Wednesday 3 July - the alarm went at 0600 as the plan was to set off at 0730. Needless to say things never quite go to plan and so we finally left the Hotel Nalanda well after 0800.
Our destination was the Nubra Valley and a night's stay in a 'luxury' tented camp. To get there we headed north out of Leh and immediately started to climb towards the KhardungLa Pass. At 18,380 feet above sea level this is the world's highest motor able road with appropriate warnings !.
As we were not fully acclimatised we did not linger at the top and began the descent to the valley. The road down from K Top to the Shyok Valley was gentler than on the Leh side but the views were as spectacular.
After a packed lunch stop we headed to the Diskit Monastery with dates back to the 15th century. It lies on a zig zag track up from the valley floor.
Our next stop was a camel ride.
Seemingly the Bactarian one hump camels once plied the trade routes but have now received a second lease of life taking tourists on short rides around the dunes near Diskit !
Our final stop for the night was a 'luxury' tented camp in Hundar.
The camp itself was set in an idyllic location basically an old apricot orchard with a stream running through with large tents pitched amongst the greenery. The showers and the dining hall were more utilitarian and it turned out that although beer was apparently available as it turned out there was no stock !
Our destination was the Nubra Valley and a night's stay in a 'luxury' tented camp. To get there we headed north out of Leh and immediately started to climb towards the KhardungLa Pass. At 18,380 feet above sea level this is the world's highest motor able road with appropriate warnings !.
As we were not fully acclimatised we did not linger at the top and began the descent to the valley. The road down from K Top to the Shyok Valley was gentler than on the Leh side but the views were as spectacular.
After a packed lunch stop we headed to the Diskit Monastery with dates back to the 15th century. It lies on a zig zag track up from the valley floor.
Our next stop was a camel ride.
Seemingly the Bactarian one hump camels once plied the trade routes but have now received a second lease of life taking tourists on short rides around the dunes near Diskit !
Our final stop for the night was a 'luxury' tented camp in Hundar.
The camp itself was set in an idyllic location basically an old apricot orchard with a stream running through with large tents pitched amongst the greenery. The showers and the dining hall were more utilitarian and it turned out that although beer was apparently available as it turned out there was no stock !