Ladakh Sarai

Ladakh Sarai sits in Ayu village, a short drive from Leh but far enough out to feel rural, on a shelf of high desert with the Indus Valley below and the Stok Kangri ridge on the horizon. The original camp was built in 1978 by adventure travel pioneers, a few years after Ladakh opened to outsiders, and it now belongs to two Ladakhis, Lotus Sandup and Rigzin Namgyal. Rooms come as mud huts built in the old Ladakhi way, chalet rooms with private sit-outs, heritage rooms and two-level duplexes for families. There are no televisions in the rooms, which is deliberate.

Days start slowly here, then go where you want them to; monasteries strung along the Indus at Thiksey, Hemis and Shey, the alleyways of old town Leh, riverside picnics, or walks between the barley fields and irrigation channels of Ayu itself. Back at the resort there is a yoga hall with mountain views, a library for trip planning, gardens and lawns, and a kitchen built around apricots, wild herbs and mountain trout.