HALFWAY TO HEAVEN
NO NUMBER OF photographs or travel vlogs can prepare you for the vastness of Ladakh. Standing at the edge of a mountain and gazing down into a valley makes you feel tiny and insignificant. Everyone who visits this land takes back an ineffable emotion elicited by a hike, a view, a meeting with its people, or the spotting of a majestic snow leopard. As the flight lands, I wonder what Ladakh has in store for me.
I’m staying at Ladakh Sarai, in the village of Saboo, roughly eight kilometres from the airport in Leh. Mud houses, lush green fields, and slender poplars surround the property. Here, villagers build their own homes and grow their own food. A walk through the village reveals shops that sell butter tea and chhaang, a local barley beer.
The next morning, my body clock wakes me up
