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Nine days across Khardung La to Nubra, out to Pangong and back by Chang La, with two full acclimatisation days that are not negotiable.
Duration
9D / 8N
Group size
4 – 12 travellers
Best time
June – September
Difficulty
Demanding — sustained altitude above 3,500 m
Ladakh is at altitude from the moment you land. Leh is 3,500 metres and Khardung La is 5,359. The single most common way to ruin this trip is to start moving on day two, so we do not — the first two days are spent in Leh doing very little, on purpose.
After that: the Nubra valley over Khardung La, the cold desert dunes at Hunder, and Turtuk, the Balti village that was in Pakistan until 1971. Then east to Pangong, which changes colour through the day and is worth the night at 4,250 m.
Inner Line Permits for Nubra, Pangong and Turtuk are arranged. Oxygen cylinders travel in every vehicle and the drivers are trained to recognise acute mountain sickness. Please read the fitness note before booking.
Every day of the trip, with the hotel, the meals and the sightseeing written out. Nothing here is hidden behind a login.
Airport pick-up and transfer. Complete bed rest for the remainder of the day: no walking, no sightseeing, plenty of water. This is medical advice, not a soft option.
A gentle day. Leh Palace, the old bazaar, and Shanti Stupa at sunset. Hydration and slow walking are the whole programme.
A low-altitude day down the Indus, which continues acclimatisation while still being a real day out. Hall of Fame, Magnetic Hill, the Indus–Zanskar confluence and the 11th-century Alchi monastery.
Cross Khardung La at 5,359 m — a short stop only, the air is thin — and descend into the Nubra valley. Afternoon at the Hunder dunes with the Bactrian camels. Diskit monastery and the Maitreya statue.
Full-day run out to Turtuk near the Line of Control, through apricot orchards and Balti villages. Return to Hunder by evening.
The direct Shyok route to Pangong — rough, spectacular, and weather dependent, with the Wari La alternative held in reserve. Arrive at Pangong in the afternoon and watch the lake change colour until dark.
Sunrise at the lake, then the return over Chang La at 5,360 m, stopping at Thiksey and Hemis on the way down. Back in Leh by evening.
A deliberate buffer day. Use it for Chilling-to-Nimmu rafting on the Zanskar, for a monastery you missed, or for the Leh market. Buffer days matter here because roads close.
Early transfer to Leh airport — security here is slow and the check-in closes early. Flights are mostly before 10:00.
The second list matters as much as the first. Read it before you compare our price with anybody else's.
A dedicated Innova Crysta or Xylo for the full nine days, driven by a Ladakhi driver who works these passes every season. Non-Ladakh vehicles are not permitted on the Nubra and Pangong routes, so the vehicle is local by regulation as well as by good sense.
Khardung La
5,359 m; stop briefly, the altitude is real
Turtuk
Balti village opened to visitors only in 2010
Pangong Tso
134 km long, two-thirds of it in Tibet
Thiksey Monastery
Go at 06:30 for the morning prayer
Alchi
11th-century murals, the oldest surviving in Ladakh
Hunder Dunes
Cold desert at 3,000 m, with Bactrian camels
4.9
93 verified ratings
The bars show the 2 written reviews published for this package. A review can only be left by someone who completed this booking, and it is checked before it appears.
Shalini Gupta
Bhopal · travelled August 2026
Rough is an understatement and I would do it again tomorrow. Waking up beside Pangong at 4,250 m with the lake going from navy to turquoise as the sun came over — that is the photograph that does not do it justice. Oxygen in the car, a driver who checked on everyone. Felt safe throughout.
Karan Bedi
Chandigarh · travelled July 2026
I argued about it. I had two friends on a different operator's trip who started sightseeing the afternoon they landed, and both of them spent day three on oxygen in Leh. Two full acclimatisation days is not padding, it is the difference between doing this trip and not. Turtuk was unlike anywhere I have been in India.
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