Journey to Leh with a glimpse of Kashmir Valley

On your arrival at the Srinagar International Airport, you will be welcomed by our representative who will assist and escort you to your waiting vehicle. From the airport it is a 35 minutes drive through the heart of New Srinagar city. The drive takes you past the Abdullah bridge which connects the banks of the Jehlum river, snaking its way towards the North-Western frontier of Kashmir. We arrive at the hotel / houseboat and check in. Later we will go on a 02 hrs shikara ride in the lake. This boat ride glides you past some wonderful vegetable gardens and aquatic life. Dinner and Overnight in houseboat.

After breakfast in the morning, we will begin our country side day trip towards Gulmarg. The drive past colorful villages and rice fields, gives you an insight of the rich cultural past of Kashmir. We arrive at a small picturesque market town of Tangmarg and drive ahead on a scenic drive of 14 kilometers to Gulmarg. We arrive in Gulmarg early in the afternoon and begin a short tour around the meadow familiarizing ourselves with the beauty. In Gulmarg we will board the Gondola cable car system, and ascend towards the Apharwatt Mountain range. The 08 minutes of rope-way will take you past colorful shepherd hutments to the lower ridge of the Apharwatt peak. From here you can click lots of photos of the nearby mountain ranges that stand tall like sentinels guarding the rich natural beauty of Kashmir valley. We descend back to Gulmarg base after an hour or so and later do some horse-riding to the strawberry valley. In the evening we will drive back to Srinagar where we can take a walk along the banks of the Dal Lake or simply rest in the cozy rooms of our hotel. Dinner and Overnight in hotel.

Our trip today will be to a picturesque valley around 97 kilometers South of Kashmir. Known as Pahalgam (which means The Shepherd’s Village), the valley is renowned the world over for its exotic forests, pretty water streams and imposing snow peaks. In Pahalgam you can visit Betaab Valley and Chandanwari as well as take a horse riding trip to Baisaran meadows. After sightseeing around the mountain valley for most of the day, we will drive back to Srinagar and transfer to the hotel for our overnight stay.

Today we will do some half a day of local sightseeing that includes a visit to the famous Mughal gardens of Nishat and Shalimar. Built in between a period of 14 years the two gardens are a heritage left behind by the erstwhile Mughals, whose taste for laying exquisite gardens was fascinating. With a backdrop of the sprawling Zabarwan mountains, the gardens boast of green turfs, blooming flowers and cascading water fountains. We will explore the gardens and later drive back to the hotel for a dinner and Overnight stay.

After breakfast, we hop on into our vehicle, meet our driver and set off into the direction of high mountains. Past Sonamarg, we ascend the Zojila pass and crossover into the Ladakh region. From the first pass we drive to the small and scanty village of Drass and onward to Kargil. Stopping in Kargil for some tea and off we move on for another hours journey to the picturesque campsite at Shergol. On arrival we transfer to the camp after a hard day’s drive. Dinner and overnight in camp.

After breakfast, we will drive to Leh and en-route cross over the passes of Namikala and Fotula. Also we will stop over briefly at the Lamayuru monastery and later drive in the direction of Leh. On arrival we will transfer to the hotel in the city outskirts. Dinner and overnight in hotel.

After breakfast full day sightseeing to the massive Tibetan Buddhist Gompas of Shey, Thiksey and Hemis. A few kilometers up the Indus is Shey, the ancient capital, with its palaces, temples, and vibrantly colored murals, cleaned and restored in the mid 1980’s. Later we drive to visit the fortress styled monastery of Thikse. Afterwards, we drive to visit the Hemis monastery. This monastery is known to be the most famous and rich Buddhist temple in the entire region. The Murals and frescoes here date back to 17th century. After we explore the sacred monastery, we drive back to our hotel in Leh. In the evening, we will spend some time roaming around the markets. Overnight at your hotel.

After early breakfast drive for a visit of Pangong Lake via Chang La pass. The drive takes you through spectacular, amazing scenery, with breathtaking views of the snow covered Himalayas. The Lake is the highest (4267m) salt-water lake in the world, situated along the India / China border. It is about 130 Km long and 5-6 Km wide. The Chang - chenmo range surrounding it from the north provide a spectacular backdrop to the blue and green expanse of its brackish water. Later drive back to Leh. Overnight Hotel.

We will drive to Nubra valley in the morning, driving over the highest motored pass in the world. The exciting journey through serpentine roads leads us to the Khardungla Pass at an awesome height of 5550 meters. We stop at the pass to admire and click some photographs of the fantastic view, before driving down into the Nubra valley. The valley is situated on an old caravan route at the confluence of the Shyok and the Nubra rivers. We drive to our fixed camp resort and later drive to visit the charming valley, of Deskit – the tiny capital of Nubra. The capital is marked by a single file of shops that are put up on the main road. We will visit the Deskit Gompa, perched on a rocky spur above the village, with a commanding view of the entire valley. From Deskit we will drive to Hunder past an area of sand dunes and get aquinted with the famous Bactrian camels. This small population of shaggy double-humped animals, which in the old days, were used as pack animals on the Central Asian trade routes are now used as riding animals in the high deserts. In the late afternoon we will drive to the camp. Overnight in camps.

We will drive back to Leh, driving on the same route and crossing the Khardungla pass yet again. We arrive at Leh in the afternoon and settle for the day at our hotel.

After breakfast drive back to the Leh airport for your flight to any onward destination.