5 Wonders Of Ladakh | The Mysteries Hills Whispers

The Magnetic Hill

Towards 7.5 KM southwest of Nimmoo and 26.5 KM west of Leh on Srinagar- Ladakh road, here lies a place known for its wonderful phenomenon that defies gravity. The place is famous for its name ” Magnetic Hill “. People also call this place with different name like ‘ Mystery Hill ‘ or ‘ Gravity Hill ‘. This place is at a height of 14000 ft. from sea level and you can watch the beautiful Sindhu river flowing down between the valley at its east.

Here people find themselves rolling up the hill without any external efforts to their stationary vehicles. People turn off their engines and roll up the hill at the speeds up to 20 km/hr. Well there is also a rumour that whenever a flight goes off over the hill, it attracts the airplane’s magnetic body causing a little declination in its height. Locals also believe that this it was once a way to heaven hence if you are a deserving person you will automatically be pulled.

Fun fact is that it has a scientific phenomenon of optical illusion that when it is being observed rolling up the hill, it is actually rolling downwards.

Pathar Sahib Gurudwara

At the altitude of 12000 ft. a beautiful gurudwara sahib is constructed in the memory of Guru Nanak Ji, around 25 miles away from Leh. It was constructed to commemorate the visit of Guru Nanak Ji in Ladakh region and was built in 1517.

The specialty of this place is the footprints of history left by ‘ Nanak Lama ‘ referred to as Guru Nanak Ji by the Ladakhis and Lamas. In 1970s, The Indian Army, during the construction of Leh – Nimmoo road, tried to remove a boulder which happened to hinder the the construction. they tried using a bulldozer but they got failed and the construction stopped there. The driver got a dream not to evacuate that place followed by an Army officer the next day who ignored such thing as told by the driver but eventually they could not remove the boulder. That day was a Sunday and several lamas and ladakhis came to visit The Army and told the story of their faith.

So according to a local legend there was a wicked demon dwelling into those regions and Guru Nanak Ji came there in 1515-18 after people prayed for the almighty for help because of the terror the demon has created. Guru Nanak Ji settled himself near the bank of river down the hill where demon lived. So one day while he was meditating beside the river, the demon, with the intention to kill him, pushed a large boulder from the hilltop. But as it touched Guru’s body, it turned into wax and came to halt at Nanak Ji’s back. Thinking of Guru Nanak Ji got killed he rushed to the spot and to his surprise he was still meditating. He got angry and pushed the stone with his foot against Guru Ji but as the stone was touching Guru’s body it instantaneously turned into wax and his foot got imbedded in it, which later he found his own foot impression into the stone.

World's Second Highest Motorable Pass

At an elevation of 5359 m ( 17582 ft. ) from sea level, Khardung La pass is the second highest motorable pass in the world, the first one being Umling La pass under The Project Himank which is at an altitude of around 19300 ft. Khardung La pass was built in 1976 but was opened in 1988 for the public transport. This place has been famous through out the history as it was the route from Leh to Kashgar in Central Asia for the caravan and about 10000 horses and camels took this route throughout the year. There has been trade of various different stuff from this pass.

It is also known that during WW2 there was an attempt to transfer war material to China through this route.

Pangong Tso

Probably one of the most beautiful natural sight was this place, and I was immersed into it’s beauty right away when I first saw it from miles away sitting in the SUV waiting curiously for it’s first glimpse. Situated at an elevation of 4225 m ( 13862 ft. ) this 134 km long lake is the god’s lake which I presumed when I first saw it. The water is so clear that you can see through meters inside it. Well one thing, the water it holds is salty, and yes I have tasted it. It also freezes completely in winters so the right time to visit Pangong is the summers in India.

It is presumed that this lake is 25% in Indian territory and 75% is controlled by the China occupied territory but nevertheless this is a quite spectacular place to visit if you ever come to Leh Ladakh.

Chang La Pass

It is also one of the highest motorable road pass among the others at an elevation of 5360 m ( 17590 ft. ) in Ladakh. The Chang La pass is the main gateway for the Changthang Plateau situated in the Himalayas. This pass is mostly covered into snow throughout the year hence the best season to visit is the summer in May or June. This pass opens for the tourists from the mid may till October.

The attraction of Chang La pass is the breathtaking beauty with tall mountains and gorgeous views all around. There is Chang La temple dedicated to Chang La baba whose blessing are must for crossing the pass.