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Mystical Nubra: Valley of the Gods
Nubra Valley, situated about 5,630 m above sea level makes you feel as if you are on top of the motorable world.
One of the most alluring aspects of Ladakh is the diversity of its geographical and topographical beauty – this gets amplified in Nubra Valley. To begin with, the journey to Nubra Valley is magical in itself. Start early to get the best of the day’s weather for the first half of your journey as it takes you over the world’s highest motorable road through the Khardung La Pass. At 5630 m above sea level, you will find yourself on top of the motorable world!
Actually, the anglicised version of the name ought to be Khardung Pass as La is the Ladakhi word for a mountain pass. If you want to sound savvy while you are up there take care to either call it Khardung – La or just the Khardung Pass. A word of caution; given the nature of the road, the local authorities don’t allow two way traffic on the road always. Make sure you have planned your journey carefully otherwise you want find yourself being returned from the first road block going up to Khardung La itself.
Once you have crossed the Khardung La you will find yourself in Silk Route country. Till a few decades ago Camel trains would pass through the valley carrying good from Northern China, Outer Mongolia and thereabouts on to India. Even now, you can take a ride on a Bactrian camel. The actual valley has three highlights – Panamik which has Hot Sulphur springs. Panamik is about 140 km from Leh, and houses some tented camps and a PWD rest house that calmly pipes in the sulphur spring water for their daily hot water needs. But the rest house is clean and well kept. The other places to stay in the valley are at Hunder and Diskit. Diskit, which is a smaller but equally charismatic version of Thikse.
The view of the Nubra Valley from the Gompa is unparalleled. After all how often will you come across a place from where you can see sand dunes straddling a mountain river, flanked by snow capped mountains! Words can never do justice to the sight. One just has to visit it to appreciate the natural beauty of the place. Nubra Valley is also the fruit basket of the region and is also some times known as ‘Ldumra’ or orchard. Apart from Diskit, there are also very interesting Gompas to visit at Samstanling, and Sumur.
The area is also an excellent trekking area and Nubra can be accessed from Leh. A 12-day trek from Karu can easily cover the whole of the Nubra Valley and get you back to Phyang. There are a great of number of outfits available in Leh to organise such treks. If there is a downside to visiting this geographical wonder it is the prohibitive costs of transportation. A 2-3 day journey that covers about 300 to 350 km can easily cost you around Rs 10,000-12,000.
All visitors including Indian Nationals need to get permission the DM’s office, given the sensitivity of the area. But if you have travel partners and you happen to have time to spend in Ladakh then missing out on Nubra would be bordering on the criminal!
