Ladakh, known for centuries as the 'land of passes' (La-pass; Dakh-land), is a mysterious land shrouded in myth and legend -- a land where history and mythology merge. It was described by Fa-hian, who travelled across it's inhospitable terrain in 399 A.D., as "the land where snow never melts and only corn ripens". Leh is the capital city of Ladakh.

It's landscapes are forbidding by any measure. snow-swathed mountains rise to several thousand feet above one of the most elevated plateau on earth. A tree-less, wind-swept country much of Ladakh can be termed as mountains, arctic desert, where everything is parched. Scattered here and there, are a few narrow, fertile valleys which provide a stark contrast to an otherwise barren country of intense sunlight and clear sparkling air. The atmosphere, in fact gives the night sky a unique clarity, so full and bright with stars that one feels transported to some etheral setting far removed from earth.