Ladakh is a land like no other. Bounded by two of the world’s mightiest mountain ranges, the Great Himalaya and the Karakoram, it lies athwart two others, the Ladakh range and the Zanskar range. In geological terms, this is a young land, formed only a few million years ago by the buckling and folding of the earth’s crust as the Indian sub-continent pushed with irresistible force against the immovable mass of Asia. Ladakh was once covered by an extensive lake system, the vestiges of which still exist on its south-east plateau of Rupshu and Chushul in drainage basins with evocative names like Tsomoriri, Tsokar and grandest of all, Pangong Tso. With its borders touching Tibet, Chinese Sinkiang and Baltistan and with the Soviet Union, Pakistan and Afghanistan in close proximity, Ladakh occupies a highly strategic position.