Ladakh is reputed as a cold desert with little flora and fauna. However, there are patches of florid vegetation and greenery along river valleys and streams which provide stark contrast to the otherwise barren landscape apart from affording crucial sustenance for the local people. We encountered this blissful expanse of nature on the Kargil-Leh highway around twenty kilometres further down from the village of Mulbekh known for a thirty feet tall statue of Maitreya Buddha.