AIR
The best way to reach Leh is by the regular Alliance Air or Jet Airways morning flights (65 mins) from Delhi.

The flights could be overbooked but at times the more important consideration is whether the weather-beaten Boeing 737 can at all take off from Leh! And this, because the weather is as unpredictable as the meanders of the Sindhu flowing through the land. A 2- to 3-hrs hold-up on the return flight is normal, especially on the early morning departures and you can leave only if and when the flight from Delhi arrives.

With a diminutive ATC tower and a short, wedge-shaped tarmac to facilitate a faster halt, landing at the beautiful Leh Airport cradled among mountains and valleys is a lifetime (if scary!) experience. At 3 km from the city, a taxi transfer on a Tata Sumo would cost between Rs 100 and 150.

RAIL
The nearest that you can reach on broad gauge is Kalka. From here, take a bus or taxi to Shimla and onward to Manali. Tata Sumos or regular buses for Leh are available from Manali.

ROAD
Arduous but well maintained roads make it the next best option to a flight. The two routes to Leh (open from June to October) are from Srinagar via Kargil on the Srinagar-Leh Highway (434 km) and from Manali via Sarchu and Dharchu on the Manali-Leh Highway (473 km). However, the two-day journey across spectacular mountain country, along alluring blue rivers and through passes over 13,000 ft is worth every aching hour spent sitting erect on the seat.

The respective night halts on the two routes are Kargil and Sarchu where you will find decent hotels to spend the night. Apart from regular Himachal Road Transport Corporation, J&K State Road Transport (Rs 450 per person from Srinagar to Leh) and Manali Private Bus Union Services (Rs 700 to 1,100 per head), the other option from Srinagar/ Manali are the prohibitingly expensive Tata Sumos (anywhere between Rs 10,000 and 12,000 from Manali). All buses pull up at the Leh Bus Stand on Manetsilding Road, barely a kilometer from city.

Languages Spoken
Ladakhi, Hindi, Urdu

STD Code
01982

Climate
Dry, warm days with temperatures ranging from 25°C in summer to 10°C in winter and cool nights between 14°C and 8°C with heavy snowfall in winter should sum it up. But, of late, the sporadic rain that falls throughout the year can catch you unawares. A cool wind during the day, however, makes for a pleasant driving experience.

Stok Palace
In a tiny village on the outskirts of Leh, this palace has been the Ladakhi royal family s residence for the last 150 years since the invading Dogra armies overran the Leh Palace. Apart from a chance encounter with the royals, don t miss out on the museum here with arguably the best collection of exquisite Thangka paintings in the whole of Ladakh. Open on all seven days (8 am to 7 pm), you can drop by while returning from your Shey-Thiksey-Hemis trip. The entry fee is a little steep at Rs 25 per head.

The Gompa Run
Gompas ? traditional Buddhist monasteries ? and chortens ? the smaller, whitewashed stupas ? are the ubiquitous features of the stark expanse that is Ladakh and even a hurried tour of the prominent ones will take up two whole days.

The two main Gompa routes are along the Leh-Manali Highway covering Shey (15 km), Thiksey (25 km) and Hemis (45 km), and the other one touching Spituk (7 km), Basgo (40 km) and Alchi (70 km) along the Srinagar-Leh Highway. Ridzong and Lamayuru (125 km), further ahead on the same route, cannot be covered in a day s trip and you would need to spend the night at Lamayuru for that.

Shey-Thikse-Hemis (1 day)
As you drive down the highway leading out of Leh, keeping the hazy blue trickle of the Sindhu on your right, the Shey Palace appears on an unsuspecting turn round a rock edict showing six different avatars of the Buddha. An easy climb will bring you to the monastery, which boasts of a colossal three-storey-high Shakyamuni statue carved out of gilded copper. Once the residence of the first king of Ladakh, Lhachen Spalgigon, the ruins of the original palace now lie above the monastery.

On the way to Shey, you can also stop for a while at the newly built Sindhu Ghat (12 km) by the river, which has now become the venue for the annual Sindhu Darshan Festival in the first week of June.

Half an hour more on the meandering road and you behold one of the most picturesque monasteries in Ladakh ? the Thiksey Gompa. Perched on top of a steep crag rising irreverently into the azure sky, it is a colourful assortment of traditional Ladakhi buildings. After a glimpse of the sombre lamas reciting ancient hymns to the accompaniment of deep gongs inside the dark, aromatic interiors, climb onto the roof for a sweeping shot of the enchanting expanse below.

By the time you reach Hemis at the end of a steep by-road that branches off from the main highway, you are right in the heart of spiritual Ladakh. Built around 1523, this is undoubtedly the largest and most famous Gompa in the region, its fame due in a large part to the annual Hemis Festival ? a colourful song and dance affair held in August. Pause to ponder at the colossal Shakyamuni statues placed under precious stupas of gold and silver or the unbelievable artistry that went into the making of those Thangka paintings that have adorned its walls for centuries!

Spituk-Basgo-Alchi (1 day)
You have already been on this road if you have come to see the Patthar Sahib Gurdwara before ? the Leh-Srinagar Highway that is. You can see the tiny Spituk Gompa on the left as you cross the army establishments outside Leh. Make a short stopover and peep in to see the huge Kalchakras adorning its floors and the unusual deity resembling Goddess Kali. See if you can time your visit to be at the

Spituk Gustor Festival held in the Gompa courtyard on the 18^th and 19^th day of the 11^th month of the Tibetan calendar.

After a breathtakingly beautiful, one-hour drive along the Sindhu and the Zanskar, across captivating emptiness, under the shadow of sharp, rocky spurs, with white stupas silently pointing the way, you will notice the rust-coloured ruins of the Basgo Citadel sprawled over the bare summit of a rocky outgrowth. Guarding a shrine to what could very well be the oldest extant image of the Maitreya Buddha (the Buddha of the future) within its crumbling ramparts, recent conservation work at the site is trying to restore the lost glory of this 15^th century fort.

Past Basgo, you cross the muddy Zanskar at a picturesque curve and drive up to Alchi (70 km). Being one of the older Gompas, Alchi was built at a time when there was no danger from foreign invasion (1020-035 AD) and this explains its location on a flat riverbank instead of the usual inaccessible mountaintop. Request the resident lama to show you around the shrines, which house priceless Thangka paintings and ancient Tibetan manuscripts. A couple of small hotels near the Gompa might entice you to spend a quiet night in the wilderness, away from the din of dusty Leh.

If you feel a Gompa fatigue catching on after two whole days of spiritual excursion, check out the natural wonders instead. Pangong Tso Lake (143 km), the Drokhpa Circuit of Dha, Hanu and other villages near Khaltse (170 km), and the Tso Moriri Lake (217 km) are just waiting out there, but all of them require you to spend a night or two before returning to Leh. And, of course, don t forget to retain your taxis overnight since you won t get hold of any at these places.

They say that the turquoise you get in the markets of Leh comes from Tibet, the rubies from Burma and the Lapis Lazuli from Afghanistan. To add to the allure there are the native Thangka paintings and even the funky T-shirts with Free Tibet printed on them in a host of different languages. So walk down the Main Market and you will find shops aplenty that are fairly well stocked with all of these. Ladakh Art Palace is one of the better places in the market stretch while Lhasa Embroidery on Fort Road is the best place for T-shirts.

Yak Boutique, opposite Lingzi Hotel, has a good collection of painted masks and jewellery made from semi-precious stones, but otherwise you should be alert about buying what could very well be fake stones. Wander among the makeshift stalls in the Tibetan Refugee Market on Old Leh Road and you might chance upon some good phoren winterwear at unbelievable prices. Hard bargain, however, is the key to good buys!