I went to Ladakh in India with my family in the summer of 2022, just before leaving for US. Ladakh is a state at the top of India, bordering China and Pakistan. It is at a high altitude and is filled with beautiful mountains, valleys and lakes.
I think I haven't seen something more beautiful than what i saw in Ladakh. The state holds a special place in my heart because of the natural beauty, and the memories i made in the 1 week i was there. I definitely want to go again and I am hoping I can do it once i am done with the PhD.
Here are some photos:
We flew in to Leh, the capital of Ladakh from Delhi. The flight offers amazing views if you're sitting on the window side. We flew over the Himalayas in Himachal Pradesh, and while landing the plane makes sharp turns inside the valley so you get a really nice view of the mountains surrounding the city. I have a video of the landing but just a photo won't explain how good it felt to see all of it from the window!
Once we got acclimatized to the high altitude of Leh and Ladakh, we started our trip by going towards Nubra Valley. The drive from Leh to Nubra goes through Khardung La Pass, which is among the highest motorable roads in the world. The road is at an elevation 17,500 ft and people are suggested to not step outside the car for more than a few minutes to avoid altitude sickness. In Nubra Valley, we visited the Diksit Monastery, which offers a nice view of the valley and has a really pleasant looking statue of Lord Buddha.
Later in Nubra Valley, we drove to the northernmost border of India with Pakistan. I don't particularly remember the border village or the post, but what left a remark on me was the rough but beautiful drive through mountains to the extremely remote village at the edge of India. We passed through a couple of villages and I saw people there, and how they seemed just so disconnected with rest of the India and world. It just made me feel something that is hard to describe. We also went to the Siachen Glacier Base Camp while we were in Nubra Valley. That was another long but beautiful drive through rough terrains. It was interesting to see how the army spends so much resources to defend and man the glacier.
After Nubra Valley, we drove towards the Eastern part of Ladakh, to see the famous Pangong Tso lake! We drove from Siachen Base Camp to a town near Pangong Tso on the same day and it was one of the most interesting drives I have ever done. The roads were really rough and bad, the weather towards the end got stormy (sand storms + thundering + rain), and all of it in an extremely remote mountain area with no mobile network and no other human around us. There was actually a genuine fear of a part of road being flooded on the way and we were really racing to make sure we cross that area before it floods. But thank god, despite everything, we managed to reach our destination at night safely.
In the next few days, we visited Pangong Tso, Rezang La War memorial and Hanle (for stargazing). Again the drive was extremely beautiful and remote. I loved that there was no one around us! We couldn't see the stars because it was too cloudy but to me the extra 5 hr drive through rough mountains was still worth it because of the amazing views on the way. There's also a lot to tell how i feel about Pangong Tso and Rezang La but i'll skip to keep things short.
We finally returned to Leh and spent another day exploring the town before it was time to head back to Delhi. The trip meant a lot to me for different reasons. I have framed the photo of Pangong Tso and put it up on my apartment. And there's another copy on my desk at UT. Almost every day I have been in US, I have looked at that photo and told myself I'll come back to see Ladakh again after I finish PhD. It's something to look forward to!
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