Markha Valley Winter Trek

Trek Leader

Activities

Hotel

Altitude: 11500 Feet

Markha Valley Winter trek journey starts from Leh. Arrive in Leh by flight. Take it slowly once you arrive in Leh as you're at an altitude of 11,500 feet, which is a high altitude and chances more that you get hit by Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS). Ensure you rest and acclimatize well and do not strain your body during your stay in the hotel/guesthouse. After rest, you may go out to stroll the local market and try some regional cuisines.

Trek Leader

Activities

Hotel

Altitude: 11500 Feet

This day is reserved for acclimatization and rest. So go out and explore the place which is rich in culture and full of the mesmerizing beauty of Leh. Leh is the central hub of all tourists as it is the centre point of Ladakh; from here, all expeditions begin. Visit the local market or monasteries and ancient temples. Enjoy the regional cuisines and stroll over the market. It is advisable not to visit very high-altitude places like Khardung-La Pass and Pangong Lake. Overnight stay at the hotel/guesthouse.

Trek Leader

Activities

Homestay

Lunch  | Dinner 

Drive: 75 KM  |  Altitude: 11050 feet  |  Trek Distance: 4 KM  |  Trek Duration: 3-4 Hours  |  Trail Grade: Easy

Get ready as your actual trek journey commences today onwards. You will be driving till Chilling, the last point or road head to the Markha Valley winter trek. As you might not know, Chilling is an offbeat adventure travel destination, so you are going to enjoy this ride to Chilling through marvellous landscapes. During this amazing ride, you'll be driving through Gurudwara Pathar Sahib, Magnetic Hill, and don't forget to see the Sangam or confluence - of the Indus and Zanskar rivers at Nimmu. On arrival at Chilling, we will start today's trek to Skiu, which is approximately 4 kilometres from here, and it will take 3-4 hours to reach there. Start trekking as you cross the Zanskar River and enter the Hemis National Park, which is into the valley and you'll be surprised by the stunning purple, black and grey shades of the mountains. Keep following the trails to Markha Valley, which many times comes across the river. Skiu will be marked as our first campsite; it is a small village which is divided into two sections upper and lower village. The lower Skiu village has 12 houses quite close to each other and the upper section is separated by a small trudge, an old monastery and ruins of a palace. Here you'll find small white stupas and mani stone laid towards upper Skiu village. All homes offer homestay for trekkers.

Trek Leader

Activities

Tent

Breakfast  | Lunch  | Dinner 

Altitude: 11800 feet  |  Trek Distance: 8 KM  |  Trek Duration: 4-5 Hours  |  Trail Grade: Easy

Waking up at a place like this is a complete paradise, quiet and beautiful, and most of all, peaceful in the midst of nowhere surrounded by mountains, streams and humble people. After having a ravishing breakfast, we'll head towards our next destination for the day Sara. You keep trekking on trails that go across the river and sometimes the path is enclosed with the valley that goes through sparse forest cover. After a few Kilometres trek the first wooden bridge comes at Zanpa Yoakma. This bridge marks the halfway of the trek to Sara. Don't take a long halt here because another tea cafe is waiting for you at Hamourja in the next half-hour trek to rejuvenate you. Here while resting and enjoying your tea/coffee, you can look for black sheep, deer, and mountain goats on these banks. Starting walking straight for another hour, you reach Nagding village; here, you will spot meditation caves at a height on valley walls. After this, the banks of the Markha start getting wide and you will find yourself on powdered sand. From here, an hour's trekking, a big entrance of Sara village starts appearing, which is decorated with the skeletons of wild animals. Sara seems like an open area, unlike Skiu. You can explore the campsite and get familiar with nature. Overnight stays in tents at Sara.

Trek Leader

Activities

Tent

Breakfast  | Lunch  | Dinner 

Altitude: 12300 feet  |  Trek Distance: 9 KM  |  Trek Duration: 5-6 Hours  |  Trail Grade: Easy to Moderate

Start early for the trek to Markha as you depart from Sara and trek for approximately 8 kilometres distance on relatively flat ground. Enjoy your trekking with stunning mountain views, lush fields, and colourful and charming villages. While trekking to these trails you will find tea shops between different distances, which gives you perfect resting points during your trek. En route, you will find small white stupas and mani stones which are engraved with Buddhist prayers on them. Markha is considered the largest village in the valley with 20 houses, an old monastery and a ruined fort. After your arrival, explore the nearby surroundings. Spend the night in Markha, at the campsite in tents.

Trek Leader

Activities

Tent

Breakfast  | Lunch  | Dinner 

Altitude: 13220 feet  |  Trek Distance: 14 KM  |  Trek Duration: 7-8 Hours  |  Trail Grade: Moderate+

Today as we start our trek early to Lower Hunkar, the trail of Markha Valley continues passed old stone mills, a ruined fort and the auspicious monastery of Techa Gompa, which is proudly perched upon a cliff of a mountain that looms above Markha near Umlung village. The route then intersects the river several times before cutting through the last hamlets in the valley. After crossing Umlung village, we reach Lower Hunkar viewpoint. This spot offers an incredible view of the snow-covered Haukar and Kang Yatse peaks that stand tall against the blue sky. Hankar is the last and highest inhabited village in the Markha Valley. Hunkar village to get more cold, remote and beautiful in all the camps.  Take a break for lunch and soak in the Himalayan range beauty and capture the moments. After enjoying begin your trek to Markha. Arrive back at Markha by late afternoon and explore the village.

Trek Leader

Activities

Tent

Breakfast  | Lunch  | Dinner 

Buffer day only will be used in case of bad weather or other unexpected conditions on the trek, and the trek leader will take the call.

If buffer day is used, you must pay us an additional (INR) 3150 per day (INR) +5% GST. Trek Leader will collect the money if you use the buffer day. If the reserved day is not used, then you can be used it to visit Leh.

Trek Leader

Activities

Hotel

Breakfast  | Lunch 

Trek Distance: 17 KM  |  Trek Duration: 8-9 Hours  |  Trail Grade: Moderate+  |  Drive: 80 KM 

Wake up to a chilled morning in Markha. After having a ravishing breakfast, we will retrace our steps back to Skiu/Chilling village. Enjoy your trekking with stunning mountain views, snow-covered fields, and colourful and charming villages. While trekking to these trails, you will find tea shops between different distances, which gives you perfect resting points during your trek. This is our last trekking day in the frozen Markha valley. Enjoy and admire the amazing Frozen Markha Valley journey. Markha to Skiu which is 17 kilometers and it is complete descend from here, we will board our vehicles, which are already waiting for us to drive back to Leh. Sometimes the road to Skiu is blocked due to heavy snowfall, and then we will trek back to Chilling, which is again a descending trail. The great Markha Valley- Frozen Markha river trek ends in Leh. Overnight stay in the hotel/guesthouse.

Trek Leader

Activities

Altitude: 11500 Feet

Today is the last day of the Markha Valley Winter Trek, which is departure day, where the trekkers need to check out from the hotel to return to their respective places. If you have further travel plans to visit Leh Ladakh, then you can see major tourist attractions nearby or far away; otherwise, you may catch your flights.

If you’re up for a serious challenge and enjoy winter landscapes, the winter Markha Valley trek could be a great adventure! It’s demanding due to extreme cold and snow, so it’s best if you’re experienced with winter trekking and well-prepared. If you thrive in cold conditions and love unique, remote scenery, it could be a rewarding experience!

For a winter Markha Valley trek, the best time is late December to February. The trails are less crowded, and you'll experience a serene, snow-covered landscape. Be prepared for cold temperatures and challenging conditions, with daytime highs around -5°C to 5°C and nighttime lows potentially dropping below -20°C. It's a unique, adventurous winter experience!

During the Winter Markha Valley trek, temperatures can be quite extreme. Expect daytime highs around -5°C to 6°C, but nights can plunge to -15°C or even lower. The cold is intense, but the snow-covered landscape offers a beautiful and unique trekking experience. Make sure to pack plenty of warm layers for this winter adventure!

You will be accommodated in 3 Men Tents on twin sharing basis. The tents Hikers 360 uses on the trek are 3 plus in which you get enough space for your rucksack and even you get inner & outer gate space for your trekking shoes, trek poles and wet clothes.

Hikers 360 uses well planned nutritious meal menu suitable for high-altitude treks. We provide a full nutritious diet that changes every day. As you wake up in the morning, we serve Milk/Lemon Tea. After that, our Breakfast varies from Bread and Butter/Jam, Poha, Daliya, Sandwiches, Upma, Paranthas and Cornflakes and milk etc. Lunch mainly comprises of Roti, Veggies, Puri with Chole and Rice. After lunch, we serve evening snacks with Tea / Coffee / Soup. In Dinner, we serve Roti, Sabji, Rice, Dal, Salade, Pickle and Desserts. We also serve refreshments (Fruits, Juice, Chocolates, Dry Fruits and Biscuits).

Trekking with Hikers 360 Adventures means you’re trekking with an expert trek leader and experienced local guide. Our leaders are certified mountaineers, first aid responders and search & rescue train. Also, we carry safety Equipment (Ropes, Harness, Carabiners, Jumar, Descender and Ice axe etc.), Medical kit and Oxygen cylinders as required per trek to face any kind of unforeseen situations. So it is safe to trek with us.

A Hikers 360 Adventures team consisting of a qualified Trek leader, Trek Guide, Porters, Cook and support staff.

Our transportation cost is mentioned on each trek, or you can check the inclusion and exclusion tab to see if transportation is included or not. We arrange transport for you and it may be shared by you or the group and the cost is on an actual basis.

Yes, you need adventure sports insurance. As you know, adventure travel has inherent risks and dangers that travel insurance covers, including medical emergencies and evacuations. Therefore, assess how likely it is that you’ll run into any of these issues.

We expect you to carry your personal backpacks on your own, but for any reason you are not able to carry your bag, then you can opt for offloading option by informing us 7 days before the trek so that we can make suitable arrangements for you and offloading in between the trip is not an option.

The trek details page gives a list of things that are essential for this trek. Check the "Things to Carry" on the Trek Itinerary page.

Yes, you can rent trekking gear and other equipment from Hikers 360. Go to our website Rent Gear page and select the date according to your trek date. Here you can find amazing deals on trekking gear rental.

A trekking pole is helpful on the trek. It gives you stability and balance and reduces fatigue. If you want a trekking pole on rent, go to our website and select the rent gear, and get the best deals on rent gear.

You can carry medicines prescribed by your doctor, if any. Although we have our First Aid kit with us on each trek, we suggest you carry some painkillers, Volini spray, kneecap, Electrals/ORS, etc.

Generally, people prefer Diamox for easy acclimatization, but we strictly avoid this kind of acclimatization. We encourage our trekkers to a natural acclimatization process. Hence you shouldn't be on the Diamox course before the start of the trek.

Drinking Alcohol or any other intoxication during the trek is strictly prohibited. Alcohol or this type of stuff dehydrates our body and at high altitudes, dehydration becomes a big cause of Altitude Sickness.

We have expert leaders who are experienced in First Aid on all our events but still, there might be situations under which an emergency evacuation might be needed. If this kind of situation arises, we are committed to making a safe evacuation for you in an emergency. Also, we will make all necessary & adequate arrangements for your evacuation to the nearest road head or hospital. The participant himself would pay any additional expenses incurred during the process. Our company will not be liable to pay for these expenses.

The maximum group size of our treks by any region is 15 participants. We focus on individual attention and the safety of our trekkers.

Yes, we do have our minimum group size as we require just 5 persons to depart. We had never cancelled or combined with other trekking companies any of our group of 5 persons from departure dates.

The toilet tents will be set up on each campsite. Inside the toilet tent, one pit hole would be digged with the help of a shovel, a heap of mud and one shovel kept beside the pit (it is used to spread the mud after you have done your business). Use it in Indian style.

It is not mandatory, but they expect a little token of goodwill gesture and appreciation from you. As a group, you can collect money and distribute it to the local staff by yourself.