Ladakh "Land of Passes"

Ladakh is better Known as Land of Passes or Mini Tibet, Ladakh is Land of rich cultural heritage and unique landscape on earth both these aspects make the Ladakh a hot tourist destination of the world. Ladakh is liked by all whether it is an eager traveler, fun visitor, adventure lover, environmentalist, monk in search of peace, photographer and so on.

Leh is the major city of Ladakh which is connected by both air and road for a limited period round the year. Three daily flights are available from Delhi of Air India, Kingfisher and Jet Airways. It is connected by road from Srinagar and Manali via Zozila and Rohtang pass respectively. But these passes get close in winters and remain close for 4 to 5 months. Adventure lovers like to visit Leh via Rohtang Pass from Manali to Leh, is over whelming and life time experience.

Ladakh lies at an altitude from 9000 ft to 25170 feet. At these heights, you are on the roof of the world. As the highest inhabited land in the world, it holds a fascination for many, while for some there is an enchantment of seeing mountains which had been under the sea for million of years. Ladakh is like a forgotten moment in time. It is common of Ladakh to come across villages carved out of veritable mountainside, Stupas reaching the sky, Monasteries virtually hanging from the cliffs. Their interiors are filled with price less antiques and art.

Ladakhi Culture is similar to Tibetan Culture. Ldakhai food has much in common with Tibetan Food, the most prominent food being thupka (noodle soup) ans tsampa know as Ladakhi ngampe (roasted barley flour). Edible without cooking tsampa makes use full trekking food. A dish that is strictly Ladakhi is skyu, a heavy past dish with vegetables. As Ladakh moves towards a cash based economy, foods from the plains are becoming more common. As in other part of central Asia, tea in Ladakh is traditionally made with strong green tea, butter and salt. It is mixed in a larbge churn and known as gurgur cha, after the sound it makes when it is mixed. Sweet tea (Cha ngarmo) is common now, made in Indian style with milk and sugar. Most of the surplus barley that is produced is fermented into Chang, an alc0holic beverage drunk especially on festive occasions.

The architecture of Ladakh contains Tibetan and Indian influences and monastic architecture reflects a deeply Buddhist approach. The Buddhist wheel, along with two dragons, is a common feature on every gompa, including the likes of Lamayuru, Likir, Thikse, Hemis, Alchi and Ridzong Gompa. Many houses and monasteries are built on elevated, sunny sites facing south and in the past were made of rocks, earth and wood but are now more often concrete frames filled in with stones or adobes.

Perhaps there is no better time to tour Leh Ladakh India then during the festive season. Ladakh comes alive during festivals, when people from different corner of Ladakh comes at one place to celebrate and enjoy the festival spirit. Festivals in Ladakh is in fact is the best way to feel the Ladakhi Culture. There are a number of festivals that take place in Leh like Hemis festival in June, Ladakh festival in september, Losar festival in January beside this there are number of other festivals that are held in Ldakh which include amayuru in July, Phiyang from Jult - August after 10 days of Phiyang another festival Tak thok is held. The special feature Phiyang festival is the exhibition of thangka which is done every year unlike the Hemis where thangka is exhibited once in 12 years.

There are may restricted areas in Leh, it is a high altitude desert as the Himalayas create a rain shadow thus prohibiting the entry of monsoon clouds. The main source of water here remains the winter snow fall on the mountains that form the glaciers. Like in rest part of the country where people pray for rain, here Ladakhis pray for glaciers or snow to melt for irrigation and drinking purpose. Surprisingly though, the thin air makes the heat of the sun even more intense than at lower altitudes. Only in Ladakh can a man sitting in the sun with his feet in the shade suffer from sunstroke and frostbite at the same time.