In Ladakh, the rest of India is referred to as down . Because, at no point in Leh district would you be less than about three kilometres above the mean sea level. This vast barren district is more than 45,000 square kilometre (sq km); it is perhaps India's largest and certainly its most sparsely populated.

It is not easy to live here. The limited water available in rivers and streams is the melt from the glaciers