Stretching from the Great Himalayas, across sections of the Zanskar, and the Karakoram ranges, Ladakh is a land of extremes. Extremely high peaks, extremely blue sky, extremely stark beauty. It is a land of foreboding landscapes and of an extremely friendly and welcoming people. People who live today as they have for centuries. While change is coming fast and the schools are educating the children in English, Ladakh still maintains a timelessness found only in a few places on the planet still largely inhabited by an indigenous people.
Cut off from the rest of the world by the great Himalayan range, Ladakh, has for centuries been a crossroads for pilgrims and traders. Called by some “The Last Shangri-La” it is a land of monasteries perched on high peaks and ancient fortress palaces built upon steep rocky slopes. Villages are scattered among the valleys between ranges connected only by mountain passes which tower as high as 18,500 feet. Therefore, the name Ladakh, which literally means “the land of passes.” Buddhism, its traditions, its monasteries, its people, its chortens and its mani walls, dominate the culture and panorama.
I feel like I have come back from another world…
Terri Gold World Imagery 
And I feel like I’ve visited another world vicariously, via you Terri! Thank you for sharing your mystically mysterious slide show. Joanne
On Mon, Oct 1, 2012 at 6:33 PM, WordPress.com
thanks so much Joanne !
It looks like you have come back from another world. Wow. “Exotic” is utterly insufficient. The river bed could be on Mars, and the castle on the hill looks imagined rather than real.
Wow.