India
(July-August 2019): A meandrous 24-day trek in the Kargil
and Kishtwar districts of Ladakh
and Jammu & Kashmir
Leg
2: From Rangdum to Pishu
(Part 3/3)
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Return
to main India 2019 webpage
Views of the itinerary in Google
Earth:
[Reminder: Click here
(kmz file) and open the downloaded file in Google
Earth to access the GPS waypoints that I recorded during the trek: red pins for
starts and finishes, green for camps, brown for passes, and yellow for other
waypoints. Orange markers have been added by hand; they are not GPS waypoints.]
Left: View of the entire second leg,
with only a subset of GPS waypoints. Right: View of the third part of the
second leg, with all the waypoints.
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Brief description:
We first crossed Parpi
La (3900m), a minor pass immediately south of the Zingchan
campsite. After the descent from the pass, the trail follows the left bank of
the large Zanskar river,
passing by the village of Hnumil, then reaching the
village of Pigmo, where we set our next camp (WP
#070). Pigmo is the home village of Dorje Tundup. On the second day
we hiked to Pishu, an easy 3-hour walk. There we said
good-bye to Dorje Tundup,
who returned to Pigmo. We found a car to drive us to Padum (25km southwest of Pishu)
that we reached early enough to buy fresh supplies for the last (and most difficult)
leg of the trek. We spend one night in Padum and
drove to Agsho village (WP #074), the start of the
third leg, on the next morning.
Day 14: From the Zingchan
campsite (WP #067) to Pigmo (WP #070)
Left: View toward the north from Parpi La (the Zingchan camp is at the bottom of the valley below the
pass). Right: Prayer flags at Parpi La.
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Views of the Zanskar river
during the descent from the pass.
Hoodoo rock formations along the Zanskar river.
Reaching Pigmo, with the village of Zangla visible further way.
Houses in Pigmo.
Two women in Pigmo.
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Day 14: From Pigmo
(WP #070) to Pishu (WP #073), and by car to Padum.
More hoodoos between Pigmo and Pishu.
Houses in Pishu.
Storage of ″fuel″ for the winter: shrubs, yak dung patties,
and pieces of twisted tree trunks.
Man in traditional clothes distributing tsampa
among several plates prior to a puja (prayer ritual) in Pishu.
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