Mystical, mountainous Leh is balm for the soul
YOU know you have wandered far from the beaten track when you reach Leh.
Once the capital of the kingdom of Ladakh — a mystical citadel in northern India — it hides at 11,561 ft above sea level, so remote that it is snowed in for eight months of the year.
But the region bursts into life in summer, as the locals make the most of the dry, mild weather. Take it easy while acclimatising to the altitude. The 30-minute walk to the elegant Buddhist dome of the Shanti Stupa is a good leg-stretcher.
If you head up at sunset, you will be lulled by fluttering prayer flags and chanting, while clouds play around the white peaks of what surely must be one of the finest mountain panoramas in the world.
The people of Ladakh are ethnically Tibetan and the city sits on the old trading routes between Tibet, Kashgar and Kashmir. Its narrow backstreets are full of treasures.
In the lanes behind the mosque I eat the best lamb samosas I have ever tasted, fresh from a tandoor in the floor of a bakery. An old women sits at a bench selling shawls that would cost ten times the amount on a British High Street.
A low doorway leads to a dusty shop full of antique daggers filigreed in silver. Most accommodation is in ‘homestays’, which are basic — though you are guaranteed a hot shower in nearly all of them (they have innovative comforts, such as solarheated water tanks).
The hospitality is generous and it would be easy to while away your days drinking chai in walled gardens with your charming hosts. But the region deserves further exploration.
Ladakh is a leafy oasis. Vegetable gardens and cypress trees, carefully irrigated by water from glacial meltstreams, bring flashes of bright green to the stark, dry landscape.
Pangong Lake, with its rich blue reflecting the surrounding summits, is a great day trip, while the more adventurous can trek the Markha Valley (allow five to eight days for this).
Rather than flying back from Leh, drive to Srinagar in the Kashmir valley to stay on the houseboats of Dal Lake. En route, try white-water rafting in Nimo village and visit 11th-century Lamayuru monastery in the eerie landscape of ‘Moonland’.
Here, India and Tibet effectively entwine above the Indus River — in an aweinspiring location that sums up the wild wonder of this distant place.
TRAVEL FACTS
HIMALAYAN Tamers can organise travel, accommodation, treks and internal flights, modernladakh.wordpress.com. The Leh-Ladakh tour costs from £373 for two people. Cox & Kings (020 3642 0861; coxandkings.co.uk) has a 14-day private journey to Delhi, Leh and the Nubra Valley from £3,495 pp twin share. Price includes flights from London, transfers, excursions and accommodation on a full-board basis. This itinerary can be tailored to include a trip to Srinigar and a cruise on Dal Lake.