Day 22 - July 3 - Up the valley

This day's task was simply to climb the lower Tsarap valley. The weather was clear and the hiking generally easy, although there were many more ups and downs than were apparent from the minimal elevation gain.

Throughout the day, the rushing river was a constant presence. Swollen by melting snows, the river drains a large part of the southern Zanskar mountains. At Padum in the valley below, its muddy waters become the largest part of the Zanskar river, which further down becomes the largest part of the Indus, some of the only water that reaches the dry plains of Pakistan.