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This trip was another one with the members of the patchwork group, eight of us in all travelled for about a week around the region of Ladakh, which is in the state of Jammu and Kashmir. This is a troubled state as the Western border is in dispute with Pakistan, whilst to the East is disputed with China. Whilst there is still much disruption and regular terrorist activity along the borders with Pakistan, the Eastern side remains settled. Ladakh lies to the east so is quite safe to travel around. It was though only re-opened to tourist in 1974 after the war with China in 1962. Foreigners require permits to travel to certain areas outside the regional capital of Leh.
During the week we did a lot of travelling by car, the distances were not great but the nature of the terrain meant that the journeys were slow. The whole region is at altitudes of over 3000m and some of the highest passes, traversable by cars, in the world are in the area at over 5000m. These altitude take some adjusting to and the first day was spent resting to allow adjustment. Though nobody in the group was too badly affected various minor problems occurred like nose bleeds, headaches, dizziness, breathlessness and stomach problems. The main thing is not to rush but take it all gently. You also need to drink a lot more water in the region of 4 to 5 litres a day, which does take some doing.
Over this section I shall first outline the geography of the region, take an overview of the Buddhist Monasteries, of which there are many before describing the journeys we took and the places we saw. This region of India is truly one of the most remarkable.
A closer view highlighting the various places that we visited. The red restricted areas are where the disputed borders with China and Pakistan are near and are therefore not open to foreigners.