Leh - Hammock Holidays

Ladakh is a land abounding in awesome physical features, bounded by several mightly mountain ranges - the Karakoram, the Great Himalaya, the Ladakh and the Zanskar. That India is a land of varied topography, culture, language and religion is strikingly evident in Leh-Ladakh, where every corner feels different from the rest of India.

Climate
Located in the rain shadow area of the Great Himalayas, Leh has an extreme, arid climate due to its elevation and the radiation of heat from its bare soil which hardly receives any rain. Dry, burning summers with a high degree of ultra violet rays (with temperatures rarely exceeding 27 deg. celsius in the shade) and dry, cold winters (temperatures plumet to minus 20 deg. celsius) characterize the weather. It is said that only in Leh can a man sitting in the sun with his feet in the shade suffer from sunstroke and frostbite at the same time!

The basic contours of Leh-Ladakh, uplifted by tectonic movements, continue to be modified over the millennia by the process of erosion due to wind and water, sculpted into various forms. Today a high-altitude desert, it was once covered by an extensive lake system. But the main source of water is winter snowfall which feeds the glaciers from which melt water, carried down by streams, which irrigate the fields in summer.

Leh lies at an altitude of 11975 ft. Travellers flock to Leh from all corners of the globe. Adventures abound in the form of mountain climbing, trekking in high altitudes, cycling, jeep safaris and yak safaris.

Rich in heritage, the historic monasteries, also known as gompas, are home to Buddhist monks and nuns who live, study and practise their faith here. Buddhist art and architecture can well be experienced in Thiksey, Alchi, Spituk, Lamayuru monasteries and Phugtal, Sankar gompas .

Leh actually comes alive during festivals. If you are passionate about culture, the festive season is the best time to be here when a number of cultural shows, exhibitions and rituals are a part of the Buddhist festivals - Hemis, Losar, Ladakh Harvest Festival, Sindhu Darshan and Tak - Tok festival.

Places of interest in and around Leh include the nine-storey Leh palace, Namgyal Tsemo hill fort, Jo-khang Buddhist temple, mosque, the main bazaar, Zangsti and Moravian Church, Ladakh Ecological Centre, Shanti Stupa, Zorawar Singh's fort, Chang Gali & Tibetan markets (where one can bargain for pearls, turquoise, coral, lapis lazuli and many other semi-precious stones, jewellery, as well as carved yak-horn boxes, quaint brass locks, china or metal bowls and a whole array of curios ).

New tourist circuits previously closed include The Drok-pa Area Circuit (Khalatse-Domkhar-Skurbuchan-Achinathang-Biama-Dah), The Nubra Valley Circuit (Khardung la-Khalsar-Tirit-Tegar-Sumur-Panamik), Pangong Lake Circuit (Karu-Changla-Durbuk-Tangtse-Lukung-Spangmik) and Tso-Moriri Lake Circuit (Upshi-Debring-Puga-tsomoriri-korzok or Upshi-Chumathang-Mahe-Puga-Tsomoriri).