Zanskar - The Rafting Valley

Located in the Great Himalayan Divide, lies the trekking Valley of India called Zanskar. Literally meaning Land of White Copper, it has for decades exerted the allure of Shangri La. The nucleus of the region is a Y shaped glacial valley drained by three main rivers – Stod, Tsarap and Zanskar. Here, even the lowest passes remain closed for seven to eight months in a year with the mid winter temperatures dipping to a bone numbing minus 40 Deg C.

Most of the people come to Zanskar either for trekking or for river rafting. Numerous trails wind their way towards north from Padium to Central Ladakh, west to Kishtwar and South to neighbouring Lahaul. The river flows down from Zanskar Valley to Lahaul and Spiti or the either way round. If you are travelling here, then you will be disappointed looking for a comfortable place. It is always better to go through a trekking tourist agent, so that all the accommodation can be taken care of by them.

Near to the Zanskar Valley is the place called Padum. Padum,besides being close to Zanskar is a an important Trekking place. During the short summer season, you can see a number of Westners wandering in the its sandy lanes along with the locals. The locals in Zanskar are a mixture of indigenous Buddhists and Sunni Muslims. The Westners are here, but the facilities are still limited to a small tourist Office, temporary tea houses, guest houses and Kashmiri Handicraft Stalls. There is also a little problem of changing money in Padum though the State Bank Of India is about to begin this service soon. But there are ISD, STD and Post Office Services.

Finding food in Padum tends to be a problem, near the end of October ( everything in Zanskar is imported from the rest of India, as nothing can be grown here due to extremely low temperatures). The public transport buses are also available from July 1 to September 15. After this the Manali Leh highway is officially closed. During the October end, even the stocks of imported goods start depleting and the prices began to sour. In these days even eggs are a reason to celebrate.

However being in Zanskar Valley is one of the best experiences as River Rafting here is the best thing to do. For those love adventures, its one of the best destinations of India.....