Khardung La Pass to Nubra Valley – Complete Travel Guide

Nubra Valley is a very popular sightseeing place in Leh. But before going to Nubra Valley, make sure you have oxygen cylinders with you. Because you might face some difficulties breathing. That time these oxygen cylinders will save you.

And these aren’t expensive at all. The cost is ₹500 ~ ₹750 rupees. From Leh to Khardung La by road will take 1 ~ 1.5 hours. Khardung La’s height altitude is 18300+ ft.

Just imagine going there without any oxygen cylinders or medicines. That’ll be a plain suicide mission. This is the world’s highest motorable pass.

From Leh to Khardung La the road is uphill, and then from Khardung La to Nubra Valley, the road is downhill. The temperature in Khardung La can go in minus as well.

In order to go to Khardung La, you will need to show the permit that you got earlier from the DC office. The permit is called PAP. Which stands for “Protected Area Permit”. After checking the permit, the guards will let you go to Khardung La.

Khardungla Pass is 34 km. While you’re on Khardungla Pass, you’ll see many viewpoints. In these viewpoints, you’ll start seeing snow. The higher you ride, the whiter the snow.

You might experience snowfall also. There’s another check post where the permit will be checked again. Also, if the situation demands, then you might need to attach chains to your car tires. Without the chains attached, the car won’t be able to move properly in the snow.

In this ride, you will see many scenes. If the road is blocked by snow, you will see men working hard to remove the snow.

If there’s heavy snowfall, then the roads will become narrow. Which will eventually slow down the travel time. The cars will move at a much slower pace.

You will see the sign “Snow Prone Areas Ahead” from time to time. Thus you can be cautious about the road ahead.

In Khardung La Pass it’s advised not to stay for a very long time. Because the more time you stay there the more difficulty you’ll face breathing.

There’s a huge sign on Khardung La Pass, you can take a picture there quickly and leave the area as soon as possible. So that you don’t face any health issues.

If you face any health issues, make sure you use the oxygen cylinders you bought earlier.

When you’re traveling from Leh, first you’ll see South Pullu. In South Pullu, there’s a check post. Then in Khardung La Pass, there’s another check post. Then when you drive down, you’ll see North Pullu. In North Pullu there’s another check post.

The permit that you have will be checked in all these check posts. So make sure you don’t lose the permit. If you lose the PAP (Protected Area Permit) then you’ll be in big trouble.

In Leh, you will see red-colored mountains, grey-colored mountains & also white mountains. Only Ladakh will give you such diversification.

That’s why I tell everyone, just visit Ladakh even once in your lifetime. It’s such a gem in our world.

On your way to Nubra Valley, you will see Diskit Monastery. It’s basically a very big statue in the Diskit village. To enter you need to buy a ticket which will cost 40 rupees per person. The statue’s name is Diskit Chamba. The height of the statue is 108 feet.

If you can, stay the night at Nubra Valley. After Diskit Monastery, you’ll see Hunder. Then you’ll see Sand Dunes. Sand Dunes is famous for camel rides.

This is the only place in the entire Ladakh where you’ll get camels having double humps on their back.

The pricing for a camel ride is pretty reasonable. With ₹350 rupees per person, you can avail this camel ride. The camel ride duration will be 20 ~ 25 minutes.

Don’t worry, you don’t have to share your camel with anyone else. 1 camel is assigned per individual. There’s also archery you can try.

I hope you liked this detailed guide on Nubra Valley. You can check my other posts if you want more detailed information like this.