Zanskar is the Ladakh of forty years ago — one road in, snowbound from November to May, and monasteries where the monks still outnumber the visitors. This is a slow, cultural journey with one proper walk in it.
Zanskar asks more of you than Ladakh and gives back more. Accommodation in Padum is simple — clean rooms, hot buckets rather than power showers on some nights — and the road over Pensi La is only reliably open from early July.
What you get in return is a Buddhist valley still living at its own speed, and the walk into Phugtal, which almost every guest names as the highlight of their entire trip to India.
Nun Kun massif at 7,135 m, Rangdum's isolated gompa, glacial meadows
Zanskar's tiny capital, Stongdey and Sani, the oldest religious site in the valley
The valley's largest monastery, a whitewashed cascade down the hillside
Built into a cliff cave above the Tsarap river, reached by a two-hour walk
The old royal palace ruins and the nunnery below it
Airport transfer and an easy day in Leh to acclimatise. Evening at Shanti Stupa.
West over Fotu La, stopping at Lamayuru's eroded 'moonland' badlands and its 11th-century gompa, then the Mulbekh rock Maitreya before Kargil.
South up the Suru river, green and Muslim-Balti at first, past Panikhar and Parkachik where the Nun Kun twins fill the windscreen. Overnight at the lonely gompa of Rangdum.
Cross Pensi La (4,401 m) with the Drang Drung glacier spilling below the road, then down into the Zanskar valley proper and Padum.
Afternoon visit to Sani, the oldest religious site in Zanskar.
Morning at Karsha, the largest gompa in Zanskar, then across the valley to Stongdey. Walking between hamlets in the afternoon through barley fields and irrigation channels.
Drive to Anmu, then walk about two hours along the Tsarap gorge to Phugtal — a honeycomb of white buildings hanging under an overhanging cliff around a sacred cave.
We stay for lunch with the monks and walk back in the afternoon light.
North to Zangla, the ruined palace of the former royal family and the small nunnery below. Afternoon free in Padum's bazaar.
A long day retracing the Suru valley to Kargil, with plenty of stops.
Drive back to Leh via Lamayuru. If your flight is the following morning we arrange the hotel; same-day departures are possible but tight.
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Srinagar – Sonamarg – Nichnai – Vishansar – Gadsar – Satsar – Gangabal – Naranag – Srinagar
Srinagar – Sonamarg – Gulmarg – Pahalgam – Srinagar
Delhi – Srinagar – Gulmarg – Kargil – Leh – Nubra – Pangong – Leh – Delhi
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