Leh , a heartbreakingly beautiful ancient town in Ladakh perched on hills3,505 metres above sea level, is steeped in history and mediatative calm . but beneath that calm is a throbbing heart of vibrant , culture and traditions and an explosion of languages - Ladakhi ,Balti ,Purgi , Shina or Dardic , Urdu .
for centuries , leh was the midway stop on what was recognised as the best trade route between punjab and central asia . it was traversed by caravans carrying textiles, spices , raw silk , carperts, dyestuff and narcotics to the central Asian towns of Yarkand and Khotan and developed into a bustling trade town . its bazaars thronged with merchants from distants countries .
Leh was also the conduit through which buddishm reached tibet and then to China and East Asia . no wonder then that Buddism is still the majority religion in the region and its imprint is visible everywhere . one can find ancient Buddist rock engravings all over the region , even in dras and lower suru valley which are now inhabited almost exclusiv ely by Muslims.
The approach to a Buddhist village is invariably marked by Mani walls , long, chest - high structures faced with engraved stones bearing Buddhist mantra and commemorative cairns. many villages are crownd with a gompa or monastery , which may be anything from an imposing complex of temples , prayer halls and monks' dwellings, to a tiny structure with a single image and home to a solitary lama. the major monasteries of Ladakh are Stock Palace , Shep Palace, Thiksey, Hemis, Chemday,Takthok ,Spituk , Likhir ,Alchi,lamayuru. but the town ,once the capital of an old kingdom, is dominated by the nine storied palace built by king Singge Namgyal in the grand tradition of tibetan architecture which is said to have inspired the famous potala in Lhasa that was built half a century later .
But Leh is a lot more than its history and monasteries . its sits in the midst of captivating landscape of rolling hillsides that are home to the goats from whose wool kashmiri artisans weave the famous Pashmina or Cashmere shawls . besides Pashmina goats ,
Leh is hom to exotic species such as the tibetan wild ass and the snow leopard and rare bird such as bar - headed goose, the migratory black necked crane , the great crested grebe ,the tibetan crane .
for sight seeing , there are the panoramic areas of Khaltse, Nubra and Nyomo . THE historically - inclined can visit the villages of Dha and Bema . which are exclusively populated by Dards , who are considered to be the last of Aryans confined to the Indus Valley .
not far away are camping sites at Khaltsi Dhomkhar,Skurbucan, Achinathang. for those looking for inner peace , there is Mahabodhi international International Meditation Centre near Choglamsar , which offers regular courses in various forms of meditation . meditation facilities are also available at hotel Agling Resort
Since Leh is essentially a high altitude cold desert, its get very cold in winter, the temperature dropping to as low as 20 degrees celsius below freezing point . Summers, however, are pleasant with mercury touching 25 degrees . it also has a low level of atmospheric oxygen so it is necessary that visitors from the plains give themselves sufficient time for acclimatization before engaging in physical activity . The rarefied atmoshphere may cause acute mountain sickness , necessiting instant evacuation .
