Ladakh - The Land of High Passes

Ladakh is the region of high passes which seperates the peaks of the western Himalaya from the vast tibetan plateau. ladakh is often called the little tibet also. This is particularly evident in the Indus Valley wiht its monastries on hill tops. Padum is the capital of more remote Zanskar and Nubra Valley which has lots of Buddhist Heritage. Kargil and Suru valley are predominantly Shitte Muslim. 

NOTE : Special permits are required to go to remote areas, Don't rely much on credit cards. 

Geography of Ladakh

Ladakh is bordered to the south west by Great Himalyas with some of the highest peaks of NUN (7135 mts) and KUN (7087 mts) which are highest peaks in Kashmir himalyas. The region is drained by the Zanskar River joining the Indus river est of Leh.

The Stok range immediately south of Leh is an impressive outlier of Zanskar Range, while north of Leh is the snow capped Ladkah Range. North of the Ladakh Range, the Nubra and Shyok rivers drain the huge peaks of the eastern karakoram, including Rimo (7385 mts) and Teram Kangri (7464 mts) which define the northern border of Ladakh. 

In east of Ladakh are several Tsos (Lakes) like Pangong Tso which forms the border with Tibet, and Tso Moriri and Tso Kar.

Climate

The temperatures are extreme in Ladakh. The sunshine is ample almost 300 days a year and very strong - better to use good sunscreen lotion. Over past few years due to GlOBAL WARMING, there are many climatic changes. Averate summer (June to September) and Winter (October to May) temberatures are :-

REGION                     Summer                                  Winter

LEH                           -3 to 29 Deg celsius              -15 to 15 deg celsius

NUBRA VALLEY            -3 to 30 deg celsius              -20 to 13 deg celsius

Kargil                          0 to 38 deg celsius              -17 to 12 deg celsius