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Parang La trek

Parang La trek is a strenuous high altitude trail connecting south eastern Ladakh to Spiti over Parang La (5600 m/18370 ft). This wide glaciated pass is itself in Spiti, Himachal Pradesh and the traditional trade route between Spiti, Changthang and Tibet. The trail is a true Trans Himalayan starting from Zanskar range and reaching to Great Himalayan range. Truly this is an incredible journey of a lifetime for the experienced hikers. Here is a pictorial satellite view of the Parang La trek trail, starting from Tso Moriri to Kibber and Kaza in Spiti.

The strenuous trail for experienced hikers has all the flavours of Ladakh and Spiti that you may expect. High mountain arid landscapes, rocky cliffs, stunning colouration of rock bands, wide valleys to mention with patches of green, here and there. It also gives you the opportunity to spend nights on Tso Moriri lake while hiking its entire length during the day. Indeed it is of the most famous Trans Himalayan treks in India.

After an acclimatisation Day in and around Leh, we drive to our basecamp Karzok village beside Tso Moriri Lake. Once the trek starts from Karzog village, we will walk along Tso Moriri to camp on the south western corner of the lake at Kiangdom. The place is named after the Kiang, a native wild ass of Tibetan plateau. Then we will walk along the last swampy stretch of the lake and to turn right and follow the river Pare Chu upstream, which is originating from Parang La.

While following Pare Chu we will cross the river on a couple of occasions for suitable campsites. We camp at Norbu Sumdo, Datang Yangma, Kapa Boche and at Dak Karzong before Parang La. The pass has much longer glacier and snow filed on the Tso Moriri side than the Kibber side.

After reaching the pass it is a short descent on snow and ice on the glacier followed by a boulder zone to Bongrojen. From here we enter inside a very dry and arid Spiti gorge . Hereafter we continue our descent to Thaltak meadows and to the first village named Dumla and finally to Kibber.

Itinerary for Parang La trek:

Day 1: Arrive Leh ( 3,500 m/11,500 ft) – you may take a direct flight or access by bus from Srinagar Srinagar.
Day 2: Rest and active acclimatisation in Leh. Feel free to roam around and walk around.
Day 3: Drive to Korzok village (4,550 m/14,925 ft) beside Tso Moriri lake – 210 km – 7/8 hours ; Explore the area in the afternoon. Lodge/homestay.
Day 4: Trek  to Kiangdam; ~ 20 Km flat walk along the lake may take 6 to 7 hours. Twin sharing camp.
Day 5: Trek from Kiangdam to Nurbo Sumdo. Camp.
Day 6: Trek to Datang Yangma. Camp.
Day 7: Trek  to Kapa Boche. Camp.
Day 8: Trek to Dak Karzong at Parangla base. Camp
Day 9: Trek to Parang La and descent to Thaltak meadows. Camp
Day 10: Trek to Dumla village. Camp.
Day 11: Trek to Chicham, and by car to Kaza via Kibber.
Day 12: Mandatory reserve day. (if we don’t use this during the trek  then you can explore/sightseeing around Kaza e.g. Dhankar monastery, Pin Valley/Mud village etc.)

Note:

• You need to reach Leh on Day 1 latest by early afternoon. Arrange your return tickets from from Manali on Day 13 evening or later. While returning from Kaza to Manali, you may visit Chandratal as well on the same day.
• Apart from Parang La base to the pass, the walk is pretty gradual from Karzok. We cover every day 15 to 20 Km in 6 to 8 hours of walk.
• The cost of mandatory buffer/reserve day (Day 12) is NOT included in TREK FEE. If we use this during trekking, you need to pay additional ₹ 5000. This will be collected at Kaza after the trek.

Parangla trek from Ladakh or Spiti: Which one is better and safer?

We would recommend that you start your trek from Korzok/Karzok in Ladakh. Due to the ease of arranging logistics from Kaza, most will readily suggest starting your trek from Kibber. Although we feel its safer to start from Tso Moriri lake, i.e. Karzok village, albeit it is challenging with respect to logistics arrangements. Here is why:

1. Although Leh and Kaza or Korzok and Kibber are at a similar altitude, the pass is much closer from the Spiti side. Meaning you reach the highest altitude of the trail much faster.
2. Campsites are limited towards Kibber side, once you enter steep Spiti gorge. This arid area is notorious to acclimatise and furthermore you have to gain considerable height with just one camp in between. On the contrary from Korzok we can camp on both sides of Pare Chu river. In our opinion it is easier to acclimatise from Leh side than Kaza as here the climb is very gradual mostly along wide Pare Chu than much steeper and narrow Spiti side gorges.

Season/Best time to visit Parang La:

July to September is suitable for Parang La trek. Early July will attract more snow (varies year over year) and later September will become colder.

Expect occasional rain in August.

Around Leh & journey to the basecamp Karzok village beside Tso Moriri

Our expedition starts from Leh, which is almost 11000 ft above m.s.l. After you reach Leh, by flight o by bus or by car, it’s very important that you to spend at least two nights there to acclimatise a bit before the actual journey. Feel free roam around. Leh is quite popular for its cultural treasures, monasteries, palaces and temples.

The drive from Leh to Tso Moriri is through typical Ladakh landscapes with changing tones and indeed a beautiful one. We will pass by another lake called Kyagar Tso on our way to Tso Moriri.

Parangla trek – Prerequisites:

• A trekker should have completed at least 2 high altitude treks going above ~ 4500 m/15000 ft.
• A trekker must be in excellent physical condition along with NO prior acclimatisation issues on high altitude.

Download the list of things to carry in Parang La trek or check here

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