You fly into Leh (IXL) at around 3,500 metres, one of the world's highest commercial airports, and your chauffeur transfers you straight to your hotel.

This is a mandatory full rest day, and we do not skip it: at this altitude your body needs 24 hours of near-total rest, plenty of water and no exertion to adjust. Doing nothing today is what makes the rest of the trip safe and enjoyable.

A gentle second acclimatisation day keeps you in and around Leh: the white Shanti Stupa on its hill, the nine-storey Leh Palace overlooking the old town, and the bazaar.

Activity stays deliberately light so acclimatisation continues, short walks, frequent rests, and no high-altitude excursions yet. Watch for any headache, nausea or breathlessness and tell your driver-guide.

Now acclimatised, you cross Khardung La, one of the world's highest motorable passes at around 5,360 metres, where stops are kept short because of the thin air.

You descend into the green Nubra Valley, a startling oasis of villages and rivers between the Karakoram and Ladakh ranges, and check into your valley camp or hotel for the night.

The morning is the surreal white sand dunes of Hunder, where you can ride a double-humped Bactrian camel, a living relic of the old Silk Route caravans.

You then visit the hilltop Diskit Monastery and its giant Maitreya Buddha statue gazing over the valley, with the afternoon at leisure in the thinner but lower, easier air of Nubra.

You take the dramatic Shyok River route directly from Nubra to Pangong Tso, a rough but spectacular road hugging the river through remote high desert.

You reach Pangong Lake at around 4,350 metres in time for sunset, when the vast, brackish lake shifts through impossible blues against the bare mountains. Nights here are cold and basic; camps are simple by design.

You catch the lake at first light, its colours changing minute by minute, before the long drive back toward Leh.

The return crosses Chang La at about 5,360 metres, another of the world's highest passes, where, again, you pause only briefly before descending to the comfort and thicker air of Leh for the night.

A relaxed lower-altitude day heads down the Indus valley to the famous Magnetic Hill optical illusion and the Gurudwara Pathar Sahib.

You stop at the striking confluence of the Indus and Zanskar rivers near Nimmu, where two differently coloured rivers meet, before returning to Leh.

You explore Ladakh's spiritual heart: Hemis, the largest and wealthiest monastery in Ladakh, hidden in a gorge and famed for its summer masked-dance festival.

Then the hilltop Thiksey Monastery, a twelve-storey complex resembling Lhasa's Potala Palace, with its two-storey Maitreya Buddha and, if you rise early, the atmospheric morning prayers.

A free day in Leh lets you browse the bazaar for pashmina, apricots, Tibetan handicrafts and prayer flags, or relax over Ladakhi food at a rooftop café.

It also builds in a buffer, mountain weather and roads are unpredictable, so a spare day in Leh protects your onward flight against delays.

Leh flights leave early, so after breakfast your chauffeur transfers you to the airport for your morning departure.

You leave acclimatised and rewarded, the high passes, monasteries and lakes of Ladakh behind you.