Trekking- Short strolls and walks in Ney valley and beyond

Your body needs some time to acclimatize in this unusual altitude. So rest for the first 1-2 days and avoid any effort.

We suggest:
Short walks which you can extend every day: Follow the creek to the next bridge and visit the hamlets in the valley, using the foot-paths or the road and get a first impression of the country and the people. Watch farmers at their daily work. They might invite you for a cup of tea and a chat, asking you about your family, the weather at home and your job. They will love to see some photographs or postcards from your country and your dear ones and they will appreciate if you reward their hospitality with some biscuits or a piece of chocolate. In the evenings the cattle (yaks, cows, cross-breeds of both, sheep and goats) are brought back to the villages, a good time to take pictures of beautiful animals and their proud owners.

Once you feel acclimatized you could walk down the valley to Basgo, 8 km away. Basgo is the old royal castle of the kings of Ladakh. Only a few years ago renovation works started for conservation of the almost dilapidated buildings, high up on the purple rocks. Several temples with delicate wall-paintings and big statues invite you to spend more time for a careful study. If the resident monk from the retreat is with you, he can give detailed explanations and only he will be able to call for the person in charge of the keys. Otherwise only one temple is always accessible. Geshe Lobsang’s family hails from Basgo, their houses, fields and orchards are next to the road and you might be encouraged to pick some sweet apricots or crunchy little apples. Now it’s up to you to wait for the local bus to take you back to the retreat or to slowly walk back, maybe taking the second road to enjoy a different view.

Nature lovers can take a packed lunch and enough water for a day and spend time for themselves walking up the valley. First you pass some hamlets, then the pastures of the village where two creeks meet. Now follow one of these creeks as far as you want. A trek of 4-5 days would bring you to the Nubra Valley. If you climb the hill between the creeks and keep right you will find a solitary sacred juniper bush decorated with prayer flags. You have reached more that 4.500m and should return now after some rest to safely reach back before dark.

Small valleys invite explorers, since there is no path one should have outdoor equipment and experience.

You can combine most visits to monasteries with walks of different length. Many places in Ladakh can nowadays be reached by jeep and in the mornings and evenings there might be local busses. Specially nice walks lead from the main road to the monasteries of Mangyu and Rizong. When you visit other monasteries by jeep, ask the driver to take a break of 1-2 hours whilst you walk ahead (don’t ask him to drive ahead and wait somewhere, in case of misunderstandings or when you feel tired there will be a problem!)

Trekking- Short strolls and walks in Ney valley and beyond