When it comes to adventure travel, Ladakh is my favorite destination. But, recently I visited a hidden place, with lots of footprints of ancient Indian civilizations. Ancient landscape, hidden to the people living in metros.
This place a Zanskar. It is also part of Ladakh and some of it’s boundaries touch Jammu and Kashmir, therefore, at times people get confuse whether Zanskar is in Ladakh or Kashmir.
Offcourse before few years ago, when Ladakh was part of Jammu and Kashmir, Zanskar was also part of the J&K state. However, with the removal of article 370. Ladakh is presented with it’s own identity.
Where is Zanskar VALLEY?
There are very limited routes to reach Zanskar valley and those too are mostly closed due to heavy snowfall during Winter. There are some routes which actually exist however, even google won’t show these as they don’t really fully built up or probably it is not even possible for google to reach there.
Route 1 – VIA SHINKU LA TOP
Route 1 is probably the shortest and my personal favourite, that is via Shinkula pass. But, this probably is one of the most dangerous routes.
This route goes through Manali, Keylong, Jispa, Darcha and after that there are 2 roads, out of which one goes towards Leh and Hanle and other towards Shinkula. Route from Jispa to Shinkula is probably the most scenic part of this route.
This is the Himachal side of the route and Shinkula or in local language known as Shingo La lies in Himachal Pradesh.
Overall the distance would be approx. 140 Kms from Manali-Darcha-Shinkula Top, where Manali to Darcha is 100 Kms and Darcha to Shinkula Top is around 40Kms.
Shikula Top lies at the border of Himachal Pradesh and Ladakh.
Shingo La (Shinku La) pass
Shinku La or Shingo La pass is located on the Himachal and Ladakh border at a height of 16703 ft. (5091 metres). With Lahaul (HP) on one side and Zanskar(Ladakh) on other side, this really is the entry point of Zanskar region.
Shingo La or Shinku La pass is the most strategic pass, it’s only in 1999 after the Kargil conflict a road from Padum to Darcha was conceived. Work started in 2002 and completed in 2021. However, still the connectivity is limited in winter season due to heavy snow on this route.
A 4.1 Km tunnel is in plan and expected to complete by 2025, will hopefully provide all year around connectivity.
SHINKULA TO Kargyakh (Kargyak)
Road up to Shinkula top is just perfect black top, but other side of the top is very dangerous and complicated. The route is very narrow and difficult to drive on.
I travelled in 2023 via the same route and the experience was simply adventurous and more on the dangerous side. There was hardly any road left due to snow and mud for up to 4-5 Kms.
The most difficult part was to climb or decent as the angle was up to 65 degrees at some places. There was deep mud and high chances of you stuck in to that. I am talking about june. You can imagine what could be the case from November to May.
This was one experience which I can never forget throughout my life. For me it was adventure but it could lead to danger too.
This road leads you to the beautiful Gonbo Rangjon which lies just ahead of Kargyakh (Kargyak) village. Which actually is the entry point for Shinkula pass road.
GONBO Rangjon-THE SACRED MOUNTAIN
This is route covers the most beautiful and sacred mountain of Zanskar region, the Gonbo Rangjon. There are no word which can describe this mountain. Simply out of this world.
It lies in Lungnak valley, and besides Kurgiak Chu river. It is south of the Kargyak village. The peak height of this mountain is around 18110 ft. (5520 Metres). One cannot go to the top as there is no road. Hardly anybody tries to climb it as this a worshiped as a God’s mountain by local population.
SHINKULA TO Kargyak to Purne
Although there are many villages in the Zanskar region however, I would only name the main destination which comes across the main route and next in our list is Purne. Distance from Shinkula top to Purne is around 43Kms out of which 20Kms is from Shinkula top to Kargyak.
From Kargyak to Purne, will be around 22 Kms. The road is under construction (in 2023). It is mostly a gravel road due to the under construction patches. At place road is very narrow for place for one vehicle.
We could easily skip Purne and directly reach Padum which is the main town of the Zanskar valley, one can call it Leh of Zanskar valley. However, Purne provide way to one of the oldest monetaries in the region which is the Phutktar monestary.
If you have not visited this monestary then you simply missed the true landscape and culture of the Zanskar valley.
Whenever you plan to visit Zanskar, Phutkal (Phukhtar) monestary is a must visit. This place needs a special mention therefore, I will have another blog for Phukthar monestary.
Purne to Padum
Purne to Padum 20 Kms of tarmac and 35 Kms of off-road. Yes, most of the road is in construction and should be completed in 1-2 years timeline. There are a few difficult ascends and decends which are too steep. specially for a fully loaded bike or car.
But, once you reach Padum you will get a town feels. So far, there are no fuel pumps on this route. But once you reach Padum there are 2 fuel stations one towards Kargil and other towards Stongday Monestary road.
PADUM
Padum is really where most of the Zanskar journey ends but believe me. There is too much beauty towards the Padum to Kargil side. So, do plan your ingress or egress from Kargil side too.
I will have Padum-Kargil route covered in our route 2 blog.
Padum is the town to be, it is the Leh of Zanskar. There lies some key zanskar destinations like Zangla Palace, Stongday Monestary, Kharse Monestary, Zangla Village and many more hidden places. Even the most famous Chadder trek has everything to do with Padum.
This blog is limited to the route 1 which started from Manali, Jispa, Darcha, Shinkula top, Kargyak, Purne and Padum. Overall distance would be approx. 240 Kms.
However, this is one route which no one should cover in one go. As I always say, journey is better than the destination and this is absolutely true for this route.
Subscribe my youtube channel for stories of such adventurous trips – Subscribe
For latest travel plans and updates, follow me on Instagram – Follow
