The oxygen content being low also caused discomfort.The first day was spent in getting acclimatized. Any exertion caused tiredness.The hotel Leh Chan was a nice place away from the noise of vehicles and close to a tiny river..The next day we woke up early as the sunrise is early.What a wonderful sight we saw!
From our room we could see the sunrise ,the snow clad mountains, the palace at a distance and the magpie robin.It was a sight that I had never seen before and do not think will see again.21 st we went to Samkar gompha, Shanti Stupa the Hemis festival and the Leh palace.These are the photos of the Samkar gompha, the Shanti Stupa the Leh palace and the Hemis festival.
The next day 22nd we went to the Pangyong lake .It is a long drive through winding roads and snow covered mountains.The topmost point is Chang-La which is 
17586 FEET .
The entire jour
ney showed us a part of India we had never imagined.From there we proceeded to Pangyong lake. This photo does not do justice to the beauty of the vast lake which also spreads into China.We found some gulls in there brown headed and looking wonderful on the blue green waters of the lake.We passed through villages Shey and Thiksey.The route back was tiring as the low oxygen content causes some discomfort as also the winding roads.We reached Hotel Leh Chen around evening and then just flopped out. The 23 rd was a day of sight seeing at lower levels-the sangam of the zanskar and indus rivers, the magnetic hill, the patthar sahib-a gurudwara, the fabulous museum -a tribute to our brave 
soldiers of the 
army ,navy and air force.
The eveving was spent in shopping at Leh market.The market is full of woolens,silver jewellery ,bags of different leathers and stones of all kinds.
We had a good time there and also got to walk a little as we were all the time getting into the Qualis and driving off.We also visited the market and got a papaya and a mashmelon and were happy that we could eat some fruit after 4-5 days.
The next day was a trip to Nubra valley ,the highest motorable road in the world.We got off to an early start and the drive was amazing .The mountains were of all colours and the weather was bitterly cold.We reached the highest point Khardung-La.The oxygen content was low and quite a tiring time.The man in the picture is a tourist who is trying to show that the low temperature has no effect on him!Later on these people had to be hospitalised and given oxygen.One must pay attention to the instructions of the guides or the people living there.
The road went further towards the sand dunes -a cold desert . I had never imagined that it would be a desert with freezing temperatures and sand all around. There are many two-humped camels here. The sand is extremely fine and looks like miles and miles of it.The further journey brought us to Tirith camp -a wonderful place in the midst of nowhere.
The approach to the camp provided us with a view of a waterfall from the snow capped mountains.What can I say? all the adjectives fall short of the sight that we saw!.The camping was a superb experience .The food was good and we all could sit together and chat ,relax ,have a hot water bath .The tea place was a round area where we all sat together ,had tea, biscuits and snacks.We ladies played cards -a game called 7 of hearts.It was a lot of fun.We stayed overnight and left ea
rly as there was a chance of bad weather. Sure enough we experienced a blizzard on the way back.The trip gave us the complete package of what it can be in a place like Leh.Luckily we did not see the ugly side of the terrain or the weather.The mou
ntains we saw were a varied colour-red- as you can see in this picture ,green yellow and of various textures-rocky but smooth like chocolate,sandy, gravelly ,stony sometimes forming shapes sometimes looking dangerous. The drive back was a bit frightening because there was mist and sometimes one could not see anything and suddenly the mist would go away and we could again see the beautiful snow laden mountains.The journey ended with us back at the Leh chen hotel in the evening. The next day was a rest day when we decided to go river rafting in the Zanskar river. River rafting is for the strong ones -who can use oars fast and for the brave hearts who will not lose their cool in case of a mishap.The entire stretch was a raw beauty that one never sees elsewhere. It is unspoilt by humans requiring all amenities and mollycoddling. The next day -26th we began the return journey with memories of an unforgettable trip to one of the most wonderful places in INDIA that one could see.
