The magnetic hill is one of the go-to spots of Leh. It comes on the way to Sangam or Srinagar. It is on the Leh-Kargil-Srinagar Highway, 30km from Leh city. It is seen that when vehicles are parked in the yellow box drawn on the road, they are pulled uphill towards the hill. You can stop here for 10-15 mins. Some say it is a magnetic pull from the hill, and some believe it is an optical illusion.
I couldn't see any such effect but the Landscape view is worth a visit. With clear blue sky touching the raw, barren mountains of Leh.
THEORIES TO EXPLAIN THE PHENOMENON:
1. The folklore is that it is a path to heaven and the ones worthy of it are pulled directly to heaven.
2. Some believe that there is a magnetic force in the hill. As a matter of fact, pilots fly higher when in this region to avoid the pull. But it has been scientifically disproved.
3. The third and the most believable one is that it is an optical illusion (false perception of sensory experience). The vehicles actually move downslope but it seems to be upslope. This discrepancy is due to obstructed Horizon (the meeting of land and sky that is seen at a distance). Horizon acts a reference for us to judge the direction of a road being uphill or downhill. In fact, pilots who can't see the horizon cannot judge the orientation of the flight and so depend on electronic devices for direction.
