A turquoise lake and a curving desert road sit framed by rugged bare mountains on the Changthang plateau.

Luxury Accommodation6 NightsLuxuryAdventure

Ladakh Changthang & the Nomads — Luxury

Route

Leh → Tso Moriri

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Chapter Two — Where You'll Stay

2 Real Stays, In Order

Handpicked along your own route — not a hotel chain repeated city to city.

First, 4 nights in Leh

The Grand Dragon Ladakh

Leh · Hotel · Luxury★★★★★

Ladakh's only certified five-star, on the edge of Leh — oxygen-boosted rooms, central heating and Stok range views. The luxury Leh stay.

4 nightsStop 1 of 2

Rows of stone cottages and canvas tents at Tso Moriri Camp and Resort on the Changthang plateau near Korzok village

Finally, 2 nights in Tso Moriri

Tso Moriri Camp & Resort

Tso Moriri · Resort · Luxury★★★

The most comfortable stay on Tso Moriri — tents and rooms with hot showers and electric blankets at Korzok, at 4,500 metres.

2 nightsStop 2 of 2

Chapter Three — Activities & Sightseeing

The Real Stops Along the Way

5 of your 7days — the full day-by-day plan follows below.

The white dome of Shanti Stupa on its hilltop above Leh, the old town and bare ridges falling away below

Day 2 · Leh

Leh — Old Town, Palace and Shanti Stupa

A gentle first full day, still close to the hotel. The morning is Leh's old town: the bazaar, the mosque, and the nine-storey palace above it. The climb through the palace floors is slow but short. In the afternoon, drive up to Shanti Stupa for the view over the valley. Sankar Monastery, a working gompa a short way from the centre, fills any spare time. An early night before tomorrow's monastery run.

The Thiksey monastery complex tiered up its hill above the Indus valley, Ladakh

Day 3 · Leh

The Indus Valley Monasteries — Thiksey and Hemis

A full day among the great monasteries south-east of Leh. Start early at Thiksey, a twelve-storey monastery on a hill, for the dawn prayers if you are up to it. Then Hemis, the largest and richest in Ladakh, hidden in a side gorge. Shey, the old royal palace with its giant seated Buddha, and Stok are on the way back. It is a lot of driving, but the roads are good and the valley is beautiful. Back in Leh by evening.

A lone horse grazes a startling green sweep of high-plateau pasture ringed by the bare hills of Changthang.

Day 4 · Leh → Tso Moriri

Leh to Tso Moriri — Down the Indus, past the Hot Springs

A long, remote drive south-east into the Changthang plateau, about two hundred and twenty kilometres and seven hours. The road follows the Indus upstream through Upshi and Chumathang, where hot springs steam by the river. Past Mahe the land opens into wide, empty, high pasture, and the first kiang, the wild ass of the plateau, appear. The last stretch runs beside a smaller lake, Kyagar Tso, before Tso Moriri itself comes into view. You reach the camp at Korzok in the late afternoon.

A vast still blue lake laps a barren shoreline below sunlit treeless mountains at high altitude.

Day 5 · Tso Moriri

A Day at Tso Moriri — Korzok, the Shore & the Nomads

A slow day by the lake, which is why the drive was worth it. The morning can be an early birdwatching walk along the marshy north shore, where bar-headed geese and the black-necked crane nest in summer. Korzok village has a small monastery, one of the highest in the world, worth half an hour. In the afternoon, a visit to a Changpa nomad camp among the pashmina goats and black tents. The altitude here is 4,500 metres, so the pace stays gentle. A second night on the shore.

Low sun blazes over a snow-covered high ridge, the kind of 5,000-metre pass the road home from Tso Moriri climbs.

Day 6 · Tso Moriri → Leh

Tso Moriri to Leh — Tso Kar & the Tanglang La

The drive back to Leh by the western road, over the Rupshu plateau. First stop is Tso Kar, the white salt lake, where kiang graze the shore and the old salt-scraping village of Thukje sits below a small monastery. The road then joins the Leh-Manali highway and climbs the Tanglang La, one of the highest passes in the world at about 5,300 metres. From the top it is a long descent down the Indus valley, past Upshi, into Leh. The full day is seven to eight hours with stops.

Chapter Four — Day by Day

7 Days, In Full

Every day, start to finish — including the transfers the sightseeing chapter above skipped.

The flat rooftops of Leh town stacked up the hillside, the bare Ladakh range rising behind them under a thin high-altitude sky.

Leh

Arrive in Leh — Rest and Acclimatise

You fly into Leh in the early morning, over the main Himalayan range. The airport sits at 3,500 metres, so the first day is a rest day, and this is not optional. Your guide checks you in and asks you to do very little. Drink water, eat lightly, sleep if you can. A short, slow walk to Leh market in the afternoon is as much as you should do. Giving the body a full day here now prevents altitude sickness later.

Leh

Leh — Old Town, Palace and Shanti Stupa

Leh

The Indus Valley Monasteries — Thiksey and Hemis

Leh → Tso Moriri

Leh to Tso Moriri — Down the Indus, past the Hot Springs

Tso Moriri

A Day at Tso Moriri — Korzok, the Shore & the Nomads

Tso Moriri → Leh

Tso Moriri to Leh — Tso Kar & the Tanglang La

An empty ribbon of road running out of Leh along the Indus valley floor, the bare mountain range framing a last look at Ladakh.

Leh

Depart Leh

Leh's flights leave early, so this is usually a dawn transfer to the airport. The take-off, back over the Himalayan range, is as good as the flight in. If your flight is later, there is time for a last walk in the market or a visit to the Hall of Fame museum near the airport. Your guide sees you off. Most onward flights connect through Delhi.

Chapter Five — Terms & Conditions

Straightforward, In Writing

Cancellation windows, refund timing, and rescheduling terms for this journey follow our one sitewide policy — nothing package-specific to dig through.

Read the Return & Refund Policy

Chapter Six — Similar Journeys