Leh Ladakh

Ladakh is the roof of India, a high-altitude desert kingdom where the earth is stripped to its geological essence and every vista carries the weight of deep time. Leh, the former capital of the Ladakhi kingdom, sits at 3,500 metres in the shadow of the Stok Kangri range, its old town a maze of mud-brick lanes anchored by the nine-storey Leh Palace. The monasteries of Ladakh are among Asia's most extraordinary: Thiksey rises in tiers above the Indus Valley like a Himalayan Potala; Hemis is the largest and wealthiest gompa in the region; Diskit guards the entrance to the Nubra Valley with a towering Maitreya Buddha. Pangong Tso, the lake that changes colour across five shades of blue across the India-China border, is one of the most photographed landscapes in the Himalayas. The Nubra Valley, reached via the Khardung La (one of the world's highest motorable passes), offers sand dunes, Bactrian camels, and the quiet villages of Hunder and Panamik. Magnetic Hill, the confluence of the Indus and Zanskar rivers at Nimu, and the moonscapes of Lamayuru complete a region that feels less like a destination and more like a different planet.