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India - Kang Yatse II and Doz Jongo

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 stu84 30 Mar 2023

My exped plans for the summer have fallen through so myself and two friends are looking for alternatives. We quite like the idea of going out to India and looking at something like Kang Yatse II and Doz Jongo. The quotes we’ve been getting so far seem very high. Does anyone have any experience of arranging their own trip either locally or from the UK?

There seems to be a huge fluctuation in price but also not much about what’s included/needed vs reliability.

Also open to other suggestions of good places to go in July/August.

Thanks

Stu

 mike123 30 Mar 2023
In reply to stu84: have you tried Rimo ? Not used them for several years but have sone so several times . They are Very good . Will usually come up with something to narcgbyuur budget , bare bones or bells and whistles . 

 L.A. 30 Mar 2023
In reply to stu84:

Re Ladakh-   July + August on Kang Yatse can be pretty busy and sees dozens of ascents often by large Indian groups who have very little experience. Its not uncommon to see 8+ tied together on one rope stumbling along in rented plastic boots. Its certainly not a place for solitude

Dzo Jongo has two summits and at that time of year the usual route is to the easier eastern summit which can be an easy walk up a scree slope in trekking boots depending on how far N the monsoon reaches that year The better option is the W. summit further back on the glacier  Article on it here  https://whitemagicadventure.com/blog/mystery-dzo-jongo

Personally Id avoid both Kang Yatse and Dzo Jongo as being too overcrowded but thats just me (Nimaling however will be heaving with trekkers and groups at that time of year) 

Maybe have a look at Raru valley in Zanskar as a quieter more exploratory option or if you really want to go into the Kang Yatse area Shaldor to the E of Dzo Jongo looked quite interesting and it probably would be quiet

The standard reply for an agency in Leh is to talk to Motup at Rimo. they are by far the most professional but not the cheapest .

Ive used Mountain Trails in Leh before and they were ok as long as you know exactly what you require of them. Generally you get what you pay for. 

Be aware that the weather in Ladakh has over the years, been getting worse in July/August as the monsoon has been creeping further north than it used to. The years of unbroken blue summer skies seems to have gone and rain is more common in the summer than it used to be.

Peru or Kyrgyzstan are also worth your looking at for that time of year

Good luck with it.

Over to Damo  .....

Post edited at 17:12
 Damo 30 Mar 2023
In reply to L.A.:

> Over to Damo  .....

Ha! I was reading this thinking "Yep, I don't really have anything more to add."

Yes, not only are the summers wetter, starting to rain a lot in early July, but the winters have been very dry, so there's not as much snow cover to begin with.

It should be noted that KYII and DJ are barely even mountains, really just the tops of ridges coming down off the main peaks. Yet as LA says, KYII in particular is swarmed with dangerously inexperienced visitors and their hardly-better 'guides'. Stok Kangri had got the same before it was closed, though last July in Leh they thought it should open this year or next. Hopefully cleaned up, as despite its reputation it was quite a good peak.

Going cheap and independent for the experienced? Horses are the issues now. Twice (2015 & 2022) I've hoped to use the KY area as a Plan B and both times it proved impossible to get horses locally without having booked ahead through an agency. You could try and wing it, getting a taxi/van to the roadhead (wherever it's at by next June) in the Markha and picking up a stray horseman, but even for me that's risky. Other areas in Ladakh/Zanskar were much easier to arrange on the spot. And, once acclimatised, some of these areas you can just walk in/out from the road with a big pack on to 6000m peaks.

http://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/13201213635

http://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/13201214758

Rimo, good people, but are too expensive for anything other than a difficult permit or a big, hard thing.

Leh has plenty of cheap agencies, but as in all other similar situations in such places, they mostly just funnel into the same basic system of permit + vehicle + horses, in terms of the necessities.

Plenty of food and gas canisters in Leh, but gear hire was pretty basic, like the lowest level in Kathmandu. Hotels plentiful and cheap, though power, internet and hot water can be patchy. 

OP stu84 04 Apr 2023
In reply to stu84:

Thanks for all the replies so far, good to hear votes of confidence for Rimo. Sounds as if maybe what I was thinking is a bit too busy/trekker heavy for what we were thinking.

Will have a think

Thanks

Stu

OP stu84 04 Apr 2023
In reply to L.A.:

Thanks for your help, Kyrgyzstan would certainly be if interest. Any ideas where to start researching some options there please?


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