Welcome to Ladakh -
Land Of Endless Discoveries
Ladakh
is a land abounding in awesome physical features, set in an enormous
and spectacular environment. Bounded by two of the world's mightiest
mountain ranges, the Karakoram in the north and the Great Himalaya in
the south, it is traversed by two other parallel chains, the Ladakh
Range and the Zanskar Range.
For
nearly 900 years, from the middle of the 10th century, Ladakh was an
independent kingdom, its ruling dynasties descending from the kings of
old Tibet. The kingdom attained its greatest geographical extent and
glory in the early 17th century under the famous king Singge Namgyal,
whose domain extended across Spiti and western Tibet right up to the
Mayum-la, beyond the sacred sites of Mount Kailash and Lake Mansarovar.
Gradually, perhaps partly due to the fact that it was politically
stable, Ladakh became recognized as the best trade route between the
Punjab and Central Asia. For centuries it was traversed by caravans
carrying textiles, spices, raw silk, carpets, dyestuffs, narcotics,
etc. Heedless of the land’s rugged terrain and apparent remoteness,
merchants entrusted their goods to relays of pony transporters who
took about two months to carry them from Amritsar to the Central Asian
towns of Yarkand and Khotan. On this long route, Leh was the midway
stop, and developed into a bustling entrepot, its bazars thronged with
merchants from distant countries.
The
famous pashmina (better known as cashmere) also came
down from the high-altitude plateau of eastern Ladakh and western
Tibet, through Leh, to Srinagar, where skilled artisans transformed it
into shawls known the world over for their softness and warmth.
Ironically, it was this lucrative trade that finally spelt the doom of
the independent kingdom. It attracted the covetous attention of
Gulab Singh, the ruler of Jammu in the early 19th century, who
sent his general Zorawar Singh to invade Ladakh in 1834
AD. There followed a decade of war and turmoil, which ended with the
emergence of the British as the paramount power in north India.
Ladakh, together with the neighbouring province of Baltistan, was
incorporated into the newly created state of Jammu & Kashmir. Just
over a century later, this union was disturbed by the partition of
India, as a result of which Baltistan became part of Pakistan, while
Ladakh remained in India as part of the State of Jammu & Kashmir.
Where To Stay In
Ladakh
Leh
offers many kinds of accommodation to suit almost every pocket and
preference. Most of the hotels are family-run establishments and,
therefore, service is more personalized than professional.
Hotels are classified into A, B,C
and D/economy categories while guest houses
are divided into upper, medium and
economy class. Tariff for A category hotels generally
include all meals, offering a choice or combination of Continental,
Chinese and Indian cuisine, with one or two local fares thrown in
for variety.
The guest house is a
less formal accommodation, offering rooms in a part of the
residential house or its annexe, where the guests can share the host
family’s kitchen and living room for meals. Apart from the
reasonably low tariff offered for accommodation ranging from very
good to merely basic, the guest house system also provides an
opportunity for the tourists to see and experience Ladakhi life from
the inside.
How To Reach Ladakh
Indian,
Jet Airways, Deccan
operate regular daily flights to Leh from Delhi, Weekly flights do
operate from Srinagar to Leh.
Click for
Ladakh Tour Packages |
