The Chadar Trek is a winter-trail on Zanskar river . The walls on both sides are near vertical cliffs up to 600 m high and the Zanskar River is only 5 m wide in places. The gorge gets very little sunlight which is one of the reason for formation of Chadar. The Chadar Trek is the frozen Zanskar River which provides an access route to the Zanskar Valley and is used as a trail by locals . Chadar trek is one of the most thrilling and adventurous trek in India. In the local language “chadar” means blanket. During the summer this river becomes a perfect location for river rafting expedition and during the winters it transforms into an ice sheet on which the famous Chadar trek is done.The best time to do the Chadar trek is January to February, when the temperature during the winters drops sometimes to -25 to -36 degrees.
| 1 | Region | Ladakh |
| 2 | Season | Jan-Feb |
| 3 | Difficulty Level | Challenging |
| 4 | Max. Altitude | 11200 Feet |
| 5 | What is included in the fee | Accommodation.Camping during the trek and guest house in- Leh on Day 1 and Day 8 Meals during the trek Trek equipment First aid support Qualified & experienced trek Leader Services of Guide,Cook and Support team Transport from leh to Road head and return |
| 6 | What is not included in the fee | Meals in Leh Any kind of personal expenses Any kind of Insurance Portage of personal luggage Anything not specifically mentioned under the head price Includes Altoa & Environmental Fee |
| 7 | Trek Pictures |                         |
GST @ 5% is applicable on the fee.
Land at Leh Airport in the morning. Leh is very cold in the months of winter. Most of the city is covered with snow. Market in Leh is seasonal & most of the shops are open only in the months of June - October when tourist flow is good. In the months of January & February when Chadar trek is done most of the shops are closed . Except the local people & few others mostly everyone migrate to other places. The daytime temperature of Leh in the month of January is -9 degee & it can go down to -15 degree or even less in the nights. So cover yourself properly & do not exert yourself too much as its your first day & it will take some time to acclimatize. Reach the hotel as per address communicated to you over email.
Drive to Chilling, the starting point of trek. The distance of chilling from Leh is 65 Kms . Initially we drive on Leh Shrinagar Highway till we reach Nimu which is the confluence of two rivers namely Indus & Zanskar. We take the road going towards left along the Zanskar river. A drive of one & half hour on this road & we are in Chilling. Drive a few kms ahead of chilling & get down. The trek begins from here. Todays destination is Tilat Sumdo which is not too far & its good for you to get used to walking on Chadar ( Frozen river) & the harsh climate. We will reach the camping site after a trek of one or one and half hour. Tonight will be the first of many nights to come when you will be camping in freezing temperature.
Waking up can be difficult in mountains specially when you are doing Chadar trek as in the morning everything is just freezing outside the camp. But there is a rule in mountains that you should never break. Start early ! .yes, come of out of your camps & have a good look at the wonder of nature that Chadar is. This river which flourishes in the months of summer & supports lives along its banks is dead as a doornail in winters. We leave the campsite by 8 in the morning. Our next camp Shingra Koma is 10 kms & trek will take 5-6 hours. The lunch is not given in packets on Chadar trek because it freezes in few minutes. It has to be cooked on the spot . So on the way we will find some nice spot & cook hot lunch to give ourselves much needed energy. Shingra Koma is a big camping ground right below a huge stone wall . A plant known as Shingra is found in abundance here . Thats why the name.
Todays trek is a long one . On the way we will see many frozen waterfalls . The pug marks are common on Chadar as the big cat roam here freely but it stay away from humans & spotting is very rare. There are overhang sections where you have to crawl over your tummy . Dont hesitate in doing so since it is the safest way to cross a section as it distributes the body weight & hence puts lesser force per square inch of chadar. There is also a unique big waterfall on the way which stays unfrozen .You can identify this waterfall from the laddakhi prayer flags on the trees in front of it. This waterfall has a legend about it. Dont forget to ask your guide about it. In the later half of todays trek the chadar passes through a narrow gorge of the width of 20-25 Feet. This sections gets almost no sunlight & hence reamins frozen with thick sheet of ice. Tibb, todays campsite comes to your right side . It a large camping site. You will find some dry vegitation around here & caves which are used by local people travelling through here.
The most spectacular day of all todays trek from Tibb to Nerak is 12 kms long. The first sign of Nerak appear when after walking for long hours on chadar you reach a point where you see juniper trees with laddakhi prayer flags. Now comes the time to witness the famous Nerak waterfall. There is an old wooden bridge after the waterfall. Dont forget to catch a sight of the waterfall from the bridge. After that we reach Nerak campsite. Nerak village is higher up & we do not go there. We camp at Nerak camping site which is also the starting point for rafts during the months of summer. Night in Nerak is coldest of all.
Learning Experience: We do not just focus on completing the trek but also help you develop basic trekking skills like:
Chadar Trek is a winter trek walking over the blanket of frozen Zanskar Lake. The 9-day trek goes through extreme physical and weather conditions with snow all around. Walking over ice can be tricky due to the uneven formation of ice. There may be places where there is no blanket formed. There you will have to forge a new trail trekking over snow embankments The temperature in night falls down to -20 to -25 degree Celsius. The conditions are harsh but not unbeatable.
If you are meeting these benchmarks, please use the preparation schedule to improve your fitness till you achieve the above benchmarks.
Here is your checklist for this trek. Make sure you pack all these items for a comfortable trekking experience.
The trek begins from Leh region in Ladakh. The best travel option around Leh is by air.
By air
Jet Airways, GoAir, and Air India provide daily flights from New Delhi to Leh. It is recommended that you make your flight bookings well in advance not only to save on the price but also for a confirmed seat.
You can also take an alternate flight route to Srinagar. Fly to Srinagar from Delhi and then drive to Leh from Srinagar. The 10-hour road journey from Srinagar to Leh can be covered by hiring a shared taxi which will cost you around INR 3000-4000. The drive route from Srinagar to Leh is scenic.
For coming back, you can either take a direct flight from Leh to New Delhi. Or take the same route via Srinagar. Flights from Srinagar to Delhi are cheaper than Leh-Delhi.
By road
You can take a route from Manali to Leh.
There is a bus from New Delhi to Leh with one side fare of INR 1365. The bus journey begins at 2:30 pm from Delhi ISBT reaching Keylong next day at 1:30 pm. After an overnight halt at Keylong, it reaches Leh at 7:00 am.
The another route to Leh can be taken through Srinagar. There are shared taxis from Srinagar to Leh available at cost of INR 3000-4000.
If you are an ardent biker, you wouldn’t mind taking a bike trip from Delhi to Leh and back.
There are so many enchanting places to visit in Leh-Ladakh. During your acclimatization period, you can roam around the town and visit the monasteries; Diskit Gompa, and Lamayuru Monastery. Drive up to the Magnetic Hill and experience the crazy magnetic phenomenon on the hill. The picturesque Nubra Valley will take your breath away. The green oasis villages, the monasteries, the ruined palaces- Turtuk and Bordang; there is a whole different culture in this place. It is 150 km away from Leh. you can take a shared taxi to this route. How can you leave Ladakh without seeing Pangong Lake, the sapphire blue lake? You can also visit Gurdwara Pathar Sahib and Leh Royal Palace.
BSNL has the best connectivity in Leh-Ladakh region followed by Airtel. However, you won’t receive any connectivity once you move further on the trek.
