Leh

King Sengge Namgyal raised this 9-storey palace on a rocky ridge in the 17th century; the royals left for Stok in the 19th century. Rooms are bare and passages dark, so carry a torch. The roof takes in the whole town and the ranges behind it.

A white stupa built in 1991 by a Japanese Buddhist order on the hill above Changspa and consecrated by the Dalai Lama. Climb the steep stairs from below or drive to the top; around sunset a crowd collects to see the light fade over the town.

Some 20 kilometres southeast of Leh, white monks' cells stack up a hillside in tiers often likened to Lhasa's Potala. A 15-metre Maitreya, installed in 1970, fills two storeys, and travellers may sit quietly through the early morning prayers.

Ladakh's largest monastery hides in a side valley about 45 kilometres southeast of Leh. Each June or July the Hemis festival marks the birth of Padmasambhava, with monks dancing the masked cham. The date follows the Tibetan calendar and shifts every year.

A long lake stretching east to west more than 4,000 metres up, most of its eastern reach on the Chinese side. The Chang La pass lies on the five-to-six-hour drive from Leh, and foreigners need a protected area permit, issued in Leh, before going.

A broad valley that opens up after crossing the Khardung La pass and dropping north; two-humped Bactrian camels live on the dunes near Hunder village. As with Pangong a permit is required, and a day trip is tight, so plan a night in Diskit or Hunder.

A stretch of road about 30 kilometres from Leh toward Kargil where the lie of the land makes a car in neutral appear to roll uphill. Drivers stop in a box painted on the tarmac to try it, though most explanations call it an optical illusion.

An 11th-century monastery on the flat beside the Indus, rare for standing within a village instead of on a crag. Its Kashmiri-style murals are famous; to protect them, photos are forbidden inside the halls. Leh is some 60 kilometres to the east.

Below Nimmu village the Zanskar joins the Indus, the two waters flowing side by side unmixed, each its own colour. Rafting boats work this stretch through the summer months, while the Zanskar freezes over each winter into the route of the Chadar trek.

A red monastery built in the 15th century on the crag above the palace, sheltering a Maitreya 2 storeys tall. Prayer flags are strung all along the crest, and the dirt path up from the palace is steep, so leave it until your body has adjusted to the altitude.

A Gelugpa monastery on a hill right beside Leh airport's runway, seen from landing planes. The top chapel keeps fierce guardian deity images whose faces stay veiled most of the year. In winter it hosts Gustor, a festival of masked dances.

The palace the Ladakhi royal family moved to from Leh Palace in the 19th century, part of it still their home. Its museum shows a queen's turquoise-studded headdress and thangkas. It stands on the south bank across the Indus, looking back at Leh.

The palace of the old summer capital, about 15 km southeast of Leh. Its chapel holds a seated gilded copper Shakyamuni two storeys tall, so you meet his face from the upper gallery. It lies on the road to Thiksey, and the two go together.

One of Ladakh's oldest monasteries, about 120 km west on the road to Srinagar. The yellow clay hills around it, carved by wind and rain, earned the nickname Moonland. The folds of the hills stand out sharpest as the sun drops.

The pass from Leh over to the Nubra Valley, long billed as the world's highest motorable road. The altitude on the summit sign is higher than surveys give. Altitude sickness strikes easily, so take your photos at the top and head down.

A memorial built by the Indian Army on the airport road, gathering records of the 1999 Kargil war and the Siachen Glacier posting. Gear and uniforms made for minus several dozen degrees are on display. Its roadside spot makes it simple to fit in near a flight.

A brackish lake on the Changthang plateau about 220 km southeast of Leh, on the Ramsar list of wetlands. As at Pangong, foreigners must carry a permit. Most visitors spend one night at Korzok village on the shore, among nomad tents and homestays.

A monastery about 50 km west of Leh, with a golden seated Maitreya in its courtyard facing outward. Young monks study at the school attached to it. Alchi is further down that highway, and the pair fits into one day.