This is superb news — As many as 101 out-of-bounds mountains in the frontier region of Ladakh are about to be opened for trekking.

Right now, trekking — even travelling for that matter — in Ladakh is a terrible experience. You have to get a permit — sometimes more than one — for every direction that you travel from Leh. Still worse, the permits take more than a day to process unless you go through agents who ‘get the work done’ in a day. It is worse for foreign tourists, who aren’t even allowed as near the border as Indian nationals.

This is a pity because Ladakh is one of those rare places that you’ll remember for a lifetime; it’s a wonderful experience everyone must have. With these trekking destinations opening up and the access limitations being relaxed, it will help the local tourism, hotel and adventure sports industry — and mountain lovers like me.

So if you’re planning to go to Ladakh anytime soon, do look up the newly opened destinations. At the very least, your Facebook uploads won’t look the same as everyone else who visited Ladakh. That line always get people going.

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