City of Leh

Perched high in the Indus Valley and ringed by the bare, sculpted ridges of Ladakh, Leh is the gateway to one of the most extraordinary landscapes in the Himalaya. Once a caravan town on the old trade routes linking Kashmir, Tibet and Central Asia, it remains a place where Tibetan Buddhist culture is woven into daily life, where prayer flags snap in the thin mountain air and where the silence of the high desert feels almost tangible.

The town itself is crowned by the nine-storey Leh Palace, a smaller cousin of the Potala in Lhasa, with the ruined Namgyal Tsemo Gompa rising above it. Beyond the bazaar lie the great monasteries that give the region its soul: Thiksey, with its tiered whitewashed buildings cascading down a hillside; Hemis, the largest and wealthiest gompa; and serene Diskit and Alchi a little further afield. Each holds richly painted prayer halls, towering statues and butter-lamp-lit chapels.

The landscape is the other great draw. Day trips lead to the surreal turquoise of Pangong Lake, the dunes and double-humped camels of the Nubra Valley, and Khardung La, one of the highest motorable passes anywhere. The colours are stark and beautiful, ochre rock against deep blue sky and ribbons of green barley along the river.

A visit unfolds slowly, partly because Leh sits at considerable altitude and rewards a gentle, acclimatising pace. Mornings might mean a quiet monastery prayer ceremony, afternoons a stroll through apricot orchards or a cup of butter tea with a local family.

For anyone planning a Himalayan journey, Leh offers an experience found nowhere else in India, a meeting of dramatic high-desert scenery, living Buddhist tradition and warm Ladakhi hospitality that lingers long after the descent home.