Sanjana Just Randomly Decided to Go to Leh, and This is Her Trip Review with Thrillophilia

Thrillophilia Verified Booking
PNR: BKD0XXEICUL
Rating: ★★★★★
Travellers: Sanjana Sharma
Trip Duration: 7 Days | 6 Nights
Date of Travel: 25 Apr 2026 to 01 May 2026
Package Booked: Turtuk Leh to Leh with Turtuk Car Group Tour

"One day I was just sitting idly, and I just thought that I want to go to Leh." That is genuinely how this trip started. No prior planning, no research, just a sudden decision that turned into seven days across some of the most spectacular terrain in India with Thrillophilia.

Sanjana Sharma from Madhya Pradesh landed in Leh in late April and came back saying there was not a single moment she did not enjoy herself. That is a strong statement for seven days at that kind of altitude. It holds up completely once you hear what those seven days actually looked like.

Two Days in Leh

Sanjana landed at Kushok Bakula Rimpochee Airport and checked into her hotel in Leh, and the first couple of days were about getting a feel for the city before the real adventure began. She went to the Leh Market, which is exactly the kind of place you wander through without a plan and end up spending two hours in.

Tibetan handicrafts, local cafes, the general pleasant chaos of a market town that sits at 3,500 metres and somehow makes that feel completely normal. Shanti Stupa gave her a panoramic view of Leh and the surrounding mountains, the kind of view that makes you immediately understand why people keep coming back here. Leh Palace, the 17th century royal residence sitting above the city, was another stop that delivered.

Sham Valley and the Spiritual Detour

The second day took the group to Sham Valley, covering Sangam Point where the Zanskar and Indus rivers merge in two distinct colours before finally becoming one, Magnetic Hill where vehicles roll uphill against all logic, and then Gurudwara Pathar Sahib. Sanjana spent a full hour at the Gurudwara. "It was a spiritual environment there," she said, and that quiet hour clearly stayed with her. The SECMOL Campus, which most people know as the school from 3 Idiots, and the Hall of Fame War Memorial rounded out a day that covered a lot of emotional range.

Khardung La and Into Nubra Valley

The drive to Nubra Valley on day three via Khardung La Pass, one of the highest motorable passes in the world, is the kind of road that makes you feel very small in the best possible way. Prayer flags at the top, the mountain dropping away on both sides, and the air noticeably thinner with every kilometre of climb.

Down in Nubra, Sanjana went full throttle. ATV ride on the Hunder Sand Dunes, camel ride on the same dunes with the Himalayas as the backdrop, and ziplining on top of all of it. "There I did the ziplining, ATV ride, camel ride," she said, rattling off the list like someone who was very pleased with herself for fitting all three into one afternoon. The campsite by the Shyok River that night, with the stars over Nubra Valley doing what Nubra Valley stars do, was the right ending to a day like that.

Turtuk: The Village Most People Skip

Day four was an excursion to Turtuk, which sits close to the Line of Control and is one of those places that rewards the effort of getting there completely. The village is surrounded by steep mountain slopes, and inside those slopes, somehow, there are lush green terraces and apricot orchards in full April bloom.

Walking through Turtuk slowly is the only way to do it. The Balti culture here is distinct and quietly fascinating, the monastery is peaceful, and the polo ground at the edge of the village, enormous and dramatic, is the kind of thing you would not expect to find this close to the border.

Pangong in the Snow

Day five was the drive to Pangong Lake, and this is where the trip became something Sanjana clearly did not expect. "Pangong Lake was such a beauty; when we reached there, there was no snow. We were staying at like minus 5 or minus 6 degrees in Pangong Lake, and it was continuously snowing those two days."

So they arrived to no snow, and then it snowed on them for two days straight at minus five degrees. Which sounds like it could have been a disaster and was instead apparently one of the best parts of the trip. The camp had a bonfire going. The lake outside was turning different shades of blue and grey as the snow came down. The group sat around the fire and did what you do when you are camping at altitude in the snow at Pangong Lake, which is mostly just appreciate the fact that you are there. "We had a bonfire provided by the hotel," Sanjana said. At minus five with snow falling, that bonfire was doing a lot of work.

Chang La, Rancho's School, and Back to Leh

The last full day crossed Chang La on the way back, another of Ladakh's famous high passes, with a stop at the Druk Padma Karpo School that anyone who has seen 3 Idiots will want to linger at. Thiksey Monastery, the largest in Central Ladakh, was the quieter and more contemplative end to a week that had been anything but quiet.

By evening they were back in Leh, the city feeling strangely familiar after six days of cold deserts, dunes, high passes, and a snowstorm at one of the most beautiful lakes in the country.

Thrillophilia’s Support in Making the Trip Better

Sanjana was clear about this. "It was a complete package from Thrillophilia." And when you look at what the week actually covered, that word complete is exactly right. Sham Valley, Khardung La, Nubra, Turtuk, Pangong, Chang La, back to Leh. Shared transfers throughout, camps in Nubra and at Pangong, activities from ziplining to camel rides all arranged. Not a single day where she had to figure out what came next.

"Around like we have visited so so many places that we were tired. Like what to do today, what to do tomorrow," she said, which is the most honest possible way of describing an itinerary that left nothing out. Tired from doing too much of the right things is a very specific kind of happy exhaustion, and Sanjana had it by the end.

"It was a safe experience, so I would recommend Thrillophilia for sure. There was not a single moment when we were not enjoying this trip."

She decided to go to Leh on a random idle afternoon. Seven days later, she had crossed two of the world's highest passes, ridden a camel in a cold desert, survived two days of snowfall at Pangong, and sat for an hour in a Gurudwara that she is still thinking about. Not bad for a spontaneous decision.

Also Read: Dr. Geetha Samak's Valley of Flowers & Hemkund Sahib Trek with Thrillophilia