Every traveler has a different story of Ladakh! Every traveler has a vision that is different from others, when he is in Ladakh. Every traveler has an experience of his own when he is in  Ladakh! Ladakh, the most enchanting destination in India for world & Indian travelers was on my list for a long time. Yes, I knew that there was a hype about this place and it had its own set of expectations. When I decided that this is the year that I’d go ahead and fulfill my dream of being in this land of the lost bring my sojourns from an experience that I, like any other traveler would have  a different story, a different vision and a different experience to enchant others with, little did I know that all the hype that surrounded Ladakh, was certainly something that we lived up to!

One keeps wondering what’s so different about this beautiful place and why it’s called the Pride of India! Well there are many stories to it and certainly the ever so different and huge landscapes of various geographical terrains are a testament to it. But what’s so different from this place is the amazing culture and the most diverse and the most beautiful landscape it has to offer. Such that many who have traveled the world would find it a notch above their experiences. Add to it, the Himalayan terrain being infamous for its harsh and cold weather when the landscapes are inaccessible to the common people. There’s something mystic about the place especially with its lineage of Buddhism, its tibetian history and most importantly the nomadic culture that most people live by. A perfect destination for a wanderer, a nomad and many a travelers, Ladakh has its own sense of attachment, a bond that builds around various kinds of people.

We started our journey by flying into Leh directly from Mumbai… Yeah, we flew in, unlike most folks who generally do a ride / drive from either Manali or Srinagar mostly… Maybe that’s one thing that’ll be on my list for the next time around… But yeah, usually when you fly in, one day just goes into acclimatization, which could be a good thing in a way… It was a 10 day trip, so we did have a lot of buffer time for ourselves. So yeah, it was good in a way.. And those 10 days were certainly quite enchanting and our journey was certainly something we’d cherish for quite some time. This is how our journey went and here’s a little bit of a photo essay that tells you all

We went to this rooftop restaurant as soon as we freshened up in the hotel room. This was the first view of something really enchanting in Leh, Ladakh and it had to be clicked!

The next day was reserved for local sight seeing… Our first destination on that trip was this place where we saw a confluence of Indus and Zanskar river.

Our next day visit was to the Tso Moriri, or Lake Moriri. They had told us that there was a landslide in the Pangong Tso area and that the route to that lake had closed down. So we were recommended this place and it took us an entire day to reach there and we stayed there overnight… But truly, it was worth it. Tsomoriri or Lake Moriri in the Changthang area, is a High Altitude Lake (HAL) with an altitude of 4,595 m (15,075 ft) in Ladakh, India and is the largest of the High Altitude Lakes in the Trans-Himalayan biogeographic region, entirely within India. It is hemmed between Ladakh in the North and Tibet in the east and Zanskar in the west; the Changthang plateau is the geographical setting with snow peaks that provides the source of water for the Lake. (Wikipedia)

And of course, what good is a visit to Ladakh, if you don’t take the ride to Khardung La… Although we didn’t do the dream ride or ride on an Enfield all the way from Delhi/Manali or Srinagar, this was the least we could do… Something to satisfy our amicable souls… 🙂