Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
GETTING TO THE GUGE KINGDOM
There are two main roads to Zanda from the Darchen-Ali road. Both are rough and go
over some very high passes. In a 4WD it's possible to make it to Zanda from either Ali or
Mt Kailash in a single day.
TO/FROM DARCHEN
It's about 243km from Darchen to Zanda. It's 65km along a paved road from Darchen to
Moincer, which is the turn-off to Tirthapuri, and then another 50km from there to the
army base at Ba'er, where the road branches south. The 122km from Ba'er to Zanda takes
a few hours of winding up and down fantastically eroded gorges and gullies.
TO/FROM ALI
Coming from Ali, the road is equally scenic and will take around five hours of driving to
cover the 200km. The first hour on a paved road climbs to the 4720m Pe-la and then
drops down past a great scenic viewpoint to the Gar Valley, home to Ali's new airport at
Kūnshā at kilometre marker 1109. About 64km from Ali the route crosses a bridge to the
western side of the valley. A further 10km and the road branches right off the main road
towards Zanda. The road then climbs up to the 5330m Lalung-la (Laling Gutsa), followed
by the 5390m Laochi-la before descending into a valley. About 65km from the turn-off
you have to buy a ticket to the area (¥200, including Thöling and Guge).
The road branches left onto a plateau from where there are stunning 180-degree views
of the Indian Himalaya, stretching from Nanda Devi in the south to the Ladakh Range in
the north. Around 90km from the turn-off (36km from Zanda) look for a village surroun-
ded by eroded cliffs with hundreds of tombs carved into the soft rock. The turn-off for
Dungkar and Piyang is just before the village.
The route then drops down into deep, fantastically eroded wadi-like gullies before fi-
nally reaching the Sutlej Valley. The layers of the former sea bed are clearly visible and
the scenery is a wonderland of eroded cliff faces that have taken on the most astonishing
shapes. You'll swear over and over again that you're seeing the melted ruins of an ancient
monastery, or the tall pillars that once held the roof of a mighty palace.
Just before reaching Zanda, 130km from the turn-off, you cross the Sutlej River on a
long bridge.
