Markha valley
Jammu & Kashmir / Leh / 13-Aug-2017Markha valley trek is a difficult and challenging trek which takes you to a divine height of over 17,000 ft. It is one of the most amazing treks in Ladakh region, going through beautiful Buddhist monastaries and villages. The trek is more of an arid, desert trek. But what delights the eyes in meantime, are the gigantic Stok Kangri peaks (6,153 m) and Kang Yatze (6,400 m). The beautiful valley of Ladakh and the Zanskar gorge are the cherry on the top to relieve your senses. But, one should limit it’s expectation of accommodation here as tents are the only option.
Markha valley trek is an awesome trek in its own way. It trails inside through Hemis National Park which is world famous for spotting the glorious Snow leopards. Not only this, the trek includes passing through two adventurous passes; Gandala La (15,750 ft) and Kongmaru La (17,060 ft). “La” stands for “pass” in local language. The flavour of this trek includes crossing the Markha river along the trekking. The river is not too deep but 3-5 ft and the current is also tolerable enough to cross it.
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Climate of Markha valley
May to September is considered as the best season for the trip. It is better to plan pre monsoon or post monsoon because the terrain is risky during rainfalls.
Altitude sickness is very common problem to tourists here, so it is preferable to take rest at proper time and not to overdo the trekking.
Duration of trek- 7-9 Days
Pick up point- Spituk
Difficulty level- Difficult
Highest altitude- 17,060 ft
Approx trekking distance- 102 km
Best season- summer (May-June) and post monsoon (September- October)
The climate is cold here, obvious guess from the extreme high altitude. One needs to get packed with warm clothings and wind cheaters to get through the weather. It is warm during summers in daytime but gets cold with sunset.
How to reach Markha valley
You can consider Markha valley as a nigh adventure spot, as it’s just a flight away from Leh, which in turn, is connected to Delhi. The trek starts from the base camp at Spituk. Spituk can be reached by bus or taxi and is 7 km far from Leh. The last camp Sumdo, is 2 hour far from Leh for return.
You can also travel to Ladakh by bus. As the trek is through canyons and landslide prone, it is best to get here with professionals.
TREK ITINERARY:
Day 1: Drive Leh to Spituk. 15 km Trek from Spituk (10,500 ft) to Zingchen (11,100 ft) takes 4-5 h.
Day 2: 5 km Trek from Zingchen to Yurutse(13,520 ft) takes 3 h.
Day 3: 25km Trek from Yurutse to Skiu (11,160 ft) via Ganda La (15,750 ft) takes 8-9 h.
Day 4: 20km Trek from Skiu to Markha (12,370 ft) takes 6-7 h.
Day 5: 13km Trek from Markha to Thochuntze (13,165 ft) takes 5-6 h.
Day 6: 7km Trek from Thochuntze to Nimaling (15,518 ft) takes 3 h.
Day 7: 17km Trek from Nimaling to Shaang Sumdo (12,238 ft) via Kongmaru La (17,060 ft) takes 6-7 h.
ESSENTIALS:
Warm & waterproof clothing
A rucksack of around 60L (preferably waterproof)
Sunglasses
Trekking shoes or Sports shoes
Trekking pole
Waterproof bags or plastic bags
Balaclava
Torch
Waterbottle
First aid kit
Location on map
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