Leisure Tours India

The trekking options range from short, day-long walks up and down mountain slopes to visit monuments or monastic settlements (or across a ridge to enjoy the sheer beauty of the lunar landscape), or long, trans-mountain treks involving weeks of walking and camping in the wilderness. For example, thetrek from *Lamayuruin the Indus Valley to DarchainLahoul, across Zanskar* *Valley, takes nearly three weeks and crosses 2 major mountain ranges. Most of the established routes traverse the Zanskar range, which separates the Indus Valley from Zanskar. The 10-day Markha* *Valley* trek, the 11-day *Lamayuru- Padumtraverse and the 4/5-day Stok-Khangri*round trek are the more popular ones. In recent years, parts of the Ladakh range, which lie between the Indus and Shayok valleys, have also become available for trekking. The trekking season normally extends from early June to mid-October. But short, localised treks within the central Indus valley can be undertaken even in May. On the other hand, some routes
are suitable only for the late autumn as during the summer the tracks are submerged due to excessive flow of water, as is in the case of the *Hemis-Markha-Padumtrek. The winter access to Zanskar is actually along the frozen surface of the Zanskar River called Chaddar route*. This route, though difficult and highly demanding in terms of arrangements, is perhaps one of the most exciting and memorable foot journeys in the world.