Ladakh- Detoxing center of India

The much needed break

Ladakh is a beautiful union territory of India. It lies on border with Pakistan on one side and China on other. Tired of my busy schedule, I decided to take a break and decided to explore this beautiful union territory.
  The Best Season to visit
The best season to visit Ladakh is in between June to September. The weather is mostly clear during these months, but can be unpredictable and cloudy weather with slight drizzles. I visited Ladakh in first week of August.
   Mode of transport
The fastest mode of transport is by airways. Leh airport is the highest altitude airport of India.
There are direct flights from Mumbai to Leh, or Mumbai to Leh via Srinagar, flights from Delhi are also available. While going to Ladakh I chose direct flight from Mumbai to Leh and while coming back, I chose to come by Leh to Mumbai via Srinagar. Its quite the talent of pilots to land planes carefully as weather conditions of Leh are quite unfavourable for takeoffs and landings. Many youth go to Ladakh together by the famous bike 'The Bullet'. It is an adventurous sport to ride 'The Bullet' through the difficult terrains and hairpin curves of ghats.
   Health Care
As Ladakh is situated at very high altitude, oxygen supply over there is comparatively very less. To adjust to this altitude, complete body and bed rest for one complete day is mandatory. Many  people experience headache, nausea, loss of appetite because of this increase in altitude. Complete body rest for a day allows our bodies to get adjusted to this new environment.
  Site seeing
Ladakh is blessed with many beautiful and exotic locations. Unlike Jammu & Kashmir, mountains here are almost barren with snow clad peaks shining during day. Many monasteries with their hymns teach us about peace and spirituality. The daily rat race that we experience seems useless when we enter these peaceful abodes.
Cold deserts with double humped camels are the jewels of Nubra valley. It is surrounded by mountains from all the four sides which makes the place very scenic and photogenic.

The famous 3 idiots lake Pangong lake is also present in Ladakh. Only 30% lake is present in India with 70% lake in China. It is a salt water lake. Under clear weather, the lake is quite photogenic with different shades of blue adorning the lake due to sun reflection. The highest and second highest motorable pass of the world 'Khardung La' and 'Chang la' pass respectively are also present in Ladakh.
Siachin valley, inhuman valley which is also Indo-China border just raises our patriotism and respect for our army that keep vigil even in this inhuman conditions. Memorial for Kargil war makes us realize about the sacrifices of our jawans to maintain peace and regularity of our country. Everyday at evening there is a light and dance show, giving us a glance of what happened during 'Kargil war'. Our blood gets filled with patriotism and honor watching the vigilant way our jawans fought the war. Salute to our jawans for protecting our country even in such inhuman conditions.
  Flora & fauna
Different types of animals can be seen here. Snow leopards, migratory birds, yak live here. Double humped camels and marmooth - a type of burrowing mammal are seen only in Ladakh.

Culture
Ladakh has a beautiful culture. There are many different tribes living in different parts of Ladakh. Each tribe has its own way of dressing, folklore and occupation.
Football and iced hockey are popular sports of this area.
People residing in this region are very helpful and friendly in nature. They maintain cleanliness and hygiene.
Market of Ladakh is very scenic and beautiful.

Fresh apricots, peaches and carrots are available in these markets which are very difficult to obtain in Mumbai markets. Dry fruits like walnuts, dried apricots and peaches and saffron, 100% pure honey  are the speciality  of Ladakh.
Overall, one must go to Ladakh at least once in their life.