This is the first view of Ladakh after crossing the Greater Himalayan Range by the Baralacha La at 4,880 m. La means pass. The Baralacha La is about 180 km from Manali and presides over an austere but nevertheless awesome landscape at the head of three valleys. These windswept mountainside displays the flow patterns of glacier debris. The absence of vegetation allows the effects of weathering to be seen clearly.