Bird's eye glance at Ladakh in winter: the Leh - Srinagar - Delhi flight

     Views from the GoAir G8-196 from Leh (IXL) to Srinagar and G8-190 Srinagar (SXR) - Delhi (DEL) flights by Airbus A320 on Jan the 19th 2015. That was my following air journey from Leh to Delhi and the second in winter but this was the first time I flew via Srinagar. This means that I had the first chance for the bird's view of the Western part of Ladakh. It was a 35 minutes of a fantastic flight between Leh and Srinagar!
 

The confluence of the Zanskar and Indusu rivers in the right part of the photo. Zanskar flows from the right.

The Indus just above Alchi

Indus and the Zanskar Mountains. There is Stakspi La roughly in the centre of this picture. The Alchi village with its famous monastery is on the right below.

The view towards the Stakspi pass - probably one of the hardest starts of any trek I have ever did (I crossed it from the Alchi side twice)

The Alchi village where the monastery with famous paintings is located

The Zanskar Mountains

The Zanskar Mountains

The Himalayas. It is Nun & Kun massive (above 7100 m a.s.l.) on the right in distance, most probably

There is the confluence of Shilakong Togpo and the Yapola river in the Wanla village, just in the center of this photo

The Pringkiti pass (Prinkti La) and a part of the trekking route from Lamayuru to Wanla

The landscape near to Lamayuru. Compare this photo.

The Himalayas. Kun (7077m a.s.l., the one which is nearer to the aircraft) & Nun (7135m a.s.l.) - the highest peaks of the main ridge of the Great Himalaya Range in Ladakh and the highest peaks of the J&K state

The main ridge of the Great Himalaya Range - the geographical border of Ladakh region. It is over 7000m high mountain massive Nun Kun with its peaks Kun (7077m a.s.l.) & Nun (7135m a.s.l. the one which is farther from the aircraft).

Nun (7135m a.s.l. on the right) and Kun (7077m a.s.l.)

Mountains and glaciers of the Great Himalaya Range and the Suru Valley below

How to stop think about trekking and exloring if you see this kind of views?! Himalayas. It is the Kashmir Valley to the right.

How to stop think about trekking and exloring if you see this kind of views?! Himalayas. It is the Kashmir Valley to the right.

The Kashmir Valley

The Himalayas on the way from Srinagar to Delhi

The Himalayas on the way from Srinagar to Delhi

The end of the Himalayas

You may see more photos of my travels in the photoblog on my website. See also my updates on Twitter, my photoblog page on FaceBook and my Ladakh website. For my Ladakh winter experience check my Jan 2014 photos here and earlier photos taken this winter season (2014/2015).
 

See you soon, Ladakh!

See you soon, Ladakh!

     For the good ending of the beautiful time I had in Ladakh in winter 2014/1015 I went to Shanti Stupa on Jan the 18th to catch some evening views.
 
That was my second visit to Ladakh. This time I managed to do Lamayuru-Padum trek (not exactly along the classic way), I came from Zanskar to the Central Ladakh by the Chadar Trek and I did the short hike from Spituk to Kaya in the Markha Valley over the Ganda La. You may read about these a bit in my previous posts of this blog as well as in my photoblog on my website.
 
I leave Ladakh deeply convinced that there is much more to do here in winter than just the famous Chadar Trek! After this second winter season here I have a big appetite for more!
 

Namgyal Tsemo (Victory Hill) and Leh Palace as seen from the Shanti Stupa

The upper part of the valley above Leh

View from the Shanti Stupa

The upper part of the valley above Leh as seen from the Shanti Stupa

Namgyal Tsemo (Victory Hill) in Leh - view from the Shanti Stupa

The Shanti Stupa (World Peace Stupa / World Peace Pagoda) in Leh

The Ladakh Range above Leh

A mountain in the Ladakh Range

 

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Ganda La in winter, Ladakh

     There was hardly any snow in the Centeral Ladakh in the beginning of 2015. Having the winter trek to Zanskar (read one of my previous posts) as well as the Chadar Trek experience (see this post) behind me and still some time to my Leh-Delhi flight, I decided to try a short trek from Stok to the Markha Valley over the Ganda Pass.
 
The area near to Rumbak in the upper Zhingchan Valley on the way to Ganda La is quite famous for wildlife trips. In winter groups come here in hope of seeing and photographing a snow leopard. Some are successful. Indeed I saw quite much wild animals here and in Markha Valley on each of my visits - bharals (blue sheep) and hares this time.
 
It is a walk on the road from Spituk to Zhingchan. If you happen to do this trek, you could skip it if you are well acclimatised and could find a car to take you there.
I took me a bit over 3h from Spituk to Zhingchan and I thought it was to early to stop for the night. On reaching Rumbak about 2h latter I decided to continue to Yurutse which took me a bit more than 1h. This made a long day hike with a significant altitude gain.
While in Yurutse, I learned that there would be a bus from Kaya in to Markha Valley to Leh on the following day, so again, instead of staying in Shingo after crossing the pass I continued to Kaya. This made another quite a long hike.
 
Day 1: Spituk - Yurutse; about 3210m-4170m a.s.l.; about 26 km; 12 Jan 2015
 

Indus near to its confluence with the Zhingchan Togpo

Indus near to its confluence with the Zhingchan Togpo (still above its meeting with the Zanskar River)

Approaching Rumbak

The solitary house of Yurutse settlement just before the dusk

 

Day 2: Yurutse - Ganda La - Kaya; about 4170m-4973m-3385m a.s.l.; about 23 km; 13 Jan 2015
 

Yurutse in the morning

The valley above Yurutse

Ganda La Base Camp (Lartsa Ganda La; about 4350 m a.s.l.). The pass is behind the hill which is in the centre of this picture.

On the way to Ganda La. Quite a good weather without wind. Partially sunny. Quite warm.

On the way to Ganda La. View down-valley.

On the way to Ganda La

The upper base camp on the way to the Ganda pass (about 4535 m a.s.l.)

On the way to Ganda La. The Ladakh Range in the distance.

On the way to Ganda La. The view down-valley.

On the way to Ganda La

View towards Stok La

It is Ladakh Range (Ladakh Mountains) - the last mountain ridge seen here

Stok Kangri (about 6150 m a.s.l.) on the right in the clouds

Views on the way to the Ganda pass

Mountains slightly covered with snow

It is near! Ganda La can be seen clearly on the right.

Beautiful views all around

Stok Kangri covered with a tiny cloud

Views on the way to the Ganda pass: Stok La can be seen on the last ridge here

Views on the way to the Ganda pass. A sunny weather just before reaching the pass - even the Stok Kangri peak is almost clear of the clouds.

The final ascent - Ganda La (about 4973 m a.s.l.) can be clearly seen here

View towards the North

Ganda La (about 4973 m a.s.l.)

Ganda La. A few minutes break to set the prayer flags and drink some water. It became windy, cloudy and cold, meanwhile.

The view downwards towards SW from Ganda La. Worst weather here. Shingo - the first village - is far below.

On the way from Ganda La towards the Shingo village

On the way from Ganda La towards the Shingo village

On the way from Ganda La towards the Shingo village

View towards the Ganda pass from Shingo village. Less snow than in January 2014 - see last year view from this place

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Gompa in Sku. It is about 30min walk to the Kaya village from here.

 

You may see more photos of my travels in the photoblog on my website. See also my updates on Twitter, my photoblog page on FaceBook and my Ladakh website.