CHADAR TREK ( The Frozen lake ) 8Nights / 9Days

Altitude 11,400 ft.

Stay in Guest House

1. Flying over miles and miles of heavily snowed mountains will tell you just it’s impossible to reach Ladakh by road in the Winter’s.
2. The moment you land at Leh airport, the highest airport in the world.
3. You will feel the fresh crisp air and a drastic drop in the temperature.
4. The town has just begun shedding off the thick winter slumber and is slowly coming to life.
5. Taking a stroll through the Leh market, you will find that very few shops and eateries in the town ae will serve only as a preview of the temperatures during this winter Trek.
6. The night is spent in a copy Guest House.

10,390 ft. to 10,550 ft.

Trek 10km

Stay in Tent

1. The biggest challenge of this day and all the remaining days is to get out of the warm toasty sleeping bags and go out into the giant freezer outside, but the steaming cup of tea being served provides ample motivation.
2. Today is a long walking session, about 10km. on the Chadar.
3. The trek leaders give a briefing about the day and give tips on how to walk on the chadar.
4. Depending on the weather.
5. The Chadar can assume various forms.
6. It can be cold and hard surface of slippery ice, or it can have a dusting of snow over it, providing a good grip.
7. The ice can be thick or thin, and its best to keep closely following the guide.
8. The locals, it appears, have a sixth sense as to where exactly to step on the Chadar.
9. At places, it might be necessary to wade through ankle-deep water or climb on the cliffs at the side of the river.
10. Eventually, you get used to walking on the Chadar, which looks like a cross between gliding and skating.
11. Midway to Gyalpo, the porter-cum-cook hot bowlful of soupy noodles for lunch.
12. It is important to keep up a decent level of fluid intake.
13. Nothing makes you adapt to the conditions faster than nicely circulating blood in your system.

After passing Shingra Koma, you reach the campsites for the day at Gyalpo. The Gyalpo campsite is a bend in the river, surrounded by high peaks and the walls of rock-faces which almost look man-made. All that is left to do is to soak in the views, have an early dinner and call it a day.

10,760 ft to 11,150 ft.

Trek 12.5 km

Stay In Tent

1. Attraction Frozen waterfall. Today is the most spectacular of all days on this trek.
2. Walking on the river you cross deep gorges and reach a point where Juniper trees are covered with prayer flags.
3. The Porters give you a twig of this tree tied with a piece of prayer flag as a badge of good luck and good- health.
4. A few steps away stands the mother-of-all frozen waterfalls – a huge instance of suspended animation several feet and equally wide.
5. You can see dozens of colours in this enormous ice structure as sunlight plays off its surface.
6. Right next to the waterfall is a bridge across the river which is a part of the summer-time from Zanskar to Leh.

The Naerak village lies several feet above the river, a vigorous hour-long trek can take you to the village if you want to see the life of Zanskari. The camp is set up close to the river.

11,150 ft. to 10,760 ft

Trek 12.5 km

Stay In Tent

1. Today you start the return journey and go back to the Tibb Cave. And, if you thought it was just a matter of retracing your steps back to chilling, you have to think again it is going to be a little tricky again.
2. The Zanskar River reacts to the slightest change of temperature and constantly keeps repacking itself.
3. The Chadar would have assumed a completely new form, and will almost be impossible to say whether you have been here before.

On the way, you can meet a lot of locals wearing their traditional woolen Gonchas- Some of the monks who are hiking from the Lingshed Monastery to Leh, some of them young students accompanied by their parents returning to their schools in Leh after the winter vacation.

Watching the locals negotiate the Chadar is a fascinating sight. They are suitably adept to the climate and seem very much at home in the sub-zero temperature and the biting cold winds. Nothing wipes the smiles off their faces and dampens the warmth of their spirit.

Stay In Guest House

1.  This is the last day of the treading on the Chadar – the last chance to immerse in the pristine beauty of the frozen river.
2. Once you reach Shingra Koma. It is time to say goodbye to the Zanskar and the Zanskaries.
3. Our team and our porters will take care of you and make this trek one of the most memorable experiences for you.
4. Tonight you get to sleep in a warm guest house.