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The Chadar Trek or the Zanskar Gorge is a winter trail over the frozen Zanskar River, which lies in the Indian union territory of Ladakh. It is traditionally the only means of travel in the area during the harsh winter months. The trail has become popular with international adventure tourists.
Trail
The walls are near vertical cliffs up to 600 m high and the Zanskar River (a tributary of the Indus) is only Template:Convert in places.[1][2]
The overall distance is approximately Template:Convert – an average trekker walks Template:Convert per day.[3]
The best time to do the Chadar trek is January to February,[4] when the temperature during the winters drops sometimes to -30 to -35 degrees.[5]
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). Over the next days the trek moves to higher camps until Nerak (11,150 ft). This is the frozen waterfall and the return point of the trek. There are other variations of the trek which go until Lingshed, while a bigger version goes to Padum over almost 14 days.[6]
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.Template:When 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. It used to be its prime territory for the snow leopards in the winter, but now they dwell up higher in the valley.[3][7]
Gallery
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Tilat Sumdo
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Improvised Sledge on chadar
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Indus and Zanskar confluence.
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First night camp on a sandy beach opposite Bakulo cave
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Clear day in Chadar
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Porters are collecting drift wood for fire
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Resting moments of chadar
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Near Tibb camp
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Tibb camp
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Wooden bridge at Nerak
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Nerak fall
Video clippings of Chadar trek done in 2014
References
- ↑ Ban on Ladakh's Chadar Ice Trek. Outdoor Journal(18 January 2015).
- ↑ Chadar Trek Ladakh. shikhar.com.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Chadar - The Frozen River Trek.
- ↑ AlienAdv- Ice trek on frozen Zanskar river.
- ↑ Department of Tourism, Jammu and Kashmir - Chadar Trek. Retrieved 24 April 2015.
- ↑ Living the Ice Age dream | Chadar trek blog. TheFreeBird(14 February 2018). Retrieved 26 April 2018.
- ↑ Zanskar Valley - Walking On Thin Ice.
Further reading
- Chadar, India: The end of the Ice Road – in pictures(13 April 2017).