Darcha to Lamayuru Trek - Day 7 to Day 8

By: satnam on 9:50 AM

DAY 7: TESTA VILLAGE (4060m) TO PHUGTAL GOMPA (3850m) - 7 Hrs

The day started with a wonderful Zanskari cat photo.

Smelly, smelly cat...

The day started at around 8 a.m. The trail ascended steadily, getting close to the river again. We could feel the fury of Zanskar clearly.

The sun was very bright which made walking harder. But, we put on our hats, and the initial walk was breezy. Soon, the trail ascended to quite a height and we could see another trail on the other side of the river. Someone was walking on the other trail, making for a beautiful view.

Drastic contrast in landscape

Noticed something moving very far away

Can you spot a dark spot?

20x zoom baby !

One slip of feet and we are gone!

The trail gave way at a few places, which made the crossing risky and fun. At around 11:30 a.m., after crossing a wooden bridge over the river, we reached Purne Village. Here, we took a mini lunch break.

 

Left Purne behind

The way to Phugtal Gompa is to the further right of Purne and a couple of hours away.

The sun did not help much that day. We continued walking along the trail which, at one point, curved beautifully around the river. Yes, there were roses, lots of them.

Wild Zanskari Rose

They are making road here

Sweaty selfie

And there were words of wisdom along the way, to guide us on our way for that day and for life.

Amen

Finally we reached Phugtal Gompa at around lunch time and had Maggi for lunch as usual. There is a guesthouse and a camping ground at some distance from the Gompa. A room was for Rs. 700 and camping for Rs 150 per night.We chose the latter.

The monastery is build on the straight face of a mountain

It is evident why the monastery is so famous and many people come from far away to see it.

Majestic !

Whenever you look down, you really see all the way down!

After lunch, we went up to the monastery. The hike to the monastery is a fairly strenuous uphill climb, but totally worth it. The Gompa from inside is majestic.
The evening was spent pitching the tent in hard ground and discussing life over cups of Old Monk.

Some music please..

The lhama cook made us an amazing dinner of omelette and dal roti. We struck a conversation with an American couple and a Colombian professor. A French guy, who walked in at 9 p.m. in the dark, also joined us.

DAY 8: PHUGTAL GOMPA TO PADUM (3600m) - 7 Hrs

A day of magnificent views and the most beautiful day in the Darcha to Padum trek! It was also supposedly the last day of trekking, as we had not decided whether to go till Lamayuru or not.

After breakfast and a long conversation on the absurdity of life with the American couple and the Colombian professor, we started on our way to Padum at around 9 a.m.

Hoonar was way ahead of me

The trail initially kissed the riverbed and then rose straight to a few hundred metres above the river.

Spot Hoonar

The trail spirals around the huge mountains on the right.

Spot Hoonar !

See the trail on the bottom left? We had come by that one the previous day.

At around noon we stopped, and I had a mini lunch of two plates of Maggi at a village called Cha.

Shy and chubby

Pink trees, a pond and greenery, a village across the river

Hoonar defying death itself over the high cliff trails!

And at last we reached a village called Enmu, where we saw the road and a vehicle (after so many days)!
This was the end of the first part.

Taxi which took us to Padum

Next Post -> http://travelonyoucrazydiamond.blogspot.in/2014/10/darcha-to-lamayuru-trek-day-9-to-day-10.html

Previous Post -> http://travelonyoucrazydiamond.blogspot.in/2014/10/darcha-to-lamayuru-trek-day-5-to-day-6.html 

Darcha Lamayuru Map