Khardung La and Diskit day over the pass
Leh-Ladakh · 13 hrs · SUV and driver included · Pickup from your stay
From ₹5500 for the whole vehicle, up to 6 people. The price is per car, not per person.
Vehicles
- SUV: The only vehicle for these passes. ₹5500 for the vehicle.
Two climates in one day, with a pass in between
Khardung La is the road everyone has seen a photograph of, and the reason to cross it is what is on the other side. You leave Leh in high desert, top out at around 18,000 ft in wind and snow, and then drop into Nubra, which has apricot orchards, a river, and sand dunes with Bactrian camels on them.
Done as a day trip it is about 260 km return and roughly 13 hours, most of that moving. The pass is the bottleneck: it takes convoys, roadworks and weather, and it has to be crossed both ways before the light goes. The people who make it look easy are the ones who left Leh at half past five.
This booking is that version. A registered local SUV, a driver who reads the pass, the inner line permit applied for before you leave, twenty minutes at the top rather than an hour of headache, and enough time in Nubra for Diskit and the dunes without the return leg turning into a night drive.
Your day, stop by stop
1. Khardung La
The pass at roughly 18,000 ft, prayer flags going in every direction and a wind that gets straight through a fleece. Twenty minutes at the top, no more, and your driver will say so.
2. The drop into Nubra
An hour and a half of descent from ice into a green valley with apricot trees in it. The change is genuinely hard to believe from inside the same car.
3. Diskit Monastery
The oldest and largest gompa in Nubra, stacked up a hillside, with a 100 ft Maitreya Buddha below it looking down the valley towards the border.
Monastery entry ticket, paid at the gate
4. The Hunder dunes
Cold desert sand between snow mountains, with the double humped Bactrian camels that ended up here off the old Central Asian trade route. Rides are run by the local co-operative and priced at the dunes.
Camel ride, priced at the dunes by the local co-operative
5. Back over the pass
Leaving Nubra by mid afternoon so Khardung La is crossed in daylight. It is the same road and it looks nothing like it did in the morning.
In your price
- Registered local SUV with driver for the full day
- Pickup and drop at your stay in Leh
- Inner line permit applied for in advance in your name
- Fuel, tolls and driver allowance
- Oxygen cylinder carried in the vehicle
- GoExplorer support number for the day
Not included
- Permit and environment fees charged at the counter
- Monastery entry and camel rides
- Meals
- Anything personal
What you pay on the day
- Inner line permit and environment fees, charged by the administration at the counter, at whatever the current rate is
- Diskit monastery entry
- Camel ride at the Hunder dunes, priced there by the local co-operative
- Lunch in Nubra
- Personal expenses
Who this suits
Anyone already acclimatised, which means at least two full days in Ladakh before this. Khardung La is higher than Pangong's pass and it is felt. Not suitable straight off the flight, or with a heart or lung condition, uncontrolled high blood pressure, or in pregnancy. Children over 8 who have acclimatised are fine. Six seats, one flat price.
What to bring
Original photo ID for every passenger, a windproof layer, gloves, sunglasses, sunblock and water. Cash for the permit counter, the monastery and the dunes.
The pass has the last word
Khardung La closes for snow, landslides and convoy movement, sometimes with an hour's notice. If it is shut we tell you as soon as we know, and you take a full refund or a free reschedule rather than a shortened day you did not agree to.
Cancellation
- More than 48 hrs before: Full refund
- 24 to 48 hrs before: 50% refund, or reschedule free once
- Within 24 hrs: No refund, permit is already filed
- No show: No refund
Safety and the operator
Licensed local ground operator, vehicles registered for the Nubra route. An oxygen cylinder travels in the car. Time at the top of Khardung La is kept short on purpose: it is the altitude at which people stop making sensible decisions. If a passenger deteriorates the driver descends, and that call is the driver's to make.
Questions
Is the price per person?
No. One flat price for the SUV for the whole day, whether there are two of you or six.
Do we need a permit?
Yes. Nubra is inside the inner line and both Diskit and Hunder sit behind a check. We file it in advance from the ID details you give at checkout. The government fees are paid at the counter on the day.
Can foreign passport holders do this?
Yes, on a protected area permit rather than the inner line permit. It takes longer to arrange and cannot be done at short notice, so tell us at checkout and we will confirm your date on WhatsApp before taking it.
Can we do Nubra and Pangong on the same booking?
No. That is a two-day drive over two passes and nobody should attempt it in a day. They are two separate day trips here and we would put a rest day between them.
Are the camel rides included?
No. The Hunder dunes rides are run by a local co-operative and priced there. We do not mark them up or take a cut, so you pay them directly.