Some journeys we take to see new places.
And then there are journeys we take because, somewhere inside us, we need to breathe differently.
For me, my trip to Zanskar was the second kind.
I wanted to escape the noise in my head, and on 23 August 2026, I finally set out from Manali towards the mountains of Zanskar. I didn’t know exactly what I was looking for. I only knew that I wanted to get away for a while.
What made this journey even more interesting was that I wasn’t travelling with friends or family. I was travelling with a group of strangers.
And somehow, those strangers became part of one of my most memorable journeys.
Our journey began from Manali, slowly leaving behind the familiar roads and entering a landscape that seemed to become more dramatic with every kilometre.
Our route took us through Jispa, towards Padum, crossing Shinkula Top along the way.
The landscape kept changing. Green valleys gradually gave way to barren mountains, enormous cliffs and wide-open landscapes. The further we travelled, the smaller everything else seemed, including the problems I had carried with me.
One of the unexpected highlights of travelling with strangers was how quickly a group can become a team when you’re sharing the same road.
We played games during the journey, laughed together, talked about random things and simply enjoyed the ride. There was no pressure to know each other’s stories beforehand.
We were just people on the same road, going towards the same mountains.
And sometimes, that’s enough.
Padum felt like another world.
After hours of travelling through rugged Himalayan landscapes, reaching the heart of Zanskar felt surreal. The scale of the mountains around us was difficult to put into words.
The landscape wasn’t just beautiful it was peaceful.
There was something about standing surrounded by mountains that made everyday worries feel strangely insignificant.
During the trip, we explored places like Sani Lake, Karsha Monastery, Phuktal Monastery, Pensi-La Lake, Drang Drung Glacier and Gonbo Rangjon.
Every place had its own character, but one place stayed especially close to me.
If I had to choose one moment from the entire trip, it would be standing beside Pensi-La Lake.
The lake was incredibly beautiful.
The water was shining, and behind it stood ice-covered mountains. Everything around me felt still and peaceful.
I remember simply looking at the landscape and taking it all in.
There was no rush.
No notifications.
No unnecessary thoughts.
Just a lake, mountains, silence and me.
For a few moments, I wasn’t thinking about what I should do next in life. I wasn’t overthinking anything.
I was just there.
And maybe that’s what I had really travelled to Zanskar for.
I’ve always felt that mountains have a strange ability to quiet the mind.
Whenever I don’t understand what I’m doing with my life, whenever I have too many thoughts running around in my head, I feel like going somewhere into the mountains.
I lose myself there.
And somehow, while getting lost among the mountains, I find a little bit of myself again.
My overthinking slows down.
The noise becomes quieter.
Things that felt complicated suddenly don’t seem quite so complicated anymore.
Zanskar reminded me of that.
Maybe mountains don’t give us answers.
Maybe they simply give us enough silence to hear our own thoughts clearly.
The journey through Zanskar was filled with landscapes that looked almost unreal.
The Drang Drung Glacier was one of those places where you naturally stop talking for a moment and simply look.
The mountains seemed endless, the roads seemed tiny, and the landscape made us feel incredibly small.
And yet, there was something comforting about that feeling.
When you stand in front of something so vast, you realise that not every problem needs to be solved immediately.
Sometimes you can just keep moving.
One road.
One day.
One mountain at a time.
Our journey also took us to Karsha Monastery and Phuktal Monastery, each adding a different feeling to the trip.
Away from the busy cities and familiar routines, these places offered moments of calm and reflection.
We also visited Sani Lake and continued through the spectacular landscapes around Padum.
Every stop gave us another reason to take out our cameras.
But strangely, the more beautiful the places became, the less I felt like photographing everything.
Some moments are better experienced than captured.
And then came Gonbo Rangjon.
Standing at around 5,520 metres, this enormous solitary peak rises dramatically from the Zanskar landscape. But Gonbo Rangjon is not simply another beautiful mountain. For the people of Zanskar, it is sacred.
Locally known as “God’s Mountain,” Gonbo Rangjon is traditionally associated with Gonbo, or Mahakala, a powerful protective deity in Tibetan Buddhism. Its name is also connected with the idea of Gonbo’s Throne, and the mountain is regarded as a sacred presence watching over the surrounding valley.
What makes it even more special is that this is not a mountain people simply climb for the achievement of reaching its summit. Because of its spiritual significance, climbing the peak is traditionally not permitted.
I remember looking at Gonbo Rangjon and feeling that there was something different about it.
It didn’t feel like I was simply looking at a mountain.
It felt like I was standing in front of something that had been watching over this valley for centuries.
The mountain stood completely alone, rising above the landscape, enormous and silent. Around it, everything felt so vast that our vehicles and our little group seemed almost insignificant.
Maybe that’s what makes sacred mountains so powerful.
They don’t need to speak.
They simply stand there.
And somehow, you become quiet.
After travelling through Zanskar, I had already begun to understand why mountains are my therapy. But standing in front of Gonbo Rangjon made that feeling even stronger.
I wasn’t looking for answers anymore.
For a few minutes, I didn’t even feel the need to think.
I just stood there and looked.
At the mountain.
At the valley.
At the sky.
And at the strange feeling inside me that maybe getting lost in the mountains isn’t really about losing yourself.
Maybe it’s about finding the quiet version of yourself that gets buried beneath all the noise of everyday life.
That day, Gonbo Rangjon wasn’t just a destination on our itinerary.
It became one of the memories I know I will carry with me for a very long time.
One of the biggest surprises of this trip was the people.
I started the journey surrounded by strangers.
By the end, we had shared meals, games, conversations, laughter, long drives and countless mountain views.
That’s one of the beautiful things about travelling.
You don’t always need to travel with people you already know.
Sometimes strangers become companions.
Sometimes companions become friends.
And sometimes, people you meet for only a few days become part of memories you’ll remember for years.
Our six-day journey from 23 August to 28 August 2026 took us from Manali through Jispa and Shinkula Top to Padum and the incredible landscapes of Zanskar, before returning to Manali.
The trip itself was surprisingly smooth. We didn’t face any major difficulties, which allowed us to simply enjoy the journey, the people and the landscapes around us.
But for me, Zanskar was more than a destination.
It was a pause.
A pause from overthinking.
A pause from routine.
A pause from trying to figure everything out.
I went to the mountains without knowing exactly what I needed.
I came back with a little more peace.
And perhaps that’s why I know I’ll return someday.
Because some places don’t just give you photographs.
They give you a feeling.
And Zanskar gave me silence, adventure, strangers who became companions, and a reminder that sometimes, when life feels confusing, it’s okay to disappear into the mountains for a while, simply.
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I’m Inshiya Gandhi, a Travel Consultant and Tour Operator at Flamingo Travels. I’m passionate about helping travellers discover new destinations and creating memorable journeys tailored to their interests. Through my travel experiences and insights, I love sharing useful ideas and inspiration to help travellers plan their next holiday.
