My First Impression of Leh

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I’ve heard about Leh and Ladakh a lot of times from the people that I’ve met in my past travels and I’ve always dreamt of going there to see it for myself. Alas the time finally came when I got a six months visa in India (last 2012) and figured that I have enough time to explore some northern districts including Ladakh and it’s capital Leh.

Our travel to Leh from Kaza took us almost two full days. It was a gruelling trip but the scenery was mind-blowingly beautiful. Check out my last post about some details about it.

Leh Palace built in 17th century

Leh is not the main destination in Ladakh though it could be a nice place to chill and relax before you explore the nearby villages.

There are lots of accommodation in the Old Leh and New Leh area. We preferred to stay a bit far from the old palace and near the small farms instead. We stayed in a small guesthouse where a double room only cost us 200 Rupees. There are lots of affordable accommodation in Upper Tukcha.

Old Leh

New Leh

An undeveloped part of Leh

There are also lots of restaurants with a variety of cuisines. If you want to take a break from eating momos and thukpa, then Leh would be a nice place to feast on some familiar dishes like pizza and pasta.

There are also a couple of ATMs in this town including HDFC, State Bank of India and J&K Bank where you could withdraw money. I have only tried HDFC and it accepts international cards (withdrawal transaction has 200 Rupees fee).

Leh also has a bus station that could conect you to various towns in Ladakh and as well as to Kargil, Jammu and Srinagar. There are shared taxis also available thru the travel agencies if you prefer using it instead.

There are also lots of shops selling outdoor gears, Tibetan jewelleries and artefacts (not sure if those are just reproductions or what) and other stuff that you might find interesting.

One of the many Tibetan Refugee Markets scatterred around Leh

Ladakh is also known as the land of stupas and you could find a lot of these in Leh.

Best time to visit would be during the months of June and July where it’s not that cold. But if you’re interested to see Leh during winter, then you still could do so. Leh fortunately has flights to Delhi and Srinagar.

Safe Travels!

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