Day 01

DELHI - LEH
Departure by early morning flight from Delhi to Leh. Transfer from Airport to hotel in Leh. Leh is dominated by the nine-story Palace, a building in the grand tradition of Tibetan architecture, said to have inspired the famous Potala Palace in Lhasa. Lunch. Full day free for acclimatization at an altitude of 3500m or 11500 feet. Dinner and overnight stay.

Day 02

LEH
Early Breakfast. Walk to the Shankar Gompa. Shankar is a small complex, the monk's dwelling surrounding three sides of a courtyard, which the fourth is made up of the Du-kang and other temples. Their wall paintings are fresh and bright and the whole Gompa has a pleasantly clean and well-maintained appearance. Return walk towards your hotel enroute visiting The Ladakh Ecological Centre. Lunch. Afternoon visit Shanti Stupa on top of a hill commanding a nice view of the Leh and green suburbs of the town. Dinner and overnight stay.

Day 03

LEH-KARGIL
After breakfast Drive to Kargil (Alt. 2704 m/ 234 km). Kargil, the second town of Ladakh situated on the Suru river. It once served as an important trade and transit centre in the Pan-Asian trade network. Numerous caravans carrying exotic. merchandise comprising silk, brocade, carpets, felts, tea, poppy, ivory etc. Transited in the town on their way to and from China, Tiber, Yarkand and Kashmir. Dinner and Overnight stay at Hotel.

Day 04

KARGIL -DRASS-TIGER HILL-TOLOLING - MUSHKOH VALLEY-KARGIL
Full day visit where guns once boomed. It has become the world's highest war memorial with the government's recent decision to open the area to the tourists. Visit Drass (57 km), the second coldest inhabited place in the world. It was here that TV crews reported the Kargil War. Mushkoh Valley (8 km from Drass), Tiger Hill and Tololing a ridge line, the peaks of which have been, christened the Hump and the Three Pimples by the army. Pay homage to the Indian heroes who fought on the icy, windswept heights Lunch at Drass. Return to Kargil. Dinner and overnight stay at Hotel.

Day 05

KARGIL - LAMAYURU - ULEYTOKPO

After breakfast drive to Uleytokpo (156 km) enroute visiting Lamayuru - the oldest monastery of Ladakh. The really extraordinary thing about Lamayuru is the astonishing formations all around it. The river Wanl and wind erosion have sculpted the crumbly sides of the resultant valley into armies of earthen stalagmites a little reminiscent of the Grand Canyon. Lunch. Continue drive to Uleytokpo. Dinner and overnight stay at Hotel/Camp.

Day 06

ULEYTOKPO - ALCHI - LIKIR - LEH

After breakfast visit Alchi - the Ajanta of North. The abandoned monastery has five temples, the riches in paintings and images being the Du-khang and the story Sum-trek. Its murals, dating from the 11^th and 12^th centuries, pre-date the Tibetan style of painting that is present in all the other Gompas. Continue visit of Likir monastery, the caretaker of Alchi. Lunch. Afternoon drive to Leh.
Dinner and overnight stay at Hotel.

Day 07

LEH
Breakfast. Lunch. Full day free. (Various options like visiting monasteries, visit to Khardongln, River rafting on Indus or walk around the Bazaar, observing the varied crowd and peering into the curio shops. A particularly charming sight is the line of women from nearby villages sitting along the edge of the footpath with baskets of fresh vegetables brought for sale to the townspeople). Dinner and Overnight stay at Hotel.

Day 08

LEH - DELHI
Early morning transfer to Airport for flight back to Delhi. Breakfast on board the flight.