A short, touristy trip to Ladakh

I went on this trip with 3 friends - all living in Dubai. Two of them were from Lebanon and one was an Indian. The landscape is unique (specially in India). You can compare it to the Great Gobi Desert of Mongolia - i.e - a cold desert - where it never really rains. Low rainfall and high altitude turn Ladakh into a cold desert on the other side of the Himalayas. Grey barren mountains with islands of green - the beauty is difficult to describe in words and has to be experienced.

For us it was a short 4 day trip. Not the ideal duration - ideally go for atleast 7 to 8 days. BUT if you are short on time and want to quickly cover the most popular tourist spots, then this will be a good list of places to cover. The trip cost was INR 12000/ person. We stayed in the Hotel Glacier View - comfortable - with patchy (as in most of Leh) wifi. We booked a taxI to take us to Pangong and Nubra and we stayed overnight in Nubra. The taxi cost us Rs 15000. Khardungla and Changla are passes enroute to Nubra Valley and Pangong lake respectively. These are some of the highest Motorable roads in the world - a tad risky - because of the bad road conditions - but all worth the adventure.

In Nubra valley try staying in the tents instead of the hotels. They are beautiful. The most touristy thing to do in Nubra valley is the camel ride. The camels are double humped and found only in the cold desert Climate.

Important Tip: Ladakh is more about the journey on the road than the destinations I have mentioned. Watch out for some fabulous scenery while driving and try and click more pictures than I did during my short stay.

Non-Touristy Tip: Try to go in the non-tourist season (August - September) and live in a monastery. (We went in Mid-June) Haven't tried it myself - but heard it is a good experience.