After trotting along the Zanskar river for quite a while, this intrepid Himalayan Fox spots a frozen ice bridge that still exists, and uses it to cross over to the other side, to get to Padam town and hunt on its outskirts! The Zanskar River is a north-flowing tributary of the Indus. In its upper reaches, the Zanskar has two main branches. First of these, the Doda, has its source near the Pensi-la 4,400 m (14,400 ft) mountain-pass and flows south-eastwards along the main Zanskar valley leading towards Padum, the capital of Zanskar. The second branch is formed by two main tributaries known as Kargyag river, with its source near the Shingo La 5,091 m (16,703 ft), and Tsarap river, with its source near the Baralacha-La. These two rivers unite below the village of Purne to form the Lungnak river (also known as the Lingti or Tsarap). The Lungnak river then flows north-westwards along a narrow gorge towards Zanskar's central valley (known locally as gzhung khor), where it unites with the Doda river to form the main Zanskar river. This river then takes a north-eastern course through the dramatic Zanskar Gorge until it joins the Indus near Nimmu in Ladakh.

Padum (also spelled Padam) is the largest town and administrative centre of Zanskar District of Kargil district in the state of Jammu and Kashmir, India. It is 240 km away from Kargil with a population of about 1,000 people. Padum is in the centre of Zanskar with an average elevation of 3,669 metres (12,037 feet). There are several small villages around Padum. The traditional heart of the village is below the gompa where two large chortens stand above old buildings. A road was constructed in 1980 from Kargil across Pensi La. Padum has several hotels and restaurants meant for tourists. Padum has a post office, internet cafes and telephone booths. Padum is largely inhabited by people of Tibetan descent who follow Tibetan Buddhism, but there is a sizable Muslim minority (accounting for ~40% of the town's population), mainly Balti, who have been present in Padum since the 17th century. A mosque was built in Padum in recent years to cater the local Muslim population.

Source: Wikipedia

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