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Ladakh
Beyond the valley of Kashmir, the inner Himalayas rising in the north and
east contain the frontier region of the state. The territory comprises
the three geographical divisions of Ladakh, Baltistan, and Dardistan. Out of the
total area of the state of 138,992.1 sq km, the district of Ladakh (97,782
sq km) covers 70.4% of the total area .
 The province of Ladakh touches the Chinese border on the north,
merges into
Tibet in the east and is contained along the south by the extension of
the great Himalayan range. The Karakoram range of mountain lies in the north
Ladakh. The second highest peak in the world, K2 (Mt.Godwin 8611 metres) crowns one of its many tall
mountains. The Karakoram pass (5,517.64 m) is situated towards the
north-east of Karakoram, in an area where China, Tibet, and Ladakh
meet. This pass facilitates a direct route from India to China.
Until some years ago,
Ladakh used to be the gateway to Tibet, connecting India
with Tibet and east Turkistan. As such, it was an important trade centre, also being the meeting point of the Tibetan, Indian, Chinese, and Islamic
cultures and traditions.
Leh, the
headquarter of Ladakh (3,521 m above the sea level) is a fascinating town built on a
hillside and surrounded by rocky hills. It was once the commercial nerve centre
of Central Asia just as Hong Kong is of the Far East. Traders thronged Leh from Turkey,
Arab countries, Iran, and Afghanistan. Leh town is full of orchards, groves,
gardens and monasteries and is crowded with people. Poplars and Willows are
aplenty. Apples, apricots and giant-size melons are grown in these orchards.
Ladakh is a mountainous terrain between the Himalayas and the Kuenlum mountains.
One of the highest habitations in the world, Ladakh has an elevation ranging
between 2,400 m and 4,500 m above the sea level. The average height of its
mountain is between 5000 and 7000 m. Its valleys, about 500 sq km in area, lie
along the headwaters of the Indus, the Sutlej, and the Chenab rivers. The Indus, having originated hundreds of kilometres further east from near the
Kailash mountain and the Mansarovar lake in Tibet, flows in an almost straight
line from north-west to the south-east of Ladakh. The river enters the
region of Skardu in Baltistan.
 An interesting spectacle in Ladakh is represented by hot springs and geysers
roaring and throwing steaming hot water up to a height of 150 m and projecting
fantastic rainbow colours. These fountains of water represent phenomenon in
winter when the boiling water comes down in the shape of ice blocks with the
impact of chilly winds and form mounds next to the geysers.
In the north-east of
Leh, at the town of Nyoma, lies an unusual terrain,
where the colour of the soil and rocks is purple. The awe-inspiring mountain
peaks seem to touch the sky. There is a conspicuous absence of life of any form
and hence it has been aptly called the "Land of the broken moon", a truly
poetical name.
Over the Ladakh range and in the north of Leh is the road to Khardung La (5,600
m above the sea level), the highest road in the world - a veritable walk over
thick ice-sheets, ice-walls, and glaciers with the Karakoram range in the
background . Further on, Chushul, the Pangong salt water lake, is about 112
km long. Its water is blue-green and sometimes indigo-purple.
Kargil (about 2,750 m above the sea level) has a similar network of mountains
around it. The people of Kargil do some farming and raise sheep. Their houses
are built of stone and plastered with thick layers of mud to escape the extreme
rigours of the cold. They profess Islam.
The high altitude of Ladakh and Kargil and high mountains encircling the region
give it a unique climate- absolute dryness (the annual rainfall is about 4
inches , i.e. 10 cm , and there is very little snow), arctic cold and extremes
of weather. It is burning hot by day and piercing cold by night, very hot in
summer, and extremely cold in winter. |
