Comments on: Ladakh Trekking: A Beginner’s Guide

By: Alban Lepoutre

Alban Lepoutre — Wed, 13 Aug 2025 13:03:52 +0000

We are a family with 3 children who spent over two weeks in Ladakh in July-August. We started with one week travelling around Ladakh to visiting main sights, the second week we have been trekking from Rumtse to Tsomoriri. We booked everything with Stanzin who runs a travel agency and the guesthouse Ecological footprint and that was the best choice we made. Stanzin is such a nice and helpful person, he always did his best to organize our trip, he took care of us as we were part of his own family. Regarding the trek, Stanzin has a great and professional team which made the trek much easier (two of us needed oxygen the first 2 days). The equipment was perfect and food incredible considering basis gear for cooking. Stanzin’s guesthouse, a bit outside of Leh city, is very confortable and is the place to meet other foreigners who can share Ladakh experiences.I would definitely recommend Ecological footprint agency to organize your next trip to Ladakh.

By: Chia Hui Yong (Mr.)

Chia Hui Yong (Mr.) — Thu, 03 Jul 2025 04:00:45 +0000

Jullay fellow travelers! Thank you for the very comprehensive guide.

My friends and I from Singapore just completed an amazing one-week visit to Ladakh in late June 2025 with Ecological Footprint Travels.

We decided on Ecological Footprint:
– Owner Mr. Stanzin was most responsive to our requests for info and details. Very positive vibes right from the start of our communications.
– Agreed on a shorter Markha Valley Trek to accommodate our limited time available, with a mix of homestays and camping.
– Accommodated our slightly larger than usual luggage
– Able to also cover tours around Leh & Ladakh.
– All at a reasonable price.

Our experience during the trip:
– We were very lucky that Stanzin went with us on the day tour to see Hemis and Thikse Monasteries. His extensive knowledge of the local culture and history was much appreciated.
– Stanzin also guided us on the Markha Valley Trek. He is experienced and always attentive to our needs and pace, helping us to overcome some challenges including broken trekking boots, heavy rains and winds, crossing fast flowing rivers on horseback etc. Top notch service!
– Being a Ladhaki himself, Stanzin knew many of the locals, homestay owners, trekking guides, horsemen that we met along the way. This enabled us to enjoy the trek more and gained interesting local insights. In the evenings, we would hang out with the locals, chatting and trading tales over Chang (local Barley wine) and whisky that we brought from Singapore!

I wholeheartedly recommend Stanzin and his Ecological Footprint Travels to all travelers who would like to experience the wonders of Ladakh. Stanzin is more than just a good planner and guide, you will find him a good friend too.

So if you do visit Ladakh and get to meet Stanzin in person, please send him my warmest regards and best wishes! Cheers!

Chia Hui Yong (Mr.), Singapore
2 July 2025

By: Jarrod Ingles

Jarrod Ingles — Mon, 11 Sep 2023 12:27:58 +0000

Like the couple in this original post, my friend and I worked with Stanzin’s Ecological Footprint. Stanzin’s Ecological Footprint should be the go-to tour operator for anyone planning a trek or stay in Ladakh. My friend and I completed two treks with Stanzin — the Markha Valley Trek and Tso Kar to Tso Moriri — and both experiences were exceptional. Stanzin worked diligently to customize trips to our dates and our trekking abilities, and he put together two extraordinary adventures. Stanzin is able to put together such great treks in part because he is a local who is very well known not just to the people of Leh but to the people who live in villages along the treks. Everywhere we trekked with Stanzin people came out of their homes or tents to greet him. In addition to organizing great treks, we enjoyed the five nights we spent at Stanzin’s Ladakh Eco House where we received delicious meals, comfortable rooms, and exceptional advice about how to explore Ladakh. In short, the sixteen days we spent with Ecological Footprint either trekking or relaxing in Leh were fantastic, and I highly recommend this trekking/touring company to anyone looking to explore Ladakh.

By: Diana Kenealy

Diana Kenealy — Sat, 26 Aug 2023 19:54:21 +0000

We organized our recent trek through markha valley with Stanzin/Ecological Footprint and had the best time with our guide Milan. It was the perfect week, and we can’t wait to return!

By: Daryl

Daryl — Wed, 09 Aug 2023 08:24:30 +0000

Thanks for such a comprehensive post on the Markha trek. I understand that you decided to engage a guide due to concerns regarding route finding. I’m planning to do the trek sometime in mid-September independently and my main concern is navigation from Kongmaru La pass down to Chokdo. I’ve read reports of trekkers getting lost finding their way down the pass and would like to seek your advice on this. I’ve done EBC and several mountain hikes in Europe but those were on marked trails. What was your experience on route finding from Kongmaru La down to Chokdo? Was the trail easy to follow? On hindsight, would you have done it without a guide? Thanks!

By: A J Smith

A J Smith — Sun, 02 Jul 2023 19:25:28 +0000

Audrey, Appreciate the comprehensive Ladakh trekking guide, including suggestions for trekking services and lodging. Based on recommendations I used Stanzin and Ladakh Eco House while in Leh, and this was great option. I had planned to do a Markha Valley trek, but after experiencing some altitude issues on some shorter hikes around Leh, decided to pivot and do a handful of other trip, including jeep trip, several day hikes, etc. Stanzin made the recommendations and was able to setup on short notice. Eco House was a friendly place to stay and got to meet lot of other trekkers / travelers during my stay, which was great as a solo travelled. Looking forward to a future trip to Ladakh and hopefully completing one of the treks.

By: Jocelyn Engelhart

Jocelyn Engelhart — Sat, 20 May 2023 08:53:56 +0000

Just got back from a trekking with Stanzin as a guide and he tailor made a trekking for me which I was very happy with! I went to almost 5000 meters altitude and really enjoyed the view so much. By the way, Stanzin is a great guide who takes into account your personal questions, which I greatly appreciated. Incidentally, he also organized another trip to Nubra valley and Pangong for me. Since I travel alone as a woman, this was really very pleasant for me! I would really recommend Stanzin as a guide!

By: Joseph Pergler

Joseph Pergler — Mon, 18 Jul 2022 06:37:29 +0000

I also had an Excellent experience with Ecological Footprint Travels. Stanzin was very accommodating (even through 2 reschedules due to COVID). He is an excellent host. We had a blast riding bikes, taking a 7 day trek (including summitting Kang Yatse peak), and white water rafting. He even made a room available for us when we finished our trek a day earlier than anticipated.

We saw one person complain about their stay/experience. But they seemed to be expecting a 5 star hotel experience. This is not a 5 star hotel experience. This is a remote, high adventure experience. The mattresses in the hotel are a little old and a bit lumpy. The electricity sometimes gets shut off. The water isn’t always hot. The treking gear is well used. The vehicles are aged. But Stanzin will do his best to make sure you have a great experience.

By: Audrey Scott

Audrey Scott — Thu, 27 Aug 2020 12:17:39 +0000

In reply to Shashi Shanbhag. Thanks, Shashi, for this update. I had never thought to do a winter trek before, but after trekking in Bhutan in February I can see the appeal. The important thing is to have enough layers to stay warm at night and in the early morning :)

By: Shashi Shanbhag

Shashi Shanbhag — Sat, 02 May 2020 04:37:12 +0000

In reply to Audrey Scott.

Audrey,

I just wanted to give an update. I have linked to this page and have shared details about the winter Markha valley trek on my blog
https://shashishanbhag.com/trek/ladakh-land-of-mountain-passes/

Thank you again for putting together such a helpful guide.