Leh - Ladakh

Ladakh lies at altitudes ranging from about 9,000 feet (2750m) at Kargil to 25,170 feet (7,672m) at Saser Kangri in the Karakoram. Bordered by Tibet, it is often described as the 'roof of the world' or "Little Tibet". It is a high altitude cold desert, part of it mountain and the other part, a flat terrain. It is the largest of the ten provinces of Jammu and Kashmir, bordered by the Karakoram chain of mountains in the north and Himalayas in the south.

The region falls under the Himalayan rain shadow area thus, receives no monsoon during the summer season and the only source of water being the winter snowfall. Drass, Zanskar and the Suru Valley on the Himalaya's northern flank receive heavy snow in winter. Hidden behind this harsh and forbidding facade is an ancient civilization with gentle and charming people. With the great Indus flowing right through Ladakh, the province is divided into Leh, Nubra, Zanskar, lower Ladakh and Rupshu.

Leh, the capital of Ladakh, at a height of 3505 meters, is a place with stunning beauties and sights, apart from being the center of Tibeto-Buddhist culture for ages. Leh is the land of medieval Gompas perched on roaring heights, gentle people, high altitude deserts, gushing rivers, high peaks and passes. It is one of the most sparsely populated regions in the country. The people are a mix of the Tibetan, Balti, Dard and Aryan ethnic strains. Their physique and costumes are very similar to the people in Tibet and Central Asia.

Leh offers great scope for undertaking adventure activities. The best established ones among these are: trekking, mountaineering and river-rafting. The prime attractions are the spectacular valleys of Suru and Zanskar, nestling along the foothills of the main range of the greater Himalayas, the Nubra Valley, the smaller valleys of Dras and Wakha-Mulbek and the Chiktan. The exclusive itenary to the place comprises of visits to a selection of monasteries that include: Lamayuru in the west and the prestigious establishment of Hemis in the east. Tourists also take to trekking along the lateral valleys, especially in Markha and to the confines of the central Indus valley.