Run by a lovely family, in the old part of Leh with a quiet garden and fantastic views of the Himalayas all round.
The room was clean and spacious with an en-suite bathroom.

Upper Karzoo Road, Leh, India
+91 9906989472
pamirfilms@yaho.com

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A good place to pop your head in and learn about Ladakh.

It screens films every day and is a good resource for any questions you may have about Ladakh past, present and future, and other parts of the world. Focuses on climate change, ecology, the environment, agriculture, sustainability, and Ladakh's culture.

It has a shop where you can buy genuine souvenirs which will help the local economy (most souvenir shops in Ladakh are Kashmiri run). It's also a good place if you want a custom Ladakh souvenir - they can arrange someone to make you something in your size.

Sankar road, north east of central Leh.

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By no means the only good places of course, but I enjoyed these cafes and restaurants in Leh:

Summer Harvest (Fort Road) - highly recommended in the guide books, and for good reason. Loads of locals eating there means it's bound to be good.

Desert Rain Cafe (off a side road from the Main Bazzar - about half way down, in the direction of north). Don't come here for true Ladakhi atmosphere, but if you're wanting some decent coffee, and other western reminders, Desert Rain has a relaxed atmosphere, has film nights, and talks from interesting people. No outside seating, but a good place to relax whilst you acclimatise. Good cakes.

My favourite Ladakhi/Tibetan eats were the Wok Tibetan Kitchen and Amdo Cafe (both on the Main Bazaar) - not widely mentioned in the big guide books, but decent food with a mix of tourists and locals.

The Penguin restaurant (Old Fort road, near the bottom) was one of my favourite places to chill outside in, the food is fine, but not the best. The garden kept me returning though.

There's no shortage of restaurants to explore in Leh - and there's a massive amount of decent pizzas and other western food everywhere.

Dzomsa (Old Fort Road, near the top) has good juice, good food supplies to take trekking, and importantly offers cheap safe drinking water - the influx of tourists seriously threaten many beautiful things about Leh - please use filtered water instead of plastic throwaway bottles.

All of these places serve cheap meals, but beer (if available) will be expensive anywhere in Leh.

Be aware that there can be occasional strikes which close everything down - your best bet is to head to the more upmarket hotels for food, or to look carefully around for signs of activity - some places are open despite locked doors.

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Leh in the summer is THE Indian destination for the many, many travellers who flood this small town.

It's hard to believe that a shortage of accommodation does not exist in Leh, but from what I saw, there is no shortage.

The guide books mention only a small number of places, which led travellers I met to panic and book into the only places left with rooms - usually the most expensive ones.

I entirely understand that you may want to book in advance, but bear in mind that even in peak season in 2008, there appared to be far more rooms than tourists, and new guest houses are being built constantly.

As long as you've got a decent torch to walk home with, there are beautiful places to stay a short walk away from the centre of Leh, so if you are struggling to book accomodation, I would recommend trying to get a night or two booked somewhere, but then hunt around if you're staying a while - I paid a tiny fraction of the central hotel prices by staying in a family run beautiful but basic guest house 10 minutes walk from the centre.

Of course, you can turn up with no accommodation booked, but it is worth noting that when flying into at altitude, you will give your body the best chance of acclimatisation if you do very little on arrival and rest, rather than hump your bag around searching for the cheapest hotel (which is my tactic in other locations!).

I phoned a guesthouse listed in a trekking book (rather than the more popular mainstream guide books) the day before I flew into Leh, they seemed surprised that I was phoning to book, but I was glad as my flight arrived so early in the morning, I knew there was a room waiting for me, where I could dump my stuff, grab some filtered water, and then cafe-hop for 48 hours of acclimatisation chilling. I was just hugely shocked at how much some other travellers were paying in their upmarket hotels, which they weren't wanting to stay in, but they were all that were available in the popular guide book recommendations.

From the centre of Leh, there are hotels and guesthouses everywhere. The posher hotels tend to be southwest of central Leh, the densest backpacker area is in Changspar (north east). But I think the most interesting accommodation is in the Old Town area (to the east of centre), and off to the west are a few roads that wind through beautifully quiet scenery with homely looking guest houses.

If you've just arrived in Leh, even if you've come by road, for the purposes of allowing your body to acclimatise to the high altitude, beware of walking far with heavy bags.

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It's the second highest motorable road in the world, crossing several passes, including two over 5000m. Snaking right through the middle of the Himalaya in North West India, it's closed over the winter due to snow. In the summer though, driving it is an incredible experience as you can see snow capped mountains high above you and below, valleys becoming increasingly green as you cross from Leh at 3600m in Ladakh which is very dry, high up on a plateau above the monsoon's reach, to Manali in the state of Himachal Pradesh.

Depending on how many stops you want to make, the journey takes up to two days and can be done by car, jeep or public bus.

Leh, Ladakh and Manali, Himachal Pradesh, India.

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Instead of trekking accompanied by 50 ponies plus handlers, guides and cooks (which somewhat destroys the peace and quiet of the Himalayas), stay in local homestays instead. It means that you only need a small bag to carry clothes etc, as all food plus water refills and bedding is provided. We didn't even have a guide but used a good map and compass, and it was so much better to be able to go where we wanted, when we wanted, rather than being constrained by a guide's plan. The homestays were fantastic and a great way to meet local people and eat local food. We even learnt a bit of Ladakhi and helped people learn some more English. The company which started the homestay is also a charity which works with villagers to preserve the local environment and wildlife, so you're actually doing some good too. The whole thing felt like a really valid exchange, with everyone benefitting.

Himalayan Homestays - several of the tour operators in Leh will help you book this, but you have to ask as they would prefer to sell you an expensive guided trek (of course). You can buy a map of the homestays, with suggested routes (choice of three) for 150Rs.

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Leh is a truly beautiful and exceptional place. Don't be put off by its isolation from the rest of India. You can make a two-day road trip at the right time of year or a flight from Delhi gets you there in an hour. Since the road was still blocked with snow I was forced to choose the latter option.

Flying so low over the Himalayas is breathtaking enough but it's arriving at an altitude of 3,500m that gives your lungs the real workout. No matter how much you want to get out into this stunning landscape you must rest if you fly in. And I’m not talking about a few hours kip - you may need several days of relative inactivity before you start to feel acclimatised.

If you are looking to make a trekking trip wait until your body is feeling ready. Don’t book it too early and find yourself not ready - you may well pay a penalty fee. On the other hand if you book a trek and feel obliged to go ahead when you’re not ready you may well put yourself in danger. Remember that you are likely to go higher than Leh when you walk so even if you are starting to feel fine going up further too quickly could well cause problems.

Leh is in Ladakh at the top of the India near the Tibetan border.

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This is a 6,100m high trekking peak close to Leh. Hire a local guide and horses to make the approach a bit easier. Fantastic views to the Karakoram, including K2.

Leh, Ladakh

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This is one of the first guest houses in Leh and it is one of the few in the old town just underneath the palace with stunning views from a wonderful roof terrace.

Needless to say that the owners are wounderful friendly people and are more than happy to organise an unforgettable trekking experience.

Rooms vary from budget to nice double with bath and views but numbers of rooms are limited and booking well ahead is a must.

Enjoy!!

Michael

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