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Tso Moriri Lake
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Famous for the large herds
of kiang, or wild ass, which graze on its shores, the lake of
Tso Moriri,
210km southeast of Leh, lies in the sparsely populated region of Rupshu.
The area has only recently been opened to foreigners so you need a
permit to travel here, which most visitors do via a jeep safari out of Leh.
Nestling in a wide valley
flanked by some o f the highest peaks in Ladakh– Lungser Kangri
(6666m) and Chanmser Kangri (6622m) - the twenty
–kilometer-long lake is home to flocks of migratory nangpa
or bar-headed geese,
as well as occasional herds of pashmina goats and champs of nomadic herders.
Located on the shores of the lake at an altitude of 4000m, Karzok –
the only large village in the area – is a friendly place with a small
gompa, but the ill effects of tourism with its accompanying litter are
beginning to show. To help protect the fragile ecosystem, a new directive
stipulates that no habitation can be built within 700m of the shoreline.
Visitors should bring their own food supplies and make sure they take all
rubbish away.
Pangong Tso
Pangong Tso,
154km to the southeast of Leh, is one of the largest saltwater lakes in
Asia, a long narrow strip of water stretching from Ladakh east into Tibet.
Only a quarter of the 130 km-long lakes is in India, army, who experienced
bitter losses along its shores in the war against China in 1962, jealously
guard their side of the frontier. Until the mid-1990s, it was off limits to
visitors, and tourists still need a permit to come here. The lake, at an
altitude of 4267m, with the dramatic glacier- clad Pangong Rang to its south
and the Changchenmo Range reflected in its deep blue-green waters to the
north, measures 4km across at its widest point. The bitter winds blowing
over the brackish water make it one of the coldest palace in Ladakh;
visitors, who are only allowed as far as the army outpost at spangmik
on the shore of the lake and not encouraged to linger too long, are usually
glad to see the back of it. Still, the lake provides a tantalizing view of
Tibet in the distance, which, along with its proximity to Leh, is the main
draw for tourists
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Ladakh
Places of Interest (Visit
Ladakh) |
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Leh
Leh is nested in a side valley just to the north of the Indus Valley.
Until 1947 it had close trading relations with Central Asia yak trains would
set off from the Leh Bazaar to complete the stages over the Kaakoam Pass to
Yarkand and Kashgar.
Kargil
Administering the Valleys of Suru , Drass, Wakha and Bodkarbu, Kargil
lies midway between the alpine valleys of Kashmir and the fertile reaches of
the Indus Valley and ladakh
Thak Thok
Thak Thok gompa
shelters a cave in which the apostle Padmasambhava is said to have meditated
during his epic eight-century journey to Tibet.
Dhahanu
Dhahanu is situated to the south west of Leh,
around 163 Kms. passing through the beautiful villages of Kaltsey, Domkhar,
Skurbuchan
Padum
Padum is 240 km to the south of Kargil, comes as a bit of an anticlimax
Rangdum
Rangdum is an elliptical expanded plateau surrounded by colourful hills on
the one side and glacier encrusted rocky mountains on the other.
Zanskar
Walled in by the Great Himalayan Divide, Zanskar, literally " Land of
White Copper" has for decades exrted the allure of Shangri La on visitours
to Ladakh.
Zangla
Zangla is the nodal point on the popular Padum Strongdey Zangla Karsha
Padum round trip, which covers most of the cultural sites of Zanskar.
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Valley
of Ladakh |
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The Suru Valley
Diving two of the world's most formidable mountain ranges, the Suru
Valley winds south from Kargil to the desolate Pensi La the main entry point
for Zanskar.
Nubra Valley
the Nubra valley - nubra means green used to be on the trading route
connection Tibet with Turkistan, Also Now as the Valley of Flowers
more ...
Drass Valley
Drass (3230 m), 60 km west of Kargil on the road to Srinagar, is a small township lying in the centre of the valley of the same name
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Shyok Valley
The Shyok River receives the waters of the Nubra and Changchenmo rivers. It rises from the Khumdang glacier, which can be approached from
Shyok. |
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Pangong Tso
Pangong Tso, 15km to the southeast of Leh, is one of the largest
saltwater lakes in Asia, a long narrow strip of water stretching from Ladakh
east into Tibet.
Tso Moriri
Tso Moriri or "Mountain Lake" is Famous for the large herds of
king, or wild ass, which graze on its shores, the lake of Tso Moriri. |
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