High desert, monasteries and Himalayan passes
Ladakh lies beyond the main Himalayan range, a cold desert of bare mountains and green oases with a strongly Tibetan Buddhist culture. Leh, the main town, has an old palace above its bazaar, and nearby monasteries such as Thiksey and Hemis perch on hillsides. Road trips lead over high passes to the Nubra Valley's dunes and to Pangong Tso, a long lake that shifts from blue to green. Leh sits at around 3,500 metres, so allow a couple of days to acclimatise.