Ladakh is a land like no other. Bounded by two of the worlds' mightiest mountain ranges, the Great Himalayas and the Karakoram, it lies athwart to two others the Ladakh range and the Zanskar range.

Today a high altitude desert ranging from about 9000 feet (2750m) at Kargil to 25,170 feet (7672m) at Saser Kangri in the Karakoram, sheltered from the rain -bearing clouds of the Indian monsoon by the barrier of the Himalayas, Ladakh was once covered by an extensive lake system, the vestiges of which still exist on its south-east plateaux of Rupshu and Chushul-in drainage basins with evocative names like Tso-moriri., Tsokar and the grandest of all, Pangong Tso. Occassionally, some stray monsoon clouds do find their way over the Himalayas to Ladakh.

For close on 900 years, from the middle of the 10th century, Ladakh was an independt kingdom, its dynasties coming from old Tibet. The kingdom was at the greatest political fortune in the early 17th century under the famous king Senge Namgyal, whose rule extended across the Spiti and wester Tibet upto Mayum La beyond the sacred sites of Mount Kailash and Lake Manasarovara. Ladakh became best recognized as the trade route between the Punjab and Central Asia, for centuries being traversed by caravans carrying textiles and spices, raw silk and carpets, dyestuffs and narcotics. The famous pashm, better known as cashmere also came down from the high altitude plateaux of eastern Ladakh and western Tibet.

In 1834, Ladakh was invaded by General Jorawar Singh of Kashmere and there followed a decade of war and turmoil, which ended in emergence of British empire in north India. Now Ladakh is a part of Jammu and Kashmere of India.

People of Ladakh, by their faces and physique look like either Tibetans or Central Asians. The original population may have been Dards, an Indo-Aryan race from down the Indus but immigration from Tibet, perhaps a millennium or so ago, largely overwhelmed the culture of the Dards and obliterated their racial characteristics. The Arghons, communities of Muslims in Leh are the descendents of marriages between local women and Kashmiri or Central Asian merchants.

Buddhism and Muslim are Ladakh's principal religions. As you approach a Buddhist village, you will see mani walls bearing the mantra om mane padme hum and chortens-the commemorative cairns, like stone pepper pots. Many villages are crowned by a gompa or monastery, which may be anything from an imposing complex.

Whether you are a scholar, geographer, anthropologist, historian, student of religion, someone who likes the wide open spaces and the wind in their face, whether your aim is to trek the mountains, or to follow the gompa trails, the chances are that once you come to Ladakh, you will be hooked. And once hooked, it's not going to be easy to stay away.