Trek From Lamayuru To Darcha In Ladakh

Discussion in 'Trekking and Mountaineering' started by yalamanchisahit, Sep 4, 2015.

  1. yalamanchisahit

    yalamanchisahit New Member

    Hi guys,

    I am planning a trek from Lamayuru to Darcha. I am thinking to carry a sleeping bag and a tent. I am not sure whether we can pitch tents. Has anyone done this trek? Any suggestions and things to carry? Are there any permissions to take to trek in this area?

    PS. I am traveling solo and will be trekking solo.


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  2. DhongiBaba

    DhongiBaba Active Member

    Yes you can pitch your tent along the way but my advise is to pitch your tent near tea shops or few houses that are on the trek instead of just doing it in the middle of no where.

    Yes I have done the Trek From Lamayuru To Darcha In Ladakh but its been a while now so any information I provide will be from 5 years ago. I believe you cannot go wrong with old information.

    This is a good 17-18 days trek or 20 may be depending upon your pace and preferences along the way. My only advise is to stay at least 3-4 days in Leh to get used to the high altitude. Trek itself is a lot higher then Leh but it still does help.

    You need plenty of dry rations and a couple of plastic sheets to keep yourself dry. You need to carry whatever you would carry on any other trek, nothing special about this one if you have been on such long treks before. There is a guide to Leh and Ladakh posted by Deb that you could go through as it has lots of information about the area and how to prepare for such treks besides other very detailed information that would come handy.

    Are there any permissions to Trek From Lamayuru To Darcha In Ladakh

    Answer : No you do not need any permissions.

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  3. Chahal

    Chahal ਜੱਟ ਕੀ ਤੇ ਘੱਟ ਕੀ Staff Member

    If you are flying to Leh then make it 5 days for acclimatization. I would recommend 5 days even if you are driving to Leh because you start breathing better to make up for the lower oxygen levels and your blood's acidity level balances out and you are able to breath more. Drink lots of water as you will urinate more often aS that leaves your blood thicker then desired.
     
  4. yalamanchisahit

    yalamanchisahit New Member

    First, thanks both of you for the information.

    Second, I have been to Annapurna base camp trek in Nepal, 6 months ago. I would rate it moderate in terms of difficulty. Though I wasn't really fit, I still could trek atleast an hour quicker than other normal Trekkers.
    Third, I am attending the basic mountaineering course at abvimas, manali. So I have to be back my sept30, course starts on oct1.

    Don't we have to pay them for pitching tent near shops? How much do they charge? I am short on budget, I would like to do it as cheap as I can.

    Regarding accumulation, I will be coming via Srinagar. I think AMS wouldn't really be a problem to me. I didn't have any signs of AMS at Annapurna base camp, at 4200m.

    I want to trek without any guide, I have seen few blogs and they were trekking with a guide. Do I need a guide? I am good at navigation and reading maps.


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  5. yalamanchisahit

    yalamanchisahit New Member

    Also, can I buy sleeping bag and tents at Srinagar?


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  6. DhongiBaba

    DhongiBaba Active Member

    I would not pay anything more then Rs100. You do not necessarily have to pitch your tent near tea tents, you could also camp at villages by asking the villagers and someone would most likely ask for money and pay them Rs100-150 max per tent. Don't offer it unless asked for :) Don't pay up whatever is asked for as there are no costs involved for those people and tea tents actually benefit from people camping around their places as they are able to sell stuff to them which would otherwise not be sold if no one stayed over night.

    Mind you there wont be any tea tents along the way if you go off season. Those shops are only seasonal.

    I was in a group of 6, three females and three males. We did not have a guide and I don't see why you would need one if you are good at maps which you say you are and you have enough trekking experience yourself. Going solo is great way to do this trek especially if you want some alone time to take plenty of pictures along the way.

    You obviously know what you are doing :) You actually know a lot more then I do. I personally wont spend a night above 5000m but may be that is just me. I am not a tough customer like you are :)
     
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  7. yalamanchisahit

    yalamanchisahit New Member

    During my trek to Annapurna base camp, I had a porter. He carried most of my luggage and I stayed in tea houses. This time I want to do it on my own and this trek will also be good exercise before the mountaineering course. Only thing I am worried about is, I have to carry my backpack for more than 2 weeks. I don't know if I can, but that's the challenge I have for this trek I guess.

    I also want to trek solo because I want to trek at my own pace. Last time I mostly rushed it, this time I want to rush where I can and slow down at places and take photo graphs and some timelapse videos.

    I planned my Ladakh trip less than 5 days ago and i planned about the trek today. I am too excited now. Just can't wait till this 10th. I hope September is not too late for the tea houses to shut down.

    Once again, thank you for all the information.


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  8. Gabydi

    Gabydi Member

    I’m really interested in this trek but was wondering if anyone knows about a good a good tour Company. I don’t want to do this solo, I would be going with my family, but I want to find an A class company that can guide us through this trek. Also I read it takes about 20 days, but was wondering if there’s a way of making it shorter, maybe like 10 days. I would really appreciate information about this guys, thanks.
     
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  9. ChaiNashta

    ChaiNashta Active Member

    If it is 20 days return trip then you could probably just do it one way and take a taxi or a shared jeep on the way back. There are stretches in between as well where you can get public transport for short distances.

    You would need a guide for the trip if you don't know the local language or at least Hindi and you have to be good with GPS and maps too, so you know where you are and where you need to go. Not a trek for the faint hearted.
     
  10. Gabydi

    Gabydi Member

    Thank you for this information, I'm interested because treking has become a hobby of mine and I really want to find a trek that represents a big challenge. I'm about to start a mountaneering course because I'm one of those crazy people that dreams with climbing the Everest in a few years. Please if you happen to know about a 5 Star company that could help me organize this trip and that is very experienced with tourists I would really appreciate it. Please PM me with whatever good information you have.

    Thanks!
     
  11. yalamanchisahit

    yalamanchisahit New Member

    Hello Gabydi,

    I am right now in Leh. You need not worry about touring companies in Leh, because there are so many. You find one or two in every street. I am assuming, you will be coming next year, it's already the end of the tourist season here and lot of people are already shutting down their stores.

    There are lot of treks around here. There are treks which you can complete in 4 days and there are which take you around 18-20 days.

    Check out the book - Trekking in Ladakh by Radek Kucharski.

    It's all the information you need with every detail. It gives you a lot of information and an overall idea of Ladakh, it's people, culture, how to get here and lot of info.

    Also remember, trekking in Ladakh is not as easy other treks. Leh is situated at an altitude of 3500m. So your trek starts at around 3500m and there are passes which go as high as 5100m. In most other treks, you reach an altitude of 3500-4000m but here you start at that altitude.

    Do read that book, it's gives a better idea than any information I have given. Author also suggests some trekking companies.

    Good luck.


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  12. Tanmaya

    Tanmaya Member

    @yalamanchisahit Do you realise one of the seven sins is "not writing an ongoing travelogue while you are in Ladakh". There is a Travelogue section where you can wash away all your sins.

    It would also inspire people like me who have always wanted to go there but never gathered the courage to do so. Another problem is that it is hard to find people who would like to go for such treks when you do make up your mind and then the plan is canceled again due to lack of company.
     
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  13. DhongiBaba

    DhongiBaba Active Member

    Would love to see a detailed travelogue and lots and lots of pictures :)

    I wish I was there too. Hope you have a good time there.
     
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  14. yalamanchisahit

    yalamanchisahit New Member


    Hi Tanmaya,

    I know I am a sinner and I hardly care about the sins I commit but I think I will wash this sin away.

    I am new to this forum, I haven't explored much. I will look into the travelogue section once I am back home. I don't have a fixed schedule, so I will probably write after maybe a month from now( I will stay for around 2.5-3 weeks here and another 1 week cause I am lazy).

    I am very bad at writing, so I don't know if I can inspire people.

    I don't know why so many people worry about solo travel. It's so nice to travel alone, you can be spontaneous, you can change your plans when ever you want, you will have a lot of flexibility. Solo travel is completely different discussion, so I will leave that topic for now.

    If you are afraid of trekking solo then you can contact some trekking company here and then you can trek with a company of around 10-15 people. Number of people depends on the season and company.

    PS: I have changed my plan quite a few times after I started at my home. Right now, I have no plans of trekking from lamayuru to darcha. There is a festival going on, I have decided to stay here till the end of Ladakh festival and then do the markha valley trek.


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  15. Lisa

    Lisa New Member

    Do you know how long this festival would last? I am at Manali and originally planned to go to Leh by road but some of the girls don't want to be on the roads for that long any more so we are heading to Rajasthan first and then end of the month we would take a flight to Leh from Delhi, I did not know there was a festival going on else we would have gone there first.
     
  16. yalamanchisahit

    yalamanchisahit New Member

    Hello Lisa, I suggest you to come to Leh first. The Ladakh festival has just started today and it goes on till 26th I think. This Ladakh festival is actually to extend the tourist season for a week and they celebrate it every year around this time. All the different cultures in the Ladakh valley come to Leh to celebrate and display their cultures.

    I think it's waste of time to come at the end of the month. After the end of festival, most of the shops and restaurants shut down and they go to someother part of India. By the time you come here, I am guessing that some of them will be shy down or going to shut down.

    If you start tomorrow, I think it takes 2 days by bus or 1 day by taxi. You still get to attend the festival and can go sightseeing after that.

    I don't know if there is anything going on in Rajasthan. I think you can visit Rajasthan after Leh. This is just my opinion.


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  17. Lisa

    Lisa New Member

    We are on our way to New Delhi where we would stay the night, another 3 hours I am told. We are not really keen on Rajasthan any more as the weather is not very nice where we are right now and Rajasthan is supposed to be worse then here from what I know. We are going to plan things out tonight and hopefully would take a flight to Leh. I am look at information about the festival and the pictures look wonderful.
     
  18. yalamanchisahit

    yalamanchisahit New Member

    Here are some pictures from the festival today. I was actually late, didn't know it started.

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    ImageUploadedByTapatalk1442741010.399214.jpg



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  19. Jessica_91

    Jessica_91 Member

    Those are such lovely pictures. Thanks for sharing.
     
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  20. Lisa

    Lisa New Member

    OMG those are wonderful pictures. I am so tempted to take the first flight out of Delhi :) Thats just amazing. Thats exactly what I came to India for.
     
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  21. Tanmaya

    Tanmaya Member

    You are not a sinner any more. You are already in heaven by the looks of it. Great pictures, thanks for sharing.
     
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  22. DhongiBaba

    DhongiBaba Active Member

    You are an excellent photographer I must say. Good job with that third last picture. Beautiful would be an understatement.

    That place really is heavenly.
     
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  23. yalamanchisahit

    yalamanchisahit New Member

    I am just an amateur photographer. The time in Leh has been great. Though the journey is long, the landscape is too good, you won't get bored.

    Now that you guys liked my pictures, here are some more from the streets of Leh.
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    Shanti stupa
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    Leh from shanti stupa
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  24. Lisa

    Lisa New Member

    Wonderful pictures. We decided to take a flight to Leh when we get back to Delhi after our Rajasthan tour. I look forward to my Leh trip once we come back. Thanks for sharing pictures. I hope it does not get too cold when I get there.