Ladakh road trip: Khardung La and Nubra Valley - the beautiful cold desert

15.06.2023 : From Noida to Katra - Driving distance covered 662 km in around 11 hours with breaks for breakfast and lunch of 45 minutes each.

16.06.2023 : Trek to Vaishno Devi shrine - 13 km trekking to shrine, helicopter ride to Katra on way back.

17.06.2023: Katra to Srinagar - Driving distance covered 230 km in around 9 hours with breaks for breakfast for 30 minutes (many halts for passing of army convoy) and 20 km in Srinagar.

18.06.2023: Srinagar - Around 30 km for local sight seeing.

19.06.2023: Srinagar to Kargil - Driving distance covered 190 km in around 6.5 hours (tea break - 10 minutes, Kargil War Memorial 1.5 hours, lunch break 30 minutes, other stops at various places), another 20 km (to and fro) to Hunderman LOC view point.

20.06.2023: Kargil to Leh - Driving distance covered 197 km in around 6.5 hours (Breakfast break - 30 minutes, lunch break 25 minutes, Sight seeing - 3.5 hours)

21.06.2023: Leh local sightseeing - 68 km

22.06.2023

Our destination for the day was Nubra Valley crossing the famous Khardung La. Nubra occupies the northeastern portion of Ladakh, bordering Pakistan and China. Siachen Glacier, the highest active battlefield of the world, lies to the north of the valley. Rivers Nubra (also known as Siachen) and Shyok, a tributary of river Indus, flow through it meeting near Diskit.

We tried to start early to avoid rush as sometimes there are traffic jam making it troublesome in the narrow road with hair pin bends and left our hotel at around 6 am. Before leaving Leh we stopped at a petrol pump to fill the tank as there would not be many petrol pumps from that point onward. In Ladakh there are not many petrol pumps in some areas and one have to careful in planning refilling. In petrol pump we met some cyclists from different countries heading for Khardung La. The scenic beauty of the route is breathtaking. After crossing the village South Pullu the road turned into a muddy track covered with snow. We did not meet much traffic and at around 8 am reached Khardung La top at an elevation of 5359 meters (17,582 feet) earlier claimed to be the highest motorable road in the world. As we got down from our car, it started feeling cold. It was an exhilarating feeling to stand there surrounded by snow covered mountains listening to the whistling breeze. Oxygen and air pressure Levels are extremely low at Khardung La Pass resulting in high altitude sickness for some. We did not face any problem and could comfortably enjoy the beautiful scene all around. After a cup of hot chocolate at Khardung-La café to warm ourselves up we resumed our journey. We met lots of Bikers on the way as Ladakh is in the bucket list of most bikers.

The road was bad till the village North Pullu after which it became smooth again. At around 10 am we reached Khalsar which is a Y point with onefork going to Turtuk and the other fork going to Panamik. After a hearty breakfast at Riverside restaurant and rafting point we proceeded on the route to Turtuk. From Khalsar onwards Shyok river started travelling with us. A part of the road strewn with stones felt like a riverbed.

At around 12 noon we reached Diskit, the biggest town in Nubra Valley where Nubra river meets Shyok river. We wanted to come back to Diskit after visiting the border village of Turtuk for night halt as that would make it convenient for us to go to Pangong Tso next day. As we might be late on reaching back to Diskit, we started looking for accommodation to avoid the hassle later at night hours. Seeing a pretty house which seemed to be kind of a boutique hotel, I went inside to enquire. It turned out to be a newly opened hotel without even a name! I liked the room shown to me and booked it. Putting our luggage in the room we proceeded towards neighbouring Hunder.

The sight of silver sand dunes bounded by snow capped mountains at Hunder is incredible! The combination of snow and sand felt so surreal! Hunder is home to Bactrian camels, the two-humped camel. It is a very rare animal with estimated population of only two million all over the world. Native to Central and East Asia's rocky deserts, in India it is only seen in Nubra Valley. With its tolerance for cold, drought, and high altitudes, it enabled the travel of caravans on the Silk Road. The Indian Army uses these camels to patrol in Ladakh.

On our way to Turtuk we passed through Pratappur or Partapur, Siachen Brigade headquarters at an altitude of 12000 feet.

Driving on the road winding through the desert with the mountains towering close by and the powerful grey Shyok River flowing down below, we reached Turtuk village at around 3:15 pm. The village is pretty like a picture with landscape changing from barren mountains to green and it was choc-a-bloc with tourist vehicles.

In Turtuk we came to know that to see LOC of Pakistan Occupied Kashmir we will have to go to Thang village at a distance of 10 km. So we went to Thang and reached Thang after half an hour. It is a village that was seized from Pakistan along with three other villages including Turtuk in this area as a result of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. Thang sits right next to the line of control at a distance of only about 2.5 kilometers and it's twin village Pharnu is now in Pakistan. Many families were torn apart on that fateful day. The area's population is largely Balti Muslims. This region has a distinct culture. Villagers speak Balti language, practice Shia Islam, men still wear the traditional shalwar kameez and Balti caps, while the women are covered and wear embroidered print dresses. Their cuisine is also different and not prevalent in other parts of Ladakh. We did not have anything after breakfast and by this time tummies were protesting loudly. We went to a restaurant called Khane Do owned by an affable middle aged Balti man. There was a binocular through which we could see the LOC. We asked for Balti food and he served us Kesir (Buckwheat pancake) and tsamik (raita with a chopped lavender-like plant). Our hungry stomachs loved the simple yet delicious dishes.

We returned to Turtuk and drove further inside leaving behind the crowded area. After enjoying the solitude for sometime we returned to village centre and entered a restaurant called The Luxurious Cafe which was very well decked up. Here we had Kahwa and a sweet dish made of Apricot.

We were told that the mountain stream flowing across the road gathers strength as the day passes as the ice melts in the Sun and becomes difficult to cross. We started from Turtuk at around 5:15 pm hoping to cross the mountain streams in daylight and reach Diskit at 7:30. But after driving for almost one hour we reached a point where a stream overflowed with melting snow and one vehicle got stuck. On both sides of the stream vehicles lined up. Road workers of Indian Army guided and helped vehicles to cross. Four Wheel Drive and large vehicles were crossing at first. We were a bit apprehensive of getting stuck and waited for almost half an hour. Some other vehicles especially with drivers familiar with the route started crossing cheered on by the onlookers. We carefully observed these vehicles trying to identify the route where there seemed to be less risk. Then finally we decided to take the plunge and Sanjay crossed it without any hitch amid big cheers from onlookers. After that we crossed many mountain streams flowing forcefully but thankfully not posing as much problem.

On the way we stopped at a Shyok War Memorial.

As we kept driving the sky and mountains kept changing colours as twilight gradually turned into darkness and it felt as if we are in a dreamland. The glowing huge statue of Maitreya Buddha (32-meter tall) of Diskit Monastery visible from far away in the night added to the dreaminess.

After reaching Diskit at 8:30 pm we first bought two jerrycans from the market to carry additional petrol. A restaurant named Food Court looked appealing with an open air seating area at the terrace. We had Momo and Thukpa for dinner and reached our hotel at around 9 pm after an eventful day.

From Google Maps

22.06.2023: Driving distance covered 304 km in 12 hours which includes time when we were stuck at the mountain stream.