Similarly priced Kailash and Changthang Hotels nearby look outwardly smarter but lack the traveller vibe. ThereвЂ™s a pleasant setting around a sheltered garden courtyard and a convivial restaurant. Hotel Ibex GUESTHOUSE $ (%245214 d Рѓ700) Room standards vary, but ThereвЂ™s a simple camping ground opposite the Tourist OХ—ce, which has an acceptable Tourist Bungalow (d Рѓ200). To avoid hiking within the stark, sun-blasted Padum Valley you could give the horses two daysвЂ™ head start, then drive to Hanumil/ Itchar, trailheads for Honupatta/Darcha.Д¤ Sleeping & Eating Most hotels close from late October to June, except when pre-booked for winter trekking groups. To Гћnd horsemen (per horse per day from Рѓ400) as guides/porters, ask at the simple camping ground opposite the Tourist OХ—ce or agencies like Zanskar Trek (%245136) along the road to the mosque. Guides, tents and provisions are essential for such multiday routes on which highlights include the isolated monasteries at Lingshet or Phuktal. ZanskarвЂ™s top activity is trekking in or out. JAMMU & K ASHMIR (INCLUDING L ADAKH) K A R G I L & Z A N S K A R More traditional Pibiting village, 2km north, has a small gompa dwarfed by a large hilltop stupa topped with a beacon lamp. The main road then straggles 700m south past a sizeable 1991 mosque to the crumbling little вЂold townвЂ™ and a hillock of stupas and water-eroded boulders. Despite an impressive mountain backdrop, central Padum is essentially a characterless crossroads within a block of which youвЂ™ll Гћnd the bus/share-taxi stand, phone oХ—ces, an internet cafe, a Tourist Office (%245017 h10am-4pm Mon-Sat) and most of PadumвЂ™s dozen hotel-guesthouses. PADUM % 01983 / POP 1500 / ELEV 3505MДЄfter the rigours and beauty of getting here, ZanskarвЂ™s dusty little capital is rather an anticlimax. Ringed by a tunnelled cloister and a whitewashed stone wall studded with stupas.

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