After breakfast we loaded our bags into the 3 cars that would be our conveyance to Uley and for the duration of our stay. We were surprised to find they were standard 2-wheel drive sedans. We’d expected 4WD vehicles. However the 2WD proved adequate for the job, though with a bit of wheel spinning in places.

The drive from Leh to Uley takes about 2 hours, though the total distance is only 75 km. Part of the way is on the national highway, which is kept in reasonable condition by the military. The minor roads are less fantastic. The final 6.5 km is a single lane unsealed track. The sign at the bottom declares it cost the equivalent of AU$150,000. There is no way such a road could be built in Australia through such steep and unstable terrain for anything like that cost.

Along the main road we stopped to admire the confluence of the Zanskar river (blue) with the Indus (brown). Apparently sometimes it is the other way round. It all depends on what is happening upstream on these two rivers.

A little further along we stopped to view the Buddhist monastery and Basco – Basco Gompa. Like many, this was build on a precipitous rock outcrop perched above the village. Very impressive.

Onwards we drove. The final 6 km climbs steeply with many zig-zags and hair raising hairpin bends. Thankfully we had a good driver.

After dumping our bags and getting a quick intro to the lodge, we all piled back into cars to drive to a neighbouring farm where a wolf had killed a calf the previous night. The carcass had been dragged out to the adjacent field and we spent a few hours observing vulture and eagle visiting to feed.

Then, later in the day we went to another farm, where we had been on our quick visit yesterday, to view the snow leopards again. The distance was still around 600 m – too far for good photos with my lenses, but good enough to admire the beasties, especially via some of the high-powered spotting scopes.

More photos at https://photos.app.goo.gl/6VZT4b0jjCdG8nR63