Early morning we boarded our flight from Delhi to Leh and embarked on an expedition. To give me company during the trip were the fun loving women from WOW club, whom I met as strangers but ended up making friends and having so much fun with them that most of the awesome time I had was due to the laughter and chats we had along our journey......


Half an hour later, on looking from the windows,it looks like we have traversed into a different world. If at all paradise exists, it would surely look like this!

Clear blue skies and the magnificent snow covered Himalayas right below us! Words are inadequate to describe such beauty!

     

View from the window

The Majestic Himalayas

The place has strange charm about it. I have traveled to so many places before but never have I felt such serenity.

 Majestic Himalayan peaks surrounding the quaint little town,the barren landscape,colorful fluttering prayer flags and the long unending roads spreading between the cold mountain desert add to the grandeur of the place.

 Leh is surrounded by Tibet in the east,  Lahaul and Spiti in the south and the Nubra Valley in the south east. The whole of the district is mountainous with three parallel ranges of the Himalayas,the Zanskar,the Laddakh and the Karakoram. Between these ranges,the Shayok, Indus and Zanskar rivers flow and most of the population lives in valley of these rivers.

On our first day of stay, we made our way to try some local Tibetan cuisines in the nearby Leh market.Little had I expected that I would savour the local cuisine so much! Since I get very hungry at cold places, I did not miss any chance to try local cuisines whenever I got the opportunity....

Thukpa 

                                 

Local cuisine

Leh Market

Shanti Stupa

View  from Shanti stupa

    The Hall of Fame, located near the Leh Airfiled, is a museum constructed as well as maintained by the Indian Army in the memory of the soldiers who had lost their lives during the Indo-Pak wars. A visit to Leh is incomplete without going to this museum. There are artifacts of Kargil wars, stories of soldiers and the equipments used by Indian army in the extreme cold temperatures of Siachen. 

Sangam, confluence of the Indus and The Zanskar

Colourful prayer flags on the way

On our way to Lamayuru  Monastery

Lamayuru monastary at Lamayouro in Shrinagar Leh highway

Prayer Wheels at Lamayuru

Young lamas 

Ladakhi kitchen at Namra

           

Dining area of ladakhi homes

We finally reached our destination, Namra camp.The hotel is a rural ethnic village,spread over a vast area with beautiful tents, offering a relaxed vacation! We stayed one day at this place before heading towards Alchi.

Next morning,we made our way to the Alchi monastery, an ancient monastery located in the Alchi village. There was a tiny market on the way to the monastery with the shops filled with colorful, attractive little souvenirs and statues. 

In the market, I spotted an attractive dining area and decided to give it a try. I went in and was amazed! 

Alchi's Kitchen is a pretty little Ladakhi home run by some local women who were busy preparing meals in their beautiful kitchen. They greeted me very warmly and suggested me to try a special apricot tea and some dim sums. I absolutely loved the fresh home made apricot tea, and the yummy dim sums! I wished like staying there for hours, so marvelous was the place.....

Beautiful Souvenir shops at Alchi

The beautiful interior of Alchi's Kitchen

Pangong Lake

The best season to visit Ladakh is between April-September. It's  best to plan a trip on your own rather than any tour package because then you have more freedom to explore places on your own. Taxis and Royal Enfields are available for rent. Treking and river rafting is organised by many local tour companies......

 I personally prefer homestays as the staying option because it's a wonderful opportunity to get to know the simple lifestyles of the local people and make friendships. One can find many nice staying options in airbnb. India Untraveled also offers some homestays in lesser known Ladakh villages for adventurers along with volunteering and trekking opportunities for sustainable development of the region. 

It's rightly said,travel is the only thing which makes you richer...