Ladakh Range Favorites

Favorite thing: For close on 900 years, from the middle of the 10th century, Ladakh was an independent kingdom, its dinasties descending from the kings of old tibet. Its political fortunes ebbed and flowed over the centuries, and the kingdom, was at its greatest in thte early 17th century under the famous king Sengge Namgyal, whose rule extended across Spiti and wenster Tibet up to the Mayumla beyond the sacred sites of Mount Kailash and Lake Mansarovar. Ladakh became recognized as the best trade route between the Punjab and Central Asia. For centuries it was traversed by caravans carrying textiles and spices, raw silk and carpets. The famous pashm(better known as cashmere) also came down from the high altitude plateaux of easter Ladakh and wenster Tibet where it was produced, through Leh to Srinagar, where skilled artisans transformed .

Fondest memory: Ironically, it was this lucrative trade, that finally spelt the doom of the independent kingdom. It attracted the covetous gaze of Gulab Singh, the ruler of Jammu in the early 19th century , and in 1834, he sent his general Zorawar Singh to invade Ladakh. There followed a decede of war and turmoil, which ended with the emergence of the British as the paramount power in north India. Ladakh, together with the neighbouring province of Baltistan, was incorporated into the newly created State of Jammu and Kashmir. Just over a century later, this union was disturbed by the partition of India, Baltistan became part of Pakistan while Ladakh remained in India as part of the State of Jammu & kashmir.

all this and more in: www.culturalindia.net/ladakh

Favorite thing: It is a large state and while there is danger from Shrinagar to Kargil - Ladakh is (for the time being at least) perfectly safe. It is best to visit in the summer months from June to September as the roads are closed the rest of the year. It is still possible to visit in winter from what I hear...

Favorite thing: The moods of Tsomoriri Lake photograhpy by Mr. Jenes Anrau.

No photo or part of it be used for any purpose without his permission.

Favorite thing: What can I write?

Favorite thing: Apart from visiting Temples, Gompas, Palaces, you must do a trekking. Walk trought these hight passes, these mountains is more than expirience, it is life itself. (view from Konmaru La)