Introduction
Ladakh ("land of high passes") sandwiched between the Kuen Lun mountain range in the north and the main Great Himalayas to the south is a region in the state of Jammu and Kashmir in Northern India, inhabited by people of Indo-Aryan and Tibetan descent.
The most popular routes for Mountain biking are the Leh – Manali, Nubra Valley and Sham valley. The former two are recently opened otherwise restricted for tourist in the Past.
Ladakh is one of the lowest population densities in the world: 2 inhabitants per kilometer, 59,000 square kilometers of rocky desert, apparently inhospitable mountains, a world of bewitching silence, framed in a parallel fashion by two of the most imposing mountain ranges, the Karakoram to the North, the Himalayas to the South.
Ladakh is renowned for its remote mountain beauty and Buddhist culture. It is sometimes called "Little Tibet" as it has been strongly influenced by Tibetan culture. In the past Ladakh gained importance from its strategic location at the crossroads of important trade routes, but since the Chinese authorities closed the borders with Tibet and Central Asia in the 1960, international trade has dwindled. Since 1974 the Indian Government has encouraged tourism in Ladakh.
Ladakh lies on the rain shadow side of the Himalayan. Where dry monsoon winds reaches Leh after being robbed of its moisture in plains and the Himalayan mountain. The district combines the condition of both arctic and desert climate. Therefore Ladakh is often called “ COLD DESERT”
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