Imagine a desert carved into the mountain.
The cliffs would be ocher and would turn purple at sunset.
Gorges would open and cliffs would burst on all sides.
Along the milky rivers would grow apricot trees, willows and poplars.
On the ridges would sit white houses with flat roofs and monasteries.
Every morning, monks would blow trumpets and spin prayer wheels.
This place exists, it is Ladakh, a region in the far north of India, in the Himalayas.
Average altitude: more than 5000 meters.
Nickname: Little Tibet, due to its proximity to the Chinese autonomous region.
When China annexed Tibet in 1950, thousands of refugees came here to this Buddhist region since the 10th century.
To the east, a gorge is home to the highest concentration of Buddhist monasteries in the world, the Indus Valley, the last frontier reached by Alexander the Great.
To the north, fields of wheat and barley meander between the dunes, this is the Nubra valley.
Everywhere, there are possibilities for treks where you pass passes at more than 5,000 meters and where you can hope to see the snow leopard.
Visit Leh, capital at 3500 meters altitude
1. The lung of the city, the old town of Leh (Main Bazar) is crossed by Buddhist prayer flags and lively all day long.
Thibault Petit / Le Figaro
We first notice it through the plane window: the city extends in clusters between the sandy slopes.
This is Leh, the capital of Ladakh, located at an altitude of 3500 meters.
When we arrive, a large brown building catches the eye.
This is the royal palace (300 Rupees), with its nine floors, built in the 17th century.
Up there, we see the old town, the Stok Kangri pyramid (6153m) and the Zanskar range.
Next to it, a path leads to the Stemo monastery (1430) and its statue of the Buddha of the future.
Colorful prayer flags flap in the wind, silence.
We see houses under construction: Leh is a city growing in the dust.
These neighborhoods have little interest, unlike the old town, the heart of Leh.
Main Bazar is a maze of alleys where restaurants, souvenir shops and pashmina shops, these fine Himalayan goat wool shawls, are concentrated.
Here, tourists in backpacks, villagers in furs, guides in goretex jackets meet.
On the sidewalk, old women sell products from their gardens, apples, apricots, turnips.
Streets run in all directions, one at random: here we are on a polo field, in front of a stupa or in front of a prayer wheel.
Another leads: it leads to a building with a golden roof, the Chokhang temple, the official headquarters of the Buddhist Association of Ladakh.
Immersion in the fertile Noubra valley
In winter, when the Zanskar River freezes, it becomes the only access route to the valley for residents.
It is also one of the most beautiful treks in Ladakh.
Piotr Wojtkowski
It is a valley of fertile fields, which contrasts with the desert.
A valley drawn by the Siachen glacier, the highest battlefield in the world, between India and Pakistan.
Altitude: 6000 meters.
Temperature: - 60 degrees in winter.
The bottom of the Noubra valley is not that high: 3000 meters, hence this greenery.
To get there, we take the Khardung-la, the highest road pass in the world, 5,360 meters.
We cross an army post, a small monastery.
On the road going down, we see marmots and yaks.
The Shyok River rolls below, dunes separate the villages of Hunder and Diskit.
We see Bactrian camels.
Traders from Central Asian countries used them to transport cargo.
Many of them were abandoned here when the Silk Road was closed to trade.
Here, we are at the end of the world, or almost, it's magnificent.
We come to see a giant statue of Maitreya Buddha, 32 meters high.
He watches over an old white monastery hanging on a ridge, that of Diskit (30 Rupees).
Inside, we see the throne of the Dalai Lama and couples in search of children come to beg for a giant phallus.
The tour of the monasteries of the Indus Valley
In the Noubra valley, this statue of Maitraya Buddha, approximately 35 meters high, dominates the Diskit monastery, facing the Shyok river.
Thibault Petit / Le Figaro
He is on a hill, in complete silence.
In front of him, enormous golden stupas.
Below, white houses, those of the monks.
The Buddhist monastery of Thiksey (30 Rupees) is one of the most famous in Ladakh.
It is located in the Indus Valley, the river which gave its name to India, a river which is one of the seven sacred rivers of the country.
The Indus Valley is also the last frontier reached by Alexander the Great, king of Macedonia, the greatest conqueror in the history of Antiquity.
After seizing Persia, he made his way to India, where he conquered the Punjab and then the Indus Valley.
This was in the 4th century, before Ladakh was Buddhist.
Today, the valley is home to the highest concentration of Buddhist monasteries in the world.
They are everywhere, perched on ridges, along the green waters of the Indus.
To the south of the valley, a monastery on a rocky spur, that of Chemrey.
It tops white houses and overlooks rapeseed fields.
On the other side of the Indus, there is the Hemis monastery (200 Rupees), the richest in Ladakh, built in the 17th century.
It is said that he escaped the Mughal rampage because he was hidden by fog.
Further north, on the road to Kargil, the Alchi monastery (price varies), the oldest in Ladakh, founded in the 11th century.
It rises on the banks of the sacred river in an oasis village where everything is ocher.
A trek between heaven and earth
Ladakh is home to the highest roads in the world, including the Khardung La, a motorable pass peaking at 5,359 meters and providing access to the Noubra valley from Leh.
Istock
And there you have it, the Karakoram range stretches before us, its gorges and needles like a wall.
We are at the Lasermo pass, at 5438 meters, the highest point of a trek which connects the Indus valley to the Noubra.
Are we still on earth?
Where does the sky begin?
Ladakh makes you ask these kinds of questions.
Let's take one of the most famous treks, that of the Markha Valley, between Spituk and Hemis.
We pass golden ridges, oasis villages, sandy slopes.
We cross passes higher than Mont Blanc, Ganja La (4961m) and Kongmaru La (5260m).
In the villages, women extract apricot oil by hand, the fields are plowed by dzos, cattle resulting from a cross between yak and zebu.
Among the most beautiful treks, that from Rumtse to Tso Moriri.
It takes you to the Changthang region, a high altitude plateau with magnificent lakes like Tso Moriri, a huge blue spot in the middle of the desert.
Most treks are done in summer but more and more agencies are organizing treks in winter: the one on frozen Zanskar, for example.
For nine days, we do like the locals, we walk on the river in -30 degree weather, the only way to access the valley when the roads are closed.
In Hemis National Park, there is also the special snow leopard trek, where one can hope to see wolves, Ladakh ibexes, blue sheep and Tibetan mouflons.
Travelogue
How to get there
.
Take a flight to Leh from New Delhi (5 flights daily).
Direct air connections also from Chandigarh and Mumbai.
When to get there.
Best time: between spring (May) and early autumn (until early October).
In winter, most hotels are closed but agencies organize treks.
Altitude.
The capital, Leh, is 3,500 meters above sea level. Acclimatize upon arrival: 48 hours of rest may be necessary.
Permit.
Except for Leh and its nearby region, you will need a permit to travel.
Easily obtained from agencies.