Ladakh
Nubra Valley
Nubra is reached from Leh over Khardung La at about 5,300 metres and sits lower than Leh, around 3,050 metres, which makes it a comfortable night. Hunder has cold desert dunes and double-humped camels; Diskit has the monastery and the standing Maitreya. Two days is standard.
- Altitude
- About 3,050 m at Hunder
- Access
- Over Khardung La, about 5,300 m
- Best time
- May to September
- Days needed
- 2
- Known for
- Hunder dunes, Bactrian camels, Diskit monastery
Crossing Khardung La
The pass is the high point of the day and not a place to linger — fifteen or twenty minutes for photographs is plenty at 5,300 m. The descent into Nubra is long and drops well below Leh, which is why most people sleep better in Nubra than they did on their first night in Leh.
Hunder and Diskit
Hunder’s dunes sit between the Shyok river and the mountains, with Bactrian camels that are the remnant of the Central Asian caravan trade. Diskit holds the monastery above the valley and the 32-metre Maitreya statue facing the Shyok.
Turtuk
A further two hours north-west, close to the line of control and only opened to visitors in 2010. Balti culture, apricot orchards and a genuinely different feel from the rest of Ladakh. It needs an extra night to be worth the drive.
Questions people ask
Do you need a permit for Nubra Valley?
Yes. Nubra is a protected area and needs an inner line permit, arranged in Leh. Tour operators normally handle this; carry photocopies, as they are checked at more than one point.
Is Nubra colder than Leh?
Usually milder at night, because Hunder sits several hundred metres lower than Leh. The pass in between is the cold part of the day, not the destination.
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Tours that go there
Every one of these is run by our own team, with the drivers and the permits arranged.
Read next
- Leh travel guideLeh sits at about 3,500 metres and is the base for all of Ladakh. Two full days of rest on arrival are not optional if you fly in, because everything else in the region is higher. Most itineraries run seven to nine days from Leh, taking in Nubra, Pangong and the Indus valley monasteries.
- Pangong Tso travel guidePangong Tso is a 134 km saline lake at about 4,350 metres, of which roughly a third lies in India and the rest in Tibet. It is four to five hours from Leh via Chang La. Staying one night at Spangmik is what makes the trip worthwhile, because the colour changes through the day.
- Inner line permits for Ladakh, Spiti and the North EastInner line permits are required for Nubra, Pangong, Tso Moriri and other protected areas of Ladakh, for Arunachal Pradesh, and for foreign nationals on parts of the Spiti circuit. They are arranged locally or online before entering, and are checked at multiple points on the road.
- Ladakh bike trip guideLadakh bike trips run from late May to September, when Baralacha La and Tanglang La on the Manali road and Zoji La on the Srinagar road are clear. A standard circuit is eleven to fourteen days from Manali, with a backup vehicle carrying luggage, fuel and spares.
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