LEH
Area in Sq Km : 40
Population : 50, 000
By
Air
Indian Airlines run daily
flights between Leh and Delhi from June-September (sometimes
via Chandigarh). There are direct flights once a week from
Leh to Srinagar and thrice a week to Jammu. From October
to May, IA runs daily flights from Delhi to Leh but this
is subject to weather conditions.
By
Road
The two overland routes to
Leh are from Srinagar and Manali. By car, (other options
are by bus or jeep) the trip from Srinagar to Leh takes
two days (12 hours of travel each day). The Manali-Leh road
is a little risky as its closing dates depend on climatic
conditions.
Pack a bag for Leh between June and late September. This
is the best season for planning a trek or to go rafting.
From
the Airport
the bus service from the airport to Leh is infrequent. Rates
for jeeps and taxis are set at Rs70 to Leh and Rs100 to
Changspa.
From
the Bus Station
The New Bus Stand is near the chortens. A taxi from the
Old and New bus stations to Fort Road will cost around Rs20.
Motorcycles and bicycles are the most convenient ways of
moving around Leh. Most hotels are within a few minutes
walk of the Mian Bazaar street, the central area. For visiting
monasteries and out-of-the-town spots, hire a jeep or taxi.
Picture-perfect scenery and a gentle people, makes Leh a
soothing sojourn. Tourist inflow and a burgeoning hotel
industry has, however, speeded up the slow pace of life
and has turned most small-time shopkeeper of Ladakh into
tradesmen of 'ethnic' arts and crafts. Leh is a small friendly
place: everybody seems to know their neighbour and their
aunts as well. Leh lies at an altitude of 3,520m in the
Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir. The first known inhabitants
of Ladakh were a mixture of nomadic herdsmen from the Tibet
plateau and a small group of Buddhist refugees from northern
India known as the Mons. In the later part of the 4th century
and early 5th century, these two groups were joined by an
agricultural tribe of Indo-Aryan origin, the Dards. Ladakh
was annexed to Kashmir in 1932 by a Dogra general, Zorawar
Singh, and became a part of India in 1948. The city of Leh
became Ladakh's headquarters. Leh's position was further
strengthened when Ladakh obtained decentralized administration
under the Autonomous Hill Development Council in 1995.
The average temperature from May to September ranges between
3-20°C. The temperature dips rapidly after sundown, sometimes
touching zero. During the rest of the year, it is excessively
cold (it snows heavily) with temperatures dropping to minus
10°C to minus 15°C. Leh lies in a cold desert region and
receives only 85mm of rain. |
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