Lobsang had scheduled two different treks for Steve and myself; notice the word “had” because you don’t want to know how many times arrangements changed while in Ladakh for different reasons.
Before considering what trek is right for you, it is important to know a little about Ladakh’s geography. Ladakh is a high altitude desert in the Himalayas formed over a 45 million year period. There are two important mountain ranges within Ladakh, the Zanskar Range and Ladakh Range while the Karakoram and Great Himalayan Ranges rim the country. Ladakh has seriously high mountains!
Trek #1 was an out and back from Skumpata-Lingshed. Lingshed is a village located somewhere within the Lamayuru-Padum Trek. A new road now enables trekkers to reach Yulchung trailhead by car on Day 1 and trek to Lingshed on Day 2.
distance marker to other Ladakh towns from Leh
driving through mountains to Chilling, Ladakh
– Day 1, Skympata-Lingshed over the Murgochan la Pass.
– Day 2, Full day in Lingshed, visit monastery and village school.
– Day 3, Trek back the same way, car would meet and transfer us back to Leh.
Ladakh map
car accident along a pass road in Ladakh
stupa in the high mountains of Ladakh
Trek #2 is called the Hunder Trek into Nubra Valley. This trek is operated by many different tour operators and would be more difficult. Lobsang would wait to see how Trek #1 went before committing us. The Hunder Trek begins in Phyang and there are many variations on this trek. Below is the most common variation:
– Day 1, After four hours of trekking through Phyang, reach Murubok and camp overnight, 3,750 meters/12,303 feet.
– Day 2, Trek from Phyang to Phyang Phu Base Camp (four hour trek).
– Day 3, Trek from Phyang Phu to the Lasermo South Base camp (five hours), 5,400 meters/17,716 feet.
– Day 4, Early morning start over Lasermo pass glacier; ponies must cross glacier before midday due to snow and ice melting. Enjoy views of Indus and Shayok valleys and descend through rough moraines for 1-1/2 hours towards Lasermo North Base Camp in a meadow.
– Day 5, Lasermo North Base Camp to Hundar Upper Dok, 5-6 hours. Walk down through meadows, flowers and rocks along the Hundar River. Overnight at Hunder Dok campsite, 4,650 meters/15,255 feet.
– Day 6, Keep heading down through different villages to the campsite at Hundar Fu.
– Day 7, Hundar Fu to Hundar Village, trek over.
a difficult Ladakh trek leads over the background mountains into Rombuk
Steve and I had qualms about this trek to begin with but Lobsang kept saying, “We’ll see how the first trek goes.”
Trek #1 was the first to hit the dust. Lobsang suggested we walk to his office, Skywalker, in downtown Leh to meet trek guide Riga. Once there, his staff decided that there was still too much snow on the road to Yulchung and it would be impossible to access this area by car. Tour operators and guides have their own network of verbal information shared by one and all. Trek #1 eliminated, they decided to substitute the Chilling-Spitok trek.
Click here to view the embedded video.
Ladakh is filled with countless treks and hikes; most are considered difficult, too strenuous or downright impossible for us. Then, after eliminating steep downhills, altitudes over 4,876 meters/16,000 feet, more than 7 nights camping, and exposure, not much is left to choose from. What is “Exposure” in mountain terms? My definition of “Exposure” is standing on a narrow trail or ledge with one, or both sides, dropping off into infinity and beyond. Slide or fall and you can kiss your *!* goodbye.
Chilling Trek was the only “easy” option left to us. So, here we go…