Ladakh is situated in the high desert reaches of the Himalayan and Karakoram mountain ranges. Situated at the height of 3000 to 5000 meters above the sea level, Ladakh is perhaps one of the highest inhabited places on earth. This high altitude arid desert, sheltered from the rain-bearing clouds of the Indian monsoon by the Great Himalayas, has an awesome and extraordinary landscape where the bare rocks of the mountain ranges appear to thrust through the flat expanses of desert to create a dazzling backdrop of peaks and crags.The rivers Indus and Zanskar meander through the valleys of central Ladakh but provide little relief for the parched earth.

The region was once covered by an extensive lake system, the vestiges of which still exist today on its south-east plateaux of Rupshu and Chushul, the grandest of them all being Pangong-tso.In spite of its remoteness, Ladakh has been at the crossroads of trans-Asian trade for centuries. This gives it a unique cultural heritage which is a blend of Tibetan culture, indigenous traditions and influences from the ancient Buddhist regions of Central Asia and Kashmir.Covering an area of nearly 82,000 square kilometers, nowhere else in India is so large a space so sparsely populated. The enormous landscape is beautifully desolate and remote.