Ladakh - the land of high mountain passes

Ladakh is an ancient kingdom in a very remote corner of the Himalaya. A long time isolated from the rest of the world, it developed a very unique and distinct culture. Nowadays it is connected to India with two roads, which are open for a couple of months and an airport open around the year.

It is one of the most impressive and adventureous area for trekking and mountaineering in all the Himalaya. But until now not too wellknown and still of-the-beaten-track of the big tourist crowds.

The mountain ranges in this region were formed over a period of 45 million years by the folding of the Indian Plate into the stationary landmass of Asia. While the Himalayas were formed from the base material of the Indian plate, the Zanskar Range consists of layers of sediment from the ocean floor, and the Ladakh Range of granite was born of the immense heat generated by the friction between the two plates. In Ladakh, the suture zone between the continental masses runs a little to the south of the Indus Valley. The drift continues and is the cause of the frequent earthquakes in the Himalayan region. Crossing the Himalayas by the dip of the Zoji-la, the crest-line of the range remains at a relatively modest level, the highest peaks near the pass being little more than 5000-5500 m above sea level. South-east of Zoji-la the scale increases, reaching a climax in the mighty massif of Nun-Kun, with two summits over 7000 m.