Ladakh or 'Ladag' translates to English as 'Land of High Passes'. If you want to get to or from Ladakh without flying in from Dehli, then you will have to cross at least a few of these passes.

Least taxing is the Srinagar to Leh route via Kargil; however, this is considered a non-starter these days due to the problems in Kashmir proper. This has resulted in an increase in popularity of the overland route from Manali to Leh, which goes over some of the highest passes in the world - Rohtang Pass at 3,978 m (12, 900 ft), Baralacha Pass at 4,891 m (15,900 ft), Lachuang La at 5,079 m (16,500 ft) and the second highest drivable pass in the world, Taglang La at 5,500m (17,900 ft - Tanglang La is the highest on the highway, but the others are more scenic in my view). If you think these are high, then Khardung La over into the Nubra Valley (heading north from Leh and the Indus Valley) is even higher at 5,602 m (18,380 ft). No where's that Diamox (and boy I needed it - thanks to the Swiss women who gave me their Diamox).

Note that bar a few camp sites, such as Sarchu on the Himachal Pradesh-Jammu and Kashmir border, there are no settlements on the Manali-Leh Highway between Gya just to the north of Tanglang La and Jispa in Lahaul, so unless you want to freeze solid, getting your overnight tent accomodation is a must. Some taxi firms claim to be able to do Manali to Leh in a day, but I wouldn't like to be in the jeep when they're driving if that's the case, as flooring the accelerator on some of the mountainside roads seem to require a pilot's license rather than a driving license.

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The Manali-Leh Highway is not the most comfortable drive in the world - spectacular, yes, comfortable, no way. This is not helped by the fact that some of the roads have drops to the side of a good few hundred metres or a couple of thousand feet. So obviously, safe driving and prioritising of right of way is a must?

Wrong!!! Whoever has the loudest horn and presses it the most gets right of way and if you don't get out of the way, the other bloke keeps coming. Also, as this is the main overland supply route into Ladakh, you get lots of goods wagons and petrol tankers supplying the thousands of Indian Army personnel up in Ladakh, not to mention the odd military convoy of seemingly 20 to 30 trucks in length. Put it this way, a tourist bus against a petrol tanker that just won't stop is a non-starter of a contest, so it's reverse back to the last pull-in (sometimes a quarter of a mile back) and hope and pray the tanker squeezes by. White Van Man heaven this road is.

What you see of the above convoy is just the beginning - as well as the tankers and goods lorrys and army trucks and whatever else came along with a motor in it, right in the middle of the convoy was a clutch of cyclists pedelling up towards Leh (yes, you can cycle the route if you want). Nothing like taking your life in your hands lads (all we need is a bunch of joggers with kitchen sinks strapped to their backs to really hold up the traffic and we're set). As for the locals (all non-human) such as this well camoflaged little lizard, they just watch and must wonder at the human insanity that is the Manali-Leh Highway.

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If it is possible to be sent to hell on the Buddhist wheel of life, these poor sods must have drawn the short straw. Let's put it this way, this road crew is nearly 5,000 m up resurfacing a road that is just going to get washed away when the next snows come. So as well as working in thin air all day with smoke billowing in your face all day long (from the fires to melt the tar) and laying the tar virtually by hand, they've also got to put up with the insanity of the white van men in assorted transport using the road (see previous picture and caption) and clutches of tourists crashing through taking photos of the mountains and them working on the road, then not giving another thought as to how the road got there.

So what do they get for their trouble? 150 rupees or £2 (English) a day. Note to Indian Government - please up their pay. One batch of road workers we ran into near Alchi were Nepali migrants who'd come looking for work. They and their families were living in makeshift tents made out of discarded Indian military parachutes.

The monastery in the top picture was a mountaintop village monastery known I believe as Gya Gompa.   Remote, beautiful and a picture spoilt by a seriously bumpy road.

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As these few pictures of locals near Jispa in Lahaul suggest, this is the last real stronghold of people of Tibetan stock before crossing Rothang La into India proper. It was also the last place to get any real peace before the hassle of India proper returned.

Lahaul Valley lies behind the first of the Himalayan ranges and is the last range that some of the Monsoon manages to squeeze over. It's east-weat profile made it a corridor for trade into Tibet and a conduit for Buddhism - the people here practice a mixture of Buddhism and Indian Hinduism.

Ah yes, the dog (or should I say dogs).   See my comments on the Leh page (where they were a real night time pest).

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What's the difference between the mountain scenery here and that in Ladakh?   Note the lack of scree debris, the rockier appearance of the mountains and the greater level of vegitation.   In Ladakh proper, there were four ranges of mountains stopping the Monsoon.   Here, there's only one mountain range stopping the Monsoon.   The results are the extra vegetation from the extra rain stabilises the soil a bit more and erosion is that bit less (I think).   Hence Lahaul is just that little bit rockier in appearance.   And before any anoraks e-mail and make comment (anoraks for non-Brits are people who are a little overenthusiastic about their pet hobby or subject), the valley is also a classic case of an ex-glacial 'U'-shaped valley, with glaciers here melting at the end of the last ice age 10,500 years ago.   Am I an anorak?   No, I'm not that bothered, to me it's just a photo of a bit of nice looking scenery.

As for the river crossing, the idea is you sit in the cradle and grab a rope, depending on which direction you want to go.   You then pull towards yourself and cross the river in that direction.   Just hope no-one has tried to cut the rope.  

Also noticeable were the high numbers of salesmen flogging mobile phones and phone accessories.   There was just one small problem here - Lahaul and Jispa at the time I passed through (early August 2005) don't have mobile phone coverage - the nearest is in Manali, a good five hours drive away.   The salesmen have probably been smoking too much of that spiky plant that grows all over Manali.

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The final high pass heading south from Leh to Manali - in the top picture, Beefy and Poll stand together next to the last high pas sign and breath a huge sign of relief.   That's it, the end of altitude sickness and bendy roads, the end of white van man in his natural environment, putting his foot down and scaring the hell out of other road users on the Leh-Manali Highway.   There's Manali below (second  photo) and the end of all this high altitude travel.

Then the realisation dawned on then that India proper was about to start as someone tried to sell then saffron.   Why saffron?

The other indications of India proper are clear to see in the photos.   The first settlement after Rothang La and what do you get?   An 'Italian Pizza Hut' (see below)?   All I can say is stand aside as the American Lawyers race up the mountainside the slap an injunction on this typical small Indian businessman.   That's globalisation for you (the fact the name has been plagiarised is testament to that).

Also, welcome to the most popular piece of snow in the world.   Yes, it's half melted and dirty, but only in India would a dirty piece of snow become an attraction for holiday makers and honeymooners from the big cities on the plains and yes, they are sledging on this piece of snow.   There's a thriving trade in fur coat hire and transport up to this 'snow' from Manali for Indian tourists wanting to have a look.   I also wonder if there's a thriving business in dodgy plastic fertiliser bag hire to slide down the snow on (like I did when I was a kid) for those that can't afford sledges?

Jokes aside, Indian holidaymakers actually come up into the mountains to look at this snow.   To be fair, this is the best chance they get as during the winter, three feet of the stuff falls and closes the roads up onto the passes.   The alternative is to wait the half century or so between the significant snowfalls than actually reach Delhi.

The area seems to be also popular for paragliding, the idea being the tourist is strapped to the front of the experienced glider's chest and enjoys the ride.   Before you ask if I'd have been made enough, the answer is yes, I'd loved to have had a go.   But time was unfortunately against me.

Wildlife is also rich on the Manali side of Rothang La and it's possible to see Lammergeyer Eagles floating on the thermals here.   You're more likely; however, to see the local vulture population, as shown in the below photo (and until I got a good look at the image on the computer back home, I thought I had a picture of a Lammergeyer).

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