Leh is the headquarter of Leh District, and the largest town of the region. It is located to the north of the Indus River at an elevation of 11,500 ft. about the sea level. The town is dominated by the nine-storey Namgyal Palace and Namgyal Tsemo (victory peak), above the Palace, built in reunification of the Upper and Lower Ladakh.
Leh became the capital of Stod (upper Ladakh) during the reign of
king Graspa Bum- Lde, who ruled Ladakh from 1400 to 1430 AD. In the later period, Leh became an important center for trade in Central Asia. Leh remained merely a headquarter of Ladakh district until 1974, when Ladakh was opened for foreign tourists. Since then Leh became the center for tourism related activities in the region.
Leh provides Several classes accommodation with hundreds of guesthouses and hotels.
Ladakh :
Ladakh, popularly known as, the Land of numerous passes of mystic lamas, the broken moon and the last Shangri la, beckons tourist to discover its winding rivers, glacial slopes and shimmering lakes.
Ladakh is bounded by two of the world's highest mountain ranges, the Karakoram and the great Himalayas, the altitude of Ladakh varies between 9000 to 14,000 ft. above the sea level.
Ladakh lies at altitudes ranging from about 9,000 feet (2,750 m) at Kargil to 25,170 feet (7,672 m) at Saser kangri in the Karakoram. Thus summer temperatures rarely exceed about 27 0 C in the shade, while in winter they may plummet to minus 200 C even in Leh. Surprisingly, though, the thin air makes the heat of the sun even more intense than at lower altitudes; it is said that only in Ladakh can a man sitting in the sun with his feet in the shade suffer from sunstroke and frostbite at the same time.
Places to see in Leh town
Sankar Gompa :
is a couple of kms. away from Led town. It belongs to Gelukspa school of Tibetan Buddhism. This small Gompa is a branch of Spituk Monastery, founded by the first incarnation of skyabje Bakula (head monk of Spituk Monastery).
Shanti Stupa, at Changspa on the hilltop was built by the Japanese for world peace, which was inaugurated by Dalai Lama in 1985.
Jokhang the small Gompa opposite to State Bank of India in the main Bazaar was built by the Ladakh Buddhist Association in 1957, which is open throughout the day for visitors. The Gompa contains statue of Jovo Rinpochey (Crowned Buddha) and a statue of Guru Padma Sambhava.
Hemis Gompa
The Hemis Monastery is around 45 kms. south of Leh, which is one of the most famous and largest monastery of Ladakh. It belongs to the Dukpa order of Tibetan Buddhism. The monastery was founded by the first incarnation of Stagsang Raspa Nawang Gyatso in 1630. the monastery was named Changchub Samling and the Community was introduced.
Alchi (Achi) Choskor Alchi :
Choskor “religious enclave” is 69 kms. West of Leh, the most famous and largest of all the Gompa built by Lotsava Rinchen Zangpo in 11th century and later he appointed four families to look after the Choskor as there was no monastic communiry introduced, then in the 15th century Choskor was taken over by the Lekir monastery, since than Choskor is being taken care of by Lekir Monastery.
Kargil
Has been more popular as a battlefield rather than a tourist spot since 1979. kargil remains merely as stopover for the buses and taxis plying between Padum, Leh and Srinagar. The small market has tiny places to eat, and dozens of hotels that offer accommodation and food to travelers.
Drass
Drass is around 60 kms. to the west of kargil on the way to Srinagar. It has beautiful pasture grounds. Dra ss is the second coldest inhabited place in the world, where the temperature goes as low as – 50 in winter.
It has become famous in recent years because of pakistan's misadventure in the Tiger hill and Tolloling areas. One can have a lovely view of Tiger hill from Drass village.
Drass's inhabitants consist mainly of the Dards stock, an Aryan race believed to have originally migrated to these villages of the western Himalaya from central Asian steppes. They speak Shina, which is very much unlike the Ladakhi dialects spoken elsewhere in the Ladakh region. The favorite pass time of the inhabitants of Drass is Polo.
How to reach
Air :
Indian Air Lines operates regular flight to Leh from Delhi, twice a week between Leh to Jammu and once a week from Srinagar. Jet Airways Operates daily flight between Leh to Delhi.
Road :
There are two overland routes.
Permit and Passport
Tourist don't require permit for Leh; however, all foreigners are required to registered at Drass, Rumtse and Sarchu if they are traveling by road. Those traveling by air get themselves registered at the airport. The tourist are required to get a permit for restricted areas like Tsomoriri, Tsokar, Pangong Lakes, Dah Hanu and Natra Valley, which can be obtain through registered travel agencies. They charge some amount as service charge. Make it sure to carry six photocopies of the permit while traveling to submit at the Checking points.
We do Family & Customized Packages, Arrangements of Transportation & Bookings of Hotels & Resorts in the entire Leh & Ladakh Sector. Arrangements of camping in Tsomoriri are also made.
