Zanskar
Through the Suru Valley andover Pensi La is Zanskar Valley. 235 km from Kargil. In remarkable contrast to the valley and Leh district, § Zanskar’s treeless expanse is the least developed part of Ladakh. With no tourist amenities beyond basic accommodation and no shopping of any kind at district headquarters Padum. Zanskar is a rich experience for the trekker who arrives with full provisions. River rafting is possible from Serchu to Nyimu via Padam.
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ZANSKAR
About 20 km south-east of Rangdum stands the Panzila axis, across which lies Zanskar, the most isolated of all the trans-Himalayan valleys.
Zanskar is a tri-armed valley system situated between the Great Himalayan Range and the ZanŽskar mountains, the three arms radiating star-like towards the west, north and south from a wide cenŽtral expanse. Here the Zanskar River comes into being by the confluence of its two Himalayan tribŽutaries, the Stod/Doda and the Lingti-Tsarap rivŽers. It is mainly along the course of this valley sysŽtem that the region's approximately 14,000-strong, mainly Buddhist population, live.
Spread over an estimated geographical area of 5000
Kargil
Kargil is mid-point between Srinagar and Leh. This is where all vehicles going between these two places make a night halt. It is the only other town in Ladakh besides Leh, and is the district headquarters of the region which includes Suru and Zanskar.
Access is by private cars, taxis and J&K State Road Transport Corporation buses. Kargil is 204 km from Srinagar and 230 km from Leh.
LEH
Although part of the state of Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh is the third division of what, perhaps, is India's most diverse state. Each of the divisions, Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh, has distinct cultures geographical terrain, religion and lifestyle. Ladakh, in the Himalayan watershed, is a high-altitude desert, its lowest point at 9,000
feet above sea level, unsurprising for tween the Himalayas, the Karakoram,,ladak and zanskar ranges.
Padum
Padum is the headquarters of the Zan-1 skar Sub-Division of Kargil Distt. situated I 234 km from Kargil, it is approached through the only motorable road from Kargil passing through the picturesque Suru Valley and Panzila Pass (14400 ft). The road remains motorable from the first wees of July till end-November only. It is also the base for a number of cross Himalayan treks and visiting the famous monasteries arouiM Zanskar which are: Karsha (9 km) Stongdej
The Ultimate
Adventure
ladakh
ladakh abounds in awesome physical features, set in an ' enormous and spectacular environŽment. Bound by two of the world's mightiest mountain ranges, the Kar-akoranun the north and the Great Himalayas in the south, it is traversed by two other parallel chains, the Ladakh Range and the Zanskar Range. In geological terms, this is a young land, formed a few million years ago. Its basic conŽtours, uplifted by tectonic movements, have been modified over millennia by the process of eroŽsion due to wind and water, sculpted into the form that we see today.
Today a high-altitude desert, sheltered from
