and the Lungnak (Tsarap Lingti). One of the Lungnak's main tributaries is the Tsarap, which drains portions of northeastern Himachal Pradesh and valleys just 20 kilometers northwest of Tso Moriri (lake). A little away north of Bara-lacha-la it is joined by the Lingti and another tributary; it then flows north-west before turning abruptly south through a gorge and past Phugtal Gompa to join the Kargyak river descending from Shingo-la, that goes into Himachal Pradesh. The Stod carries meltwater of the Drang-drung glacier below the Pensi-la, and flows down a broad open valley, approaching the Lungnak. As the Zangskar river, their united waters flow northwards through a gorge in the Zanskar range, to join the Indus at Nyemo in Central Ladakh. Zanskar suffers heavy snowfall, and the Pensi-la opens only in June and is blocked again in mid-October. The entire valley is virtually treeless. Shyok river and valley Shyok River rises near the Karakoram Pass. The region comprising the valley of Shyok and Nubra Rivers is known as Nubra. The Karakoram Range in Ladakh is not as mighty as in Baltistan. The massifs to the north and east of the Nubra-Siachen valley include the Apsarasas group (highest point 7245 m), the Rimo group (highest point 7385 m) and the Teram Kangri group (highest point 7464 m), together with Mamostong Kangri (7526 m) and Singhi Kangri (7202 m.) North of the Karakoram lie the Kun Lun Mountains. Thus, between Leh and eastern Central Asia, there is a triple barrier: the Ladakh Range, the Karakoram range, and the Kun Lun. Nevertheless, a major trade route was established between Leh and Yarkand. Suru river and valley Suru River forms the western and northern boundary of the Zanskar range. The Suru, after receiving the combined waters of the Dras and Shingo Rivers a short distance north of Kargil, joins the Indus at Marol in Baltistan, which is now on the Pakistan side of the Line of Control. Rangdum Monastery and the attendant village of Julidok is the last inhabited region in the Suru valley; it is also the destination of the nomadic herdspeople called Bakarwals, who trek up every summer from the Jammu region. From Rangdum the valley rises to 4400 metres at the Pensi-la, the gateway into Zanskar. Kargil, the only town in the Suru valley, was an important staging post on the routes of the trade caravans before 1947, being more or less