Leh Trip Report

Leh Trip

What would you call if you want to do an High altitude trek applying leave for 15 days? Carrying backup, without proper food, Getting Tanned ………ETC. Do you call that as a Stupidity or Crazy? I call it passion towards trekking and exploring news places.
We had been planning for High Alt trekking in Leh from past 2 years. We couldn’t make it during the year 2007. I was the last one to join the trip for the year 2008 Aug. Forward Journey. Bangalore – Delhi -------> Flight, Delhi -Manali ----------> By BUS.

We hired a Qualis with JK Reg to reach Leh from Manali. You would need about 2 days I guess to reach Leh. It is one of most famous routes for Bikers. This route is open only from May to September. The view enroute was good, lot of apple orchids. Water droplets on the apples looked good, I couldn’t get a close shot. We reached Rotang pass @ 5:30 pm. It was cold outside, did manage to pull out my camera and took some snaps.

We stayed @ Keylong for the night.Started our journey towards Leh, on the way reached the second highest motorable pass in the world Tanglangla. Only Sarkar got out of the cab to take a picture. We reached Leh on Aug 11th. Leh is at an altitude of 11,000 ft, you need 36 hours to get used to the conditions. We didn’t have any work for the next 2 days. We got our permit to reach Khardangla Pass. LA means pass in Ladaki. The cab picked us @ 2 pm from the Hotel, headed towards Khardangla. Approx distance 35kms. The road is closed during snow time. Due to last night’s rain it had snowed in Khardangla. Highest motorable pass in the world. After 2 hours of drive we reached Khardangla. We could get some good shots of the Snow Mountains. Tried the tea @ army camp with Goodday biscuits. Bought a cap @ the army store. I wished I could have biked all the way from Leh to Khardangla. We started our Trek towards Markha Valley on Aug 15th, yes Independence Day. There was not much vegetation we could see for the next 8 days. We had a guide, a cook and a horse man with us. The organizer had provided with enough stuff to be carried on the horse, food, tent, sleeping bags and jackets. For water we were dependant on the stream water, which runs through the valleys with all the minerals. Eight days of trek, was something which I will remember for the life time. There was not much civilization on the trek. We couldn’t find much people on the trek. Few local Ladaki’s who run the hotels on the trekking route. You will find all kinds of race people who are trekkers. There were very few Indians we could meet on the trek. Everyday we used to have breakfast @ 7:30 and leave the campsite by 8:30 am. This was a routine for eight days.The sun used to set @ 7 pm. Not much noise around the campsite. Get a peaceful sleep for 8-9 hours everyday, Of course you will have to trek through the tough terrains to reach each day’s destination. Crossing the Markha River was quite fun, we had to cross the river as fast as possible with bare feet. We did lot of stream crossing during these 8 days. We had lot of uphill and downhill. We slipped, skidded during the downhill. In the entire 8 days trekking we have reached the highest altitude of 5035 mts. And the lowest temp inside the tent was 3.2 C @ Nimling (Stok Kangri). We can find little bit of barley fields on the trek route. You will find lot of leh Berries. It might taste little sour, I didn’t try them. The last day of the trek was the longest trek. We walked for almost 8-9 hours. We were delighted to reach the camp site Shang sumdo. We visited Hemis and Thiksey Monastery on the way back from our trek. Then stayed for a day in Hotel Chospa. We left to Bangalore from Leh on Aug 23rd. End of the trek. Return journey:Leh – Delhi – Bangalore ----------> By Flight.