Both river originates in Himalayan region...Indus from Mansarovar Lake and Zanskar river from Zanskar...meets at this place where blue color of Zanskar with white patches of snow merges into green colored Indus river...

Prayer flags in Himalayan region composed of five colors in specific order...blue, white, red, green and yellow representing five elements...blue for sky and space...white for air and wind...red for fire...green for water and yellow for earth...Just as life moves on and is replaced by new life...Tibetans renew their hopes for the world by continually mounting new flags alongside the old...This act symbolizes a welcoming of life's changes and an acknowledgment that all beings are part of a greater ongoing cycle...

The first camp site of Chadar trek...From Leh it is 3-4 hours of drive, crossing Magnetic Hill and Chilling...First day was for acclimatization in Leh for its cold weather...Next day (day 2) at Tilat Sumdo for acclimatization for Chadar...My first step on Chadar with the help of pole stick...

Without crampons it is difficult to walk on the Chadar...Anytime you might slip and fall, injuring your body...

Like minded people gathered together not only to accomplish their dream of walking upon Chadar...but to share their past experiences and forthcoming adventures...

Tea stall can be found on the bank of frozen river...

Two layers of thermocot...two layers of full sleeve tshirt...one layer of full sleeve sweater and one jacket over it...three layers of pants...one layer of sock and one layer of woollen socks over it is sufficient to sustain the extremely cold temperature...

Normal trekking shoes (with Gore-Tex for water resitance) suffice to walk on Chadar...However gum boots needed in case of snowfall or to cross water patches...

Trekking pole not only helps to climb on rocky surface on river banks but also to mark your name over snow accumulated over Chadar...

Now with crampons I can pose like Shahrukh on the frozen river...However, the risk of thin ice sheet can't be ignored...Generally 2-3 feet thick ice sheet is safe for walking upon it...The river water flows beneath the Chadar...

Shahrukh Khan pose always works ;)...Meet my new Japanese girlfriend...Kiyomi...pure beauty...

On day 3 we proceeded for Shingra Koma (second camp site)...

Chadar is unpredictable...when tempreture decreases ice expands and cracks occur on the surface and water beneath the Chadar finds way to come out...

Philip from Philippines came to rescue me...I noticed his shining polarized sunglasses...

I forgot to mention the importance of Polarized sunglasses on such trek...In case of snowfall or sunny day you need it else snow blindness can happen...

Maggi was the lunch as it can be easily prepared in 2 minutes :P...Survived on maggi for a week without brushing teeth...forget about bath...

Juniper trees grow wild in some locations and are usually considered sacred by Buddhists...And this tree is not dead...after winter season it will be green...

Sometimes it was needed to walk on river bank after removing crampons from shoes...however it was not safe too...

4-5 hours of walk to cover 13-14 km every day...in a week around 80-85 km we had to cover...This is second camp site (day 3)...Shingra Koma...The yellow patches in the bottom of picture is actually tent...looking like ant as picture has been taken from height...

These people are mad...they are coming towards me...Perhaps they do not bother for their life...Perhaps they are adventurers...

Next morning (day 4) we got the glimpse of snowfall in Shingra Koma...Morning by 6 O' clock porter used to wake us up bringing black tea...By 8:30 AM we needed to leave the camp site...

First frozen waterfall on the way...Parijat (right side) managed to reduce his weight from 115 kg to 70 kg in a year...Thank God...Chadar is not so strong to sustain such weight...

This waterfall is gaurded by a Ninja...This is the buzinezz of the Ninja to protect this holy waterfall...

One year Neyrak (final destination of trek) ran dry and a holy man went to Kailash to pray for water. He came back with a pot full of water and 2 fishes. The condition was that he does not place the pot anywhere. On the journey back, it so happened that he placed the pot on this spot and two fishes jumped off creating this massive waterfall. The rocks behind seem to have two nostrils. One which is full of water and the other dry. According to legend, this waterfalls has its source at Kailash in Tibet...

Lama means Guru or teacher of the Dharma in Tibetian Buddhism...We found one...

Day 4...I'll tell about the culture of Laddakh...Ladakhi culture is heavily influenced by Tibetan culture, in fact it is quite similar. There are more Buddhists than Muslims in certain areas and the ratio changes as we move towards Zanskar valley...

Day 4...I'll now tell about the food habit of Laddakhi...Ladakhi food has much in common with Tibetan food, the most prominent foods being thukpa (noodle soup) and tsampa, known in Ladakhi as ngampe (roasted barley flour)...

Pasang our trek guide having 20 years of experience on walking on this Chadar leading us safely to Neyrak...

Looking at this narrow pass I imagined goal post of hockey...Ladakhis are very fond of ice hockey which is generally played in the month of January on natural ice. (junglelore)

Sun was not visible on 4th day on the way from Shingra Koma to Tibb...

Post lunch Ateet washing his utensils with the freezing cold water of Zanskar river using his professional soft skill...

Where was I...Yes I was telling about Laddakh...The architecture in Ladakh draw heavy influences from Tibet and India. The monastic architecture reflects a deeply rooted Buddhist approach. The Buddhist wheel, along with two dragons, is a common feature on almost every gimp, including the likes of Hemis, Thiksey, Alchi etc...(

Lav...avid Himalayan trekker sharing his Himalayan trekking experience as well as Gas industry briefings...His mission and vision is to dig the Chadar so deep that oil comes out so that he would become Oil King...

Coming Leh 2nd time...once by road and once by flight...They brought lots of dry fruits and nuts...Trilogy (three brothers) were somewhere...One was adjusting ISO level in his camera...

In case you don't like Maggi...Alternative source of energy on the Chadar which you need to carry alongwith you...

I was talking about sports and games of Laddakh...Archery is a traditional sport and many villages still conduct archery festivals, which also include drinking, dancing and gambling as a medium of celebrating the sport. Polo is another traditional sport of Ladakh...

(Day 4)...I know...I know...You can't take off your eyes from this sight but at the same time you want to know more about Laddakh...I would tell later as we are about to reach Tibb...I am tired and want to take rest in tent...

(4th day) The coldest place in the entire trek because of chilly wind...inside tent used two sleeping bags one over other to prevent the cold...Philip has covered Mt. Kiliminjaro, Tanzania in Africa...but experienced such cold climate for the first time...Next time he is planning to trek over active volcano Mt. Batur...

The river flowing beneath the Chadar...on the way to Neyrak (5th day)...

Yes looking this shining river I am in now in mood to tell something...Tibetans from the high plateaux to the north-east settled in the Indus Valley around 500-600 BC. At that time they followed the Bon religion. In the 7th century Buddhism was brought to this region of Ladakh by the great Lama Songsten Gampo; its influence soon spread south across Zanskar towards the Kashmir valleys. Due to the isolation of Zanskar the area has remained devoutly Buddhist to this day, whereas the more accessible Kashmir was later converted to Islam....(

Snow Leopard is a very shy creature and rare species...found only in Central Asia, from Mongolia in the north to Afghanistan in the west and China in the south and east....Ladakh is rapidly and proudly establishing itself as the Snow Leopard Capital of the World...(telegraph)...If you can spot snow leopard consider yourself most lucky person on the Earth...Perhaps it is easy to spot a Unicorn...

Biggest frozen waterfall on the way to Neyrak (5th day)...It was a Eureka moment for me...I felt so tiny in front of this gigantic frozen waterfall...

This waterfall in one of the most beautiful place and every body wants have as many pictures with it...Me too...

Yes I did say...I wanted lot of pictures with this frozen waterfall...

Finally we reached to Neyrak campsite of 5th day...our destination...this place is even more colder than Tibb as it is at more height than Tibb....And snowfall started as we were reaching Neyrak...but we were at ease as we were about to stay in home stay...Neyrak village is nearly 1-1.5 hour of walk above the campsite...

Zanskar people are too fast...they walk too fast and can cover the distance from Tilat Sumdo to Zanskar (further ahead from Neyrak) in single day from the frozen river route...On summers they have to travel through road halting at Kargil on the way to Leh...They are basically farmers and grow wheat, vegetables and eat Yak and Sheep meat...They don't do fishing as it is against their religious views...To keep the room warm they have cylindrical heater fueled by wood...The chimney exhaust the smoke outside the room...

On 6th day in morning hours complete Neyrak campsite was covered with knee dip soft snow...I was feeling as if I were in some romantic movie scene...I don't know my Japanese girlfriend got burried somewhere in the snow dune :P...

 I couldn't resist myself and went out to see the snow which covered almost everything...Soft snow over shrubs looked like flower...but there were thorns under the snow flowers...

I climbed with difficulty even with crampons...to see the view from the top...

It was completely astonishing...blue water of Zanskar in midst of white snow...making no noise...flowing with silence without turbulence...It appeared only two color...dark and light with full contrast...nothing else...for a while I thought I have gone blind...but soon looking yellow color of tent I realized I am OK...

Downstream of Zanskar river...

Upstream of Zanskar river...

Almost lost in the beauty of Neyrak...disappeared from the campsite :P...Perhaps it's his Sidhant :P...

(6th day morning) Winning smile...a sense of accomplishment in everyone's face...Wanted to stay back to see the beauty of this place...but extremely cold weather and unpredictable Chadar doesn't allow to make such decisions...We geared up to get back to Leh...

While returning back from Neyrak...Snowfall decreased...Pasang our trek guide told...snowfall is not good for Chadar...as it happens when temprature increases which weakens the Chadar...

(7th day Tibb-Shingra Koma) When snow fall halted we found surprising blue sky adding to the beauty of Zanskar river and snow with multi-colored mountain...

This is when I needed my pair of polarized sunglasses to protect my precious eyes...Of course this is one of the beautiful place on the Earth...but I have to see many things in my life...

(8th day) Sun rays in morning hours fall on mountains making them golden in color...The reflection of golden colored mountain on Zanskar river makes it extremely beautiful...

(8th day) Various shades of light over multicolored mountains, white snow and blue water of Zanskar river...The sky was completely clear and giving competition to the blue color of river water...The clouds below the blue sky was confusing me for white snow over Zanskar river water...I was feeling as if I was upside down...

Saying good bye to Zanskar river...

Guru Nanak is well respected by Tibetan Buddhists who consider him a saint...The Dalai Lama, spiritual leader of Buddhists in Tibet, has confirmed this in his discussions with some Sikh leaders saying that Tibetans revere Guru Nanak as a Buddhist saint under the name of Guru Gompka Maharaj...(wiki)...Have had free food (langer) while returning to Leh in Gurdwara Pathar Sahib situated in Leh-Kargil road...

Follow the instruction written over yellow board....else beware of the dog...This dog seems lazy and you might think this dog would be peace loving animal as it is infront of religious place...But even God does eliminate the evils...Don't be evil by taking cigarette or weed...Not sure of alcohol :P...You may try :P...

Leh dogs have long hairs like fur to fight against the cold of Leh...I am afraid some day their hair would be used to weave wollen socks instead of Yak or bule sheep wool...

(9th day) One day was reserved as buffered day incase Chadar breaks...However we didn't need it...We had one day extra...Some went to see monastries...some went to see frozen Pangong lake....Few of us reached Khardung La...40 kms far from Leh...in a hope to see famous Nubra Valley from there but this season is not meant for that...snow covers the beauty of Leh which would be visible in month of July-August...Perhaps one day I would come back on Enfield to visit this place again...