Leh Ladakh road trip: Through the winding roads and jagged, snow-capped mountains
- Pragya Dubey
- Jul 17, 2022
- 7 min read
The land of monks and monasteries and seemingly barren landscapes provides such a scenic backdrop to a road trip that boasts of iconic landscapes and innumerable hidden treasures. The wide expanses of cobalt blue skies, almost sky-touching Himalayas, glistening waters and ever-changing terrains will surely engulf you in their charm. I will try my best to share the experiences I lived and the thoughts that occurred during a spectacular 9-day trip to Leh.
I take the longest of pauses when asked about the Leh trip. What might look like a thoughtful pause in an effort to summarize my feelings about this slice of heaven, is my sheer inability to crystallize all of it in a sentence or two. What Leh offers just cannot be summed up in words, especially when every turn brings about a different color scheme, a different landscape!
First impressions that lasted
When you start your descent for the Kushok Bakula Rimpochee Airport, you see hordes of the mighty Himalayan range making a jagged centerpiece, impeccably sprinkled with fresh snow. More focused glimpses reveal trails amid these stunning mountains, forcing us to wonder about the people and animals that dare to wander through that vast span of nothingness. With such a grand welcome, you know what awaits will be beyond beautiful in every sense.
Itinerary snapshot
Day 1, 2: Leh | Day 3, 4: Diskit (For Nubra, Hundar, Turtuk) | Day 5: Pangong Lake | Day 6: Hanle | Day 7: Leh
Day 1:
The importance of acclimatizing cannot be emphasized enough. There are actual (and possibly severe) health repercussions if you do not acclimatize yourself properly. This is especially true when landing in Leh directly; the people who choose to do a road trip to Leh are already acclimatized to the gradual altitude rise.
On our day of arrival, we took it slow - spent some time at our homestay and ogled at the contrasting colors of snow, mountains, clear skies, and tall (but barren at the time) pine trees. After getting acquainted with the mystic beauty all around, we left for a stroll at the Leh market. The market is full of hand-knitted, bright-colored woolens - all done by the local Ladakhi women!
As we did not want to make the day hectic, we shopped a bit before heading to the Lehvenda cafe - I am not kidding when I say that I still dream of this place and the cold breeze that calmed me so much while sipping their skillfully done Latte (cherry on the cake is the spectacular outline of the Leh palace that you can see from here!).
Day 2:
Day two was all about exploring the west Indus valley region. Starting with the Sangam point, we drove up to Lamayuru. As a whole, what started as a predominantly brown terrain slowly segued into shades of deep pink and purple.
The confluence of the Zanskar and Indus rivers, 35 km west of Leh, can be clearly seen because of the stark difference in the color of the water originating from the two rivers but converging into one. Zanskar is the muddy green, while the glistening blue is Indus! Via Magneti Hill, we made our way to reach Alchi. Alchi monastery is one of the very few that are situated on low lands, as opposed to a majority of monasteries that are situated on hilltops. The way to the main monastery complex is lined with beautiful prayer bells and you loosen the grip over your obnoxiously self-indulgent thoughts and soak up the old-world charm of this place.
The most spectacular drive for this day was from Alchi to Lamayuru. We were all amazed at the rate of change in the landscape's color schemes. At one point, the mountains bathed in sunlight, giving off a rich purple hue with hints of pink! Lamayuru is a little over 100 km from Leh, but the drive makes it so worthwhile. It is given the name 'moonscape' for it offers incredible views of spectacularly odd geographical formations, giving it a (perceivably) moon-like terrain.
Day 3:
We averaged five hours of driving per day from day three onwards because our goals were quite high and surprisingly, we met them without incident. After a hearty breakfast, we bid goodbye to our homestay host (only to be back towards the end of the trip :D) and started our journey to Nubra and Hundar. On our way would be Khardung La (~18,000 ft), one of the highest motorable passes in the world. This was the only place throughout our journey where we encountered fresh snow - easily distinguishable layers of snow (from solid, days-old to newly fallen, fluffy one) make it an intriguing site and a one you wish to behold.
The road from Khardung La to Nubra is quite treacherous at places but beyond beautiful nonetheless. The first glimpse of the Hundar desert, right after the majestic views of snow-covered mountains comes as a serendipitous find and is still deeply etched in my mind. The sheer breadth of terrains and landscapes that Leh has on offer is incomprehensible, and all that with the Himalayas as a constant backdrop. It is such a humbling experience to just be and take in all you can!
After finding a homestay in Diskit, we frolicked in the desert for a bit and embraced the grandeur of Nubra. The pristine spread of sand, appearing to kowtow beneath the foot of the mountains gives such a resounding assurance about all the beauty that lies around.
Day 4:
While keeping Diskit as our base, we left for Turtuk early morning. It's the most picturesque village I have ever seen and comes with a fascinating history. During the Indo-Pakistan war of 1947-48, Turtuk came under the control of Pakistan, like much of the Baltistan region. But during the war of 1971, India reclaimed this village along with some other small regions. The stunning turquoise waters of river Shyok become a constant companion, continuing up to the village. This village, sandwiched between two nations that fail to see eye to eye, has way too many stories about partition and wars, mostly offering a unique perspective of personal losses that continue to live.
Not to forget, the apricot blooms add such a deep layer of pleasantness to the already exceptional aesthetics of this place! "Under enemy watch" disclaimers can be found at multiple places around the village, relentlessly adding a degree of spookiness to the overall vibe.
Since we were traveling during what may be called an off-season, Diskit had very few hotels and restaurants open. On our way back to our homestay, we made a stop at the Stone Hedge hotel and spent our evening recollecting the beautiful moments that we had lived through the day!
Day 5:
We were super thrilled to start our day early as our next destination was Pangong Tso. It won't be wrong to say that Pangong lake might be the most photographed location of Leh (made worse after 3 Idiots!). I was curious to find out if it lives up to that incessant hype. As with all the other destinations in Leh, the journey in itself is so breathtaking that we knew midway that the views of and from the lake would blow our minds. The lake was completely frozen and some might argue that we could not see the true beauty of the place, since the color of the water and the reflections of the sky make it more remarkable. I would love to revisit and see it in summer, but I am also a total fan of the frozen lake. It was just us on the whole lake and no outpouring of people, which made the whole experience so surreal.
Not to miss mentioning, there's a tiny village on the way to Pangong Tso. It's called Lukung and it displays the perfect idyllic setting, often characteristic of typical fairytale countryside.
Day 6:
This was our longest day on road, which turned out to be supremely rewarding as we found ourselves under a sky that was chock-full of stars. We started our road trip from Man and our end destination was Hanle (Hanle observatory is currently the tenth highest optical, infrared and gamma-ray telescope in the world). On the way was the Rezang La memorial, built to mark our accomplishments in the Sino-India war of 1962.
We stayed at Padma homestay, one of the very few homestays in the region. The hosts were super welcoming and pampered us with some amazing food and coffee! In summers, you can easily see the head of the milky way from here. At the moment, it was still winter and we could only faintly see the tail of the milky way. Below are a few shots captured on Insta 360 but these do no justice to the celestial show that we witnessed with naked eyes.
It is extremely unfortunate how we have distanced ourselves from the overwhelmingly splendid elements of nature. Under a blanket of stars lay a not-so-gentle reminder that we all need to preserve nature, and perseveringly so!
Hanle is a must-visit as the route to this small, quiet and away-from-the-crowd village offers exceptional views. The road between Pangong Tso and Hanle is heavily militarised and you will witness several army settlements and movements on the road. The heightened activities in this region further aggravated after the 2020 standoff.
Day 7:
We embarked on the journey back to Leh with heavy hearts as the reality of the trip drawing to a close had started gripping us. Irrespectively, the journey back is again exceptional as you cross small patches of deserts and small rivers against the grandeur of the Himalayas. What started as a journey where we made frequent stops to click pictures and fill our phones with panoramic beauty, slowly turned into a realization that it is virtually impossible to capture all of it anyway.
On the way to Leh, we stopped at the Thiksey monastery and were blown by the exceptional vantage-point views from the top. After taking in all we could, we left for Leh and checked in at the same homestay we were staying at the beginning of our trip.
Day 8:
This was a complete leisure day for us and we paced it out such. For some reason, we had missed visiting the Shanti Stupa on our day of arrival so we visited it on our last day here. It's the best place to mark the end of the trip as it gives you that quietude that helps you gather your thoughts and be ready for routine, city life.:P We hung around a bit in the market and shopped for souvenirs. For dinner, we tried out the best pizza place in the upper Leh market - it goes by the name Sorriso's and they serve such decadent thin-crust pizzas.
On day 9, we had a morning flight back to New Delhi. It is definitely a must-do road trip that transcends into a beautiful and bountiful introspective journey, while retaining the power to smash you with its exceptional beauty and remind you to be in the present!
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