Leh

As COVID restrictions have been eased and Inner Line Permits (ILP) have been scrapped, domestic tourism returns to Ladakh. However, visitors must keep a few things in mind while travelling amid the pandemic.

The incredible story of how a team of scientists, government officials, village heads, NGOs and apricot farmers came together and eradicated the yellow-tail moth pest completely in barely two years.

Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first Prime Minister, made his first visit to Leh on 4 July 1949 at the invitation of the 19th Kushok Bakula Rinpoche, the 'Architect of Modern Ladakh'.

The Leh Nutrition Project played a pivotal role in elevating Ladakh - long deprived of primary health facilities, accessibility to basic medicines, multiple cases of anaemia, and a high infant mortality rate.

Kangla-Nyishar, a Leh-based startup established by four Ladakhi women, makes artisanal food like walnut pesto and buckwheat tea with locally sourced organic produce that benefit small growers, producers and the local economy.

With their apparel brand Namza Couture, Padma Yangchan and Jigmet Disket are pioneering the use of fine Ladakhi textile, whether it's Nambu (sheep wool), Khulu (yak wool), camel wool or pashmina.

Fighting the biting cold and darkness for decades, four Ladakhi engineers working with the Global Himalayan Expedition (GHE) found a way to bring light to this village near the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

“My buildings should outlive me and future generations. That's why I choose natural materials on the outside and inside."

"At those heights, people are in danger all the time. Stanzin Padma was definitely among the most important assets we had there,” says a senior army officer.

"We don’t expose this rich fibre to any kind of chemical treatment. Some of our natural dyes like marigold and indigo are known to have skin-healing properties as well."