SHAM VALLEY TREK

Ladakh

Destination

Safaris, Trekking

Adventure

Popularly called as “Baby trek” since it takes a comparatively lesser time to cover the trail and moreover most of the trail happens on low altitude plains. This trek offers a taste of Ladhaki culture as it includes visits to many monasteries like Hemis and Thiksey and Stok Palace. A visit to the world’s highest lake – Pangong is part of the trek and passing Khardung la the world’s highest motorable highway is a prime attraction of the trek. Many villages fall on the way and so one gets to meet local Ladakhis who treat tourists as their own guests and thus visitors feel quite at home whenever they visit Ladakh.

Total Duration	11 Nights / 12 Days (Ex Leh)
Grade	Easy plus
Maximum Altitude	3,750 m/12,303 ft
Best Season	June to September
Accommodation	Hotel – 5; Organized Campsite and/or homestay – 4; Tented Campsite – 2
Food	Leh – Breakfast and dinner included; Others – Breakfast and dinner included; On trek– All meals included
Travel	In non-AC Innova or similar

WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT FROM THIS ADVENTURE TRIP

DAY 1: NEW DELHI TO LEH (3,500 m / 11,484 ft)

Catch an early flight from New Delhi to Leh over the Great Himalayan Range with the stretch of the high altitude dessert below us. Pick up from the airport and transfer to the hotel. The rest of the day is spent in acclimatization walks in the markets of Leh. Dinner and overnight at the hotel.

DAY 2: LEH – FULL DAY SIGHTSEEING

This day is for taking in the sights of Leh and to use this as an opportunity to acclimatize further. We visit Hemis Monastery, Thiksey Monastery and Stok Palace. Hemis stands on the western bank of the Indus River. The monastery boasts of a very rich collection of ancient relics. The Hemis Monastery also serves as the venue for the annual Hemis Festival. Thiksey houses one of the largest Buddhist statues, the 15-meter tall Champa, the Buddha of Future. Thiksey is one of the most frequently visited and most photogenic monasteries in Ladakh. About a hundred monks live here.Overnight in a hotel/guest house in Leh.

DAY 3: DRIVE FROM LEH TO LIKIR (45 min). TREK TO YANGTHANG (3,630m/11,909 ft; 4-5 hrs)

Drive to Liker around 45 kms from Leh towards Srinagar. At LikIr, before starting the trek, you can visit the monastery atop a hill upstream of the village. As you begin your trek you come across Yangthang and Sumdo villages crossing small passes called Phobe La (3,550 m/11,646 ft) and Charatse La (3,650 m/11,975 ft). Overnight stay in camp.

DAY 4: YANGTHANG TO RIZONG TO HEMIS SHUKPACHAN (3,596 m/11,797 ft; 2-3 hrs)

After the breakfast proceed towards Rizong monastery. The walk is through a thick grove of poplar, willow, apricot and apple trees along a stream, before getting to the popular nunnery of Rizong at Chulichan in about half an hour. The valley on the right is the way to the monastery, which is known for its strict rules of observing monastic life as per Buddhist tenets. After having lunch, the trek towards Hemis Shukpachan village involves crossing a simple pass behind the monastery. Overnight stay in camp.

DAY 5: HEMIS SHUKPACHAN TO TEMISGAM (3-4 hrs)

Today’s trek involves crossing of Maptek La (3750 meters), which has great views of surrounding valleys and mountains. Soon after the pass you get the sight of Ang village. From Ang the road leads down to the Temisgam village, which has ruins of historical fort and a small monastery enshrining the highly sacred marble statue of Avalokitesvara. Overnight stay in a camp.

DAY 6: TEMISGAM TO KHALTSE (4-5 hrs). DRIVE TO LEH

Walk down to Khaltse via Bongbongchan La, and your trek finishes at the Srinagar Leh highway. The same day you drive to Lamayuru for sightseeing of Yundrung Monastery perched on pillar shaped interesting geographical formations, which gives this valley a ‘moonlike’ image.
The Lamayuru monastery is very striking with its position on top of a beautifully eroded crag, complete with rock pinnacles and caves giving it a fairy tale look.
As the Sham Valley goes much lower in altitude, we drive along the Indus river passing some beautiful villages. We visit Alchi monastery on our way to the calm and beautiful village.
Overnight at hotel in Leh.

DAY 7: REST DAY IN LEH

DAY 8: LEH - NUBRA VALLEY (140 km; 5 hrs drive)

Back on the road this time we drive back up to Leh and from Leh we head towards Khardungla pass (5,602 m / 18,380 ft), the highest motorable pass in the world. After a photography session and acclimatization break on the pass we cross it and head towards Nubra. Nubra is sandwiched between the Karakoram Mountains to the north and the Ladakh range to the south lie the Shyok and the Nubra Rivers. We have lunch enroute at Khardung.
The villages of Nubra are scattered along these two valley floors. Because of the lower altitude a wide variety of fruits, vegetables and grains are grown, creating an impression of abundance. Check into a tented campsite. Evening we head to Panamic Lake, and there is an option of visiting Ladakhi Kitchen. Overnight in a neat and clean guesthouse

DAY 9: NUBRA – LEH (5 hrs drive)

Early morning there is the option of walking up to Tiger monastery to attend the early morning prayers around 6.00 am. We return to our campsite for breakfast and then the group sets of visit the white sand dunes and if lucky for a ride on the double humped Bactrian camels. We have lunch at Hundar and then head to Diskit Monastery, right on the top behind Diskit Monastery stands a 106-foot-tall Buddha statue, the tallest in the Ladakh region. After visiting that we drive back to leh. Overnight in a hotel in Leh.

DAY 10: LEH – PANGONG - (4080 m / 13386 ft; 150 kms; 4 hrs one way)

Start the trip to the world’s highest lake – Pangong. A salt-water lake, its vastness – 150 kms long and 4 kms wide – spans two countries, India and China (2/3rd of the lake lies in China). The sun paints its various hues on the canvas of the surrounding mountains as we watch spellbound while walking on the shores of the lake.