Nubra Valley, Ladakh

On the other side of Khardung La, we had a long descent to reach the Nubra Valley, close to the Pakistani border. The views of the valley were amazing. Fields and villages clung to flatter sections before giving way to cliffs and canyons to the valley floor. We followed the canyon for a while before rounding a corner to reach Shyok Valley where a river trickled at the floor or soaring mountains. The river is clearly low right now but you can see the high water marks reach right across the valley floor.

Khardung La, Ladakh

After our bone crunching ride to Pangong Tso we decided to subject our bodies to a little more. We embarked on a two day trip to Nubra Valley which would mean having to go over the world's highest motorable pass - Khardung La - 5602 m / 18379 ft.

Pangong Tso, Indian/Tibetan Border

We hired a jeep and a driver, Dorje, (along with two Aussies we met on the flight up) to go see Pangong Tso - a lake on the border with Tibet which features on many of the postcards up here. We set out at six am and the drive would not be easy. It was five hours each way on bumpy roads along steep mountain trails and over the third highest motorable pass in the world - Chang La (5289m / 17352 ft).

Leh, Ladakh, India

Our first stop on the Indian leg of our adventure was in Leh, a pretty little town high in the Indian part of the Himalayas. Although nestled in the foothills of the mountains, Leh is 3530 m / 11581 ft above sea level so our first day was spent getting acclimatized to the altitude before exploring. The Ladakh region, of which Leh is the capitol, is incredibly remote. It's a two day jeep ride over near 5000 m / 16,000 ft passes to the closest town of any size. The region is primarily Buddhist, not Hindu, and culturally much more similar to Nepal and pre-China Tibet than it is to the rest of India.