LADAKH EXPLORER

You’ll be met at the airport and taken to your award-winning hotel, where you’ll have a day of leisure – perfect for wandering around the seven acres of landscaped gardens, walkways, courtyards and water features. Or taking a swim or being pampered in the elegant spa.

Stay: One night in a Superior Garden View Room at the Trident Hotel – including breakfast

Early the next morning you’ll fly to Leh and drive on to Nimmu Village. Here you’ll have guided tours of the charming old village with its ancient monastery, caravan serai, luxuriant gardens and orchards. You’ll the visit Alchi Gompa to see a collection of rare frescoes, sculptures and Kashmiri art. Nimmu also gives you the opportunity to tour the surrounding countryside with a trip to Lamayuru, stopping at Nurla village to walk towards Tar village, crossing a foot bridge on the Indus River. Your 4×4 vehicle will then take you on to Lamayuru to visit Ladakh’s most historic monastery.

Stay: Three nights at The Nimmu House – including breakfast, lunch and dinner

Day 6: Trek Rumbak – Mankarmo via Stok La (5 – 6 hours)

Your day begins with a drive to Rumbak where you will meet your trekking team. Your first walk will take you up to the base of Stok La at 4,800m, a trail that starts gradual but becomes steeper as we approach the pass. You’ll be amply rewarded upon arrival with stunning views of the Indus Valley and remarkable colourful rock formations. From the pass, you’ll descend along the mountainside up and down until reaching some stone houses used by the Stok villagers for summer pasture. Your campsite is at Mankarmo (4,200m), where the rest of the day can be spent viewing the magnificent Stok Kangri.

Stay: Overnight in a tented camp in Mankarmo – including breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Day 7: Trek Mankarmo to Mathu Phu via Matho La (5 hours)

Day seven begins with a gradual walk towards Matho La (4,850m), which offers a panoramic view of Stok Kangri (6,150m) and Matho Kangri (6,100m). The trail down from the pass is fairly easy. We will come across a shepherd encampment who stay here during summer months with their yaks, sheep, and goats, before descending into Matho gorge. The walk in between the gorge displays the beautiful colour of the rock formations. Your camp for the night lies ahead of a nearby stream.

Overnight in a tented camp in Matho Phu – including breakfast, lunch and dinner

Day 8: Trek Matho Phu to Shang Phu via Shang La (5 hours)

Today the trail continues through the beautiful Matho gorge, passing through the pastureland where you get to see the pashmina sheep, domestic cattle and yaks grazing on the meadows. The walk gets more spectacular as you go, bringing in stunning views of the glaciers. After a gradual walk lasting approximately two hours, you’ll come across Shang Phu – again a grazing point for the pashmina goats. The rest of the day will be spent exploring the stone huts.

Overnight in a tented camp at Shang Phu – including breakfast, lunch and dinner

On your final day of trekking you’ll take a gentle walk downhill along the banks of the Zanskar River. You’ll need cross the water by cable car and follow its course until – after a couple of scenic hours – you arrive at Shang Village. It’s time to take your farewell of your trekking crew and travel by 4×4 back to Leh.

Stay: One night in a Premier Heritage Room at The Grand Dragon – including breakfast, lunch and dinner

Now you’ll travel at a slightly faster pace. You’ll be driven to Deskit Village in the Nubra Valley, a journey of up to five hours through some staggeringly beautiful countryside. On the way to the ‘Forbidden Valley’ you’ll cross an incredibly high and scenic pass – Wari La at 5,303 metres – and stop to take photographs of a soaring landscape that includes Ladakh and the distant Karakoram Mountains. Continuing your journey throughout pastureland, you’ll have the opportunity to walk through wildflower meadows and soak your feet in glacier melt streams.

The Numbra Valley itself is the place where the Shyok and Nubra meet, and is dotted with small pretty villages and numerous opportunities for keen landscape photographers. You’ll visit the hilltop Ensa Monastery with its beautiful statue of Lord Avaliketshwara, and drive to the Yarabtso (Wishful) Lake. At Samstanling Gompa, the following day, you’ll be able to gain an insight into the monastery’s schools and listen to Buddhist monks chanting their prayers. During your stay you’ll also ennjoy lunch among the alfa and apricot trees at Kalon Farmhouse, whose owner will brief you about Ladakh’s agricultural and irrigation systems.

Stay: Three nights at Kyaggar Resort – including breakfast, lunch and dinner

It’s time to return to Leh, check into a luxury resort in nearby Saboo Village, then go on a sightseeing tour. You’ll be guided around the Royal Palace that dominates the town of Leh – stylishly similar to Lhasa’s Potala and various Tibetan Buddhist monasteries – whilst Leh’s impressive chortens, quaint mud brick houses and prayer flags provide you with great photo opportunities, rivalled by the colourful Tibetan market.

After breakfast the next morning you can indulge in a guided village walk before taking an excursion into the Indus valley to visit places like Shey Palace, Thiksey and Hemis Gompa.

Stay: Two nights in a Cottage Suite at Saboo Resort – including breakfast, lunch and dinner

Say farewell to enchanting Ladakh as you are transferred to Leh for the flight back to Delhi. The afternoon is at leisure.

Stay: One night in a Deluxe Room at JW Marriott Hotel – including breakfast

Today you will board your return flight home.