Ladakh sits above 3,000 metres, and the landscape reads as lunar until a monastery appears on a ridge. Pangong Tso changes colour through the day; Nubra has cold-desert dunes and double-humped camels; Thiksey and Hemis hold morning prayers that visitors may quietly attend. Acclimatisation is not optional — every itinerary here should give you two nights in Leh before going higher.