Leh, Ladakh Diaries
Leh’D: If you have not read my previous Ladakh Travelogues read them here: Ladakh Diaries
So after completing our dinner in Kargil, we got up the next morning to start to our next destination to get Leh’D.
Leh holds a special place for anyone who is going on a Ladakh Road-trip. It is the headquaters of the District and was also the capital of Ladakh kingdom. The mountain town is at a altitude of 11,562ft (ASL). Most of us do the mistake of combining and calling it Leh Ladakh which is not the case and it is just Leh.
How to Reach Leh from KargilOwn Vehicle: The route we took is provided as a embed from Google Maps and covers most of the scenic places that you would like to visit. There are two routes that you can take, one is the Srinagar – Leh Highway as we have selected, else you can take the route via Batalik.
Public Transport: JSKRTC runs Deluxe, Semi Deluxe and Ordinary Services from Srinagar to Leh which has a stop over in Kargil. These buses are economical and run by the state run road transport. The route offers some breath taking views and it is advisable to book tickets a day before the journey date.
Transport Vehicles: You can ask hire a taxi from Srinagar for the entire Leh travel and sight-seeing as well. There are many hotels which offer this as a package from Leh which includes stay, food and Leh and surrounding areas sight-seeing which includes Pangong Tso.
Leh’D While Traveling to Leh
We started around 09:15 hrs from our hotel in Kargil and had a long list of destinations scheduled for the day, you should ensure that you have the below in your go-to list for sure in the order:
- Namik La
- Fotu La
- Khalatse
- Alchi Choskhor
- Likir Gompa
- Nimmo
- Basgo Gompa
- Nimu
- Indus and Zanskar Sangam
- Magnetic Hill
- Gurudwara Pathar Sahib
- Hall of Fame
- Leh Palace
- Shanti Stupa
- Besides all the attractions this one stands out and that would be the “Hall of Fame” for you, near the Leh Airport as you enter the city. This is a must visit for who ever visits this destination without a miss.
Also, You might also be interested to read the Kargil Travelogue.
2. Shanti Stupa is another wonderful destination, reaching which you spend the time in peace. This was built in 1991 as a part of the Peace Pagoda mission by a Japanese Buddhist Monk. https://www.instagram.com/p/BnoIGOOj1eN/?taken-by=travelwithsrikanth 3. Third in this list in Leh, is the Leh Palace, known for its grandeur. The palace resembles the Potala Palace located in Lhasa and was built in the 16th Century.
Where to Stay in Leh
Noteworthy Options to consider:
- The Grand Dragon (Four Star Property)
- Hotel City Palace
- Radhus Inn (Only draw back is parking but you can park very close to the property and this is where we stayed for the night)
Coming to our story, as I shared earlier that we started at around 09:15 hours from our Hotel in Kargil, we were on our journey visiting multiple places as listed above, what caught our attention and was not a planned stopover at all was the Hall of Fame, we were able to give our son a perspective of how the Indian Army was safe guarding our borders and the sacrifices of the brave soldiers for their motherland.
After crossing the Kargil bridge, to continue onto the Srinagar – Leh highway, we crossed two very decent passes Namik La and FotuLa. The road conditions at these passes was superb with the roads freshly laid.
Somewhere after crossing NamikLa we entered a village and decided to have a snack and didnot find much to have other than a few shops. We decided to but the Kashmiri Apples.
Best part is us purchasing two kilograms of Apples at ₹70 total and a few chips packets from the friendly locals there, besides which we took a few wollen gloves and socks. I never realized that Apples could be this cheap anywhere while I do understand transportation costs. Taste of these were just Yum!
From here, we headed to Lamayuru Monastery, after crossing Fotu La. Lamayuru and Alchi are the two oldest Gompa’s in this region.
Lamayuru or Yuru Monastery is very famously known as the “Moonland of Ladakh”,you could visit the Monastery and also have a stroll in the village. https://www.instagram.com/p/Bn1TUkRDarG/?taken-by=travelwithsrikanth You could explore the small outlets for a quick snack as did we having yummy Maggi in one of the outlet after our visit.
Second part of Our Journey to Leh
Tourist Attractions in and around Ladakh Region
Furthermore, Ladakh region has many destinations that could be accessed from Leh, Kargil which will serve the adventure seekers and tourists alike. Few recommendations for you to explore are:
- Zanskar (by the Suru River)
- Padum which is in the Zanskar region and is home to Stagrimo Gompa
- Karsha located in the Padum Valley and home to Karsha Gompa and a few temples and Stog river
- Phugtal Gompa in the Zanskar region
- Zangla Gompa, Zangla in the Zanskar region
- Stongdey which has the second largest Gompa in the region
- Rangdum which is a popular destination en-route Zanskar and home to Rangdum Gompa and Lingshet Monastery
- Shyok Valley
- Sankoo
- Panamik known for its hot water springs
There are even more destinations, which I may have not covered here, therefore, I request you to share if you know of any in the comments below and would be glad to add them to the list. Finally, Ladakh region is a destination that you cannot cover in a week or two and would definitely need visit atleast a few times to cover the wonders this region has on offer in the Himalayan region of Jammu and Kashmir. Maybe, I need to plan a visit again probably sometime soon. We need to protect our nature, and for that reason, I would appeal from my side to all travelers to keep the Himalayas clean and litter free. Keep the region Plastic-Free. Until my next post on the journey from Leh to Hunder, this is Srikanth signing off!
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