The Road Less Travelled

Ladakh, and Leh specifically, has been not quite what we expected. After the beautiful solitude of the Kinnaur + Spiti valleys, we're we're expecting to enjoy more of the same, but instead find ourselves in a prime-time tourist destination in prime season. Whoa! How did all these people get here? For us, it was two GRUELING days on the bus from Manali (by road it's another VERY long day direct to Delhi). The second day was the worst - Rising at 4:30 AM, slowly chugging over the 2nd + 3rd highest motorable passes in the World with people suffering from motion + altitude sickness on either side of us, and not pulling into the bus stand in Leh 'til 9:00 PM! It was a bonding experience for those few westerner's on the bus who hadn't splurged for a private jeep as it felt like we'd been to battle together and survived! With this in mind, we'd envisioned visiting Buddhist monasteries + temples in relative seclusion, quiet strolls through fields saying "Jullay" to the locals and plenty of time for quiet meditation. Our first morning here though, we were dismayed at the plethora of tourist ammenities - The number of western cafes with video screens + guest houses alone was our big clue-in that this was no undiscovered Shangri-La.

We've been here 2 weeks now and estimate the number of people has probably doubled. How, in this remote corner of India? The answer is simple - There are direct flights from Delhi enabling anyone, particularly those inclined towards package tours, to get here quite easily. Ladakh really only has a tourist season of four months due to the formidable weather, so people looking for a scenic + cultural experience flock here during that time. It's certainly beautiful and inspiring if you can ignore that there are more tourists than locals.

So why are we still here? We've found that there is a defined "route" and as long as you find a semi-secluded guesthouse with a nice garden and stay off the beaten path, you CAN have that experience we'd hoped for. We've had SPECTACULAR days walking through terraced fields both in Leh and in the even MORE remote Nubra Valley, which requires another 7 hr. bus over THE HIGHEST motorable road in the World. A little extra effort definitely weeds out alot of the people!

This intense tourist impact into such an ancient culture isn't without side effects though (see "Tradition vs. Tourism - Part 2"). And "Yes" that windy squiggle in the photo IS the road!