We arrived in Leh on July 14th and spent a few days acclimating to the altitude — 11,500ft isn’t terribly unmanageable, but your body needs to adjust properly to avoid or minimize altitude mountain sickness, not to mention the slightly more unsurvivable conditions, like High Altitude Pulmonary Embolism.

During this initial ‘take it easy’ phase we visited a massive Stupa overlooking Leh, and then ventured a few kilometers from town to visit an oracle healer.  The landscape was ruggedly beautiful – a vast expanse of orange rock and jagged bluffs.  This could have been the surface of Mars beneath a piercing, crisp blue sky.