
Ladakh Odyssey – Part 4 of 4
13th Aug (Alchi) Vicky & Sandy came to our room @ 5:00 AM to wake us up and start for Drass & Zojila. Previous…
Read MorePart fantasy, part reality… Ladakh, is where, the forces of nature conspired to render a magical unrealistic landscape… a landscape of extremes… desert and blue waters… burning sun and freezing winds… glaciers and sand dunes. Ladakh is an authentic land, faithful to ancestral customs where life is characterized by intense spirituality. Rich traditions of Mahayana Buddhism still flourish in the purest form in this region, which has often been referred to as Little Tibet.
Leh is the capital of Ladakh and is famous for its monasteries, the Hemis Monastery being the largest. Nubra Valley, Tso Moriri Lake and Pangong Lake offer truly amazing landscapes high up in the Himalayas. Major attraction of Nubra valley is the highest motorable road Khardongla pass, majestic peaks and glaciers, enchanting valleys and villages. Chadar or Zanskar Trek, Parang La Trek and Kang Yatse Trek are great opportunities for Adventure tourism.
The only two roads into the area are the Zoji-La Pass from Srinagar (open June-October) and the high altitude Manali-Leh Highway from Himachal Pradesh(April December). Leh can be reached by air from Delhi.
Eco tourism in Ladakh encourages Homestays, a system where tourists who are trekking in Ladakh, instead of bringing tents and supplies that often has to be carried by horses or donkeys,stay with local families in the villages they pass. This is seen both as environmental since the pack animals can sometimes eat all the limited vegetation, and as socially responsible since it puts money directly into the local villages.
Best time to visit: June to October, January to mid- March for Chadar Trek
Languages spoken: Ladakhi
Climate: Pleasant summers and very cold winters with snowfall
Adventure tourism: River Rafting, Double humped Camel Safari, Zanskar Trek, Parang La Trek , Kang Yatse Trek
Natural Wonders: Diskit and Samstanling Gonpa, Panamik hot spring (Nubra Valley), Tso Moriri Lake, Pangong Lake, Sand dunes at Hunder
Holy Places: Hemis Monastery, Thiksey Monastery, Spituk Monastery, Stok monastery and Shey Monastery
13th Aug (Alchi) Vicky & Sandy came to our room @ 5:00 AM to wake us up and start for Drass & Zojila. Previous…
Read More10th Aug (Leh – Diskit) We start behind schedule for Nubra Valley. While I was waiting for others to fill up their petrol tanks,…
Read More4th Aug (Manali – Keylong) We started from Manali @ 7 AM in rain and fog as we didn’t have much choice. Entire stretch…
Read More“What do we leave behind when we cross each frontier? Each moment seems split in two; melancholy for what was left behind and the…
Read MoreKhardung La is a high mountain pass situated 37 km by road North of Leh. This is the “Highest Motorable Road in the World”….
Read MoreLeh is set amongst dramatic surroundings: in a fertile side valley of the Indus River and rigned by high mountains of the Stok and…
Read MorePART I : Leh Trip N ALTO …. Yup!! — Part I All this part of the country is higher than the Zozila, the…
Read More“Going Nuts”, response I got when I shared our idea of going Leh in Lill ALTO from everybody in the office. Anyway we were…
Read MoreWe halted there for about an hour to tank up on fuel, breakfast and water. Soon it was time to move and we headed out to Tanglang La over the Gata Loops, which is a series of 21 hairpin bends, starting at 13780 Ft ASl and in a stretch of 17 kms, take you up by 1500 Ft to 15302 ft ASL.
Read MoreI just got back from the famous Delhi- manali-keylong-leh–kargil-dras-zozila-srinagar-patnitop-delhi highway and the writeup from bikerdude is really gr8. Atleast for me it would have…
Read MoreAfter reaching Leh, detailed in the previous post, all we did was relax and rest. We had plans to ride to Khardung La the…
Read MoreI did not realize the importance of this place at the time of clicking this snap… Found out later that this was the place where the sindhu Darshan festival is held to comemorate and celebrate the Sindhu River, which plays a major role in the lives of the people here…
Read More