The roof of the world — high-altitude monasteries, moonscapes, and Himalayan highways
Ladakh is a high-altitude plateau in northern India — the former kingdom of Ladakh, now a Union Territory — wedged between the Karakoram Range and the Great Himalayas at an average elevation of 3,500m. The capital Leh sits at 3,524m. The landscape is extraordinary: barren lunar valleys, turquoise glacial rivers, whitewashed Buddhist monasteries perched on clifftops, and some of the world's highest motorable mountain passes (Khardung La, 5,359m; Chang La, 5,360m). The culture is Tibetan Buddhist — prayer flags, spinning mani wheels, gompas with resident monks, and a palpable altitude-mediated…
Ladakh was an independent kingdom for over a thousand years, reaching its greatest extent under King Sengge Namgyal in the 17th century. It was a crossroads on the Silk Road between Central Asia, Tibet, and the Indian plains, with a prosperous trade in pashmina wool, borax, and grain. The kingdom fell to Dogra forces from Jammu in 1834 and was incorporated into British India's princely state of Jammu & Kashmir. Buddhist culture was preserved through centuries of political change — over 100 monasteries (gompas) remain active. Ladakh was separated from Kashmir as an autonomous administrative un…