We didn’t actually find reliable and precise information about this trip online, but since we believe it has the potential to become a classic, here there is some useful information about these amazing rivers!
We’ll not spend time now for the whole story, look for the movie (you can find the link at the bottom of the page)!
We ran the Tsarap in 2 days + 2h on day 0, the Zanskar in 2 days and the Indus in 1 day.
Tsarap level, according to locals, was high, Zanskar medium / high and Indus high. These
levels are not usual for late August, but this year was strange. Climate change is also
impacting this area with more melting water than usual (but for how many years?)
In total we have run 360km, but don’t be scared by the amount of km, the river is always
running fast, take it easy, if you feel tired just have a look at the scenery, it’s amazing.
We did the expedition with the support of a local guy: Tsering Chotak (Wet’n Wild
Exploration). This, for sure, made us faster since we never stopped except for 2 portages
and 2 scouting in total.
The difficulty of the rivers is never too difficult, most of the rivers are class III-IV, with long connection stretches between rapids.
You’ll find some rapids on grade IV, and just two rapids we would classify as class V, you can portage and scout most of the rapids.
You don’t need to be a hero, but given the remoteness and the km to run every day you
should be confident on class IV or it will not be worth the trip. If you don’t feel comfortable enough, consider running only the Zanskar.
Do your acclimatization!
Paddling at more than 4000m will not be easy. We suggest doing a good acclimatization by
staying some days in Leh, kayaking a bit near Nimoo or doing some of the wonderful
trekking around Leh (Nubra valley, Marka valley,…).
We did these things and when we put-in for the expedition we felt very good and we didn’t
have any issue with the altitude.
Get medication (Diamox), but use it only if needed (it’ll not improve your acclimatization, it’ll just ease the symptoms!).
Remoteness / Safety
We didn’t see objective danger, except the big siphon (see description), but don’t
underestimate the altitude! Just paddling will cut your breathing, I won’t’ imagine swimming,
even if after rapids the water became flat it’ll still run, be aware of that.
At this date (2022) a road from Nimoo to Sarchu is under construction, this road will for sure
exploit the beauty of the valley, but it can be a resource in case of problems.
We had road access (not building sites) from Reru to Padum and from Chilling to Nimoo.
Still, the only reachable village from the Tsarap is Padum, but don’t expect medical care, the
closest hospital is probably in Leh, where you can have only basic treatment.
Communication
In Ladakh your foreign Sim will not work, you’ll have to make a Sim locally (roughly 7€ for a month with 1,5GB/day).
But cell phone coverage will be absent for all the trip, except close to Padum only with JIO operator (but we can only get Airtel in Leh). If you want to bring a satellite communicator be very aware that you can face serious problem since they’re illegal (even if you can argue that it’s not a satellite phone it’s an highly militarized zone and they doesn’t looks very elastic, someone still brings it, we wouldn’t dare)
Logistics:
That’s a challenge, probably more than the river. We still haven’t understood if you can bring
your kayak on local air company, but we brought our paddles without problems (using a ski
bag). Air India looked very easy on not being declared overweight so maybe you can have a
chance with them.
Locals will be super happy to buy your kayak and gear since it is very hard/impossible to buy
stuff there.
To get to the put-in we suggest getting in touch with some local kayak center, but still you
can try to manage yourself since a lot of drivers have a roof rack. A 8-10h driver expects
roughly 130-150$. ).
Day 0: 16km - 1h20’ - WW I/II
Put-in at Sarchu
Roughly 1h of flat (WW I-II) brings you in the wilderness to a nice spot near a stream of fresh water (river right).
Enjoy your first day in the wild!!
Day 1: 64km - 7h - WW III/IV (V) (X)
The river starts with a series of 3 box canyons (WW III-IV), nothing to be aware of, just
manage the boiling water.
The river opens up, beware of the next rapid (X) with huge siphons (yes, the Nouria siphon). Since there was a high water level it looked runnable on the far left, but for us it’s not worth the risk. Beware, it’s not easy to spot! The rivers open in two streams, the right one looks the obvious choice but it will get you directly into the rapid, you should keep to the left and stop before the drop, easy portage on the left.
As reference you’ll see an abandoned village on the up high left around 1km before.
After the portage the rivers will be a III till a lake.
2-3h of flat water on the lake led you to the landslide rapid (WW IV-V).
Easy scout on the big island in the center of the river. The first part of the rapid is made of two big channels, both runnable; after joining it gets easier and smooth out after 6-700m. Main issue will be the lack of oxygen for this long rapid!
Still a few km of III-IV will lead you close to Phuktar Gompa, a good camping spot just 1km before the village on the river left.
Day 2: 60km - 7h - WW III/IV (V)
Flat water till Phuktar, be sure to stop to visit the Monastery, really worth it!
River will be III-IV for roughly 2-3h, next spot will be Reru rapid.
A big blue metal bridge and shortly after a sinked bridge will be your signal that Reru is
approaching.
The river will get into a canyon with a sharp right bend where you’ll find a IV rapid, stop in the big eddy on the left and look for the way to stop in the last eddy on the right.
Scout Reru on the right. We decided to portage due to the high level, there’s a line (quite
hard one) on the left, very big holes on the right.
Just after Reru the river goes left, avoid being on the right.
Here starts the most fun part! Read and run long class IV rapids, it will gradually smooth out till Padum.
We camp on the left river shore, close to Padum.
Congratulations you run the Tsarap!
Day 3: 82km - 6h - III (IV)
The day starts with a long flat stretch (40-50km) till you reach the Zanskar canyon, just relax, the water will be fast enough to not have to paddle.
Once in the canyon you’ll face amazing landscape and big class III rapids, easy read an run, just one rapid to scout: you’ll see a narrow passage with some rocks on the right, stop and scout there. There’s a big hole taking almost all the river, there’s a line on the far left.
After a bridge on the left of the river you’ll find a small stream and a good camping spot.
Day 4: 75km - 5h30’ - III (IV)
This is the classic section of the Zanskar, big class III rapids, stunning scenery and two main rapids:
– BMF, easy channel on the left of the big rock, challenging on the right (scout if you
want to go right because of very large nasty holes)
– Champion killers, don’t worry, not as close as the Oetz. It’s a big wave, just stay on
the left, but not too much and bravely face the wall of water.
Keep floating on easy class III till the Indus confluence.
You can now celebrate your successful expedition in Nimoo! But beware that it’ll be almost impossible to cheer with beers or alcoholic, be prepared!
Bonus track. Day 5: 65km - 4h - IV/IV+
Just after Nimoo (precisely at Alchi), below the big hydropower plant, you can put-in on the lower Indian Indus (not the infamous lower Indus), and enjoy other 65km of big class IV water. The take out is at Achinathang.
The river will be bigger than the Zanskar (of course) and harder.
If you make it a daily adventure you can unpack your kayak and run it light and fast.
Suggest to take a look at the first rapid.
Some advices:
Don’t overpack! No need to have heavy stuff.
– You don’t need a tent, we got 2 tarps, each can fit 4 people. We used 3 kayaks as support. It rarely rains, and more rarely for more than a few minutes. Coverage is helpful for the wind and morning dew.
– You can refill everything in Padum after 2 days (confluence between Tsarp and
Zanskar).
– We ended up with 2 stern bags (22L) + one central Bag (15L), for roughly 9kg of
stuff.
– Consider paddling with sunglasses even if you’ll look like a club boater, especially in
the long flat stretch, high altitude sun can be harsh on your eyes.
General stuffs:
– 0°C sleeping bag, don’t worry it’ll never be very cold (we guessed 5-6°C during the
night);
– air mattress
– tarp
– water filter (we used Katadyn and Platipus). There’s not much humanities upstream
so bacteria will not be a huge problem (at least until Padum), but better be on the safe side, also water is really sandy so not directly drinkable, as usual try to rely on side creeks
– thermal blanket
– organic solid soap
– matches and lighter
– Gopro
– powerbank
– sun cream (stick)
– pocket knife
– carabiners
– american tape
– allen key for canoe
– front
Medical kit:
– bandages and gauze
– alcohol / disinfectant (Betadine)
– eye drops (Sofacor or Visucombide)
– anti-inflammatories (Oki, Indoxen or Flomax)
– antifebbrile (Tachipirina)
– antibiotic (Amoxicillin or Augmenti). When you have a bacterial infection, prevent infections of big wounds or toothache
– antibiotic eye ointment (Alfatex). Apply ointment and then bandage, to be changed in the morning and evening
– antibiotic for wounds (Strepsolil)
– cortisone ointment (Gentalmicina and Betamethasone). For bites or skin infections
– Diamox (for altitude sickness)
– pads for sleeping at altitude if you can’t (Triazolam) – take a quarter or half to start
– ointment for erbes
– lactic ferments (1 per day. Start 3 days earlier)
– lozenges for sore throat (Benagol). Not essential, but strongly recommended due to the super dry climate
– cortisone (Deltacortene). For the most extreme cases.
Clothes:
– down jacket
– waterproof jacket
– long trousers
– jumper
– underwear
– socks
– wool cap
– slippers (flip flop or better crocs)
– sunglasses
Paddling gear:
– helmet
– life jacket
– drysuit, even if it’s not very cold, on multi days I would not bring anything
– clothes under dry
– shoes
– paddle
– kayak
– spare paddle (we took 1 paddle every 2 kayakers, but 1 every 3 is ok)
– throwing rope, probably not very useful on such a large river
Food and related:
– petrol stove
– 2l of gasoline
– 2 pots
– bowl
– fork
– glass
– energy bars (3/day each)
– noodles (1/day each)
– 50g rice/day each
– 50g oat/day each
– potatoes
– onions
Documents:
Referring to August 2022:
– passport
– visa
– molecular buffer (tbc)
– green pass
– permit to enter Nubra valley