“Heaven on earth” is how Erco Travels agent had described this magnificent destination. The words of the email, at that point of time had sounded more like a over- hyped, or exaggerated email of an agent selling his destinations. But, when the group reached the destination and experienced it, they found each word as truth personified.
The group was informed by the guide that historically this area included valleys like the Baltistan, Indus and remote Lahaul and Spiti, Aksai Chin and Ngari, including the Nubra valley,Markha Valley and the Rudock region.However, for a tourist, it looked more like a “Little Tibet” bordering the country and adjoining Tibet,it was largely influenced by the Tibetan culture.
On a cursory glance, Leh, the capital of Ladakh which is also famous for Ladakh Tracking Tour,actually looked very much like any small hill station. It was only when the group moved away that it became evident that how the region was indeed the highest plateau of Kashmir-India’s most beautiful state. Spanning the high and beautiful mountain ranges of Himalaya and Karakoram, the area got its beauty from the mesmerizing hills.
Moving away from Leh towards countryside, the Tourists were spellbound by the flatness of terrain and the manner in which huge mountains seem to almost sit on this terrain in all the possible colors on the earth. If hills could be of as varied a shade as purple, brown, blue and orange, than it was here that you could just get to see it all. Erco Travels guide accompanying them informed them that these mountain ranges were formed over a period of 45 million years when the Indian plate folded into the more stationary Eurasian Plate.
Perhaps that explains why there are no major peaks in the region. The average height of the mountains is a little less than 6,000 m (19,700 ft), and even the few passes are less than 5,000 m that’s why the whole scene looks as if out of a child’s drawing board, or straight from a picture perfect photograph.
The most important thing the tourists learned in the region was the ‘need of oxygen in our life’. It was hard to believe when the Erco Travels agent had informed them that they will need to take a rest for almost three days after landing at the Leh airport. All of them in the group were so fit that the notion of ‘taking rest’ did amuse them a lot. But, it was only on landing did they find the truth behind those words.
The oxygen was indeed less and it did take the body a while to acclimatize with such less oxygen in the air. Even once their body was used to the oxygen, it did require extra effort to move around from one place to another. Energy and swiftness in the body did take a beating, but overall the trip was enjoyable especially because it was planned by experts who knew what they were saying. The tourists actually realised the importance of going to a new place under the guidance of well-trained and experienced professionals in this trip only.
They also thanked their stars on knowing that this roof to the world had opened its gate for the tourists only in the last decade. The region is indeed a high security zone and has extremely high military presence, but even that never ever deters the tourist from visiting the area because Ladakh is truly a place where forces of nature join hands to provide a landscape of extreme hues and beauty.