 2026.

Fuel is the practical limit. The last reliable fuel pump on this side is at Tandi, near Keylong, and the vehicle carries reserve fuel. Darcha has a checkpost, and the group carries passports. Jispa lies 7 km beyond Darcha, on the Bhaga river at about 3,200 m, a lower night after Padum.

Experience of the Day

–  The Lungnak valley, Purne and Kurgiakh.

–  Shinku La, at about 5,050 m.

–  The descent into Lahaul and a night beside the Bhaga river.

Food

Breakfast at the Padum hotel; packed lunch on the road; dinner at the Jispa hotel.

Activities to Do

Photo stops at the pass; a short walk by the Bhaga river in the evening if there is light.

Route: Jispa – Keylong (20 km) – Tandi – Atal Tunnel – Manali (about 120 km)

The road follows the Bhaga river to Keylong, the district town of Lahaul, then passes Tandi, where the Chandra and Bhaga rivers meet to form the Chenab. It enters the Atal Tunnel, 9 km long, which opened in 2020 beneath the Rohtang Pass and has replaced the old road over the top for most of the year.

Manali, at about 2,050 m, is green, wooded and warm after the weeks above 3,000 m. The group reaches the hotel by afternoon. Old Manali's cafes and the Hadimba Temple in its cedar forest are a short drive away, and the evening is free.

Experience of the Day

–  Keylong and the Chandra–Bhaga confluence at Tandi.

–  The Atal Tunnel beneath the Rohtang Pass.

–  Arrival in green, warm Manali.

Food

Breakfast at the Jispa hotel; lunch in Keylong or Tandi; dinner at the Manali hotel.

Activities to Do

A visit to the Hadimba Temple or Old Manali in the evening.

Route: Manali – Bhuntar airport (about 50 km) or Manali bus stand

After breakfast your driver takes you to Bhuntar airport, near Kullu, for a flight to Delhi, or to the bus stand for an overnight bus. Flights from Bhuntar are limited, so book early.

If you are travelling onward to an international flight, allow a day in Delhi, since mountain road schedules can slip. Tomorrow's connection is the guest's own to book, and we can arrange it on request.

Experience of the Day

–  A last Himalayan breakfast.

–  The drive down the Kullu valley to Bhuntar airport.

Food

Breakfast at the Manali hotel; other meals as you choose.

Activities to Do

None scheduled.