A large part of the drive is along the “Lion river” – the Indus – from which our country gets its name. The three-day ride from Leh to the put-in point on the Doda River traverses miles of valleys, prehistoric glaciers, the villages of Lamayuru and Kargil, and the 14,000-foot-high Fotu La pass. The gorge of the Zanskar is about 150 kilometers long and slices right through the Zanskar range of mountains. Zanskar has India’s lowest population density – only one-third of one Zanskari is found per square kilometer, which means you need to cover 10 square kilometers to see three people.

The mountains here are a constantly changing theatre, with massifs changing colors with the sun – orange, green, rust, turquoise and blue are only some of the shades one witnesses each day.

Ladakh can basically be divided into five geographical regions – Central Ladakh (the heartland of the Indus valley), Nubra (lying to the north of the Ladakh range), Rupshu (a dry, high-altitude plateau lying in the south-east of Ladakh), Zanskar (one of the highest inhabited regions in the world), and western Ladakh or Lower Ladakh (around Kargil). It shares it’s much disputed north-western border with Pakistan, while to the north lies the Chinese province of Sinkiang, and to the east, Chinese-occupied Tibet.Ĭovering an area of approximately 60,000 square kilometers and ranging from 2,600 meters to 7,670 meters in elevation, Ladakh is sandwiched between two mountain systems – the Karakorams to the north and the Himalayas in the south. Ladakh lies in the eastern half of the state of Jammu and Kashmir in the far north of India. Time has moved slowly since the first Buddhist kingdom was established nearly 10 centuries ago. Strategically placed, Ladakh has often been, until recently, the stage for border tension, unrest and border scuffles. Leh is the capital of Ladakh, the highest and largest district in the country. It takes about a day to acclimatize with adequate rest and, maybe, a pill to fight altitude sickness. Brown and barren at 11,500 feet above sea level, Leh makes you feel lightheaded and tired. An hour later, one is nearly skimming Spituk Gompa on one of the toughest landings in the country. Our trip began after an inspiring early-morning flight over the Great Himalayan Range with the sun reaching out to hit the mountaintops. The Zanskar rafting expedition trip is a trip of a lifetime and having had seen the valley on a previous trekking trip, this was a chance to take the next logical extension, a trip down the canyon itself.

During the summer, however, the only mode of traveling down this gorge is by a well-planned raft trip, completely self-contained, with top quality gear and experienced river guides. This gorge of the Zanskar, therefore, remains un-trekkable during the summer when the melting snow sends the river raging, but forms a corridor of ice in winter that serves as the only, albeit dangerous, way out of the Zanskar valley. Best Adventure Travel Companies on EarthĪdventure Travel Done Right | River Rafting & Treks.Swiftwater / Flood Rescue Technician Course.Upper Alaknanda River Rafting Expedition.Everest Base Camp (EBC) and Gokyo Lakes Trek.Kilimanjaro Remote Northern Route with African Safari.

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