Day 1/2 23rd/24th April - From the UK to Ladakh in Northern India

Photo above - Leh in Ladakh from the air.

Start of a long day

Left home at 6am to be sure I would be in time for the 7am train to Heathrow via Paddington. I am catching a flight to India, a distance of 4170 miles. I am travelling to the far north of India right up by the Himalayas, so have packed clothing for the expected April temperatures at high altitude in spring ie -6c at night, struggling up to 2c in the day, with threats of snow!!

My 8hr overnight flight will take me to Delhi, where I will transfer to an early morning flight north to the state of Ladakh.

Arrived at Heathrow at about 9.15am, just as Air India was opening for check in so was first through. Security was also very quiet, so was in the departure lounge very quickly. There I awaited the arrival of my fellow traveller Michael who I went to Tibet with last year. It is just the two of us on this trip.

Flight to Delhi

The flight to Delhi was meant to leave at 1.15pm, however there was a delay and it eventually left at about 2pm. The route took us over Cologne, Frankfurt, Munich, Vienna, Budapest, south of Bucharest, then north of Istanbul, and across northern Turkey, across Armenia and Azerbaijan, then across the Caspian Sea, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and finally into India.

We landed at Delhi Airport at approximately 2.30am on Thursday morning. It was a very clear sky and seeing the hundreds of thousands of lights of Delhi below us as we made the approach to the airport was magical. And it was a very pleasant 26c. We had about 4 hours until the domestic flight north to Ladakh, however, we had to collect our baggage, pass through immigration and have visas checked, then go through security again, so there was not a lot of down time.

Flight to Ladakh

The flight to Ladakh left a little late at about 8am. The 388 mile flight north from Delhi to the state capital Leh took about one hour and we arrived at 9am. I think taking off a bit later helped improve the views. We crossed some of the Himalayas all covered in snow and lit up by the sun, then had great views of some Ladakh villages, then Leh itself as we flew in over the brown dusty landscape.

First hours in Leh

The airport is tiny, with just one small building acting as departures and arrivals. The weather was a nice surprise. We were expecting snow, but actually it was 5c and sunny. Lots of armed army personnel around, but not sure if this is normal or a response to the killing of some tourists in the neighboring state a couple of days ago.

From the airport, we were picked up by the guy who will be driving us around. The town was bustling, lots of people, steep streets, thin roads, cars making use of the horn. Our hotel is right at the top of the town, up a very thin and windy road where it is very difficult to pass another vehicle. My room has views of snow capped mountains, a temple and a stupa. The rest of the day we spent at the hotel acclimatising to the rarified air at this height.

Leh is the capital of Ladakh state, and has a population of about 150,000. The city sits in a stark, awe-inspiring location on the valley floor, at an altitude of 3500m/11,400ft, hemmed in by mile upon mile of snow-capped mountains.

About Ladakh

The state of Ladakh is like nowhere else in India. It is bounded by two of the world’s mightiest mountain ranges, the Great Himalaya and the Karakoram, and is a high-altitude desert area located at the western edge of the Tibetan plateau. The most northerly part of India, it has a national border with Tibet/China and Pakistan to the north (although there is no open border crossing), and abuts the Indian states of Jammu Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh to the south. Just yesterday we heard of rebel attacks in neighbouring Kashmir where several tourists were killed, but our understanding is that Ladakh state is very stable.

Although situated in the most northern part of India, it has much more in common culturally and geographically with Tibet, and was part of Tibet hundreds of years ago. The population is sparse, and on average there are only 3 people per square Km. It has the highest paved driveable road in the world, which crosses the Umling La Pass at 19,024ft/5799m!! The average altitude in the state is 3500m/11500 feet, and Ladakh actually means ‘land of high passes’.

Ladakh was established as an Indian ‘Union Territory’ in 2019, before which was part of Kashmir, an area subject to violent disputes between India & Pakistan since 1947, and a dispute between India & China since 1959. Limited numbers of tourists have been allowed to visit the area since 1974, however many areas are still off limits to foreign tourists (near the Tibet and Pakistan borders), and a large area of the south is only accessible by foot.

Its awe-inspiring landscape has been modified and sculpted into its spectacular shape by wind and water over the millennia. The moon-like scenery is extraordinarily stark and barren but interspersed with isolated settlements of green oases full of swaying poplar trees, apricot orchards and cultivated farmland.

Some history

The people of Ladakh are unlike their fellow countrymen, with unique customs and lifestyle that are a continuum from the past, and are more closely linked with the Tibetan people on the other side of the Himalayas. Thousands of Tibetans fled to this area following China’s ‘invasion’ of the 1950s. There are about 85,000 Tibetans in India, mostly here in the far north, and the 14th Dalai Lama (spiritual leader) is currently in exile in the neighbouring state of Himachal Pradesh.

Ladakh has a rich Buddhist heritage which is displayed in the numerous 'Gompas' or monastarys that dominate the area. Perched high up in the mountain ridges, these enchanting medieval buildings, surrounded by fluttering prayer flags, are still places of active worship and hold treasure troves of artefacts, images and ancient frescoes.

Tomorrow we explore Leh and the surrounding area.