At least it will feel like it. Temperatures range from -22 C and +20 C, which makes packing for your visit a little difficult but worthwhile. Although "The Level of High Passes" may feel secluded, Ladakh was a strategic location because it's located at the crossroads of important trade routes. There are also many monasteries scattered around, which account for the small population that lives in the area. It never rains; the only water source comes from the melted ice and snow from the mountains. Don't worry about remembering your umbrella.
Also known as the Land of the High Passes, Ladakh is situated across Kashmir Valley between two world famous mountain ranges, the Himalayn Mountains and the Karakorum Range.
There is very little precipitation in Ladakh; in fact, it does not receive any water from the rain whatsoever for almost 300 days out of the year.
The temperature fluctuations here are certainly perplexing, rocketing between -22 degrees Celsius (-8 degrees Fahrenheit) to 20+ degrees Celsius (68 degrees Fahrenheit).
It is said to be one of the only places in the world where a person can experience a sun stroke and frostbite at the same time.
We departed our hotel just before 8:30am and set off for the first of two monasteries we had planned to see that day. The three monasteries we planned on seeing were all within a few kilometers of the major (don’t read that as large or well maintained) road that connects Leh with Srinigar (the main city in the Kasmir Valley). Our driver told us that we would spend the morning driving to the furthest away monastery before stopping off at the other two on our way back into town later that afternoon. It was lightly raining for over the first hour of the trip which prevented our pictures from... read more
After two amazing days in Leh, it was time to make our way south. We had four days to get to the city of Amritsar which is where we had a flight booked on July 2nd for Mumbai. There are no flights or trains that connect Leh with Amritsar so we knew we were going to be forced to take a few uncomfortable bus rides to get there. The total distance between these two cities is less than 1,000km (625 miles), so four days seemed like plenty of time considering you could easily cover this distance in a day back in the states. The reason it takes so long to travel such a short distance is because th... read more
On our final day in Leh, we decided to take in the amazing scenery while rafting the Zanskar river from Chilling to Nimmu. We were picked up from our hotel around 8PM and headed to pick up the other rafters. We were suddenly in the midst of one of Leh’s many military buses and a couple joined us. The man was in the Indian Air Force and was currently on leave and vacationing in Leh with his wife. We were on our way to Chilling about an hour and a half away in no time. The drive was similar to the previous days tour, but I have to say that the road along the river was flat-out scary. The ... read more
