Things To Do And Places To Visit In Ladakh

by Shaurya Chalmela Travel consultant

Ladakh is considered as one of the most beautiful places to visit in the world. With gorgeous lakes, snowcapped mountains, majestic views, sheer cliffs, long roads, magnetic landscapes, and atmosphere of peace and harmony, this place fills your heart with purity and happiness. There are many places to marvel at in this lovely heaven – Pangong Tso, the Zanskar Valley, Khardung La, Marsmik La, Hemis National Park and other grand landscapes that enrich this place.

Your trip to Ladakh is surely going to be blissful and happy with so many places to visit and admire. You have everything in your lap that you are looking for to enjoy the endless thrills and worldly charm. This beautiful place in India attracts major adventure seekers from across the world who come and visit at least once in a year. It’s a dream come true for bikers across the country to drive on the amazingly well-maintained long roads and captivating mountains offering depth and variety enriching the biking experience to make beautiful memories.

Here's some of the most interesting places that you cannot miss out on while you are on your journey to travel your dream destination. (Link to travel package)

The famous lake in Ladakh - Pangong Tso Lake

One of the most popular places to visit in Leh is the Pangong lake. Located just 160 kms away from Ladakh, it is one of the largest brackish lake in entire Asia. At a height of 14,270 feet, it is also known as the Hollow lake. The drive to reach this lake is equally exciting offering a majestic view all around. With beautiful crystal-clear water reflecting the blue sky, you can enjoy the solitude and peace sitting by the lake for hours. Blessed with pleasant weather throughout the year, this lake provides a great camping experience to tourists wanting to spend the night stargazing under the open sky by the lake. You can just sit and marvel at the picturesque views and capture these beautiful and scenic memories in your camera.

Highest peak of Himachal – The Zanskar Valley & Zanskar River

Tourists from all over the world are attracted to this beautiful snowcapped glacier mountain peaks. With crystal clear water gushing down the valley, this place is very popular among the travelers across the world. Located in the eastern corner of Jammu and Kashmir, this valley is separated from Ladakh by the Zanskar range. Zanskar range includes some of the highest peaks of Himalayas such as Reo Purgyil, Gya, Leo Pargial, Ninjeri etc. This valley is situated at 105kms from Leh with an area of about 5000 sq. kms. The valley attracts major travelers for trekking during the winter season when the valley is frozen and offers trekking trails and river rafting experiences.

The Zanskar valley is known as a major hotspot for trekking, paragliding and river rafting. Located in the remote corner of Ladakh, Zanskar offers pleasant climate and is famous for its beautiful high range and snowcapped mountains and landscapes. The sparkling rivers at Zanskar make for a perfect holiday destination for tourist all over the world.

Largest lake in India – Tso Moriri Lake

Tso Moriri Lake is a breathtakingly beautiful and stunning lake nestled in Rupshu Valley. This picturesque landscape is located less than 250 kms in the southeast of Leh. Approximately 19 kilometers long and up to 3 kilometers wide at an altitude of 14,836 feet, this beautiful pallet lake is the largest among the high-altitude lakes within Ladakh and India. The multiple shades of blue give this lake a picturesque and enchanting view making this place extremely romantic and extraordinarily beautiful. Also known as a mountain lake, this spectacular lake should be on the must visit list of all the travel lovers.

Tso Moriri lake is located in Changthang region of Ladakh and is known as one of the most calm, serene and beautiful high-altitude lakes in India. Counted as a part of the wetland reserve under Ramsar site, this place is also referred as Tso Moriri Wetland Conservation Reserve and you are not allowed to pitch any tents or construct anything near the banks of the lake. It is known as the highest Ramsar site in the world. You cannot help but marvel at the large number of flora and fauna found in this region. Also being very near to the Line of Control, you need to get inner line permit to visit Tso Moriri.

Nubra Valley – The Heart of Ladakh

Nubra Valley is one of the most popular places to visit in ladakh. It is ideal to visit this place first to settle into the mountain once you reach Leh as it is located 150kms from Leh at a lower altitude than Leh. One of the sub-districts in Ladakh, located in the North East side, Nubra Valley has Diskit Village as its main headquarters. A tributary of Indus River, the Nubra meets the shyok which forms a large-shaped valley separating Karakorum Ranges and Ladakh.

Surrounded by snowcapped mountains, Nubra valley looks absolutely breathtaking and picturesque. The valley lies between Tibet and Kashmir and looks like a landscape of moon during winters and full of greenery in summers. The valley predominantly consists of Buddhist with several centers for learning. To reach this place, you will have to cross the highest motorable pass in the world that is the awesome Khardung La pass. Tourists flock to this region during winters to watch the sand dunes and enjoy joyful rides on the Bactrian camels. No wonder, it is one of the top favorite of the tourists to visit once they visit Ladakh.

Diskit Monastery - The oldest Buddhist Monastery

Founded by Changzem Tserab Zangpo, a disciple of Tsong Khapa stands the beautiful, oldest and largest monastery in Nubra the Diskit Monastery. This monastery is located at an altitude of 10,300 ft. in the cold desert of Ladakh. A sub-gompa of Thiksey Monastery, it belongs to the Gelugpa (yellow hat) sect of Tibetan Buddhism.

This monastery has become one of a popular tourist attraction mainly because of the 106 ft tall Maitreya Buddha statue mounted there. This statue was consecrated by the Dalai Lama in the year 2010 to promote and signify three intrinsic things namely the protection of Diskit Village, prevention of further war with Pakistan, and most importantly the promotion of world peace. Travelers absolutely love to watch the excellent view of Nubra valley from the top of this monastery where the statue of Lord Buddha is mounted

Absolutely milky white in color this monastery is nestled high on the edge of the road that connects with Parthapur and Those. It’s exciting to hike up the monastery alongside the stunning white Chortens. The authority here with the help of a Non-Government-organization (NGO) called Tibet support Group runs a school here for the local Tibetan children of this region.

Thiksey Monastery – Paradise for Ladakhi architecture

This place is undoubtedly one of the most spectacular Buddhist shrines of Ladakh. Settled at an altitude of 11800 feet located 17 kilometers south of Leh, this astounding example of Ladakh’s architecture is looked after by the people of Gelukpa or Yellow Hat section. This monastery resembles the Potala Palace of Lhasa in Tibet built by Sherab ZangpoIt in Stakmo, established later by his nephew Paldan Sherab on the hilltop where it stands now.

These twelve storied monastery houses ten beautiful temples with main prayer hall housing a massive 40-foot statue of Buddha seated on a lotus. Apart from this there is also a temple dedicated for Goddess Tara. Besides the two famous temples, Tara Temple and Lamokhang Temple, Maitreya Buddha is one of the most famous tourist’s attractions to watch inside the Thiksey Monastery.

There are many precious and rare statues, mini stupas, and artifacts like swords, painting, etc. on display inside the monastery. On the tenth of every month in the Tibetans Calendar marks the Thiksey Gustor Festival. Visitors can come and enjoy the Cham dances or the Sacred Mask prepared by the in-house monks and nuns during this festival.

Khardung La Pass - Gateway to the Shyok and Nubra valleys

Khardung La Pass - This world’s top most motorable pass and the gateway to Shyok and Nubra valley in Ladakh is one of the most picturesque locations in Leh. Situated at an altitude of 18,379 ft. above the sea level, this pass will make you feel on top of the world. The mountains here pass through region of Jammu and Kashmir in Ladakh. It was made for motors in 1976 and opened for public in 1988.

The valley offers astounding views of the twisting roads up the mountains and the beautiful valley. Alternatively, also being known as ‘Pass of Lower Castle’, this pass is an all-time favorite of automobiles, motorbikes and mountain biking expeditions which make this place a paradise for adventure lovers. The pure air and the picturesque panoramic views lure tourists from all over the world.

An escape from the regular locations, this valley provides splendor and breathtaking views for the naked eyes. You cannot fail to admire the colorful prayer flags that add charm and glory to your ride on the highways.

Nun and Kun Peaks at Suru Valley:

If you think you have seen enough of Ladakh, well it’s time to think again. One of the most beautiful and fertile valleys of this region is the Suru Valley. Known for its unique culture, this place is a recent addition to the tourism of Jammu and Kashmir. This valley extends from Kargil in the south to Zanskar valley in Kargil at a length of 85kms. Famous for its Nun and Kun peaks, this valley forms a major location to stay for Kargil district. Inhabited by approximately 25,000 residents who are known as Dard descent who are muslims and converted to Islam in the 16th century.

The valley in spring is dotted for its lush green fields, colorful flowers, trees full of fruits like apricots, apples and mulberry and picturesque human settlements. The Nun and Kun peaks offer excellent and amazing combination of glacial formations, alpine slopes, majestic peaks and ridges for adventure lovers.

Ladakh’s Largest Glacier - Drang-Drung

Drang Drung is one of the few glaciers in the world where you can reach by road. It offers one of the most spectacular sights in the world. Situated just after crossing the Pensi La into the Zanskar valley, this 22kms long ladakh’s largest glacier is accessible to tourists around the world.

For adventure enthusiast, this place offers a trekking voyage of three days Zanskar valley in Leh. It’s amazing to watch and marvel at the stunning glaciers, fruit orchards and spectacular mountain rangers after a strenuous three days trek from Padum. You can also enjoy the marvelous view from Pensi La Pass, located between Padum and Rangdum from your Binoculars if you are not comfortable to go for the trek. This place is one of the major attractions for adventure lovers and will surely give you the essence of paradise.

The Art Palace in Ladakh for traditional and cultural products

It’s important to visit a place and carry a piece of it back with you when you head back home. Without buying anything or purchasing the local tradition products, you trip is always incomplete. Ladakh is not just about rugged mountain ranges, enchanting gompas or spell bounding Himalayan lakes. Ladakh has a highly diverse textile tradition which reflects its socio-economic, cultural and physical environment. The cheerful disposition of Ladakh’s rich cultural heritage can be witnessed through the lifestyle of the locals and the festivals celebrated by them which makes the experience of the tourists even more unique and memorable.

The Art palace in Ladakh is something that you should never fail to visit to discover its cultural attributes. You will find plenty of artifacts ranging from different periods of time. One of the most famous and expensive merchandise of Jammu and Kashmir is Pashmina Shawl (Blanket).