Peaks of Ladakh Trek

Our adventure begins in Delhi, a colourful and chaotic city full of architectural masterpieces. Around 6pm, say namaste to your tour leader and fellow travellers, when we gather as a group for the first time to get to know each other and learn more about the adventures ahead. Your tour leader then ensures a big welcome by arranging a group dinner at a nearby restaurant. Want more time in Delhi? Secure pre-tour hotel nights through your sales representative.

We start very early for the flight to Leh. We often have to leave the hotel around 2am and drive to the airport for the very early morning (but highly spectacular) flight over the Himalaya to Leh. If the weather is good and the flight goes on time, we should be in Leh early. The rest of the day is free to relax and acclimatise to the altitude (11,485ft/3,500m). In the morning, we rest and catch up on sleep; in the afternoon, we have a gentle orientation walk around Leh and its bazaars.

Today there is a sightseeing tour to two of the major gompas (Tibetan Buddhist temples) in the area. We first drive to Shey, a former royal palace of the Ladakh kings. Inside is a small temple containing a 350-year-old Buddha statue made of copper and gold. From Shey, we walk across fields to Tikse (about 1hr 30min), where we visit a hilltop monastery whose red and white buildings can be seen for miles. A recently built temple contains a magnificent image of the Future Buddha. We have lunch at Tikse and return to Leh. The rest of the afternoon is free to explore. There is a full trek briefing and gear check today.

Today we have an acclimatisation walk round the Leh Valley. Set above Leh on the Namgyal Hill are the ruins of the Old Royal Palace. From here, a winding path takes us to Tsemo Monastery, where we can see the whole of Leh and the surrounding villages. We continue the walk via Sankar to the recently built Japanese Peace Pagoda. This huge stupa (Buddhist shrine) overlooks Leh and we can see the Stok mountain range across the valley. Today there is an optional jeep safari to the Khardung Pass; at 18,379ft (5,602m), one of the highest motorable roads in the world. The trip to the top and back takes roughly four to five hours and can be booked and paid for locally. Your leader will have details. If you do the jeep safari, this will be in the morning and you can do a walk in the afternoon.

We leave Leh this morning and drive to the start point of our trek. The road follows the Indus River for a short while through Choglamsar before crossing the river and then climbing on a side road to Stok. We start trekking at the end of Stok village, taking an easy trail that winds up a spectacular valley. We follow the Stok River most of the way (and may have to cross it once or twice), with multi-coloured rocks towering above us as we ascend. The walking is easy and not steep; it takes five to six hours to reach our first camp at Mankarmo. Look for herds of blue sheep that graze on the hillsides here.

We cross our first pass today. The trail takes us gradually to the top of the pass, the Matho La, at 16,275ft (4,960m). The ascent is long but not too steep and, as we ascend, the views become more and more spectacular with the magnificent rock formations of the Ladakh mountains surrounding us. The dramatic mountains in various shades of purples, greens and browns can be seen for miles in every direction. From the pass, we descend easily to our campsite at Gangpoche, which is located by some shepherd huts, with views up to the Matho mountains.

We leave camp and have a long climb to our second pass, the Shang La (16,240ft/4,950m). The trail climbs out of camp to a low ridge and then contours round and down into the next valley, from where we have a long but gentle climb to the pass. From the top, we are greeted with more fantastic views of the Matho range to the north. We then descend into the valley below and camp near shepherd houses at Shang Phu.