Hanle is a small village in south east Ladakh, at the very edge of Changthang Plateau. When coming from Leh city, there is a direct route to Hanle, which goes via Nyoma Town. From Nyoma to Hanle, you can take an alternate route, which goes through Nidar village, and passes through the twin lake system of Kyun Tso.
This route can be done both ways, but its wiser to attempt it from Hanle, as there are less uphill sections, and sleeping at Hanle means you spend a night at 4300mts, which leads to better acclimatization. Leh city is at 3100mts, so if you directly attempt this route, you will need to start early, and by the time you reach 5100mts, you will be tired. Not a good thing
Permits and Permissions
Make sure you have permits for Nyoma, Hanle, and Tso Moriri. If possible take Chumur also. Its overkill, but the more the merrier. Permits are available from DC office Leh, and are required for most places in Ladakh.
Apart from Chumur, all others are easily available.
Vehicle
Any vehicle whether full time or part time 4x4 will be good enough. High ground clearance is mandatory. Make sure your vehicle has glow plugs, or starting at Hanle in the morning will be tough.
Heater and AC will definitely be helpful, but not mandatory.
Other than that an excellent cooling system is required. Make sure your engine oil is in top condition, and your engine has no overheating issues. Above 5000mts, the air is so thin, that even a slight compromised cooling system can result in engine damage.
While you can attempt with HT tires, AT tires are preferred as there is some risk of cuts due to sharp stones
apart from that, if you are doing Leh-Hanle-Kyun Tso-Leh, make sure you have approx 700kms of fuel range. To be on safe side, carry enough fuel for 800kms.
Normally if your vehicle gives 10kmpl in city, expect 7-8kmpl on those terrains due to low speed and 4x4 usage.
Last but not the least, night temperature can fall drastically, leading to diesel being frozen. So its a good idea to park the car(if diesel) somewhere where sun comes early. In sunlight, it takes around 15-30 minutes of sunlight to work its magic.
After your vehicle starts, let her idle for atleast 10 minutes for engine oil to get warmed up. your gears will be very hard due to gear oil thickening, so a short warm up run is a good idea.
Personal Fitness
Hanle is around 4300mts above sea level. The track goes upto 5100mts before descending again to 4100 near Nyoma. Leh is around 3100. For attempting this route. make sure you have spent atleast 2 nights at altitudes of 4000mts or higher. So if you have just arrived in Leh, do not rush here. It can kill you.
Navigation
I will be adding the complete GPX to this post. With this GPX you can navigate this track. All you need is a GPS with track loading facility. When we did this track, all I had was Longitude and Latitude coordinates for Kyun Tso lakes, so it took us more time than usual, as we ended up taking an unwanted diversion. That diversion is also marked in the GPX, as you can see from the screenshot. It takes you up a lovely table top mountain.
Track characteristics
This track is a moderate difficulty track. 4x4 usage is not required at most places, but at a couple of places, there are water crossings, which can be wet or dry depending upon your luck. Early june, there can be ice in the crossings, which makes it tricky.
Apart from this, its a pure dirt road, with some sandy sections, esp near Kyun Tso lake. The track is flanked by grass, which is the source of food for Kiangs. So do not leave the track unless you are venturing to dry non grassy terrain. The track surroundings have some bounder and climbs, which you can attempt for fun, but if you are alone, do not try as vehicle damage will mean that you are stranded till the next vehicle comes. It can come the same day, or after a weak, again, your luck
Drive slowly, and steadily, and enjoy the view. You will get some great sightings of local wild asses, the Kiang. They are shy animals, so will run away with engine sound. Shut off your engine, and the curious kiangs will come very close for great photographic opportunity
Other details
Start by 9am from Hanle. This will ensure you will reach Leh while the sun is still up.
With that out of the way, lets start with the route.
First a global screenshot of the route
You start the route at 4300mts above sea level climb steadily till 5100mts, and then come across a small unmarked mountain pass(you see prayer flags here, just like all ladakhi passes), and then come down to Nidar village, where you take a small dirt road to main Leh-Nyoma Road which is well Tarred
At Hanle, you go south towards the village of Punguk. At around a couple of kms away its the last village till you hit Nidar, near the main road. In between you won't find anyone, not even nomads(changpas).
This village has a DSPT (Direct Satellite POTS Telephone). Call cost is 1rs/minute. Hanle also has a similar DSPT.
Make sure you have a good breakfast at Hanle, as you won't get anything to eat till Nyoma.
From Hanle, it takes approx 10-15 minutes to cross Punguk. the road is marked with pebbles, and very very bumpy. ITs like driving on those small speed breakers. Bone jarring. Thankfully after crossing Punguk, it turns into a dirt track which is slightly better
A picture of the village
Remember, this is a major village. Surprised? Now you understand the loneliness up there
This is what the Track looks like. Its the easy part of the track.
At 32.8L 78.8E you will come across a fork. Its around 10kms from Punguk(approx), and from there right takes you up a table top mountain. If you started at 9am, you have enough time to explore this mountain.
This mountain is like the true changthang desert, and soon, the track vanishes into nothingness. You can chose to explore if you like, and spot kiangs.
If you continue on the main road, this track will twist and turn along a river, and the track will keep rising up.
At 32.916/78.652, you will reach a fork. The Left takes to the border village of Chumur, and right track continues towards the first lake of Kyun Tso.
You will find lots of Kiangs here
At this place the track turns sandy, and you can see grass on the sides. Its best to park and explore the area around the lake on foot.
The Actual Lake. This was June second week, and lake was frozen. Day temperature? 5-8 degree C, night temperature???
Altitude, 5100m
A wider view
Its very important that you walk slowly here, and do not attempt to leave the track. Seemingly harmless shallow sand can quickly give away, and if you get stuck here, there is no rescue. Moreover, leaving the track will damage vegetation.
This track continues north, and after around half a km, you will see the second lake to your right.
This lake shore is very marshy, and your feet will sink in. So again, do not take your vehicle into the marsh.
The mountain behind Kyun Tso is interesting in its colors. A point to note here. Sudden storms are common here, and track can get slush if it starts to snow or rain
Unfortunately the lake shore is very far away, and you have to walk a lot. Do it only if you are feeling fit. Exertion can kill you here
If you see the track, we did take the vehicle a little towards the lake, as the area was devoid of any vegetation, but soon the wheels started sinking, and we scooted out. Due to disuse, the track itself is not very clear in places, and its hit and trial. So keep your vehicle in 4x4, engaging 4x4 after getting stuck is not a good idea. For full time 4WD, best time to put your vehicle on 4WD lock mode is here
After this you follow the track northwards, and keep going.
Till now you should have come 50kms from Hanle.
Just before the pass, the road starts rising, here you need to stop and look at an amazing spectacle. The twin lakes of Kyun Tso in one frame
Few minutes later you will reach the pass.
After that its a steady plain track for some time
And then comes the worst section. No pics, sorry, was too busy staying alive.
The road is very narrow, and downhill series of hairpin turns. Another reason to do this from Hanle to Nidar, because if you come from nidar, due to steep nature and loose rocks, its easy to lose traction.
downhill, its easier, but equally dangerous.
Make sure if you see rocks on road, get down and move them away. If a road section is very rocky and bounder like, shift to low ratio and gingerly go over them.
Finally 30kms after Kyun Tso, you will reach the main road. Total distance? Around 95kms if you did the table top mountain, or 85 kms direct.
View of the Indus from main road.
to connect to main road, you will cross a small bridge, There is only one road, so you can't lose your way after you cross Kyun Tso.
On the main road, left takes you to Leh, and 2kms to the right is Nyoma town, which actually has a cell phone tower(BSNL). You can have a meal here, but do not expect anything fancy.
Related Tracks
From Kyun Tso, you can take left turn to Chumur, and from there you can head to Tso Moriri via a proper off road route. Harsh Vardhan's Ladakh log has the details, I will ask him to pen a detailed post here.
You can check out "Ladakh and Changthang : The Wilderness Chronicals" for route details about Hanle etc.,
So with this ends my first post, the Hanle-Kyun Tso-Offroad excursion.
Hopfully, this season, somebody will leave the beaten track and attempt this.
But make sure you drive a high GC 4x4.
Thanks for reading!
GPX file is attached. This is also mapped on openstreetmap.org
This covers entire route from Hanle-Leh via Kyun Tso
hanle_kyun_tso_nidar_leh.gpx