Biking India's Nubra Valley

This exhilarating trip through the high altitude mountain desert of Ladakh takes you over passes, into remote valleys, alongside glacier–fed rivers and through Tibetan villages. Be among the first to bicycle a new road over Warila pass and cycle through the beautiful Sakti and Nubra valleys. This tour ends on the highest note possible, a cycle up (and of course down) one of the highest motorable roads in the world. With a flight over mountains to Leh, we will ride to monasteries, villages and go rafting to get used to the thinner air at this high altitude. Once acclimatized, we cycle through areas famous for winter snow leopard sightings and pass several remote farming villages. Colorful granite cliffs rise from the ground to form gorges, archways and spires that are framed in brilliant blue skies. Ancient monasteries here are dramatically perched on top of cliffs and in caves, reflecting the ancient and rich Tibetan Buddhist cultural background of this land. You'll look down into valleys and up to snow capped peaks on this adventure.

Tour Cost	US$2,050	Single Supplement	US$450
Bike Hire	US$150	Total Cycling Distance	518 Kilometres
Tour Grade	out of 5	Number of Days	14 days / 13 nights
Number of Cycling Days	8 full days	Tour Meets	New Delhi
Tour Ends	New Delhi	Group Size	Minimum 2. Maximum 16.
Minimum age on scheduled departures	18 years old

Day 1

Meet at a hotel near the New Delhi airport for a trip briefing and welcome dinner.

Day 2

Take an early morning flight to Leh and take it easy the rest of the day to acclimatize to the sudden change in altitude of 3,500 m/11,480 ft. Go for a slow walk around Leh to visit the palace or the market.

Day 3

We visit the Stok Palace Museum and then try out our bikes and lungs with a ride to Stakna and Thiksey monasteries.

Day 4

We transfer to Nemo and start cycling along the Zanskar River through a spectacular gorge to Chilling for a raft down the river on Grade 3 rapids. Transfer to Likir.

Day 5

Transfer to the top of Tsermachenla for a fantastic roller coaster ride back to Likir. Stop at a monastery with a huge Buddha statue before continuing the downhill blast to Nemo. Head back to Leh for dinner.

Day 6

We begin our trip to the Nubra valley with a gradual climb up through a valley to the village of Sakti. Looking ahead you can see where we are headed, Warila pass.

Day 7

It's a long and steady climb to the top of Warila pass (5,195 m/16,972 ft) where you'll be greeted by stunning views of the surrounding mountains. Down the other side we cycle through the large villages of Tangyar and Khyungru.

Day 8

We continue our downhill blitz passing traditional Ladakhi homes, before climbing gradually to the villahe of Khalsar. Here we join the Karakoram highway into the wide and fertile Nubra valley.

Day 9

The landscape changes to sand dunes as we cycle towards Hundar and then on to the Muslim village of Turtuk, which belonged to Pakistan until the 1971 Indo-Pakistani War.

Day 10

A rest day as we transfer to Khalsar and then set up our camp in pastures close to the North Pulu check post.

Day 11

Many switch backs will take us up to the top of Khardungla pass (5,359 m/17,582 ft) and the highest point of the trip. After soaking in the amazing views of the valleys and snow-capped peaks it's an exhilarating downhill for 39 km to Leh.

Day 12

Today we head to the Leh airport for our flight to New Delhi and transfer to our city center hotel.

Day 13

Our local guide will take us on a tour of New Delhi, visiting the top sites of the Red Fort, Chandni Chowk and Qutab Minar. Meet up for a farewell dinner.

Day 14

Onward travel.

• The emotional excitement of crossing Khardongla pass is a high point of the trip [pun intended].

  Doug Johnson - September 2010