Nubra Valley

The Shyok and Nubra rivers meet in a broad valley north of the Ladakh range at around 3,000 to 3,200 metres, and where the rivers braid across the floor the wind has piled cold sand into dunes at Hunder, an improbable desert with snow peaks above it. Bactrian camels, two-humped and descended from animals used on the Central Asian caravan routes, graze the sea buckthorn scrub and are ridden by visitors. Diskit monastery, of the fourteenth century, sits on a crag above the valley with a thirty-two metre Maitreya statue below it, and villages of apricot and barley line the water.

History

The name Nubra is believed to come from the Tibetan Ldumra or Dumra, "valley of flowers", for the fertile, orchard-rich valley set in the high desert, though in Ladakhi it can also mean "western". The Nubra River was historically called the Yarma Tsangpo in Tibetan sources, and the modern name seems to come from the valley (Wikipedia, Nubra).

What you'll find

• The Hunder dunes - cold desert sand between snow peaks.
• The Bactrian camels - two-humped caravan-descended animals on the scrub.
• Diskit monastery - a fourteenth-century gompa with a huge Maitreya below.
• The green villages - apricot and barley along the braided rivers.

When to go

June to September, when Khardung La is reliably open and the valley is green; winter closes access for most visitors. Apricot harvest falls in late summer. Nights are cold year-round.

Practical notes

An Inner Line Permit is required and must be arranged in Leh. The drive crosses a pass over 5,300 metres and altitude sickness is common. Camel rides are short and heavily commercialised.

Nearby

Turtuk lies west down the Shyok; Leh is south over Khardung La.

Key facts