Brief

With prayer flags fluttering from the rooftops of houses, bright prayer wheels guarding the entrances to tiny settlements and vivid dark blue skies from the altitude, Ladakh is the most remote and sparsely populated region of India. A high-altitude snow desert bound by mountains and made up of mountains, when Ladakh isn’t completely cut off from the rest of the world in the winter, getting there in the summer involves crossing the highest mountain passes in the world. Ladakh is remote but change and modernisation is coming to this last mountain Shangri-la.

Highlights

Visit a country cut-off from the rest of the world for six months of the year
Trek to over 6000m in one of the most remote trekking valleys in the Indian Himalaya
Experience one of the last undisturbed Tantric Buddhist populations on Earth
Visit remote mountain-top Buddhist monasteries

The Expedition

Phase 1: Acclimatisation

Teams can choose from a selection of short treks out of Leh as well as visiting Buddhist temples and monasteries such as Hemis; one of the most important monasteries in Ladakh.

Phase 2: Trek

Take on the challenging 6,153m high peak of Stok Kangri. This trek is usually 6 days of trekking through beautiful scenery with monasteries and Tibetan Buddhist communities along the way. At the summit you will be surrounded by hundreds of silk prayer flags and be rewarded with incredible views.

Phase 3: Project

This is the phase where teams assist in a variety of environmental, school or community based projects. Past examples include an educational mural design competition, sponsorship for playground equipment and in the past some teams have raised extra funds for solar panels and even re-built a flood damaged house.

Phase 4: Culture & Review

The last days in India can be spent visiting Delhi and the Red Fort and the amazing Taj Mahal in Agra.

Expedition Grade

Our Ladakh adventure is graded as moderate to strenuous. Challenging days can be expected when trekking Stok Kangri due to the altitude. The fitter you are the more you will enjoy the expedition.

Expedition Type

Adventure

Project

Culture

Expedition Level

Easy

Moderate

Hard

Facts

Terrain

Mountains and high altitude.

Weather

Cold and chilly most of the year but day-time temperatures rise to between 20º-30ºC in the summer (June to September) with clear, blue skies. Expect colder weather at altitude!

Culture

Ladakhis are predominantly Buddhist and their culture is very similar to that of the Tibetan culture. Art, literature, and music all contain elements of the prevailing Buddhist beliefs.