It’s been a long time since this trip, and much has changed in my life since then. My daughter has gotten into medical school, I’ve traveled to Kashmir, lost a beloved family member and my health and fitness. Yet, better late than never, I recollect a beautiful trip to the far northern end of India, the stunning raw union territory of Leh and Ladakh.

At the time that we traveled to Ladakh (July 2022), it was almost 3 years since my last trip, thanks to the Coronavirus and all its merry mutations. My brilliantly planned Italy trip after my teen’s grade 10 exams got canceled and replaced by tiny local trips over the next 2 years, while Covid kept rearing its ugly head now and again.

So, when most of the threat of Covid died down in March 2022, I actually dared to plan a holiday as soon as the teen’s medicine preparatory exams would end. The insecurity about the actual date of the exam (which had been postponed umpteen times), the world state, lack of a valid passport for the teen and of course, the hubby’s disgust for international travel made it possible to only short-list an Indian holiday. Once again, there was chaos and fights. The hubby and teen wanted to chill in Goa, I wanted a longer travel. Finally, I won and once again, set about painstakingly planning. July end being smack in the midst of Indian monsoons, we chose to travel to a place in the rain shadow of the Himalayas, the land of high passes, Leh and Ladakh.

That’s the story of how we got Leh’d. It was fairly easy to plan as most Ladakh trips follow a set travel route and my brother-in-law and friend had just been there. Of course, I have a penchant for overthinking, overplanning, etc, so it took a bit longer than it should have.

We paid extra for refundable tickets and hotels and then forgot about the trip till the date of the exam, as we were leaving that very night. Obviously, there was a lot to do that night till our flight at 3am, including packing, coloring hair and dealing with an angry teen, who just realized that instead of finally getting to sleep, she was staying up all night to catch a flight.

Luckily, one can’t stay grumpy too long when the sun rises to show the most outstanding views.

The landing at Leh airport was a narrow strip between tall mountain ranges and I marveled at the skill of the pilot who expertly and smoothly steered us to a clean landing. We exited swiftly and were outside the airport at the bright hour of 6 am.

Picked up on time, we left the airport to the bluest sky I have ever seen. This stunning blue stayed constant through our trip. We also were surrounded by dry dusty plains, poplar and willow trees in between, rivers and rivulets and tall barren mountains, some topped with snow, throughout our journey through Ladakh.

Our pretty hotel was representative of the architecture throughout Leh city. As we flew directly into Leh, it was mandatory to acclimatize to the high altitude and thin air by staying 48 hours in Leh.

The ceiling lights caught my attention, but not for long, as I fell asleep pretty soon. We spent most of our first day sleeping, but by evening we were bored and decided to take a small walk outside our hotel.

We saw the Shanti stupa in the distance and thought of walking till there, but soon realized it was very far and at quite an elevation.

Returning back, a movement high up in the mountains caught our eye. A pair of cyclists had reached the top of the mountain and were setting off on their way back. Ladakh is truly an adventure seekers dream!

A hearty meal and a good night’s rest later, we were set to go local sightseeing in Leh. This too has a set pattern of Hall of Fame, Gurudwara Paththar Sahib, magnetic hill and the Sangam of rivers Indus and Zanskar.

The Hall of Fame is a museum built to honor the soldiers of the Kargil war. It’s a moving experience to see the tough conditions in Kargil, and the pictures and names of those we lost there.

Right outside the museum is this serene statue of the Buddha, with a message, “It is better to conquer yourself than to win a thousand battles.” So true.

From there, we drove on to the gurudwara. It was a stunning drive on long empty roads with the tall mountains alongside, interspersed with tiny areas filled with trees.

Leh and Ladakh is all about the journey. Sure, the destination is good too, but the drive is much better. As we drove to the gurudwara, we ascended a little and came upon this amazing viewpoint.

It took a while to reach the gurudwara, but it was a stunning road and gurudwara. I love these quieter places of worship much more than temples. This gurudwara is operated by the army personnel, is spotlessly clean and serves the most delicious sheera as you exit.

From there, we went to the very over-hyped magnetic hill, that was not even worth the long drive

Even though this day’s itinerary was “local” Leh sightseeing, it took the better part of the day as all the distances were large.

A short drive later, we reached the viewpoint over the Sangam (union) of the rivers Indus and Zanskar. The Indus (also called Sindhu), which originates in Tibet, was where the great ancient Indus valley civilization began. We stayed by it during our later trip to Kashmir, when we visited Sonmarg (Kashmir-May 2023-Sonmarg). The Indus is joined by the Zanskar at this Sangam point in Leh, where the two differently colored streams are seeing merging into each other.

The rivers have different colors at different times of the year. When my brother-in-law visited in May, the Indus was stunning turquoise green.

The rivers freeze completely in winters, when the famous Chadar trek takes place over the Zanskar river. But in the summers, the flow in both rivers is strong because of the melting glaciers. In fact, river rafting takes place just a few kilometers ahead of this Sangam.

We drove along the Indus to get to the Sangam at the river level.

The bridge was too pretty to resist getting to, so we drove ahead of the Sangam point to get to it.

The Sangam point was crowded with tourists and hawkers. It’s amazing how we Indians can turn a 50-meter area into a tourist destination!

Exhausted by the heat, we had a wonderful lunch at a lovely cafe in the marketplace, that my brother-in-law had loved on his trip and would become a staple choice for us as well.

After a delicious meal, we headed to the hotel to sleep. We stepped out in the evening to go to the Shanti Stupa, near our hotel. The beautiful white Stupa, built on a small hillock, had a lovely cafe with views over the city of Leh.

We stayed till the sun set, watching the different colors of the sky and the lights come on in Leh and on the Stupa itself.

We walked down to our hotel and enjoyed a hearty supper and slept early, for we had to wake early the next day to travel to Nubra valley. We would spend 2 nights there and a lot of hours traveling but enjoyed that experience thoroughly too.