Shingo La


Shingo-la is a mountain pass in India, on the border between Ladakh and Himachal Pradesh. There is a shallow lake or pool 20m below the pass. The pass is on a long-distance footpath linking Zanskar and Lahaul, used often by locals and trekkers alike. For trekkers it is one of the technically easiest 5000m passes in Indian Himalaya, involving no glacier trekking nor steep climbs. There is snow on the pass all year round, although in the summer only a small stretch of snow has to be passed. There is an official sign proclaiming height of the pass as 16,615.500 feet. The height indicated by various trekking website varies from 4900 to 5100 meters.
This pass may be considered as an entry point to Lugnak Valley in Zanskar. The nearest inhabited village on Zanskar side is Kurgiakh and on the Lahaul side is Chikka. Both the villages generally involves two days trekking from the pass. The base camp for crossing the pass are set up at Ramjak or Chumik Nakpo from Darcha side and Lakong from Padum side.
A rudimentary road to Shingo La was first constructed in 2016. The road was extended to Lakong above the Kurgiakh-Chu in 2017 and a very rough extension to the village of Kurgiakh was made by bulldozers and towed dump trucks in 2018. The Indian Government Boarder Roads Organization frequently claims that the road is motorable but as of the summers of 2018 and 2019 the road from Lakong to Kurgiakh is still routed within the waters of the Kurgiakh-Chu river and is impassible to all but tracked or large wheeled offroad construction vehicles.
The winter of 2018/2019 did severe damage to both sides of the Shingo La road and in June 2019 it was described as being rebuilt. In September of the same year the first crossing by a private motor vehicle was reported. The drivers told the press:
Near Lakhang, there was no road and the area was submerged in the Zanskar river. BRO’s JE Keshav Kataria... helped us by making a passable route through the river.