The Y shaped Nubra valley is situated at the South-East of Leh city and on the basin of Nubra and Shyok river. The average altitude of this valley is about 10,000ft. above the sea level. The name Nubra applies to the district comprising the valley of the Nubra river, and that of the river Shyok both above and below their confluence, where they meander in many shifting channels over a broad sandy plain before flowing off to the north-west to join the Indus in Baltistan.
Nubra Valley was one of the trade centres on the ancient famous silk route passing through this areas. The Bactrian Camels (shaggy double hump Camels) can be seen around sand dune, between Deskit and Hunder village, which were used for transportation during ancient silk route days.
Travellers are required to obtain permit for maximum seven days to visit Nubra Valley, which can be arranged through tour local operators. Six photo copies of the permit should be kept for submission at the check posts.
Deskit the main village of the Nubra valley is 125 km. from Leh city. We had no hurry to start early from leh, but we were very much excited that we would be crossing the highest motorable road (Khardungla pass,18,300ft.) in the world.
North-pulu :
We started by 7’o clock in the morning. We passed Santi stupa of Leh city and proceeded to Khardungla pass. After North-pulu cheek post the road ascended in spiral way by the side of the mountain. From Leh to Khardungla pass we ascended almost 8000 ft over a spiral distance of 50 km only. Barren snow capped mountains with snow covered mountain slope were on the right hand side and almost thousand feet deep pit was on the left hand side of the road throughout. Somewhere the colour of mountain was grey and somewhere it was muddy. As we were climbing upwards the weather became more and more chilled and many of our passengers were suffering from breathing problems. Heap of ice on both the sides of the road increased as we approached Khardungla pass.
Khardungla pass :
At last we reached our much awaited Khardungla pass. Khardungla pass is 17km. from North pulu. From Khardungla top we had a stunning view all around. We left behind the Ladakh range in the south to enter the Karakoram range towards north. Snow capped mountains were standing all around. The ice like tease cotton were well within our reach. All around we found icicle hanging from the snow roofs. Evaporations from the surfaces of the snow slopes due to scorching mid day sun appeared as smoke coming out of ice. We forgot our age and physical illness and mingled with the beauty of the nature.
There is a Military cheek-post on the Khardungla top. A temple of Khardungbaba is maintained by the jawans. The army gave us a warm welcome with fuming lemon tea. We got same warm welcome in every army camp we visited on the way in Ladakh. We observed for sometime the training programme on the highly slippery snowy slopes for the new comers joining the army. We had some chats with the army officers. One of the Army officers helped us to locate Indo-Chines border, Indo-Pak border and Indo-Afgan border from the top of the Khardungla pass. In spite of being a highly important border area there were no restrictions in photography.
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| Way to Khardungla |
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| Icicle |
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| Khardungla |
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| View of China, Pakisthan & Afganisthan border |
Towards Deskit :
After enjoying a very memorable one hour stay at Khardungla top we started descending from Khardungla top to reach South Pulu at a height of 15,300ft. South Pulu is 13km. from Khurdungla pass. Floating ice on a small lake by the side of the road increase the beauty of our journey. We reached Khardung village which was 4 km. from South Pulu. Next we reached Khalsar. Stony and sandy river bed of Shyok was seen far below the road level. The Shyok river emerging from Rimo Glacier in North-East of Khalsar got obstructed by the Pangoan range and turned again towards North-East of Khalsar. Proceeding up to Tirit, Shyok river combined with river Nubra emerging from Siachin-Glacier and the combined flow proceeded towards P.O.K as Shyok river.
We took our lunch by the road side with sandwich and sweets and enjoyed the beauty of river Shyok from the top. Karakoram sanctuary started from Khalsar. Within half km. from Khalsar the river bed of Shyok got out of sight. Next we reached a vast valley. Our Car was running through the vast valley at 70 to 80 km/hr. Two sides of the road were full of sand dune with pebbles and sparkling blue sky was on the top. Greenery was seen from far away. We were going through Nubra valley surrounded by Kakoram range. We reached Deskit by 3’O clock.
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| River bed of Shyok |
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| River bed of Shyok |
Deskit :
Deskit is the administrative headquarter of the Nubra Valley, therefore it is significantly larger than surrounding villages. Deskit is a comparatively developed rural town where it is possible to restock supplies and to eat in restaurants offering Ladakhi, Tibetan, Chinese and continental dishes. There are many guesthouses to choose from and all guesthouses fall in the same price range and offer similar services, however the atmosphere varies from guesthouse to guesthouse.
In Deskit we stayed in sand dune Guest house run by David family. We found a well-maintained garden inside of the guest house complex. There were five rooms in two singled storied building for the tourists. Two rooms had attached bath and rest were of dormitory type. Accommodation was basic but we got a very warm reception from David family. Expansion works for more rooms were going on. Residence of David family was adjacent to the guest house within the same complex. Their drawing room was decorated with Kashmiri carpet and furniture. We had a long chat with them during breakfast in the next morning.
Hundar :
In the first evening we proceed down the Shyok to Hundar village which was 6km. from Deskit. We passed an area of rolling sand dunes. These sand dunes was made by natural wind blowing through the sand and made different types of decorations. It looked like a miniature form of sand dune of Jaisalmer of Rajasthan. But the colour of the sand here was white whereas that of of Jaisalmer was golden. Stream of Nubra river was passing through the sand dunes. We found a small population of Bactrian camels, shaggy double-humped animals which in old days were used as pack animals on the central Asian trade routes. Visitors can take a camel safari out into the dunes from Hundar.
We saw Nubra in twilight. Red glow of the setting sun were scattered on the barren mountains. Suddenly a group of camels were seen approaching towards us. In the backdrop of the setting sun behind the mountains it appeared just like a paintings on the canvas of an artist. We saw the humps of the camels considerably bend down. We came to know from the owner of the camels that during long bitter winter days, for scarcity of food camels had to use up the fat of the hump for their nourishment. For this reason at the beginning of summer fatless humps appeared bend down. During summer days after taking sufficient food their humps would automatically rise up.
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| Sand dune in Hunder |
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| Double hump camel in Hunder |
Panamik :
In the next morning after taking breakfast we proceeded towards Panamik. This circuit comprised of Nubra river, with some the pretty villages like Tirit, Lukung, Tegar and Sumur. Nubra’s other major monastery samstaling is situated on the mountain just above Sumur. This was the route taken by the trade caravans and Panamik the last village on this circuit, was at that time a busy trade centre. The last major settlement before the caravans plunged into the mountains of the Karakoram and the Kun-Lu. Here they invariably halted for a few days to make final preparations for getting over the mountains or to recover afterwards. There would be no supplies, not even grazing for the animals, for about 12 days after Panamik, so they had to carry all their provisions for that time. The local government at that time maintained a granary to sell food grains for the men and even for the horses, but this arrangement was insufficient for the amount of the traffic Today Panamik is a sleepy village, its people quietly do their work in the fields. The granaries of the old days were converted into stores for miscellaneous supplies. On the mountain side above, the village we saw hot water bubbles coming out of the earth from a hot water spring. Local people believe that water of this spring have medicinal qualities. Panamik was more green than Deskit. The density of population was very low.
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| Way to Panamik |
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| View of Sia-Chin Glacier |
Takse village :
We visited Takse after Panamik. Here we saw the memorial of the border security force soldiers who died in a snow storm during first Sasar Kangri expedition. We also saw here the base camp of the successful Sasar Kangri expedition. Sia-chien Glacier is only 60km. from Takse village, But it was a highly restricted area.
On our way back from Panamik we visited Sumur village. Here we saw Sumur monastery. Lama Sumtim Nimo built this monastery in the nineteenth century. We returned back to Deskit by afternoon.
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| Taksey village |
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| Sumur Gumpha |
Way to Kalatop Sanctuary :
