Crisis in a Cold Desert?

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The first thing you'd probably hear, if you told people that you went to Ladakh are exclamations of awe & envy. A reaction that's not unwarranted. This would definitely qualify as one of the 100 places to visit before you die. Looking back I was lucky, though it certainly didn't feel that way when we were there. We flew into the capital Leh in May, two months before the tourist season kicked in, in time to experience the remnants of one of the harshest winters the region had witnessed in 20 years. The biting cold, the sudden hailstorms, and the relentless wind - we were ill-equipped from the start. Many passes were still closed & supplies in stores were over a year old. Once out of Leh, we survived on biscuits, soup, and condiments that had outlived their expiry date. Breathing is laboured there and that's....