With the start of holiday season, everybody is busy planning their holidays to various hill stations and trying to get away from this scorching heat. Here are a lot of strong reasons why Ladakh should be your only holiday destination this summer.
Ladakh is literally translated as, ‘Land of high passes’ in Tibetan and is located at an average altitude of more than 3,000 meters above the sea level. It is sandwiched between the Kunlun mountain range on the north and the Himalayas to the south.
The beauty of this place cannot be expressed in words. So we request you to have a look yourself and decide.
1. Pangong Lake
Pangong Tso, Tibetan for “long, narrow, enchanted lake”, also referred to as Pangong Lake, is an endorheic lake in the Himalayas situated at a height of about 4,350 m. It is 134 km long and extends from India to Tibet.
2. Khardung La – Highest motorable Road in the world
is a high mountain pass located in the Ladakh region of the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. The local pronunciation is “Khardong La” or “Khardzong La,” but, as with most names in Ladakh, the romanised spelling varies
3. Nubra Valley
Nubra is a tri-armed valley located to the north east of Ladakh valley. Diskit the capital of Nubra is about 150 km north from Leh town, the capital of Ladakh district, India. Local scholars say that its original name was Ldumra
4. Magnetic Hill
Magnet Hill is a so-called “gravity hill” located near Leh in Ladakh, India. The “magnet Hill” is located on the Leh-Kargil-Srinagar national highway, about 30 km from Leh, at a height of 11,000 feet above sea level.
5. Spituk Gompa
Spituk Monastery, also better as Spituk Gompa or Pethup Gompa, is a Buddhist monastery in Leh district, Ladakh, northern India. 8 kilometres from Leh. The site of Spituk was blessed by the Arhat Nyimagung.
6. Tso Moriri
Tso Moriri or Lake Moriri Tibetan: ལྷ་མོའི་བླ་མཚོ, Wylie: lha mo bla mtsho, is a lake in the Ladakhi part of the Changthang Plateau in Jammu and Kashmir in northern India. The lake is at an altitude of 4,522 m
7. Zanskar valley
The densely populated Zanskar valley is a part of the tri-armed valley system and is the most isolated of all the other Himalayan valleys. Nestled beautifully between two alpine lakes and snow-clad mountain peaks, Zanskar valley is the ideal trekking location in Ladakh. The Drang-Drung, a tributary of the Zanskar river, carries the largest glacier in Ladakh- the Drang-Drung glacier.
8. Hemis
A small town to the southeast of Ladakh, Hemis is synonymous with the Hemis monastery. The largest and highly majestic monastery has a rich cultural heritage and is said to have been built in the 11th century. It was later reconstructed by King Sengge Namgyal.
9. Alchi
Another small town in Ladakh and a part of a conglomeration of villages, Alchi is located at the banks of the Indus River. The town houses the famous Alchi complex or group of temples, of which the Alchi Monastry is the oldest and most popular. The distinction between the Alchi complex and other monasteries in Ladakh is that the Alchi complex is situated at a lower altitude.
10. Lamayuru
Legend has it that centuries ago, the present day Lamayuru region was a lake-filled valley, which was magically dried up by renowned Buddhist yogi Mahasiddha Naropa. Later, the valley was covered in rocks and Mahasiddha Naropa then went on to establish the Lamayuru monastery.
Featured Image – Active Adventures