When Ladakh first opened to tourism in the mid 1970s, no one could have predicted the amount of interest that its unique landscapes and culture would attract. In the early years of tourism to Ladakh, the lucky visitors were able to begin their sojourn from the enchanting Kashmir valley. After a short (or long) stay on the famous houseboats of Dal Lake in Srinagar, the traveller would head with some trepidation into the mountains. The only route to Leh was over the infamous, avalanche-prone Zoji La pass, following in the footsteps of famous explorers, missionaries and daredevil adventurers.

In the early 1980s, buses plied the tortuous road, taking two bone-shaking, at time heart-stopping days to reach Leh. On the way two very high passes would bar the way, the Namika La and the Fatu La, but the journey offered a myriad of landscapes. This was a rarely possible journey across the main Himalayan watershed. The lush, green forests of Kashmir gave way to the high altitude deserts of the barren, stark, near lifeless land and mountains of Ladakh. After the mid 1980s, Kashmir was engulfed in security issues and a new route opened from Himalchal Pradesh into the hidden kingdom.

Today one can even visit in winter, and it is not altogether without charms at this time of year. Gone are the crowds, the people are more forthcoming, the monasteries are empty (even the monk with the key may not always be around!) That said, the snowy vistas and often luminescent clear blue skies offer a certain masochistic charm. At anything down to minus 35�C, cold it certainly can be, food is limited and, as for washing, your bucket of water may well turn to ice before you get your clothes off ! Roads are usually open in the Indus valley, but excursions over to the Nubra valley or Pangong lake may not be possible.

Whenever one travels to the high plateaux of western Tibet and Ladakh, the experience is sure to be one of visual overload. And as for tourism, today upwards of fifty thousand visitors descend on the mountain stronghold during the Hemis festival. Yet despite its growing popularity, Ladakh is a still a wonderland of cultural interest, of stark, captivating mountains, of fairytale, magical monasteries whose chapels are full of unworldly imagery.

Ladakh: Land of Magical Monasteries, Bob Gibbons & Sian Pritchard Jones, Pilgrim's Publishing, Hardcover, 240 pages, $15.00

Sian Pritchard-Jones and Bob Gibbons met in 1983, on a trek from Kashmir to Ladakh. By then Bob had already driven an ancient Land Rover from England to Kathmandu (in 1974), and overland trucks across Asia, Africa and South America. He had also lived in Kathmandu for two years, employed as a trekking company manager. Before they met, Sian worked in computer programming and systems analysis, but was drawn to the Himalaya en route from working in New Zealand. Since they met they have been leading and organising treks in the Alps, Nepal and the Sahara, as well as driving a bus overland to Nepal. Journeys by a less ancient Land Rover from England to South Africa provided the basis for several editions of the Bradt guide Africa Overland. For the sixth edition published in April 2014, they visited the fantastic boiling lava lake of Erta Ale in the Danakil desert of Ethiopia, and Somaliland. They were lucky finally to get visas to visit Eritrea, Angola and Congo for their most recent African research trips in 2016. In Kathmandu they previously worked with Pilgrims Publishing, producing cultural guides � Kathmandu: Valley of the Green-Eyed Yellow Idol and Ladakh: Land of Magical Monasteries � and a historical look at the Guge Kingdom, Kailash: Land of the Tantric Mountain. In 2007 they wrote the Cicerone guide to Mount Kailash and Western Tibet, as well updating the Grand Canyon guide. During 2011 they returned to Tibet, this time driving the same old Land Rover back from Kathmandu to the UK overland via Lhasa, through China, Kazakhstan, Russia and Western Europe. Their Annapurna trekking guide was published by Cicerone in January 2013; the second edition is due later in 2017. For Himalayan Map House they are writing a new series of trekking guidebooks: Himalayan Travel Guides. Titles so far published include Manaslu & Tsum Valley (2nd edition); Upper & Lower Dolpo; Ganesh Himal & Tamang Heritage Trail; Everest; Langtang, Gosainkund & Helambu; Rolwaling & Gauri Shankar; Trekking around the Nepal Himalaya and Mustang. They have also recently published their autobiography, In Search of the Green-Eyed Yellow Idol, in colour, black & white and Kindle formats, and a Pictorial Guide to the Horn of Africa.