Ladakh!!!!

Since the first time I came to India in 2006, I've wanted to go to Ladakh, which is a region of the state of Jammu & Kashmir in the very northern reaches of India. As the trip planner, I was super excited for my family to be coming, and the chance to plan an exciting trip up to the great north, escaping Delhi's pre-monsoon miserable heat. We decided to go for two weeks. During the first week it would be the three Meek men (my dad, brother and I) going on a trek, at the beginning of the second week my dad would head back to the states, and Jon and I would head out on a second week of trekking.

Before we could make any decisions about actual plans, however, we had to get to Leh, and acclimatize!

The flight to Leh was in one word....AMAZING. Ok. Two words. Jaw-dropping.

From Ladakh!!!!

From Ladakh!!!!

Leh is at an altitude of 10,500 feet and is an alpine desert. Besides being spectacular in terms of scenery, its altitude is simply dizzying. To acclimatize, we spent two days exploring and enjoying Leh.

We stayed at a great little hotel that had been creating by retrofitting a traditional Ladakhi home.

From Ladakh!!!!

The hotel had phenomenal views of the mountains, and the hotel's extensive vegetable gardens (Ladakh prides itself on its environmental sustainability-much more on this later)

From Ladakh!!!!

The roof of the hotel was a phenomenal place to play music...(we were about to learn that all roofs in Ladakh are great places to play music)

From Ladakh!!!!

Leh has an old city that is just a jumble of narrow alleys and breath-taking (literally!) views

From Ladakh!!!!

The houses in the old city had amazing woodwork, and really cute puppies (what a combination!)

From Ladakh!!!!

It's pretty easy to be oriented in the Old City as there's this big modern apartment complex on a hill

From Ladakh!!!!

That's a no-longer inside joke: Pa thought that this was partially new construction; Dave was adamant it was the city palace and at least 600 years old....what do you think?

From Ladakh!!!!

From Ladakh!!!!

Jim takes in the sublime beauty of the interior prayer chamber

From Ladakh!!!!

Incredibly beautiful (and old!) frescoes adorned the walls

There were so many incredible sights in Leh...by incredible I mean the artifacts of daily life.

From Ladakh!!!!

At night the City Palace was lit up and was simply stunning

From Ladakh!!!!

But not as stunning as the wood-fired pizza, company, and cozy dining environment that we found to enjoy a much needed dinner!

From Ladakh!!!!