Duration:8 Nights / 9 Days
Area: 98,000sq km
Altitude: 7,500m Max.
Population: 250000
Religion: Buddhism, Islam. Hindu Locational
Status: Cold Desert
Its landscape, sky, shooting stars, silence, wizened faces, rosy cheeks,
dragons and Zen – everything makes Ladakh a quite place to visit. This ethereal cold
desert that goes by names such as ‘The Last Shangrila’, Moonscape, Little
Tibet and so many others – all of which ring true, is a land that seldom
fails to baffle or surprise. The start and rugged landscape is situated amidst
multiple-hued mountains, some smooth enough to rub your cheeks on, others
scraggly as though termites have had a go at them for breakfast.
Miles and stretches of this never-never land, surprised by quaint little vibrant
green hamlets oozing wild roses and lavender, fringe the life-giving Indus
River. Ladakh is a land like no other. Bounded by two of the world's mightiest
mountain ranges, the Great Himalaya and the Karakoram, it lies athwart two
other, the Ladakh range and the Zanskar range. In geological terms, this is
a young land, formed only a few million years ago by the buckling and folding
of the earth's crust as the Indian sub-continent pushed with irresistible
force against the immovable mass of Asia. Its basic contours, uplifted by
these unimaginable tectonic movements, have been modified over the millennia
by the opposite process of erosion, sculpted into the form we see today by
wind and water. Yes, water! Today, a high -altitude desert, sheltered from
the rain-bearing clouds of the Indian monsoon by the barrier of the Great
Himalaya, Ladakh was once covered by an extensive lake system, the vestiges
of which still exist on its south -east plateau of Rupshu and Chushul - in
drainage basins with evocative names like Tsomoiri, Tsokar, and grandest of
all, Pangong-tso. Occasionally, some stray monsoon clouds do find their way
over the Himalaya, and lately this seems to be happening with increasing frequency.
But the main source of water remains the winter snowfall. Drass, Zanskar and
the Suru Valley on the Himalaya's northern flank receive heavy snow in winter;
this feeds the glaciers whose meltwater, carried down by streams, irrigates
the fields in summer. For the rest of the region, the snow on the peaks is
virtually the only source of water. As the crops grow, the villagers pray
not for rain, but for sun to melt the glaciers and liberate their water. Usually
their prayers are answered, for the skies are clear and the sun shines for
over 300 days in the year.
