Wednesday, March 4th, 2009...9:49 pm
Location Ladakh: Bounded by two of the world’s mightiest mountain ranges!
Ladakh “the land of high passes” is bounded by two of the world’s mightiest mountain ranges, the Great Himalayas in the South and the Karakoram in the North. Ladakh was only opened up for tourism in 1974 and has been described as “Moon Land”. This is the most remote part of India. Ladakh offers spectacular landscapes for the filmmaker. Ladakh lies at altitudes ranging from about 9,000 ft (2,750 m) at Kargil to 25,170 ft (7,672m) at Saser Kangri, in the Karakoram Range.
One of my favorite regions to film, On The Road has helped international productions film this spectacular region, including e2 Design II series - The Druk White Lotus School narrated by Brad Pitt and most recently Samsara an IMAX documentary feature from the filmmakers of Chronos (1985) and Baraka (1992).
e2 Design II — The Druk White Lotus School — Ladakh podcast
Snow-capped mountains line the breathtaking high-altitude desert. Ladakh’s lifeline is the ice-fed Indus River, from which the rest of the country derives its English name, and its tributaries. Its green, ice-cold waters are channeled to irrigate the land and provide sustenance to the populace besides providing spectacular views and white water river. The valleys of Ladakh display an astonishing range of colors, besides the usual grey and brown, you will find dull red, purple, pink, and russet, black, even green.
Where To Stay
There are NO five star hotels in Leh. The hotels here are categorized as A, B & C. the rooms are equipped with basic modern amenities. Spic N Span hotel is recommended and represetative of the type of accommodation you will find in Ladakh.
Location & Cultural Feature of Ladakh
* Himalayan Mountains – The highest mountain ranges in the world
offer great filmmaking opportunities.
* Buddhist Monasteries - Ancient Monasteries some isolated
in the inhospitable landscape.
* White Water River Rapids – White water rapids offer spectacular filming opportunities.
* Large Valley and Mountain expanses – Spectacular and dry desert mountains and valleys.
* Snowy Mountains – Himalayan and Karakoram mountains offer spectacular snowy peaks for filming.
Climate
Summer time (Mid May to Mid September), both the highway roads from Manali(Himachal Pradesh) and srinagar(Jammu & Kashmir) re-opens by first week of June. During summer, days are usually sunny (35degree celcius), and early morning and late evenings could drop to 12 to 15 degree celcius. The temperature during the winter i.e. from November to March ranges between minus 5 during day time and can drop to minus 20 during in the late evenings.
How To Get There
* Air - from Delhi , Chandigarh , Jammu and Srinagar .
* Road - Manali -Leh 473 Km, opens in around 15th June, closes around 1st Nov.
* Srinagar - Leh 434km, opens in around 15th May, closes around 1st Nov. (Opening and closure of roads depend on the weather).
* Taxis and buses are available from these places.
* Local Transport - Availability of vehicles is fairly limited to three or four jeep like vehicles, such as Tata Sumo, Toyota Qualis, Mahindra Scorpio and Maruti gypsy. All these vehicles have been tried and tested in all terrains of Ladakh.
by Emmanuel Pappas
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