Leh-Ladakh has been a favorite both with the Indian and International tourists. When we decided to visit Leh, this being our first, we started planning almost 3 months in advance. The place is magnificently beautiful and miraculously peaceful and we roamed for 5 days in and around Leh. Let’s take a peek into our day wise itinerary at Leh.
Day 1: Reaching Ladakh
Our day started with a warm sun greeting us at Sonamarg. We were supposed to travel through the beautiful landscape from Sonamarg to Leh with few stops mid-way. As soon as we started the journey we began to be in awe of nature’s beauty. With zig-zag roads through the mountains the first stop was at Zojila Pass where we met an army convoy followed by a stopover at Zojila War Memorial. The view was charmingly beautiful and instilled a patriotic feeling in us as we moved towards Drass and Kargil. A stopover at the Kargil War Memorial in Drass gave us a deep insight into what happened during the Kargil War in 1999. We had our lunch at a small yet nice restaurant in the main market of Kargil. Roads became deserted after crossing the town. It is nature’s beauty that we happened to see the Moonland on earth at NH-1D in the Lamayuru village. The land is similar to what we see in images of the moon. During the course of our drive we experienced the magical Magnetic Hill which is nature's way of defying gravity. We arrived at Leh after a day long drive from Sonamarg
Day 2: Hall Of Fame
The morning was bright and sunny and with calm and peaceful mountains surrounding us from all sides. We decided to spend the day in Leh as it would serve the purpose of getting acclimatized along with exploring the city. After a nice and sumptuous breakfast at Solpon, we started for the Hall of Fame in Leh. The Hall of Fame talks about the gallantry of our soldiers and also has a small souvenir shop for memorabilia.
Day 3: Nubra Valley
The day started with our first stopover at KhardungLa. It was an achievement to be on the highest motorable road in the world. Once we bid a goodbye to KhardungLa, we headed towards our dose of peace at the Diskit Monastery.The monastery is believed to be the largest and oldest monastery in Nubra valley. The monastery can be reached from the Diskit village through a rugged and dusty road that crosses a stream in the middle of the village. From Diskit we visited the famous Nubra Valley where the ride on the double humped camels was also a different experience.
Day 4: Pangong Tso
As we had reached Leh by the end of day 3, it made things easier for us to travel to Pangong Tso on the fourth day. The journey from Leh to Pangong covered places like Shey, ChangLa and Tangsey.
Day 5: Srinagar
This was our last day at Leh and we had to head back to Srinagar. We again took a tour of the city to soak the beauty in our hearts as much as possible. On the way back to Srinagar we stopped at Patthar Sahib, a gurudwara on the NH 1D managed and maintained by the Indian Army. The bookmark on the Srinagar-Leh highway has a detailed story of the places that should not be missed during the beautiful journey.