Trekking in Markha Valley

The Markha Valley is Ladakh's classic trek and one of the few genuine teahouse — here, homestay — routes in India. Over nine days you walk through high-altitude desert and Buddhist villages of a dozen houses, sleeping in Ladakhi homes and parachute-tent kitchens, sharing the trail with sheep, yaks and goats, and finishing over the Kongmaru La at around 5,200 metres with Kang Yatse filling the skyline.

The appeal is the mix: the walking is serious — multiple river crossings, some waist-deep and cold, and long days over rocky ground at altitude — but the nights in village homes give it a warmth that tented expeditions lack. Prayer flags, mani walls and the enormous silence of the mountains are the backdrop throughout.

Ladakh's summer is dry when the rest of India is drowning in monsoon, which is why the timing works, roughly June to September. Acclimatise in Leh at 3,500 metres for several days first — it's the most commonly ignored requirement here, and the most important.

Acclimatise in Leh at 3,500 m for several days first — this is the most commonly ignored requirement here.