Itinerary
Day 01 : Stok to Mankyurmo (14,000 ft, 4,240m, 5 - 6 hours)
Starts your trekking from Stok to mankyurmo.
On the way to Mankyurmo, you will pass through the village and keeping to the left visit stock nala, moving further see the barley’s field, orchard gardens, and then you reach to the gorge of the river .
The next destination is the famous and the oldest fort Staklang Khar fort , built in 13th or 14th century, located at the upper part of the gorge and at its base there is a thick grove of willow which serves as a pleasant spot for lunch.
Take a further ride to ritual cairn of rocks famously known as Ton Ton, and then drops down to the stony bed of the river past the summer camp or doksa of Chortenthang to below another doksa at Mankyurmo,.
Day 02 : Mankyurmo to Gyangpoche
From Mankyurmo, starts your trekking to Gyangpoche by crossing the stream to the doksa of Jurles. In mid summer even the driest parts of this area have tiny flowers and flowering bushes and in the meadows where water is close to the surface, bright patterns of yellow, pink and blue can be seen.
From here move towards the Matho La is extremely strenuous. . The pasturage of the Upper Matho is a huge area bisected by streams, dotted with doksas, many hidden amongst the dips and rises of the sharply uneven plain. To the south it climbs to the foot of the ice-clad bastion formed by Matho Kangri peak and its consorts.
The plain is full of life; white-tailed hares abound and whole colonies of Himalayan marmots can be seen sunning themselves outside their burrows, trilling sharply in alarm as they catch sight of a Golden eagle circling on dihedral wings or the menacing bulk of a Bearded vulture held aloft on its nine-foot spread. The lucky may catch a glimpse of a wolf or the track of a snow leopard imprinted in wet ground - evidence of the presence of this most elusive of cats. Overnight camping.
Day 03 : Gyangpoche to Base of Shang LA (14,200 ft, 4,300m, 6 hours)
Go towards in the eastwards direction to visit the edge of the pastures, where you will see the enormous amount of streams rising in the snowfields of the Stok Matho range. Moving down to the bottom of valley , after 3 or 4 hours you will find yourself in the dry terrain with very little vegetation in this maroon-hued wilderness of shale, rock and sand which further meet to the Matho Nala.
Day 04 : Shangla Base to Shang Phu (13,900 ft, 4,174 m) over Shang LA (16,320 ft, 4,945m, 7 - 8 hours)
Take a steady walk to the relatively barren country leads to Shang La which links the Matho valley with the Shang valley. Moving down you will reach the small stream and then crossing the dense scrub vegetation reach towards the right bank of the valley.
Day 05 : Near Shang Phu to Martselang (11,200 ft, 3,400 m, 6 - 7 hours)
The trail goes through the lovely small village of Shang some two hours after leaving camp. Perched high above to the left of the trail is the old gompa dominating this valley with its stone fences and complex braided irrigation system. The new monastery of Shang where most of the monks live is an hour and a half away and with its extensive grove of poplars, is an ideal lunch spot. From here the trail continues to the confluence of the Shang and the larger Martselang Nala, where there is a one-house settlement called Sumdo. This simply means 'confluence' and is therefore a very common name for villages; individual identity is established by some distinguishing prefix such as Shang-Sumdo. From Sumdo the trail follows the Martselang Nala, crossing back and forth from one bank to the other and fording it numerous times, until it opens onto the wide valley of the Indus. Vehicles await here for the one-hour drive to the Ladakh Sarai.
