Hemis National Park

Visiting

The Markha Valley is the reason most walkers come, one of the few multi-day treks in the region you can do without carrying a tent. The villages take trekkers on a rota, so each night a different house puts you up: a mattress on the floor, a room shared with other walkers and no running water. Bring your own sleeping bag.

From Chilling the trail follows the Markha river to Hankar, then climbs to Nimaling, where the only beds are tents run for the season. Kongmaru La is a steep climb above the camp. Below it, the path to Chogdo crosses the stream around fifteen times, and after rain the water runs hard, so carry two trekking poles.

A longer start runs from Zingchen through Rumbak and over the Ganda La at 4,900 metres to meet the main trail at Skiu. It adds two or three days, and it suits only those who have already had a couple of days at altitude in Leh.

In winter, Rumbak at 4,000 metres becomes the base for snow leopard tracking, with blue sheep, Tibetan wolf and ibex on the same slopes. A sighting is never certain: one local tracker spent two months here with a visiting photographer and never saw a cat. Book the longest trip you can and bring good binoculars.