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Leh
Leh India is one of the favorite tourist destinations located in the northernmost parts of the country. Lapped in the snow-covered fringes of the Himalayas, Leh India has been the center of Tibeto-Buddhist culture since ages. Its colorful gompas have attracted the devout Buddhists from all over the globe. Besides, it is also a favorite hiking locale and is known for some of the best hikes in India.

The capital of the Ladakh district, Leh is towards the eastern parts of Jammu and Kashmir. It is perched at a height of 3,505 m above sea level. The region is watered by the Zanskar River, which flows into the Indus River just below. The Stok mountain range lies just south of Leh, while towards the north one can find the snow-capped Ladakh range. In the winters, it is freezing cold with temperatures going below 0°C.

Leh India became the regional capital in the 17th century, when King Sengge Namgyal shifted his court here from Shey (15 km southeast) to be closer to the head of the Khardung La-Karakoram corridor into China. Very soon, the town blossomed into one of the busiest markets on the Silk Route. Leh's prosperity, managed mainly by the Sunni Muslim traders, came to an abrupt end with the closure of the Chinese border in the 1950s. Only after the Indo-Pak wars of 1965 and 1971, when India rediscovered its strategic value, did Leh's fortunes begin to look up. Today, khaki-clad soldiers and their families from the nearby military and air force bases are the mainstay of the local economy in winter, when foreign visitors are few. It was in 1974 that Leh was opened up for tourists.

• Tourist Attractions In Leh
  A miniature version of the Potala in Lhasa, the Leh Palace is one of the major attractions here. The palace was built in the 17th century and is now dilapidated and deserted. It was the home of the royal family until they were exiled to Stok in the 1830s. Above the palace, at the top of the Namgyal hill, is the Victory Tower, built to commemorate Ladakh's victory over the Balti Kashmir armies in the early 16th century. The Namgyal Tsemo Gompa, built in 1430, contains a three-story high Buddha image and ancient manuscripts and frescoes. The fort above this gompa is ruined, but the views of Leh from here are breathtakingly beautiful.
  
  The Sankar gompa is located a couple of kilometers north of the town center. The gompa belongs to the Gelukpa order and has an impressive impression of the Buddhist deity Avalokiteshwara Padmahari or Chenresig, with 1,000 arms and an equal number of heads. The Shanti Stupa was built by a Japanese order and was opened by the Dalai Lama in 1985. From the top, one can view the exotic locales nearby. The stupa is located at a distance of 3 km from the Fort Road. The Mughal emperor Aurangzeb commissioned the mosque at the head of the Leh Bazaar. The Soma gompa lies near the mosque.

Ladakh
Ladakh is bounded by world's two mightiest mountain ranges the great Himalayan and the Karakoram, It lies athwart two others The Ladakh and the Zanskar range. It lies at altitude ranging from about 2,750m to 7,673m. The temperature in summer goes upto 27C and in winter it drops down to minus 20C.

It leaves the first time traveler awestruck by its geographical and cultural difference as they land at Leh. The features of Ladakhi people, their clothes, dialects are similar to Tibetan and Mongoloid then Indian. The Mons from Kullu and Tibet were the first population immigrants to Ladakh as shepherds' nomads and settled down near Indus River. Later drads and others immigrated to Lower Ladakh. Due to cultural and geographical similarities Ladakh is popular among tourists as Little Tibet. Buddhism is the dominant religion in Ladakh while Kargil district is dominated by Muslims and Buddhist. The approach to Ladakh is invariably marked with many walls that are long upto 2 to 3m, decorated with engraved stones bearing the mantra "Om Mani Padme Hum" and Chortens which symbolizes Buddha's mind . The Villages and Mountains are ornamented with gonpa or monastery residing thousand of Buddhist monks, Monks at Thiksey Monastery hermits and Nuns. Islam came to Ladakh from central Asia and Kashmir after 15th century AD. Now the Kargil, Drass and Suru valley is populated by Shia and Sunis are in Leh and Kargil in smaller scale.