Leh

Day 1

Shanti Stupa

Built in 1991 by a Japanese Buddhist order, reached by five hundred-odd steps or by road. Sunset is when everyone comes. At this altitude the stairs are harder than they look on your first day in Leh.

Day 2

Leh Palace

Nine storeys, built in the early 1600s on the model of the Potala and abandoned in the 1840s. The inside is largely empty and dark, so carry a torch. It is the roof and the view down over the old town that earn the ticket.

Day 2

Namgyal Tsemo Fort

Day 3

Diskit Monastery

Diskit is the oldest and largest monastery of the Nubra valley, founded in the 14th century and stacked on a rocky spur above the Shyok river. Its prayer halls hold fierce guardian deities and centuries-old murals, but the landmark is newer: the 32-metre Jampa (Maitreya) Buddha on the hill facing Pakistan, consecrated by the Dalai Lama in 2010, gazing out over the cold-desert dunes of Hunder.

Day 5

Magnetic Hill

Magnetic Hill is a famous gravity-defying road stretch on the Srinagar-Leh National Highway, roughly 30 kilometres outside the capital town of Leh. Positioned at a height of approximately 3,350 metres above sea level, the location is clearly marked by a prominent yellow informational billboard erected by the local administration. When a stationary vehicle is placed in neutral gear inside the specifically marked rectangular box on the asphalt road, it appears to move uphill of its own accord at speeds reaching up to 20 kilometres per hour. While popular regional folklore attributes this movement to deep magnetic forces embedded inside the rocky mountains, scientific testing confirms it is an extraordinary optical illusion. The specific layout of the surrounding horizon and slopes distorts human perspective, making a slight downhill slope appear like a steep rising hill.