Ladakh
High cold desert — turquoise lakes, 5000 m passes and Zanskar's frozen river.
Legend
- Treks
- Hikes
- Passes
- Mountains
- Lakes
Quick Stats
- Spots
- 47
- Landforms
- 5
- Terrain
- Trans-Himalayan Cold Desert
Trails & landmarks
Pangong Tso
The colour-changing salt lake — 134 km long, a third in India, and a Kiagar-style sapphire at noon.
Tso Moriri
A Ramsar lake deep in Rupshu — black-necked cranes, kiangs and the nomadic Karzok village.
Tso Kar
The white lake — high-altitude salt basin with crusted shorelines and bar-headed geese in summer.
Startsapuk Tso
Tso Kar's freshwater neighbour — a quiet pool where kiangs graze and cranes nest.
Kiagar Tso
A shimmering turquoise stop on the Tso Kar–Tso Moriri road — shallow enough to walk into.
Yarab Tso
The hidden lake of Nubra — sacred, rarely visited, and a short walk up from Panamik.
Sani Lake
A still pool beside Zanskar's oldest monastery — Naropa's chorten and a summer Nadro festival.
Khardung La
The 'Pass of Lower Castle' — gateway to Nubra, once claimed as the world's highest motorable road.
Chang La
The high pass to Pangong — a Buddha statue, a tea stall and prayer flags at oxygen-thin altitude.
Tanglang La
The second-highest pass on the Manali–Leh — a lunar plateau drop into the Indus valley.
Fotu La
The highest point on the Srinagar–Leh road — painted mountains and the moonscape towards Lamayuru.
Namika La
The 'Pillar in the Sky' — the first major pass east of Kargil, colourful rock strata on every turn.
Wari La
The back-door pass to Nubra — a quieter, steeper loop from Sakti avoiding Khardung traffic.
Lachulung La
Eroded pillars and the Pang plateau beyond — one of the classic Manali–Leh crossings.
Nakee La
A twin of Lachulung above Gata Loops — 21 switchbacks then the big drop to Whisky Nala.
Zoji La
The knife-edge pass from Kashmir into Ladakh — cliff cut above the Sindh gorge, closed most winters.
Shingo La
The Darcha–Padum trail crossing — now a tunnel-in-progress, still a classic foot pass into Zanskar.
Kanji La
Wild crossover from Lamayuru to Kanji village — a hidden pass with scree, river crossings and no roads.
Ganda La
The first pass on the Markha Valley trek — yak pastures and a view clear to Stok Kangri.
Kongmaru La
The Markha Valley's highest pass — the descent into Shang Sumdo is a psychedelic rockfall.
Stok La
A quick but gruelling pass from Rumbak to Stok village — shortest way to bail from Markha.
Stok Kangri
The classic first 6000er — now on a rotating closure to heal overuse, but the view of Zanskar is unmatched.
Kang Yatse
Markha Valley's guardian peak — II is the trekking peak, I is a technical big summit.
Dzo Jongo
A 6000er beside Kang Yatse — long non-technical snow slopes make this the cleanest Ladakhi first summit.
Mentok Kangri
Three summits rising straight out of Tso Moriri — a Rupshu 6000er with the blue lake at your feet.
Nun Peak
Highest peak entirely in the Indian side of Kashmir-Zanskar — steep snow walls above the Suru.
Kun Peak
Nun's twin across the icefield — a longer, more technical ascent from the Suru side.
Saser Kangri
An ice giant guarding the Karakoram end of Nubra — open only to joint IMF expeditions.
Markha Valley
Ladakh's signature trek — seven days through Skiu and Hankar past chortens, gompas and Kang Yatse.
Chadar Trek
A week on the frozen Zanskar river — ice sheets, caves and the temperature sinks to −30 °C at night.
Sham Valley
Ladakh's 'baby trek' — apricot villages, low passes and monastery stays around Likir and Hemis-Shukpachan.
Rupshu Valley
Changpa nomad country — Tso Moriri, Tso Kar and Kiagar Tso linked by salt plains at 4500 m.
Zanskar Valley
India's most remote inhabited valley — barley fields, crystal rivers and monasteries perched on cliffs.
Nubra Valley
The valley of flowers in Ladakh — Shyok and Nubra converge past cold-desert dunes and double-humped camels.
Hunder Sand Dunes
Cold-desert dunes between snow peaks — Bactrian camel rides on the old silk-route trail.
Turtuk
India's last Balti village on the Shyok — apricot orchards, Yabgo history and the K2 range close by.
Drass
Second-coldest inhabited place on earth — the Kargil war memorial and Tololing ridge loom above.
Suru Valley
A gentle green valley under Nun and Kun — Panikhar, Parkachik glacier and the old trade route to Zanskar.
Drang-Drung Glacier
Ladakh's second-largest glacier — visible in its entirety from Pensi La on the Kargil–Padum road.
Lamayuru
The 'moonland' monastery — 11th-century gompa perched on lunar eroded badlands.
Hemis Monastery
Ladakh's largest gompa — seat of the Drukpa lineage and home to the Hemis Tsechu masked dances.
Thiksey Monastery
A twelve-storeyed mini-Potala above the Indus — the giant Maitreya and a dawn morning prayer worth waking for.
Diskit Monastery
Nubra's oldest gompa and the 32 m Maitreya that faces Pakistan — sunset spills all the way to Hunder.
Phuktal Monastery
A honeycomb of whitewashed cells built into a cliff cave — reachable only on foot from Purne.
Magnetic Hill
An optical illusion slope that seems to pull vehicles uphill — a quick photo stop on the Srinagar–Leh road.
Sangam (Indus-Zanskar)
The muddy Zanskar joins the jade Indus at Nimmu — two rivers, two colours, one confluence.
Panamik Hot Springs
Sulfur springs at the end of the Nubra road — last village before the Siachen glacier permit zone.