Our long time dream to visit Leh we could fulfill in July when Michael had some days free. We flew via Dehli, spending the hours between the flights in the night at the local airport (not a nice experience). The one hour flight from Dehli to Leh is rewarding experience, the views of the snow-capped mountains and glaciers are just amazing. The landing in Leh is dramatic between and close to the rigged mountains. The crisp and fresh air is a pleasure to smell (coming from Mumbai) even is very thin at 3500m. The town is a pleasant surprise, relatively quiet and clean, strolling through the outskirts is a joy, between the barley fields and small clean streams.

We chosed our accomodation a bit outside of the town center, we wanted to rest our ears and minds. Our guest house was a good choice, the room was gorgeous, built in Ladakhi style with carved wood and big windows on two sides and terrace for beautifull views of the mountains. The first day was a resting day to get used with the high altitude. The second day we did a monastery tour on Indus Valley, we visited Hemis Gompa, Thiksey Gompa, Shey and Stok Palace. For the next two days we planned an trip to Nubra Valley over the highest motorable pass in the world (Khardung La 5602m), an adrenaline-rush drive on the road cut in the side of the mountain and with hundreds of meters deep plunges. During the drive the landscape keeps changing and it never stops to impress, it is just incredible. We slept in the village of Hunder on Shyok river (only 50 km from the border with Pakistan) in a small and pleasant guesthouse.

The last day we just relaxed in Leh, sampling Tibetan food, Ladakhi cakes and tea and enjoying the views of Himalayas.