High Passes of Zanskar

'In all but name Tibet starts at the Rohtang'
John Keay

Tucked away in the far northwest of the Indian Himalayas, Zanskar and Lahaul are ancient Tibetan kingdoms hushed every year by the winter; the summer is a brief time of great warmth and joy as the barley that is their life ripens and the high desert is splashed with the vivid green of their oasis like villages - the chortens are whitewashed again, the vivid colored prayer flags crack against the cerulean sky, and as the winter snow that has cloaked their sacred peaks melts, the sound of running water is everywhere.

Our journey takes us over the great Himalayan barrier into the wide valleys of this special mountain sanctuary, through villages moving with the cycle of the seasons that slow our steps as we pass to match their rhythm.

We visit the ancient monastery of Phuktal, in its remote valley a step into a sacred and silent past; then climb the remote Phirtse La (pass) into Lahaul, and journeys end.

We have been trekking through Zanskar for many years and every year we are privileged - in fact blessed - to introduce this very special place to trekkers.

Outline Itinerary

Trekkers say:

I wanted to thank you for an amazing trip - you are a great guide and leader, and, more important, a kind and caring person. It really was a pleasure to know you - I hope we trek again!

Darrel Smith, India trek 2007

Thank you for a wonderful month of trekking. Your professionalism, your genuine concern for everybody, and your great sense of humor make you a fabulous guide and friend.

I will be back!

Annie Andrews, India treks 2004 & 2007

Detailed Itinerary

Note that although we try to follow the itinerary here, at times local trail, river or weather conditions may make a deviation necessary; rivers may be impassible, snow blocks passes, and landslides wipe out trails. The trekking itinerary and campsites may also vary slightly depending on our trekkers' acclimatization rates.

Day 1 - arrive Delhi

Joel will be at the airport to meet you, look for the Project-Himalaya sign. We drive to our hotel in Parhar Gang, the main bazaar of Delhi, and over dinner, discuss gear and our adventure.

Day 2 - Drive Manali 2050m

We leave Delhi in the muggy pre dawn heat - on the road by three! We travel in comfy jeeps with plenty of space to stretch out and snooze. Around noon we pull over for a picnic lunch, and by early afternoon we will be in the Kulu valley, climbing high above the Beas river. By late afternoon the air conditioning is off and we can wind the windows down, and then we see the first snow peaks above us. Finally by early evening we are at our alpine style hotel in Manali, the wonderful Mayflower. Then to dinner in Johnsons Cafe. No briefing tonight, as everyone is tired and a few beers are in order - its been a long day!

Day 3 - In Manali 2050m

We have a whole day here, part of our careful acclimatization plan. Manali is a bustling hill town, in season overrun with Indian tourists up to see the snow on the Rohtang pass. There are some fine walks to do in the forests around (India's first Prime minister, Nehru, loved to walk here) some shopping to do in the mall, or perhaps just chill out on the terrace of our hotel. Over dinner Joel will talk over the next couple of days in detail and give a brief overview of our adventure.

Day 4 - Drive Keylong 3110m

An early breakfast and on the road by eight, or possibly earlier, as road conditions vary a lot on the Rohtang; its only a little pass as the Himalaya goes, at 3978m (or 13048 ft) but the range it crosses, the Pir Panjal, gets the worst of the monsoon, and icy blasts and storms still catch the unwary - and along with that in July the pass still attracts tourists whose cars can block our way! The road winds up slowly, through stunning forests and lush green pastures, waterfalls crashing down sheer granite faces - it was John Keay who said 'Spring always seems present in the Pir Panjal' - he also points out that crossing the Rohtang is the most abrupt change on the face of the earth; after three hours driving, we are witness to this, as we climb out and look down into Lahaul; the road winds down across stony hillsides and ahead are the unexplored 6000m plus peaks of the Lahaul massif; to the right the road to Spiti, only opened (and still closed a lot by storms) in 1993, and to the left the Chandra valley sweeps beneath the hanging glaciers of the Pir Panjal to meet the Chenab. We drop to the collection of Dhabas (roadside cafes) where we lunch before driving on. This next section trekkers normally rotate through the left hand seats - the views of peaks and glaciers are stunning. By mid afternoon we are in our hotel in Keylong, settling in for the night and getting used to the thin clear mountain air. Over a huge Indian meal, Joel will go over the next few days, and talk over some altitude issues.

Day 5 - Acclimatization walk and drive Darcha 3350m

We are spending the morning climbing to Khardong Monastery, which we can see from the windows of our hotel, high above the Chandra river. The walk takes us down through poplar groves and barley fields before crossing the Chandra and then climbing steeply to the Gompa; along the way Lahauli women and children are heading off to school and work in town - and note the women; as ever they keep to their traditional costume, and are always immaculately turned out - and always smiling and friendly, flashing smiles and giggles darting behind their shawls as they laugh at the sweaty white Westerners panting up the hill! The Monastery is in a beautiful location looking across at the peaks. Khardong was built over 900 years ago, renovated in 1912 and again over the last few years. In summer, unless there is a special puja, the monks are at home cultivating their fields. We are back at the hotel by early afternoon, and then we drive to Darcha, the roadhead for our trek at 3350m. It is a beautiful drive, with windows down and the sun on the barley fields all around - William Moorcroft was the first westerner to come this way in 1820, and his descriptions are still recognizable today. Our crew arrived here yesterday, and all our tents are set up and waiting for us...and lunch is served! Here you are introduced to your personal homes and our group home for the next fortnight. Our dining tent has comfy camp chairs, hot water on tap, and a small library of Himalayan books and maps - feel free to dip in and take them to your tent - but please look after them. We also have a solar charging system, both AC & DC, which Joel will set up shortly after arrival, so bring your battery charger along. This is your home for the next few weeks, so take your shoes off, kick back and relax!

Day 6 - Trek to Palamo 3680m

There is a road towards our campsite, but we walk to help our acclimatization - first on a trail, then a dirt road through small villages to our beautiful camp by the river at Palamo. This section can be brutally hot in summer, so it is vital to cover up, and drink lots of water; but above all, vital to take it slow and easy. Sadly the road is making its way up this valley, but there are still a few years before it crosses the Shingo La, our first pass. Lunch is ready, and an afternoon can be spent looking through our library, wandering the pastures, or perhaps practicing that great Himalayan trekking skill, doing absolutely nothing! Most trekkers feel the altitude at this camp, what we call 'normal acclimatization symptoms', a slight headache, breathlessness and feeling tired. Add to the altitude the long journey by car and foot to get here...so take it easy and do not push yourself in these early days.

Day 7 - Trek to Zanskar Sumdo 3940m

We head across old glacial rocks and past side streams to our camp at the base of the valley that leads up to the main Himalayan barrier - make sure you have your sandals today, as we have to negotiate several side streams. It takes about three hours to reach our camp, but this is a pretty valley, there is no rush, and most trekkers feel the elevation, and need no excuse to go slow. Camp, 'Zanskar Sumdo' (literally, 'The junction for Zanskar ') is a series of clearings at the base of an old moraine, with snow peaks peering over the hilltops all around. We normally have lunch on arrival, and then spend the afternoon climbing high above the camp for even better views. We have tomorrow here, so unpack and settle in. Over dinner Joel will talk over the options for our acclimatization day.

Day 8 - Zanskar Sumdo 3940m

Breakfast in the sun, and then we are heading off for our walk. Several options, but the most attractive is to head west on the trail that leads to some remote passes to the Miyar glacier, a trail we are exploring in 2009. The trail leads through some lovely pastures and small lakes, crossing some icy glacial side streams, with some great views of the peaks. We carry lunch and can make a full day of it, but most trekkers have preferred to be back in camp for lunch. Again over dinner Joel with Lobsang will talk over our next day on the trail.

Day 9 - Trek to Ramjak 4400m

And now we head up...crossing the Darcha river first, normally just by the bridge, but sometimes we have to ford a couple of streams before the bridge. Then straight up the steep hillside ahead, slowly making the 200m to the top, with views back across the Pir Panjal, a perfect excuse to stop and rest. We progress slowly higher today, the trail contouring high above the valley then dropping to some (blessed!) green pasture where we can top up our water bottles before climbing to our feet to make more elevation. We lunch in a pretty clearing, and after seven hours walking reach one of many camps that we use; it all depends on how we are acclimatizing. We aim at being in camp by three at the latest, to settle in and get ready for crossing the Himalaya!

Day 10 - Cross the Himalaya via Shingo La 5000m to Lakong 4329m

We have to move early today as the snowcap on the pass can be hard for our horses later; so we aim to be on the trail by five at the latest. Have all your gear for the day laid out ready the night before; head torch to avoid that fumbling, down jacket, gloves, sunglasses - all covered in the briefing. The trail climbs gently away from camp - look out for the side streams crossing the trail, they can be frozen at this hour - until at seven we rest together, drink and snack at a wonderful viewpoint, looking back to the mountains of the Pir Panjal. Then we cross the first glacial ice, walking on old snow, then more rubble. At this point of 4700m our kitchen crew normally overtake us, dressed in all their 'Tibetan-bandit-snowboard-chic' as one trekker called it, closely followed by our horse team, banging and clattering with cheerful shouts and laughter. Now we have a steep 100m climb on a sandy trail opposite the old glacier - then we reach the lake that marks the plateau the pass sits on - look north and you will see the fluttering prayer flags on the pass. Then we are on top, taking in the true Himalayan views, and pity Andrew Wilson, the first Brit to cross in 1849 - he was so obnoxious to his porters that they abandoned him here and he slept out on the pass! Our crew always make a point of being together for a few moments here with us - putting up our prayer flags, and shouting their thanks to the Gods to all the winds of Asia.

And down; snowfields and more rubble, then a real trail zig zagging down. There may be some old glacial ice to negotiate and as ever look to Lobsang to find the correct way; we rock hop some streams, then relax and lunch in our first meadows. Look across the valley and you will see the black dots that are the yaks of the Kargyak villagers grazing in their high pastures. After lunch the trail is an easy one hour to our camp in the riverside pastures known as 'Lakong' or 'Gateway' for the door into Zanskar. The views from this camp are totally sublime - we have crossed the Himalaya and are in Zanskar!

Day 11 - Trek to Kargyak 4050m

Today is a classic Himalayan trekking day as we cross the Kargyak Chu and wend our way among the rocks that litter the slopes of the Gumbarajon, literally 'Natural Gompa' soaring high above the pastures that the Kargyak villagers move their flocks up to when summer arrives. After resting by a crystal clear stream that flows from this granite monolith, we meet the first of the Doksas (summer camps) where we are normally offered fresh yoghurt as the newborn yaks crash around us - do not venture to close to these cute creatures if their mothers are on hand!

We progress on across the high pastures, and at around noon Lobsang will lay out our lunch; crisp salads, cheese, fresh baked bread and fruit. If it is a warm day, a post lunch siesta is always in order! Moving on across this classic high Asian landscape, stopping to watch the afternoon light on the Gumbarajon, we pass piles of rocks, Mani walls, marked with the Buddhist mantra, 'Om mani padme hum', and soon we reach our first chorten. These line our route across the Buddhist land we traverse - originally in the early days of Buddhism in India, they were burial mounds, later developing, in a religion with no art tradition, into a representation of the seated Buddha, or even the upturned begging bowl of a monk. Then we crest a rise and there is Kargyak in all its summer greens and gold's spreading down to our camp on the banks of the Kargyak Chu. As we move through the narrow lanes of the village, we may be joined by Singge, the boy we sponsor, home for the holidays. Our camp has views back to the Gumbarajon in the upper valley, and although a lovely spot, the winds gusting down from the Main Himalayan range can snatch a pre pegged tent from the hand of an unwary trekker and end up in the river - so take care!

Normally we give school supplies to the village children we have come to know over the years, so expect a horde of delightful waifs with your afternoon tea.

Day 12 - Trek to Tetha 3870m

Another day to enjoy this delightful Buddhist kingdom in the sky - and today we go slightly off the beaten track, crossing the Kargyak Chu to the village of Kye and beyond; although a stream of trekkers progress from the Shingo la down to Phuktal in the summer months, few of them head up this valley. We take a wide loop up through the pastures around the village, from where we can look up to the high pastures at the base of the Phirtse la, our next pass, and back to the Himalayan range. Then we re cross the river and through Karu village from where we can see our home for the night, Tetha. To walk through the barley fields and along stonewalled lanes in the late afternoon is a delight - villagers busy in the fields, calling their hellos to us. All in, it is, by our route, a full day to our camp, and we should arrive by four, perfect to enjoy the afternoon light in this wonderful spot where we spread out among the threshing circles below the village. There is a 'king' in the village who sometimes calls himself the 'King of Zanskar' and bears an amazing resemblance to the famous travel writer, Eric Newby, in fact his son studies in London, and works in an outdoor shop - we regularly deliver his letters to the King; the family actually rule (or did) the stretch of territory between Tetha and Kargyak. As always, the village children will descend on us in the evening, most of them simply content to watch the foreigners go about their evening chores.

Day 13 - Trek to Purne 3820m

Along trails lined with chortens, high above the river, today is three or perhaps four hours if you dawdle (and feel free to) with a junction Joel will remind you to look out for, less then an hour before Purne, the trail descends to the river, we normally post one of our guys there...trekkers in their daydreaming mode sometimes cruise past and have to be rescued! Purne sits on a plateau above the confluence of the Tsarap and Kargyak Chu, with two extended families living in classic old tumbledown houses spread among poplar and willow trees - and despite being a bit of a bottleneck, one of the few places we will encounter other trek groups, is a delightful spot. Our old friend Dolma runs the village shop, and she knows our groups of old; she has a shower room and for the princely sum of 50rs you can get a bucket of hot water to enjoy, and of course, she has beer. The energetic can scramble up to the prayer flags on the outcrop high above the camp...or simply settle down with a book.

Day 14 - Trek to Phuktal Gompa and return Purne 3820m

Another day of days, moving up the rollercoaster trail above the Tsarap Chu. We generally leave early to avoid the heat, as the sun bouncing off the gorge walls can be fierce! It takes two hours to the Monastery, an incredible sight clinging to the sheer cliff face in front of us. The gompa is over 500 years old, built on the site of a sacred spring said to have healing powers - and the monastery is also known for the time that the Hungarian scholar and traveler, Alexander Csoma de Koros, spent studying the Tibetan language in the 1830s - his guide, Phuntsog, was from Tetha, and on his second visit took him to Phuktal as opposed to Zangla, where he had stayed before, as it was a more remote location - the Tibetans were very wary of anyone learning their language, as one writer put it, 'If the Tibetan government learned that a foreigner was working on cracking the code that kept their country a secret from the rest of the world...' (Edward Fox). And it does not get more remote then Phuktal!

We take time to explore the prayer rooms, and drink tea with the monks; do be careful on the stairs here, it is easy to take a tumble. Then we retrace our steps, and back to camp to enjoy the afternoon and evening.

Day 15 - Trek to Tanze 3850m

We retrace our steps as far as Karu today, then on new ground as we head for our next pass. It will take us some five hours making gentle elevation to Tanze village, one of many villages trekkers normally pass through, and never stay. We spread out in the open pastures beneath the village, and have the late afternoon to climb up to the old village Monastery.

'Tanze in August is firmly locked into the cycle of the seasons, ripening barley all around, and the scent of coriander and mint in the air as we shaded with our tea and books from the fierce afternoon sun under willow and poplar. By mid afternoon with the sun on the retreat the fields are busy, and a walk along irrigation ditches reveals snapshots of a day; in the shade of the greenhouse picnic flasks of tea and spilt tsampa marks a picnic spot; a toddler left among a patch of peas that he chews the afternoon away with, and heavy woolen winter gonchas spread scarecrow like on balconies to dry in this all too short summer. The hoopoe, the classic sign of Zanskari summer, swoops to snatch up stray crumbs from lunch, and all that is left to do is to climb to the village gompa with its centuries - faded ochre walls, and watch the sunlight filter through the dust suspended in the air kicked up by, among others, our trekkers feet, illuminate the walls of the Zanskar range and reflect on another day in this little piece of heaven'

Joel's diary 2007

Day 16 - Trek to Phirtse High camp 4800m

Now we are heading high again, on a remote route; a short way from camp is a narrow valley marked with cairns and prayer flags, our exit route from Zanskar. We slowly climb a distinct trail to a bluff looking out across to the valley we explored above Kargyak and the main Himalayan range behind, then on across some easy stream crossings over a small pass (not marked as such on maps) until after some five hours we attain a wide glacial valley below the pass, that dot of snow on the skyline. Its a rocky classic 'high camp' and about as remote as it gets. Now well acclimatized, relax and enjoy the views.

Day 17 - Trek over Phirtse La 5250m to Chumik Marpo 4600m

There is little or no snow on this pass, but we need to leave early as we have a long and full day. It is straightforward to the pass, just under two hours straight up the hill in front of us with the best views of the remote valleys all around. From there we cross high and wild hillsides where you may catch a glimpse of the elusive wolves that roam here; then we descend to a series of beautiful pastures and along clear streams, the high grazing used by Tanze villagers - but we are also now on the old trade route used by the Tibetans on their trading missions centuries ago. Soon we are in the Lingti Chu, and we may camp in Chumik or move on down if we are feeling like it; it would be good to get to the pastures of Lingti, a truly lovely spot looking at the Baralacha La from a unique angle - a long day, but as ever, tea, camp, and Tenpas delicious dinner to look forward to.

Day 18 - Trek to Sarchu River camp 4560m

Now we are getting close to civilization, sadly, as we near the Leh - Manali highway. Our trail follows beautiful pastures, again the route being marked by the old camps of Tibetan traders. As we go we cross crystal streams of water coming down from the snow peaks around the Baralacha La, and soon we come out of the valley we camped in, onto the wide grazing plateau of Sarchu, looking back to the pass we have crossed. Here we will see Tibetan nomads and their flocks with their yak hair tents (rabos) camped along our line of trek to the confluence of the Lingti and the Tsarap Chu, our old friend from Zanskar. Our jeeps will be arriving on the other side of the river with beer, fresh mutton and spinach about the same time as we do. The river is not crossable until early morning, and we can watch Lobsang and the boys getting our supplies over the river for our last trek dinner.

Days 19/20 - Spare trek days

Trails wash out, snowfall, roads wash out, we have two spare days built into our itinerary.

Day 21 - Drive Manali 2050m

Breakfast at four, move at five - we need to cross the river, on horseback, while it is low, and we have another treat in store, the drive to Manali, crossing the main Himalayan range and the Pir Panjal, lunch en route, and our wonderful hotel waiting for us; dinner with our great staff to say goodbye.

Day 22 - Overnight bus to Delhi

We leave late afternoon on the luxury bus to Delhi, and snooze the night away. We arrive in Delhi by eight, and a visit to the Imperial Hotel buffet breakfast will ease the shock of the big city.

Day 23 - Depart

We take you to the airport to meet your flight - goodbye for now; and thank you for your company!

See you again in the Himalaya soon!

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