At 4,400 metres, the Pensi La is the principal road pass into Zanskar from Kargil, and the view from the top on a clear day is extraordinary: the entire Zanskar Valley spreads below to the south, with the Drang-Drung Glacier — one of the largest glaciers in Ladakh — visible to the north. The glacier feeds the Stod River and has been steadily retreating in recent decades; photographs from the 1970s show it reaching far closer to the road than it does now.
The pass is open roughly from late June to mid-October, depending on snowfall. The road is rough and subject to washouts; jeeps and trucks manage it, but it is not suitable for ordinary cars. On the drive up from Kargil, the landscape changes dramatically from the arid Suru Valley to alpine meadows and then the stark high-altitude desert of Zanskar itself. It is worth stopping at the top of the pass to absorb the transition.