The Ladakh desert is mainly inhabited by Buddhists and Muslims.

Hemis Monastery is a Himalayan Buddhist monastery (gompa) of the Drukpa Lineage, in Hemis, Ladakh, India. Situated 45 km from Leh, the monastery was re-established in 1672 by the Ladakhi king Sengge Namgyal. The annual Hemis festival honoring Padmasambhava is held in early June.

The first village after Zoji La pass, Dras is situated at a height of 10,990 feet above sea level. In the freezing winter, temperatures in Dras can drop to as low as -45 degrees Celsius. The lowest temperature drop observed in Dras was during the winter of 1995, when the thermal reading fell to -60 degrees Celsius 

The region's population is split roughly in half between the districts of Leh and Kargil. 76.87% population of Kargil is Muslim (mostly Shia), with a total population of 140,802, while that of Leh is 66.40% Buddhist, with a total population of 133,487.

Leh is the capital and largest town of Ladakh, a union territory in India-administered Kashmir.

Leh is at an altitude of 3,524 meters (11,562 ft) and is connected via National Highway 1 to Srinagar in the southwest and to Manali in the south via the Leh-Manali Highway.

Dras, a tourist hub for its high altitude trekking routes and tourist sites, is a town in the Kargil district of the Union Territory of Ladakh in India. It is on the NH 1 between Zoji La pass and Kargil town. It is often called "The Gateway to Ladakh".

Indus river originates from the Manasarovar lake in Tibet and its greenish-blue waters flow with all its glory through the Ladakh region in Jammu and Kashmir towards Gilgit-Baltistan and along the entire length of Pakistan to finally drain into the Arabian Sea at the port city of Karachi.