Our journey to Markha valley begins the moment we reach Leh. The best way to reach Leh is to fly down to it directly from Delhi. On arrival in Leh, we check into our hotel and spend the day relaxing and getting used to the high altitude.

Spend this day exploring the vibrant capital of Ladakh, Leh. Leh is a powehouse of beauty and culture. The market and the streets hustle and bustle with both tourists and locals alike. The local cuisine is lip smacking and there are dozens of monasteries and ancient temples that can be visited. Take the day slow, especially if you have arrived to Leh by flight. Breathe in the fresh air and let your body get used to the altitude, for an experience that will change your life forever will begin tomorrow.

We start early in the morning to Spituk in our private vehicle. Spituk is 7 kms away from Leh and is the starting point of our trek. We follow the dirt road from Spituk, along the Indus River, all the way up to Zingchen. It takes about 2 to 4 hrs to reach Zingchen on foot from Spituk. There are a number of campsites at Zingchen and we will camp here for the night.

It is an easy trek today. The trail criss-crosses a stream flowing through a gorge. We take the wooden bridge to cross the stream and go to the left of the gorge. Further up, we move to the right and cross the stream. This trail heads to Rumbak from Zingchen. It takes about 3hrs to reach Rumbak. About 20-30 min before Rumbak there is a parachute tent. From there we head to our right and take the small wooden bridge across the stream which leads to the valley on the right. A 300 m climb from there, brings us to Yurutse village. We camp besides the lush green barley fields here or stay in one of the 2 home stays.

Today is a difficult day with long distances to cover via Gandala (Kandala) Pass. We start early. It’s a 1 hour gradual ascent towards Ganda La Base camp. The next stretch from Ganda La base camp to Ganda La pass is a steep climb of two and half hours. The descent from the Ganda La Pass is steep for the first 20 min. The rest of the descent is a gradual downhill walk. 3 hours of walking brings us to the village of Shingo. From Shingo, we follow the stream Shingri Nala. It’s a long downhill trek on a rocky terrain. Along the trail we see terrain with red, yellow, green and brown rocks. Skiu is situated at the confluence of Shgri Nala and Markha river. Its takes about 3 and 1/2 hr to reach Skiu. We can see a monastery in Skiu, nicely placed. We will visit the monastery and stay at skiu for the night.

Today is another long day of trekking. The trail is well laid out along the Markha River. In some places we find the direction marked by Bharal Horns. We keep going and cross the settlements of Narding, Zara and Chalak, each having parachute tents. Beyond Chalak, we see green barley fields, colorful birds and huge mounds of baral horns. Just before the Markha Valley campsite, is a river crossing. The water level starts to go up later in the afternoon when the sun hits the glacier. From the crossing it takes 30 minutes to reach the beautiful campsite of Markha. The lush green campsite in the valley is in stark contrast to the magnetic mountains.

It's a moderate day for trekking today. From the Markha village, we take the trail that climbs immediately to take us to upper Markha valley. The monastery and settlement on top is a nice spot to capture good photographs. From there, it’s a gradual climb along the side of the Markha river. 2 hours of climbing brings us to Umlung. The trail goes on a ledge over the bank of the river. In two hours, spot the summit of Kang Yissay on our right. The next two dwellings enroute are Tacha and Hankar. A couple of stream crossings bring us to Tacha monastery. There is a tea shop where we may stop by and take a break. Its takes about 2 hrs from tea shop to Hankar. After Hankar a rocky and steep ascent brings us to Thochuntse camp site. Enroute we pass through green wheat fields and finally cross a stream.

Starting the trek from Thochungtse, we climb a mountain hump straight ahead of us. At that altitude, it does take some time, but once done, enjoy up-close views of Kang Yatse. A huge massif, overwhelming us with its presence. Also, the very thought that we will be approaching the to the base of it further adds to our spirit. After an hour from Thochungtse, we reach a small lake where we rest and watch the reflection of Kang Yatse on the water surface. Its from here, the route splits and one goes to Kang Yatse base camp and the other one descends to Nimaling. We take a right and head to the base camp of Kang Yatse. It takes us about 2 hours from here to reach the base camp.

We spend the day acclimatizing at the Base Camp. IF the time permits, we will head off to advanced camp and spend the night there

Today is the day for us as we attempt it just past midnight at around 1 AM and aim to reach the top at dawn. All these days we had been walking slowly, when we could have walked faster, just for this day. We have ensured that we enjoy as much without being bothered about climbing this peak just because we wanted to climb it. Overall, it’s a challenging day right from the beginning and we try to beat it. To be able to be on top, is a feeling inexpressible. The route climbs towards your right straight up initially over a scree zone and then follows a steep climb on snow to take us to the summit. From the summit, witness all round views of peaks as far as that of East Karakoram, and the surrounding peaks of Kang Yatse. We descend down from the summit in time, and it requires some safe steps. We need to be careful while coming down. If energy allows, we can descend down to Nimaling and camp there, else we camp in Base Camp itself.

The climb to Kongmaru la is steep and difficult. Two things make it difficult. One is the steepness and other is thin air. It is a 2hr climb to Kongmaru la pass which is marked by numerous Buddhist prayer flags. After the initial 500m steep descent the trail follows the course of the stream which meanders through a narrow gorge. We will have to cross the stream at multiple places. There are ways to avoid the stream crossing if we are prepared to climb the trails high above the stream. There is steep downhill hike till Sukarmo. From Sukarmo to Sumdo it is a river bed walk. From Sumdo we get a motorable road to the highway which is about 8 km away. It takes about 2 hours to reach Leh from Sumdo.

We have kept an additional day for contengencies

Today we bid goodbye to our team and fly out of Leh