the Ladakh Range and the Zanskar Range. Its basic contours, uplifted by tectonic movements, have been modified over the millennia by the process of erosion due to wind and water, sculpted into the form that we see today.
Today a high-altitude desert, Ladakh was once covered by an extensive lake system, the vestiges of which still exist on its south -east plateau of Rupshu and chushul in drainage basins with evocative names like Tso-Moriri, Tso-kar , and grandest of all, Pangong-tso.
The main source of water in Ladakh is winter snow fall. Dras, Zanskar and the Suru Valley on the Himalaya's northern flanks receive heavy snow in winter, this feeds the glaciers from which melt water, carried down by streams, irrigates the fields in summer. For the rest of the region, the snow on the peaks is virtually the only source of water. As the crops grow, the villagers pray not for rain, but for sun to melt the glaciers and liberate their water.
Ladakh lies at altitudes ranging from about 9,000 ft (2,750 m) at Kargil to 25,170 ft (7,672m) at Saser Kangri , in the Karakoram Range. Summer temperatures rarely exceed 27C in the shade, while in winter they may at times plummet to minus 20C even in Leh. Surprisingly though, the thin air makes the heat of the sun even more intense than at lower altitudes. It is said that only in Ladakh can a man sitting in the sun with his feet in the shade suffer from sunstroke and frostbite at the same time!

the Mayumla beyond the sacred sites of Mount Kailash and Lake Mansarovar.
Ladakh together with the neighboring province of Baltistan, was incorporated into the newly created state of Jammu & Kashmir, just over a century later, this union was disturbed by the partition of India, Baltistan becoming part of Pakistan, while Ladakh remained in India as part of the state of Jammu and Kashmir.
Gradually, perhaps partly due to the fact that it was politically stable, Ladakh became recognized as the best trade route between the Punjab and Central Asia. For centuries it was traversed by caravans carrying textiles, spices, raw silk, carpets, dyestuffs, narcotics, etc. On this long route, Leh was the midway stop and developed into a busy spot, its bazars thronged with merchants from distant countries.
The ancient inhabitants of Ladakh were Dards, and Indo-Aryan race from down the Indus. But immigration from Tibet more than a thousand years ago largely overwhelmed the culture of the Dards and moped up their racial characters. In eastern and central Ladakh, today's population seems to be mostly of Tibet origin. Budhism reached Tibet from India via Ladakh. The area was the stronghold of Budhism before Islam reached Ladakh.
Ladakh lies at altitudes ranging from about 9,000 feet at Kargil to 25,170 feet at Saser Kangri in the Karakoram. Thus summer temperatures rarely exceed about 27 degree in the shade, while in winter they may plummet to minus 20 degree even in Leh. Surprisingly though, the thin air makes the heat of the sun even more intense than at lower altitude, it is said that only in Ladakh can a man sitting in the sun with his feet in the shade suffer from sunstroke and frostbite at the same time.