Ladakh, Indian Himalayas, India

The Nubra Valley, half a day’s drive north of the Ladakhi capital Leh, is one of the most remote and spectacular places on the planet reachable by car. To experience this kind of terrain, with its towering snow peaks and swaths of bleached sand and scree, you’d normally have to trek for weeks in the Karakorams or Pamirs. And you can bet the accommodation, if there was any, would be less than luxurious. Thanks to our friends at the entrepreneurial Ultimate Travelling Camp, however, it’s now possible to experience the wonders of Nubra in great comfort and style. Supplied with solar electricity, their five luxury tents have bathrooms with hot showers and superb views of nearby Diskit monastery, one of the largest in Ladakh. The camp provides the perfect base for experiencing local life: stroll past great mani walls and crumbling whitewashed stupas to explore the hillside monastery, whose terrace affords an awe-inspiring panorama over the confluence of the Shyok and Nubra Rivers. Later, call at the Lambdon Charitable School, which provides a first-rate education for local youngsters, or enjoy a ride on a twin-humped dromedary camel at nearby Hunder. It’s hard to convey the scale and grandeur of the landscape in Nubra and by staying at this camp you’ll gain the most vivid experience of it possible.