The Chadar Trek or the Zanskar Gorge trek is a winter trail over the frozen Zanskar River, which lies in the Indian union territory of

Ladakh Ladakh () is a region administered by India as a union territory and constitutes an eastern portion of the larger Kashmir region that has been the subject of a Kashmir#Kashmir dispute, dispute between India and Pakistan since 1947 and India an ...

. It is traditionally the only means of travel in the area during the harsh winter months. The trail has become popular with foreign adventure tourists.

Trail

The walls are near vertical cliffs up to 600 m high and the Zanskar River (a tributary of the

Indus The Indus ( ) is a transboundary river of Asia and a trans- Himalayan river of South and Central Asia. The river rises in mountain springs northeast of Mount Kailash in the Western Tibet region of China, flows northwest through the dis ...

) flows in a narrow gorge that is only wide in places. Blue sky in Chadar

The overall distance is approximately – an average trekker walks per day. The best time to do the Chadar trek is January to February, when the temperature during the winters drops sometimes to -30 to -35 degrees. Chadar trek starts from Chilling however with time the organisers tend to drive ahead to about 1 km away from the first camp at Tilad Sumdo (10,390 ft) or motorable Shingra Koma. Over the next days the trek moves to higher camps via Tsomo Paldar and Tibb cave to Nerak (11,150 ft). Nerak is the frozen waterfall and the return point of the trek, after this trekkers traverse back to the Shingra Koma starting point. There are other variations of the trek which go until Lingshed, while a bigger version goes to

Padum Padum (also known as Padam) is the main town and the administrative centre of the Zanskar tehsil in Kargil district, Ladakh, India. Named after the Buddhist guru Padmasambhava, it was historically one of the two main capitals of the Zanskar Kin ...

over almost 14 days.

Modern road

A road ( Nimmu–Padam–Darcha road/ NPD Road, Nimmu is 35 KM from Leh on NH 1) is under construction by Border Roads Organization (BRO), under Ministry of Defense, to maintain year round connectivity between Leh and Zanskar (HQ- Padum) and is expected to complete in couple of years. The locals have been demanding this road, especially to answer medical emergencies during winter. The road construction has disturbed the local wildlife, primarily the

snow leopard The snow leopard (''Panthera uncia'') is a species of large cat in the genus ''Panthera'' of the family Felidae. The species is native to the mountain ranges of Central and South Asia. It is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List because ...

. It used to be its prime territory for the snow leopards in the winter, but now they dwell up higher in the valley.

Gallery

File:Tilat Sumdo.jpg, Tilat Sumdo File:Improvised Sledge on chadar.jpg, Improvised Sledge on chadar Indus Zanskar confluence.jpg, Indus and Zanskar confluence. File:First night camp on a sandy beach opposite Bakulo cave.jpg, First night camp on a sandy beach opposite Bakulo cave File:Beautiful clear day in Chadar.jpg, Clear day in Chadar File:Porters are collecting drift wood for fire on chadar.jpg, Porters are collecting drift wood for fire File:Resting moments of chadar.jpg, Resting moments of chadar File:Chadar Trek near Tibb camp.jpg, Near Tibb camp File:Tibb camp in chadar trek.jpg, Tibb camp File:Wooden Bridge at Nerak.jpg, Wooden bridge at Nerak File:Nerak fall.jpg, Nerak fall

Trail

Modern road

Gallery

References

Further reading