Nubra is a tri-armed valley located to the northeast of Ladakh valley. Diskit the capital of Nubra is about 150 km north from Leh town, the capital of Ladakh district, India. Local scholars say that its original name was Ldumra (the valley of flowers). The Shyok River meets the Nubra or Siachan River to form a large valley that separates the Ladakh and Karakoram Ranges. The Shyok river is a tributary of the Indus River. The average altitude of the valley is about 10,000 ft. i.e. 3048 metres above the sea level.
You will climb the world’s highest motorable road – Khardungla Pass at 5,602 m (18,80 ft) to reach Nubra.
Khardung La (Khardung Pass, la means pass in Tibetan) is a high mountain pass located in Ladakh region. The pass on the Ladakh Range lies north of Leh and is the gateway to the Shyok and Nubra valleys. The Siachen Glacier lies partway up the latter valley. Built in 1976, it was opened to motor vehicles in 1988 and has since seen many automobiles, motorbike, and mountain biking expeditions. The pass is strategically important to India as it is used to carry supplies to the Siachen Glacier. Khardung La was historically important as it lies on the major caravan route from Leh to Kashgar in Central Asia. About 10,000 horses and camels used to take the route annually, and a small population of Bactrian camels can still be seen at Hunder, in the area north of the pass. Khardung La is situated 39 km by road from Leh.
Diskit Monastery is a 350-year-old monastery situated in the Village of Diskit. Tourists must visit this monastery that is located at an elevation of 10310 ft above sea level. The village of Diskit acts as an administrative centre to the Nubra Valley and houses many government offices. The Diskit Monastery or Diskit Gompa is the prime attraction of the village. It is considered as one of the largest and oldest Buddhist monasteries in the Nubra Valley. The Diskit Monastery was founded in the 14th century by a disciple of Tsong Khapa, Changzem Tserab Zangpo. This gompa enshrines a Maitreya Buddha statue, paintings, and drums. Visitors can explore a beautiful wall painting at the centre of this monastery, which displays the Tashilhunpo Gompa of Tibet. Kangyu-lang and Tsangyu-lang are two of the shrines found inside the monastery. Moreover, numerous Tibetan and Mongolian texts have been kept in its storehouse. The Diskit Gompa is home to nearly 100 monks who have come from different parts of the globe.
Beautiful but remote, Hunder village sits like an oasis in the middle of cold desert in Nubra valley of Jammu and Kashmir. Nubra has acquired fame for its sand dunes, the cold desert that surrounds it, Bactrian camels and its breath-taking natural beauty. Native to the steppes of central Asia, the Bactrian camel has two humps, in contrast to the single-humped camels found in Rajasthan and other parts of India. The Bactrian camels were the main mode of transport when Ladakh was an important stopover on the ancient trade routes with Central Asia. Joyrides on the Bactrian camel through the sand dunes is a must do for the tourists. The region has forests of sea-buckthorn, a medicinal plant rich in biomolecules, vitamins and nutritive properties and popularly known as Leh Berry.
