Rumtse to Tso Moriri
✓ Verificada contra la agencia · —Epic traverse of the Changthang Plateau — Ladakh's remote eastern highlands. Crosses multiple passes above 5,000m through uninhabited terrain between Rumtse on the Leh-Manali Highway and Tso Moriri lake. Passes nomadic Changpa herders with pashmina goats and wild kiang (Tibetan wild ass). Two high-altitude salt lakes: Tso Kar and Tso Moriri. No settlements for days. Requires full camping equipment and pack horses. Best season: July to mid-September.
Clasificación de seguridad
Mid-June to late September, inside the administration's stated May-September trekking season - the 5,000 m+ passes hold snow into June. Do not go October-May: winter on the Changthang plateau brings deep snow, storms and temperatures near -30 C, and nobody is out there to help.
- ▲Relentless altitude with no low escape: several passes over 5,000 m and every camp above roughly 4,500 m from day one - AMS/HAPE can only be escaped by walking out over another pass
- ▲Uninhabited Changthang plateau between Rumtse and Korzok: no villages, no road access, no mobile coverage - evacuation takes days
- ▲Icy stream fords, summer snowstorms on the passes and extreme day-night temperature swings
- ▲Restricted border region: foreigners need a Protected Area Permit and all trekkers must have paid the environment/wildlife fees - checkpoints can and do turn people back
- ▲The route crosses the Changthang Wildlife Sanctuary; camps and water sources are shared with nomad herds - water needs treating
The UT Tourism Department recognizes this trek, but nobody maintains or patrols the trail: unlike Markha there are no villages, homestays or check posts between Rumtse and Korzok, and the district's published trek itineraries do not cover it. It is a fully self-supported high-altitude camping route - go with a guided, pack-animal-supported party, acclimatize in Leh plus a lower trek first, and carry a satellite communicator. Foreigners need a Protected Area Permit for the Tso Moriri area arranged through a registered agent in Leh; all trekkers pay the environment and wildlife fees. Wrong time to go: any month with snow on the passes - October through May, and often into early June.