Organized by the Snow leopard Conservancy, these treks allow you access to some of the amazing scenery around Leh. You stay in villagers homes – I say village but sometimes it is a single farmstead and have to walk from place to place. There are no roads. Everything that goes into the mountains has to be carried there on the backs of donkeys. Needless to say there is no rubbish collection everything that goes into the mountains stays in the mountains.
For hundreds of years the ecological balance has been maintained. Rubbish is composted or burnt or eaten by other less fussy animals. Even now this landscape is wonderfully clean and rubbish free. But all that is changing with the advent of plastic. Plastic is of course difficult to burn, doesn’t biodegrade, and kills those animals who eat it. Once it is in the landscape it is there for decades looking horrible and causing trouble.
Thankfully there are people like the Snow leopard Conservancy who are trying to preserve snow leopards and the environment in which they and the farmers live. They have several amazing projects including the home stay treks. As well as board and bed, your host will provide you with boiled filtered water. All you have to do is take your own refillable water bottle for plastic free hydration.
What a great scheme.
NB Don’t rely on there being bottled water for sale – there isn’t any. Ha!
For more details go to
hymalayan homestays
markha-valley
Snacks
Though the food at the home stays does the job it is sometimes basic and often repetitive. Though they will make you a packed lunch the less said about them the better. You may feel the need to take some additional provisions with you.
The purchase of plastic free, light weight snacks is difficult I know but here are a couple of options.
Dried fruit can be bought loose in the market on the main street of Leh or in paper bags from Dzosmos. (where you can also refill your water bottle with filtered water while you are in Leh)
If you or the trekking party you are with do buy plastic wrapped snacks please do ensure that they are disposed of properly even if that means taking your plastic wrappers back to Leh with you. There is no guarantee that they will be properly disposed of there but at least it will keep the hills cleaner for longer.