Ladakh means the land of high passes. The mountain ranges of Ladakh, with 16,000 to 23,000 feet high peaks, were formed over a period of 45 million years by the folding of the Indian plate into the more stationary Eurasian plate. Ladakh lies in the state of Jammu and Kashmir, the northern-most state of India. It is sometimes called “Little Tibet” as it has been strongly influenced by Tibetan culture. Historically, Ladakh was a strategic location at the crossroads of important caravan routes, eventually leading to the Silk route. The Ladakh region was opened to tourism only in 1974 and it is only after then that outsiders came to know about the beautiful landscape of Ladakh and the rich culture of the Ladakhi people.