Zanskar 2024 – before the trip

8. September 2024

 

 

‘m dragging my feet! After all the winter trips to Ladakh, this time – if it works out as planned – I will land in Leh on September 15. And then I want to go to Zanskar, trek there and arrive back in Delhi without a flight.

 

The last time I was in Zanskar was in 2017. Back then, I trekked from Anmo, the end of the road at the time, to Kargyak, then a horse carried me up Shingo-la and a taxi picked me up there to take me to Darcha. I stayed overnight with families and in the monastery guesthouse in Phuktal. At that time, the road was under construction and the stretch from Darcha over the Shingo-la to Purne had already been completed. Hopefully, they drove over by car, but then – oh dear – a landslide blocked the way back. The car was trapped and when someone brought petrol, it drove around between Purne and Kargyak. As usual, I had driven there via Kargil.

 

 

This has now changed enormously. The landslide has been cleared and the road over the Shingo-la is regularly used. The locked car was able to get out again. The last stretch of road between Purne and Anmo has also been completed. Now the car can drive all the way through to Padum. And from there it even has 2.5 decisions to make for the journey to Leh: the old route via Kargil, the newer route via Singge-la and Lingshed – or the completely new route without a pass via Nimmu. However, it is not always possible to choose the last option.

 

The new road was opened shortly before this year’s election – and closed again soon afterwards. It wasn’t really finished yet and there was still a lot of construction work to be done. Since then, it has sometimes been open and often closed. In any case, I am convinced that tourism in Zanskar will boom and I want to have a quick look at how things are looking at the moment.

 

Tourism in Ladakh has already boomed. It’s also been ages since I was there in summer. Winter gives the impression of a Ladakh with few tourists, which is supposed to look completely different in summer. I am excited. I’m also looking forward to meeting various people.

 

Then I set my sights on the Lingshed Road, which I want to tackle at a leisurely pace with overnight stops. In 1996 and 2007, I trekked the route where cars now drive. I’ve never been back to these areas since and I’m curious to see what I remember and what looks “like new” to me. And how much has changed in the capital Padum?

 

 

I also have some time there and hope to meet people from the ex-Kamerakidz project again. Some are no longer there, like the school principal (who I met last year in Manali), some are back, like an ex-Kamerakid who left Zanskar after the first year of the project and now runs a café in Padum.

 

And then I hope to do a trek with just a cooking horse man like in the “old days”. My last such trek in Zanskar was exactly 10 years ago and quite exciting due to previous political unrest with a curfew, runaway horses, a missing 2nd horseman and a final best 3rd horseman. The tour went over the Phirtse-la. This time I want to hike further north.

 

 

And then it’s back over the road to Delhi. I only have 3 weeks and feel a bit stressed, even though everything should turn out well according to my Excel plan. And if it doesn’t – then I’ll just have to reschedule.

 

And no matter how these 3 weeks turn out, I’m really looking forward to spending some time in the region. And I’m also very excited to see how the blog will fill up.