Leh Ladakh pictures
Photo Essays

Escape to the Moonland: Leh Ladakh Pictures

January 22, 2016 / 37 Comments

I was sipping coffee in the cold crisp winter morning in my hometown, when a grain of sand came floating and comfortably settled in my hot drink. The sand rekindled a cherished memory of the year 2012 — The year when I had traveled to Ladakh. Leh Ladakh pictures floated in front of my eyes. It is hard to describe its allure in words. Located in the northern tip of India, Ladakh flaunts a purely central Asian landscape. Let’s take a virtual journey through the ‘Moon Mountains’.

1. The first welcoming view of the Karakoram Range from up above the sky. The crinkled blanket of snow looked like an ice-cream field! Pardon, my gluttony self!

Leh Ladakh pictures
Aerial view of the Karakoram range.

2. I fell in love with the roads of Leh! Can you blame me for this? The bright asphalt, the barren mountains with occasional sprouts of green are perfect from all angles.

Leh Ladakh pictures
Lanes of Leh.

3. Finding remote monasteries that actually dangle from cliffs like this! While exploring I thought to myself what it would be like to live here like a monk aloof from the rest of the world..

Leh Ladakh pictures
A monastery.

4. Check out the view from above the Shanti Stupa of Ladakh!’Shanti’ means peace. It is indeed a perfect place to find solace, enjoy solitude and seek freedom! The mountains stand guarding the flat roofed houses of the locals, such is the bond between human and nature here.

Leh Ladakh pictures
View from Shanti stupa.

5. A very common sight around Khardungla La, Ladakh. This pass is quite challenging a place with minimal oxygen. I was trying to take a selfie here on the snow when my leg slipped and I fell down! God had forgiven my stupidity and I am still alive to write all these!

Leh Ladakh pictures
Around Khardung La.

6. Yes, what you are watching is true. This is a desert with white sands, bound on all sides by the mighty Karakoram Mountains. The animals are double humped bactrian camel which were used as means of transportation in the Silk road! Nowadays they are mostly utilized to provide joys to tourists and a livelihood to the locals.

Leh Ladakh pictures
Hunder — The white sand desert.

7. The Pangong Lake is probably the most popular of all the destinations in Ladakh and also the favorite of Bollywood! The lake stretches from India to China. This is the Indian side. During my stay I experienced the changing colors of the lake. Initially the water was cloud colored, as soon as the cloud cleared a turquoise hue unfolded!

Leh Ladakh pictures
Pangong lake.

8. I concentrated in the cobalt blue horizontal streak across. It is how the Tso moriri Lake looks from the Karzok village. My vocabulary fails to describe the beauty of the journey from Leh to Karzok valley. Wildlife, knolls, meadows, lakes, nomads and what not did we cross!

Leh Ladakh pictures
Tso Moriri.

9. When the car was passing by this lake I felt it to be very odd that the white snow had lumped by the shores of the lake in such a weird pattern. A closer look and surprise! This is not snow but salt, it is a salt water lake. The wild horses only added to the lake’s excellence!

Leh Ladakh pictures
Kyagar Tso.

10. This cute kid with rosy cheeks of Karzok village was running around playing on his own. Four years had passed. Now I wonder how he looks like, I yearn to play with him again. I have started making my plans, I have to return!

Leh Ladakh pictures
A Ladakhi kid in Karzok.

*****

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Tania is a freelance writer based in India who tinkers with words here and there but mostly focused on travel, food, arts and crafts. She writes for several Indian dailies and magazines.

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