The scenic beauty, the rugged terrain, the majestic mountains and the challenge of roughing it out, Ladakh is a true beauty that you should experience atleast once.
There are direct flights to To Leh from Mumbai, Delhi but if you don't find one choose the one that has least hours of layover.
RT-PCR test and vaccination certificate are mandatory to visit Leh.
You will need time to get acclimatized to Ladakh’s weather conditions. Leh is at an altitude of 11,562 ft. So, it's best if you just relax for the first day and don't have travel plans that needs longer hours of travelling. If you arrive in Leh early morning and want to explore little of the town, Leh palace and Shanti Stupa are the places you can visit.
Also there are many stay options in Leh but if you are looking for a hotel with vegetarian food and top notch hospitality, then Hotel Chantsa is your place.
The next we decided was to explore the rest of Leh that involved places like Patthar Sahib Gurudwara, Magnetic hill, Hall of fame and the Sangam of Indus and Zanskar rivers.
Also if you are a bit of adventurous then River rafting at the Sangam is a must do. There are 3 different options for rafting, 8km, 16km and 24kms and if you're feeling a little extra adventurous then you can jump in the river while river rafting (after taking all the precautions and consulting your guide) (Raft master).
This day did involve a lot of traveling as we were going to Pangong Tso which is at an altitude of 14, 270 ft. Pangong lake is a gem of the Ladakh region. It's 140-kilometre-long salt lake, 30% of the lake is in India whereas the other part is in Tibet. To access Pangong lake, you will drive through Chang La pass which is one of the highest motorable passes in the world at an altitude of 17, 590 ft above sea level. On our way to Pangong we stopped at Shey palace and Thiksey Monastery.
Words aren't enough to describe the beauty of the lake. Located on the banks of Pangong lake, Spangmik is a small settlement of Changpa nomads. Spangmik provides camps and homestays right at the bank of Pangong lake. I highly recommend a stay for a day or two at Spangmik to experience the Lake up-close and personal. We did stay at the Nature's nest camps and it was so surreal.
The next day we left for Nubra valley, early morning, hoping to reach by 4pm. Ofcourse things didn't go as per plan. The Shayok route to Nubra valley was shut due to landslides so our driver decided to take us by another route. Changla- Warilla-Agam and oh my god!
Have you ever been stranded in a dessert in the middle of nowhere with not a single soul around as far as you can see? Yeah, been there done that! Our car got stuck in the sand on our way to Nubra, we had to run fast to cross a broken bridge so that we don't fall in the river flowing with all it's might. Scary! But we made it to Nubra by 6pm just right before sunset.
We also visited the Diskit monastery and on our way to Nubra and it had the most beautiful view!
We stayed at the Chamba resort in Nubra and were mesmerized by the scenery. The sand dunes, rainbows, camel rides 🐫 and the magnificent mountains.
On this day we were going back to Leh via Khardungla, which is at an altitude of 18, 308 ft. At Khardungla you're not allowed to spend to more than 20 minutes as the oxygen is very low. We reached Leh in just 4 hours.
And the rest of the day we just had a leisure time in Leh.
We had an afternoon flight from Leh to Mumbai. And yes, this was our first time in Ladakh and there's still so much left to be explored, I hope I'll be back soon to witness the magic and grandeur of Ladakh.