| Day 1: | Arrive in Delhi and transfer to hotel Imperial or similar. (Rooms will be available from 12 noon). Half day sightseeing tour of New Delhi in afternoon.
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| Day 2: | Morning train to Chandigarh (4 hours) and then drive to the town of Mandi in the Himalayas (5 hours). Dinner and overnight in local hotel. |
| Day 3: | Drive to Manali (4 hours). Overnight in hotel. Manali is a beautiful hill resort in the Himalayas situated above 6,500 ft.
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| Day 4: | Manali to Jispa (7 hour drive) at an altitude of about 10,300 ft.
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| Day 5: | Day spent in Jispa acclimatizing, relaxing and doing some photography. A short walk up to the river may be possible.
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| Day 6: | Drive to Sarchu (about 5 hours) climbing to an altitude above 16,000 ft., then descend to about 14,000 and camp at Sarchu. Overnight in tents.
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| Day 7: | Drive about 5 hours from Sarchu to Debring crossing two passes over 16,000 feet. Ride from Debring towards the Rupshu Valley and the village of Pongunagu and on to Tsokar Lake where camp is set up (about 16 kms). After lunch, ride around the lake where you may see the Tibetan Wild Ass. Those who do not wish to ride can visit the nearby camps of shepherds raising the Pashmina goat, famous for having one of the softest wools in the world.
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| Day 8: | Todays ride, a gradual ascent from Tsokar to Yukti, is short (14 kms) enabling riders to spend more time exploring the lake area. Overnight in camp at the base of Polokongka Pass. |
| Day 9: | Continue the ascent of Polokongka Pass, crossing the pass at about 15,100 ft. Ride on toward a beautiful camping site on the Puga plains at Ankung. |
| Day 10: | After breakfast ride across the Puga plains, passing through sulphur springs. You may meet herds of Yak and Pashmina goats. Later in the day ride through Sumdo, a village with a small monastery and very friendly people. Ride on to the small settlement of Rubel Sumdo, inhabited by shepherds and horsemen, where camp is setup for the night. (About 18 kms ride.) |
| Day 11: | Visit with the local people and have a closer look at their horses and goats after breakfast. Ride toward Sumdo Pass (16,000 ft), reaching Gyamingo by days end. After crossing the pass descend into a cup shaped valley with beautiful Khyaghar Lake in the center. Lunch at lake side. Cross a small range of mountains into another valley with a glacial stream flowing through it. Your guides call the valley "Marmot Valley", as it is full of Himalayan Marmots darting about. Overnight in camp. (18 kms)
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| Day 12: | Ride to Tsomo-Ri-Ri Lake (about 14,700 ft.), which is a breeding ground for a variety of birds - among them are the Bar-headed Goose, the Great Crested Grebe, Brahmini Duck and Brown-headed Gull. Ask your guide about the legend of how the lake got its name. Once reaching the lake there is ample opportunity for canters and gallops across the vast open lake shore. (About 3 hour ride) Ride in and around Kurzok village, Tsomo-Ri-Ri Lake and visit Kurzok Monastery. In the whole of Rupshu there is only one semi-permanent settlement, Kurzok, at the northern end of Tsomo-Ri-Ri Lake, where there is a small gompa (monastery). At over 14,850 ft. this may be one of the highest places in the world where crops are regularly grown - the ubiquitous naked barley - though there is no guarantee of their ripening every year. There are said to be ruins of ancient human settlements, complete with irrigation canals, at levels even higher that Kurzok. Camp overnight near Kurzok village.
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| Day 13: | Early morning it's farewell to your ponies and drive to Leh (7-8 hours), visiting Shey monastery enroute. Most of the picturesque drive is along the Indus River in a beautiful, narrow valley with spectacular rock formations. All along the route are small villages with willow and poplar trees and crops growing in the fields. Herds of sheep, goats, cows and yak may also be seen. Dinner and overnight at a hotel in Leh.
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| Day 14: | Full day of sightseeing Leh and Spituk Monastery. Leh is the capital of the mountain kingdon of Ladakh. Situated at 11,500 ft., the town lies north of the Indus River in a fertile valley. During the peak of the trading period in 1920's and 1930's, caravans reached Leh across the Karkoram range with loads of merchandise like raw silk, carpets and semi-precious stones. Even today people in Leh remember the arrival of caravans of horses and camels. The shaggy double-humped Bactrian camel is still found in the Nubra Valley, North of Leh. In the evening both sides of the street are lined with vegetable sellers from nearby villages. Spituk Monastery is the first of the Ge-lugs-pa foundations in Ladakh, dating from the early 15th century. Perched on a hillock, it is the seat of Kushok Bakula, the most important spiritual line in the Ladakh hierarchy.
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| Day 15: | Early breakfast and transfer to airport for flight to Delhi. Overnight at hotel in Delhi.
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| Day 16: | Transfer to airport. |
| THIS ITINERARY IS FLEXIBLE. CHANGES MAY OCCUR DUE TO WEATHER OR OTHER UNFORESEEN CIRCUMSTANCES. |
