to change the proposed schedule and shorten or prolong your trek, or alter stages. Where possible, information on alternative routes and places to camp is given to let you arrange your trek accordingly.
Each stage description consists of a detailed description of the trail, enabling you to find the way. It should be sufficient guidance for anybody with basic experience of independent trekking. Details of starting and finishing points are given, with their respective altitudes, and the altitude range.
Distance for each stage is given, and the approximate time required. These are based on the author’s own experience of trekking independently with a heavy backpack. You may find yourself walking faster or slower – please treat the figures given for reference only and not as the exact time required. Individual hiking speeds are too variable to quantify.
Whenever the time given is shorter than one hour, it refers to the walking time; when it is longer, it includes stops. The time specified for the entire stage also includes breaks. The author usually took about 20 minutes’ rest after each hour of walking, but this was terrain-dependent.
Route directions are given according to those showing on a 16-point compass. The four cardinals, four ordinals and the eight compass points between these are abbreviated in the text as N, S, NW, NNW and so on. Where a direction is indicated that is not part of a route direction it is given in full: north, south, northwest, north-northwest.
LEFT VS RIGHT BANK
Sides and banks of streams and rivers in route directions are understood according to geographical lore, and are related to direction of river flow. Whenever a left side/bank of a river is mentioned the true left bank (or the left side of the river as you face downstream) is implied. The same applies to tributaries: a left tributary is a tributary that joins the main river from the left as you face downstream (ditto right side/bank/tributary).
A tiny footpath on the impressive traverse 300m above the Zara River (Trek 2)
The stage introductions also include crucial information about the availability of water. Read these carefully and take note! You will need to drink at least 4–5 litres of water a day, and in some places it takes a few hours to get from one source of water to another.
Route profiles give an overview of the altitude range you will have to tackle during each stage. More detailed information on ascent and descent will be found in the stage summary for every day.
There are generally two kinds of places where you can camp. ‘A camp’ or ‘camping place’ refers to a wild place where camping is possible (indicated by a white tent symbol on the maps). Whenever a campsite is mentioned, this means an organised fee-paying camping site (a yellow tent symbol) – usually you can expect to find a simple shop and a Ladakhi toilet there. Be aware that the exact location of some campsites may change slightly from season to season.
Incredible autumn colour at the confluence of the Niri and Tsarab rivers (Trek 2)
Shepherds’ shelters are often mentioned in the text. Don’t expect a hut; it is usually no more than a low wall of stones giving basic protection against wind. Don’t rely on these, as they can change.
Maps supplement the text and route descriptions, most at 1:250,000 scale and based on the author’s own GPS measurements as well as on NASA, USGS, JPL, Caltech and CIAT data. Treks 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 and 8 are each illustrated on a separate overview map, showing such information as the locations of stage starts, finishes and the major passes along the way. These treks are then further illustrated by more detailed stage maps placed alongside the route descriptions, which show a more in-depth level of detail including the heights of passes and significant camps. (Treks 4 and 7 are short enough that they do not require separate overviews and are therefore shown entirely on the stage maps.)
Note: even in a single village there can be a significant range of altitudes. Where a stage start or finish village height is given in the text and on the maps, it is the height of the author’s chosen camp. Where a village has a different height on the profile, it is the height of the village centre.
The detailed route description, tables, elevation profiles and maps give sufficient information to trek independently in the region. However, you may want to have an additional map. The Trekking Map of Ladakh by Sonam Tsetan (easily available in Leh) is quite basic in scale (about 1:650,000) but (as far as it has been checked by the author) is accurate regarding the location of roads, trails, villages, rivers and bridges. In particular, the trail is marked on the correct side of the stream for most places, and bridges are shown where they really exist.
The Ladakh & Zanskar Trekking Map, sheets North, Centre and South, by Editions Olizane, is the most detailed map of the region (1:150,000). It is accurate regarding landforms and features, but has some important mistakes regarding trail location. It is quite expensive; unless you plan to make side treks or variants that are not described in the book, you don’t need this map.
Maps by the US Army Map Service, produced in the 1950s and ’60s, are good in scale (1:250,000), freely available on the Internet and certainly worth consideration.
A new map – Ladakh and Zanskar Trekking Map – has recently been published by Milestone Books. At a scale of 1:175,000, it covers the whole area described in this book.
In the UK the best places to search for maps of Asia in general are Stanfords in Long Acre, London (www.stanfords.co.uk), and The Map Shop at Upton-upon-Severn in Worcestershire (www.themapshop.co.uk). For worldwide delivery check www.amazon.com, where the most important maps of the region will be found.
Place names and altitude information
The spelling of local names in this book has been based primarily on the Trekking Map of Ladakh (Sonam Tsetan, Fifth Edition 2007) as this is a popular map produced by the Ladakhis. It uses the common spellings, which makes them quite easy to pronounce. One exception is Zanskar, which appears as ‘Zangskar’ on that map; Zanskar, however, is the spelling commonly used in literature.
The Trekking Map of Ladakh (edited by Hanish & Co, 2006) has been used as the secondary source for naming, and is based on Survey of India sources. It has been used in preference to the first map in the case of the Gotunta La (Gothurstar La), as this name is more common. Indian Himalaya Maps Sheets 2 and 3 (Leomann Map) and the Ladakh & Zanskar series (Editions Olizane) have been used as additional sources.
The altitude information for most of the places mentioned comes from the author’s own GPS measurements. The Ladakh & Zanskar Trekking Map at 1:150,000 is the most detailed map available, and altitude is accurate at the places that have been checked. This map has been used as the source of information for places that the author did not measure personally. These should be accurate in places with an open aspect, like passes, and in camps where a series of measurements has been taken, but may be inaccurate at times along the route, particularly in narrow valleys. Treat the figures as a guide, not as exact altitudes.
The names and spellings of some of the remoter places and features have been taken from these printed maps, although variant names and spellings do exist in many cases. The second index at the end of this guide contains all the significant Ladakhi place names used in this guidebook, including some of the more common variants.
How to get there
Unless
