Ladakh
Where the lights touch the earth
Have you ever dreamt of a place where the sky is a startling blue, where all the elements coalesce into a single ethereal landscape, where heaven seems to be one with the earth and there are no strangers? Then Ladakh is the place to be.
The clouds were pure and white as flocks new shorn,
And fresh from the clear brook; sweetly they slept
On the blue fields of heaven, and then there crept
A little noiseless noise among the leaves,
-John Keats
Ladakh spans nearly three mountain ranges (The far western flank of the Himalyan Range, the Zanskar Range and the Ladakh Range), with most of its region over 3000 meters. As a result, the area receives little rainfall every year explaining its rocky, moon-like topography.
And then in the austere landscape, in the breathtaking beauty of the endless expanse of rolling land you see a sudden break of bright green – it isn’t a mirage; just one of Ladakh’s miracles. There are lakes: small strips of the sky at far ends of colossal flatlands that are home to every one of nature’s beauteous elements – an azure lake flanked by craggy foothills on one side, giving way to snow capped peaks on another and as your eyes move on beyond, to what looks like the sand dunes of Jaisalmer; and the lake is bordered by a rush of rich sweeping grassland right up to the base of the mountains. You have to see it to believe it.
Life in Ladakh moves at a strange pace and sings a tune completely different from anything you’ve ever heard before. The mountain air and all the friendly smiles make you feel at home, even as the altitude pounds your system with headaches (don’t let those deter you. There are more remedies than you to need to take care of that). The people, beautiful people with shades of sky and the purple snowcaps reflecting in their faces, add that indescribable warmth to the place without which Ladakh would have been uninhabitable.
That men of health were of unusual cheer;
Stepping like Homer at the trumpet’s call,
Or young Apollo on the pedestal:
And lovely women were as fair and warm,
As Venus looking sideways in alarm.
The breezes were ethereal, and pure,
And crept through half closed lattices to cure
The languid sick; it cool’d their fever’d sleep,
And soothed them into slumbers full and deep.
-John Keats
There’s much more to Ladakh than any words can tell. There is so much to see, and so many places to go to that all the trips you can afford won’t be enough. However, no visit to Ladakh can be complete without visits to Leh, Nubra Valley, Pangong Lake, Tsomo riri, Markha valley and Ladakh’s monasteries. Browse through all the places worth visiting around Ladakh for information on travel and accommodation.
Major attractions in Ladakh
Leh
It’s a city, but yet so un-city-like – Mystical, Musical and ethereal – like the innumerable rotating prayer wheels lined on the slope of the entrances to the monasteries, like the winsome smiles on the rosy cheeked school children trudging miles to the nearest school….. When you first set your eyes on… Check out full details »
Tsomoriri
The drive to Tsomoriri seems eternal. Once you drive off the tarred road along the Indus you’re faced with miles and miles of land running through the mountains with nothing on the way, save a few refreshment tents flapping away in the scorching afternoon wind. The drive to Tsomoriri is no doubt grueling and long; but… Check out full details »
Pangong Lake
Pangong Lake – The only thing India and China have in common: its blue, brackish waters extend across the Indo-Chinese border. It was only few years ago that the government decided to allow tourists to visit this natural beauty. The Lake is 134 km long and only 40% of it lies in India, while the rest extends into China…. Check out full details »
Nubra Valley
The Forbidden Kingdom ! This valley of flowers is perhaps the most inexplicably beautiful place you can ever dream of visiting. Once a trading route through the Karakoram ranges from Tibet to Turkistan, it was only recently opened to tourists. The road to the valley, inaccessible for most of the year, is wild and treacherous,… Check out full details »
Visit our, Monasteries of Ladakh – A Special coverage.