Day 1 Arrive Delhi:
Transfer to the hotel. Rest, or explore your own.
Meals : Breakfast
Day 2 Fly to Leh (11,500 ft):
Rest in the morning. Afternoon explore Leh and acclimatize. A trip briefing and meet with field crew. Overnight in the Hotel.
Meals : Breakfast, Dinner
Day 3 Leh:
DAY free for acclamatazation . Overnight in the Hotel
Meals : Breakfast, Dinner
Day 4 Drive Leh to Zingchen, Trek to Camp:
Hike a little more than an hour along the Zingchen gorge, a dramatic entry to Hemis National Park. Camp at wildlife study base camp, 12,300’.
Meals : Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 5 Wildlife Viewing:
A full day of tracking snow leopard and its wildlife prey. Hemis National Park is home to blue sheep, argali (a large horned sheep), numerous mountain and migratory birds, as well as an occasional Tibetan wolf. You are likely to see sign of snow leopard as winter is when they descend to lower elevations. Camp.
Meals : Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 6 Wildlife Viewing:
Spend another on the look-out for snow leopard and its prey. Camp.
Meals : Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Days 7 to 11:Rumbak-Yurutse-Gandala base
Wildlife Viewing, Visit Village and Overnight at a Himalayan Homestay: Trek to nearby sites where snow leopard have been sighted recently. Spend one afternoon or evening in a neighboring village and overnight in a family home-stay. Homestay hosts have been trained in hospitality; they are members of a community conservation group seeking to conserve the endangered snow leopard. Spend other nights at camp. Village elevation: 13,500’
Meals : Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 12: Trek to Zingchen, and Return to Leh:
After a short trek to the trailhead, drive to Leh and enjoy free time. Hotel accommodations.
Meals : Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 13: Departure (fly back Delhi)
Morning departure transfer accordingly your flight timing
Meals : Breakfast
Trip Highlights:
A Ladakhi snow leopard expert will lead the field visit, directing the viewing outings and tracking the snow leopards' movements with the help of local villagers who have vowed to help protect this magnificent cat. In support of community-based ecotourism, you’ll spend a night or two with a Ladakhi family in a traditional Ladakhi home: a Himalayan Homestay. Homestays provide clean and comfortable accommodations that reflect local lifestyle while giving visitors a taste of home life. Homestay operators are farmers and herders who are working with the Snow Leopard Conservancy to develop village-managed conservation and ecotourism programs initiated by Late Mr Rinchen Wangchuk Stakrey to help protect the snow leopard and its prey species, as well as their natural habitats. Communities committed to not harming rare wildlife in exchange for having received training to help set up homestays and seek employment as nature guides, both of which have turned their hospitality and innate knowledge nto income-generating livelihoods.
TO BE NOTE: Due to the nature of this trip, and the uncertainty of what path a snow leopard may choose on any particular day, the day to day itinerary must remain flexible, responding to information that the naturalist and the local community informants gather regarding where snow leopards have been sighted. Weather conditions may also affect the placement of camp and daily movement. We may even shift to a different location for better sightings. The following itinerary remains subject to alteration in the field as information and opportunities become available. The number of trek days will remain the same, barring weather or other unusual circumstances that require a change.
Accommodation:
Accommodation in Leh: Kahmzang Guest house with room propane heater (break and diner included)Accommodation in In Zingchen and around: two man dome shape tented with wind/snow shield cover. Dinning tent with propane heating with all meal inclusive. Accommodation in Rumbak: Family homes-stay with all meals included
Included:
* All transportation: pick and drop to the starting point and from end point of trekking
* Dome tent with extra space for luggage/kitchen tent/ dinning tent/Table chair/propane heating stove in dinning/insulated mattresses
* All meals during tented accommodation and while in home-stay during trekking and spotting trip
* Wel experienced Ladakh guide (who know the strategic points for spotting and other clues of snowleopard whereabout)
* Helper/ Assistance /Cook
* wildlife fees
* First aid Box
* Portable Oxygen Cylinder (depending on guest first acclimatisation impression and fitness level)
* camping fees
* inner line permission where ever it’s needed.
Not Included:
* Any air-fare-domesic and international
* personal gears
* extra meals & drinks and services not specified in INCLUDED
To bring along:
Warm sleeping bag able to resist Minus 20-Degree Celsius
windproof jacket with warm inner zipper
hand glove (camera friendly)
Torch light solar/battery operated
warm hat
sun glass UV/Snow
sun lotion 50-SPF
Warm thermal inners
camera thermal cover for both body and lens (in -20 some lens stop auto functioning)
Acclimatization to height: Normally an individual need 12-hrs to figure out how well he or she is coping with an altitude and in 24 hrs., either fully acclimatises or full-blown symptoms would show. Accordingly we evaluate to accent to the first camp, which is step ahead to figure out your second leg of fitness. If person feels fit and well in those three days means, we confirmed, a person is well acclimatised, hence he or she would not have high altitude complications up to 4700.mtrs camping height. (Means your fit to trek in the entire Hemis national park)