Markha Valley Trek

Markha Valley is a trek in the union territory of Ladakh, India. It is an amazing trip to get introduced with remote Buddhist Kingdom of Ladakh. While trekking on through this trek tourists passes through beautiful Buddhist monasteries, Mountain Villages, High altitude pastures of Nimaling and High altitude peak Kangyatse. The Markha valley is part of the Hemis National Park.

Understand

• Duration: 5 to 8 days depending upon where you start and where you end your trek. The shortest way of doing this trek is to start from Chilling Village and end the trek at Shang Sumdo village.
• Season: Mid-May to mid-October

A deservedly popular trek, that follows the beautiful Markha valley. It is almost always done in the direction described, as in the reverse direction the approach to the Gongmaru La is very steep and unpleasant. This means you get an impression of there being fewer trekkers on this route than there in fact are. It is a reasonably straightforward trek, with many villages on the way, and even the odd tea "house" tent, it is possible avoid camping out except for the night before crossing the Gongmaru La, which necessitates a tent, and good sleeping bag as it gets very cold here even in summer.

Landscape

Markha Valley is between Zanskar and Ladakh ranges of the Himalayas. This valley runs parallel to the Himalayan range. Markha Valley has beautiful, wild and barren landscapes. These landscapes are linked with the Ladakh also known as “Little Tibet”. These landscapes are very dramatic and enticing.

Climate

Markha valley remains cold in the month of November to February and minimum temperature goes down to 4 °C during the month of January and February. March to Early may, sun shine remains abundant. Summer remains from May to August. From Mid of July till October is the rainy season, when this area is wet due to heavy rain fall which can continue for days.

Best time to go for this trek is from March to June and from September to December.

Get in

There are three major entry and exit points to the trek, depending on how long you want to hike:

• 1 Chiling (Sumda) – The most western village of the trail
• 2 Stok La – A mountain pass close to Leh, which ultimately leads to the trail. It seems however that many people prefer
• 3 Rumbak – A village with a trail leading to the middle part of Markha Valley.
• 4 Shang Sumdo – The most east village of the trail
• 5 Markha (Skiumarkha) – you will come by here, soon or later
• 6 Skiu-Kaya – A twin town which also has a Buddhist monastery from the 11th century

On foot

It is possible to do this trek entirely on your own without any equipment, ponies, etc., by staying in homestays on the way however it is not recommended to do it solo.

By tour

Prepare for hard haggling. A 8-day trek including guide, cook, mules, horsemen, tents, sleeping bags, and vegetarian dishes, can cost as low as ₹1,000 per day per person, up to ₹2,000. If you have time, do not go through an agency and hire your equipment from stores in Leh, and your guide, cook, mule, and horsemen from the Tibetan Refugee Camp. It will be much cheaper.

Foreigners are usually given a foreigner price and it is extremely hard to get the "Indian price" (i.e. ₹1,000 per day per head) as quoted above. But with the number of agencies in Leh offering this trek, it is worth a try.

Choose your agency carefully. Some agencies do not hesitate to leave trash behind—find an agency which will bring back the trash.

Do

The following is a route description of the short Rumbak-Hemis itinerary:

1. Cross the bridge over the Indus, follow the jeep road across the empty uninteresting flats. It gets hot here, so try to be threw before the sun gets high in the sky.
2. After about 7 km turn up the Zhimgchan valley, with scattered trees, to Zhingchan village a small settlement of a few houses, and a few campsites.
3. Keep going a few km to Rumbak village, a good place to spend the first night (6–7 hr from Spitok).
4. Yurutse village, is the first village you come to.
5. Lartsa campsite, with beautiful views, is further on, and makes a good place to set up your tent. (4–5 hr from Rumbak)
6. An hour or so from here is Kanda La (4,870 m). Looking south west you can see Shingo village (with camping area), a few km further on.
7. Spend the night in the area around the villages of Skyu Yokma, and Skyu Gongma. (6–7 hr from Lartsa)
8. It's 17 km from here to Markha village, far but not a difficult walk up the Markha valley. You will first pass Pentse campsite , then the settlements of Nakdi village, Sara village , and Chalak village, before coming to Lhatho campsite.
9. Shortly before Markha village with its plentiful campsites. (7–8 hr from Skyu)
10. Continue past Tetsa village, Umlung, Da-amo campsite, the highest permanent settlement in the Markha valley: Hangkar village(4,000 m).
11. From here the trail goes up to the Nyimaling Plains, a high and remote area, route finding becomes more difficult. The normal campsites are Tsigu campsite and Nyimaling campsite (7–8 hr from Markha), but there are lots of options on the high plains.
12. From here is the most difficult stage of the trek, take your time and be aware of the possibility of altitude sickness.
13. Follow the clear trail up the Gongmaru La (5,130 m) (2 hr form Nyimaling camp). On descending from the pass you come to Lhartsa campsite and Chuskyurmo campsite just outside Chokdo village. (6 hr from Nyimaling campsite)
14. From this point it's an easy descent past Ozang village to Hemis village, with its famous Monastery (4-5 hr), restaurant, and shops. You can camp here or take the bus back to Leh.

Sleep

The cost of homestays is ₹2,000 (2023) per night per trekker. It includes one night stay, dinner, breakfast next morning and a packed lunch for next day. You will not have to pay for your guide's accommodation, if you have one, or food as homestay for guides is free.

Considering the price of the homestay, it does make sense to bring your own tent and just rely on the food of the homestay.