Monday Images - Stunning Nubra Valley, Ladakh

Monday Images. Every weekend, we share images taken by us during our travel or those taken by fellow travellers from different parts of the world to places we haven't been to but liked them. Hope you will like them too.

Our affair with Ladakh continues in this blog!

Four years back when we were in Ladakh, we missed out going to Nubra valley. We plan to compensate for that this year when we go there in August.

Nubra valley and surroundings have stunning landscape. 

A desert within a cold desert! 

Spectacular Sand dunes with a backdrop of snow capped mountains!

Bactrian camels with twin humps. 

A clear sky when night becomes a spectacle!

We will leave you with these mindblowing images of the valley. 

Please click on the pictures to see them in original size. Click on the name of the photographer for more pictures taken by them in Ladakh.

Diskit, Nubra Valley ( Photo Courtesy - Sreenath U B )

Reflections in Nubra ( Photo Courtesy - Rajesh )

A small pond in Nubra at Sun rise ( Photo courtesy - Andrew Beirne )

Sand dunes, Hundar, Nubra valley ( Photo courtesy - Prabhu R Doss )

Potato fields around Turtuk in bloom - Nubra Valley ( Photo Courtesy - Fulvio Spada )

A panoramic view of the Shyok River in the Nubra Valley. ( Photo Courtesy - Praful Tripathy )

Diskit Monastery (Photo Courtesy - Amit Rawat )

After seeing these pictures, we are excited to be in Nubra in August.

What has been your experience in Nubra? Do share it.

To find out our experience in Ladakh, you may click on the Series "Ladakh Diaries" here

Ladakh Diaries 1 - Manali to Leh, Day One

For other posts on Ladakh in this blog, please click here

Ladakh - Mesmerising cold desert in Himalayas!

For other posts in "Monday Images" series, please click here

Monday Images

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10 places you should not miss eating out in Leh!

So, you have landed in Ladakh. You have gone around the mountains and feasted your eyes. You had your share of lovely sights of Himalayas. How about satisfying your taste buds now?

Leh is the best place to explore. Traditional Tibetan fare is now offered along with international cuisine in this small mountain town. Leh seems to moving in the direction of a Gourmet's paradise in years to come.

We are gourmets and look for opportunities to explore local cuisine. These are the ten places you should feast while in Ladakh. Some we have eaten in. Thanks to some of our friends who have shared their favourite places in Leh.

Here is the list. Like Ladakhis say "Shelak nye po nang ko!" 

Dzomsa

For a quick authentic Ladakhi breakfast of khambir (leavened bread) with homemade khakla (butter) and fresh apricot preserve, jo labuk or tang tur, a sort of raita with veggies, smoky tsampa with apricot or Leh berry juice and gur gur cha or butter tea (free) head to this small place on Fort road. The other branches in town do not serve breakfast.

Open Hand Cafe

If you have been to their outlets in Varanasi and Kochi, you know where to go in Ladakh. This is a typically "chilled out" place in a large garden where you can actually see vegetables being grown. Check out for piece of chocolate cake. Try their pancakes filled generously with chocolate, banana, apricot cream or apple crumble or any of their breakfast selections, from yoghurt muesli to toast, sausages and eggs.

Budshah Inn

If you are looking for a Kashmiri meal in Ladakh, search no further. Being Veggies, we had to be content with Dum Aloo and Rotis. But our Non Veg freinds say you get best Roghan Josh here in Leh.

Lala's Cafe

You go here for sheer ambience and snacks. Beautifully restored Ladakhi house, you are greeted by a nine foot statue of Maitreya. Behind the cafe, you can see Leh palace. Feast on Gur Gur cha while munching on local Ladakhi dishes or Italian pastas.

Bon Appetit

The fine dining choice of Leh. This one is in Changspa. It is quite hidden. But once you get to it, you will like its minimalist Ladakhi architecture. It has a nice view of mountains. Our friends recommend Cashew Chicken in Pesto sauce. We loved chocolate Momos and Jungle tea!

Tibetan Kitchen

You cannot come out of Leh without tasting the best Tibetan cuisine in town. Go for "Tibetan Hot pot" or "Gyakko". A traditional Tibetan barbeque, this has to be pre ordered a day before and make sure there are four hungry souls to share this! Gyakko can be either vegetarian or Non Vegetarian. If you are not lucky to eat Gyakko, then you have wide variety of Tibetan cuisine to choose from.

Tenzin Dickey Tibetan Restaurant

A vegetarian Tibetan hub. Unpretentious. Another nice place to enjoy Tibetan cuisine in town. Savour the steaming cheese and potato fried momos.

Chopsticks

Possibly the best Chinese and Thai fare in town so much so that you need to go there early to get a table. Try depenadale chilli Garlic Noodles with their fries - Veg or chicken or Mutton - with Thai red curry.

Cafe Jeevan

At the tail end of Changspa road is this vegetarian establishment. A small alcove with popular fiction and books left over by tourists is inviting to turn a page or two while soaking the view of Shanti Stupa. The place has best pizza in town apart from regular Indian, Continental fare.

German Bakery

We did not want to leave this out. You go here for its chilled out atmosphere. This is a local institution. Come here for breakfast or just to munch on Cinnamon rolls, Apple Pie and wash it Coffee.

This was our list. What has been your experience? Please do share and let us know if you have discovered any new place to eat in Leh.

You may also be interested to read the following interesting posts on Ladakh in this blog. Please click on links below.

10 things to do in Ladakh you haven't done before!

Ladakh Diaries 1 - Manali to Leh, Day One

If you are looking for all posts on Ladakh, you may click here.

Ladakh

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Monday Images - Ladakh Trekking Stories by Pierre Martin!

These are not images. These are great stories of trekking in Ladakh. We were astonished with admiration when we looked at them.

We were looking for stories and pictures on trekking in Ladakh in preparation for our own trek in Markha Valley in August this year. When we searched in Picasa we stuck gold mine.

Pierre Martin. The man who has trekked over 600KMs over 46 days in Ladakh! The man who is humble enough to share his experiences with trekking community. Hear in his own words the mindblowing statistics.........

• 43 days walking (13 + 19 + 11), 
• 3 days off 
• 24 17 which passes above 4800m and 10 above 5000m 
• 5300m, the maximum altitude reached in Marang La (41th day) 
• 183 hours of work (58 + 72 + 53), 
• between 600 and 800 km (impossible to recognize in the mountains) 
• 27000m positive and negative vertical drop (7330m/8425m + + 12060m/11725m 7750m/6755m)
• 50 strings of prayer flags placed in the collar ("Ki Ki So so The Gyalo!") 
• 1 pair of shoes bass rod of € 49.90 in Quechua (Arpenaz 500) Photo , 
• 4000 photos 
• and only 3 days of meat ...

If you are planning a trek in Ladakh, please take a look his trekking stories in the link below. Look at a preview of the lovely places he has gone in these pictures below........ (Please click on pictures to view in Original Size)

Good morning in the valley of the Borong Togpo

Lanak

Between Yakru and Zabuk Yogma

Tso Tok

Descent Zangla to Padum

For details on Pierre's treks, pls click the following links. The website is in French. Make sure you translate it and read it.

Grand Tour of Ladakh

Bonus - Pierre has also trekked extensively in Nepal. Check that out as well in his website. Amazing exploits in Himalayas which should not be missed!

If you need any help, please write to him. He is ever willing to help fellow trekkers!

Monday Images. 

Every weekend, we share images taken by us during our travel or those taken by fellow travellers from different parts of the world to places we haven't been to but liked them. Hope you will like them too.

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Monday Images - Magnificent Markha Valley Trek, Ladakh

In the post 10 Things to do in Ladakh you haven't done before!, we had mentioned about trekking in Ladakh to explore the interiors of the mountainous region. This is also the best way to interact with local tribes of Ladakh who live in these harsh conditions.

If everything goes well, we will be in Ladakh this August for a trek in the mountains. We will be doing 6 days trek in Markha valley. Why Markha valley? Because it is spectacular.

Take a look at these spellbinding vistas by Thomas Battut who did this trek last year.

After seeing these pictures don't blame us on selecting this trek. Do you? :-)

The complete trek is captured nicely in pictures by Thomas. You can see them here.

Markha Valley Trek - Day 1

Markha Valley Trek - Day 2

Markha Valley Trek - Day 3

Markha Valley Trek - Day 4

Markha Valley Trek - Day 5

Please don't blame us if we made you to pack your backpack to go to Markha valley during this Ladakh season!

If you are a trekking enthusiast like us, you may be tempted to see the following posts in this blog

Triund Trek - A heavenly hike in the Himalayas!

Valley of Flowers 2 - 14 KMs trek to Ghangaria along Alakananda!

Valley of Flowers 3 - Trek from Ghangaria to Valley of Flowers

Valley of Flowers 4 - Trek to Hemkund Sahib

Five lovely Treks in Karnataka!

Dudhsagar Falls - A Monsoon trek on Railway track!

15 Classic trekking Trails in the world!

Postscript - Monday Images. Every weekend, we share images taken by us during our travel or those taken by fellow travellers from different parts of the world to places we haven't been to but liked them. Hope you will like them too.

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Monday Images - Spectacular Mountainscapes of Quebrada de Humahuaca & Ladakh!

Monday Images. Every weekend, we share images taken by us during our travel or those taken by fellow travellers from different parts of the world to places we haven't been to but liked them. Hope you will like them too.

This weekend, we were exploring for some pictures of Leh - Srinagar highway. We had done some fifty KMs of it when we were in Ladakh four years ago. we couldn't do it because of security situation in Srinagar then. Being the season of Ladakh on this blog, we thought it would be apt to showcase some pictures of the highway on this blog.

When we were searching for it in Flickr, we happened to see a lovely picture by Ms Ann Tatti. When we further dived deep and checked out her albums, we were stunned to see outstanding landscape of The Quebrada de Humahuaca.

Then we stuck a goldmine as we explored further. We were to see this amazing album by Mariano Mantel on Route 40 in the Quebrada de Humahuaca and its surrounding mountains. These pictures are taken by him on his Motorcycle trips to these mountains.

The Quebrada de Humahuaca is a narrow mountain valley located in the province of Jujuy in northwest Argentina, 1,649 km (1,025 mi) north of Buenos Aires. It is about 155 km (96 mi) long, oriented north-south, bordered by the Altiplano in the west and north, by the Sub-Andean hills in the east, and by the warm valleys (Valles Templados) in the south. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

The landscape resemble that of Ladakh. The arid, broken landscape and pink coloured mountainscape was similar to the one we had seen while driving on Manali - Leh road.

Here are the pictures we had taken on Manali - Leh road..........

Eroded and broken landscape on Manali - Leh road

Pink and colourful mountainscape along Indus river befor Upashi on Manali - Leh road

The following are the pictures taken by Mariano Mantel on his Motorcycle trips........

Heaven above ... Jujuy

Route 52, at 4000 meters high Narrow Ronqui crossing towards the coast of Lipan

Gorge of the Arrows, Formations in the Gorge of the Arrows

The Castles Rock formation near the river gorge Cafayate in Salta Argentina Las Conchas

Painter's collage ........Pink Mountains of Quebrada ( by Ann Tatti)

For magnificent pictures taken by Mariano Martel during his Motorcycle ride in the region, please click here

Argentina - A Ride on Route 40

Please take a look at this lovely Album by Ms Ann Tatti on Quebrada...

Magical Lands of Quebrada de Huamahuaca

You may also look at the following posts on our drive in from Manali to Leh for some outstanding landscapes.......

Ladakh Diaries 1 - Manali to Leh, Day One

Ladakh Diaries 2 - Manali to Leh, Day two

So folks, all of you who have done the trips to Ladakh, plan to pack your bags to Argentina for your next trip!

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Monday Images - Ladakh, ahoy!

Monday Images. Every weekend, we share images taken by us during our travel or those taken by fellow travellers from different parts of the world to places we haven't been to but liked them. Hope you will like them too.

Ladakh season has started. It is the time to explore its outstanding landscape. Time to explore cold desert and its beautiful vistas.

We were there in 2010 and it was a memorable trip. The drive from Manali to Leh was once in a lifetime experience. The drive to Pangong Tso was spectacular. To top it all was the heady feeling of being on top of the highest motorable road in in the world in Khardung La!

These are some pictures of magnificent vistas of Ladakh we had clicked during our trip.

A panoramic view of a Ladakhi village on the way to Khardung La

The road to Pangong Tso lake has stunning landscape like this

Awesome vistas of Pangong Tso lake 

Road through Barlacha La on Manali - Leh highway

Suraj Tal on Manali - Leh highway

Spectacular sand formations after Sarchu on Manali - Leh highway

In Ladakh, it is the journey to the destination which is beautiful. The drives through the mountains are mesmerising!

If you are planning a trip to Ladakh, you may look at the following posts on Ladakh in "Ladakh Diaries" series in this blog.

Ladakh Diaries 1 - Manali to Leh, Day one.

Ladakh Diaries 2 - Manali to Leh, Day two

Ladakh Diaries 3 - Leh, Sights of a Mountain town!

Ladakh Diaries 4 - On top of the world @ Khardung La!

Ladakh Diaries 5 - Spectacular drive to Pangong Tso, the lake @ 14,000 feet!

Ladakh Diaries 6 - Basgo, Magnetic hill & Gurudwara Pathar Sahib

Ladakh Diaries 7 - Himalayas from the Sky!

We came across this outstanding album on Ladakh by Ray Universe. The pictures in this album are just mindblowing. Take a look. Dont miss it. You will be left with a "Wow" feeling. Click on this link below.

Magnificent Ladakh!

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Ladakh in Winter

Ladakh is the current flavour of Indian tourists. Whether it is adventure freaks who want to do it on bicycles/motorcycles or simply the family crowd who want to get their own "3 Idiots" moment!

We all visit Ladakh in the season. Between June and September. Very few bravehearts venture into the cold desert when everything is white and mercury is sub zero. Ladakh is lovely in winter. 

Who else can showcase it better than Sankar Sridhar. We have read Sankar's stories in Outlook Traveller, seen his mesmerising pictures in National Geographic. This is what James Estrin writes about him in New York Times in an article titles "Must see - Compelling Websites"

"Sankar Sridhar states that he is an accountant by training, an editor by profession and a photojournalist by calling. He has written for Geo, The Financial Times, The Telegraph and The Statesman. His photographs of remote cultures on “Iris and Ink” are beautiful. Don’t miss it" 

Here are two pictures taken by him in wintry Ladakh.

Frozen water fall - Chadar Walk

Mesmerising Tso Moriri

Take a look at these links on Changthang and Chadar Walk in Winter in his website. Ladakh in Winter is mesmerisingly beautiful.

Don't blame us if you pack your woolens for the next trip to Ladakh this winter!

Ladakh in Winter - Changthang

Ladakh in Winter - Chadar Walk

For more on Ladakh in this blog, please click here

Ladakh Diaries

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Skywatch Friday - Road to Pangong Lake, Ladakh

Some pictures always makes you take a relook and bring back the lovely memories of a trip. It is well known that Pangong Lake in Ladakh is an amazing place. What we liked more was the lovely journey to the lake from Leh through myriad hues of Ladakh landscape. 

Like the adage goes "It is the journey which matters, not the destination", it applies to any drives in Ladakh. More so to Pangong.

For more stories on Ladakh and details on visiting the place, please click this link in this blog.

Ladakh Diaries

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Skywatch Friday - Barlacha Pass, Manali - Leh road

Driving on Manali - Leh road is nerve-wracking experience. Once in a life time adventure. At the same time, the sheer beauty of changing landscape with clear skies is a joy to behold.

When we were crossing Barlacha pass - 15,000 feet - the landscape was mesmerising. The road with snow on either side, miles and miles of white layers of ice, snow capped peaks playing hide and seek behind the clouds...........

It was a a treat to the eyes.

If you want to now more about travelling to Ladakh, please click on this link in this blog.

Ladakh Diaries

If you want any help, please drop a email to poorna62@gmail.com. Happy to help.

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Skywatch Friday - Sky over Thikse Monastery, Ladakh

If you are a sky watcher, Ladakh is the place to be. Clear skies over the snow clad mountains beckon you. Sunrise and sunsets in Ladakh are an experience in itself. If you are a star gazer, you should be in Nubra Valley to count stars in a clear sky you can ever come across.

This shot of Thikse Mosnatery was taken in the morning in July 2010. The sky was cloudy but nevertheless added beauty to the lovely monastery which is also known as "Little Patola" as it resembles famed Patola Palace of Tibet.

Thikse Monsatery, Leh, Ladakh

If you want to know more about traveling in Ladakh, please see the following post in this blog.

Ladakh Diaries

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Ladakh Diaries 7 - Himalayas from the Sky!

Our week long adventure in Ladakh was coming to an end. What started of as a round trip from Manali to Srinagar with stopover at Leh had to be curtailed at Leh due to security situation in Srinagar. We missed another fabulous drive from Leh to Srinagar via Kargil. We should do that during our next trip to Ladakh.

We had booked our flight to Delhi from Leh since we dropped the idea of driving to Srinagar. The flights from Leh to Delhi are all in the morning. Knowing the fickle weather conditions in mountains, we were keeping our fingers crossed and hoping for good weather and smooth take off.

Our departure was at 7 AM which meant getting up early and reaching the airport by 5.30 AM. We settled dues with Ladakh Safari, (http://www.ladakhsafari.com/) our tour operator on the previous day and bid good bye to Deleks Namgyal who had arranged everything for us flawlessly. Zigmet, the driver was ready with the car at 5 AM with the good news that weather was good and flight will take off in time.

It was still dark when we reached Leh airport. Located in Military area, it is a small airport which is used by both civilian and military aircraft. All flights to Leh are from Delhi and they arrive in the morning and return back. The airport shuts down for civilian aircraft after 10 AM unless there is a delay due to weather.

We sit there in the lounge reminiscing the good times we had in this fabulous mountain country. The landscape, the people, the culture, the drives, the food, shopping.........everything was fantastic. The memories of this trip will remain with us forever and we will definitely come back some time again.

We board the flight and settle down as the flight take off. Now the most surprising part or the grand finale of the trip was to happen as i look out of the window. We see fabulous scenes of Himalayas, Indus river as the plane slowly attain the height. We are lucky that we got the seats on the correct side to watch beautiful snow clad mountains in morning light.

Here are the pictures we shot from the plane............

View of Indus river and Leh cantonment as flight take off

The rigged terrain of Ladakh mountains

As plane gain height, we see first glimpse of snow clad peaks

We are now above cloud line and mountain peaks look like a silver line at a distance

This is one of my favourites......the peaks in all glory rising above cloud line

Mesmerising sight of rugged valleys, snow clad peaks and low hanging clouds

This is another favourite.......the cloud balls resemble parachutes hovering over the mountains!!

Mountains in full glory....

We reach Delhi after an hour's flight from Leh and reached Bangalore in the afternoon.

Do plan a trip to Ladakh. It is a fantastic experience you will always remember. If you are planning India Travel, do include Ladakh and Leh as part of your itinerary. If you are flying to Leh from Delhi, make sure you have a window seat with camera handy!


Related posts in on Ladakh

Ladakh Diaries 1 - Manali to Leh, Day One

Ladakh Diaries 2 - Manali to Leh, Day two

Ladakh Diaries 3 - Leh - Sights of a Mountain town

Ladakh Diaries 4 - To Khardung La, highest motorable road in the world!

Ladakh Diaries 5 - Leh to Pangong Tso, the lake @ 15000 feet

Ladakh Diaries 6 - Basgo, Magnetic hill and Gurudwara Pathar Sahib

Did you like this post?  Please share the link with your friends if it can be of help to them. 

Do you need help in planning a trip to Leh and Ladakh? You are welcome to write to me at poorna62@gmail.com.

Happy to help

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