Four hundred and seventy kilometres, five passes, and why you shouldn’t fly. The Manali–Leh highway is a lesson in patience. You climb out of pine forest…
The Manali–Leh highway is a lesson in patience. You climb out of pine forest into scree, then into a high plateau where the only colour is the prayer flags at each pass. Arriving by road is the gentlest way to acclimatise: your body rises with the land. We stop at Sarchu for the night, under more stars than seems reasonable.