Nubra Valley

Nubra is a three-armed valley north of Leh at an average of nearly 3,048 metres, cut over millennia where the Shyok and the Nubra meet. It sits between the Ladakh range and the giant peaks of the Karakoram, and the ground changes fast as you cross it: jagged cliffs, then green oasis farms around the villages, then rolling white sand dunes. Most people base themselves at Hunder, where the cold desert is home to the rare double-humped Bactrian camel. Above the valley floor stands Diskit Monastery, with its colossal outdoor Maitreya Buddha looking down the length of it.