I didn’t think I would, but I love Leh. It’s hard to not love such absolute purity, and a place that seems so close to the heavens. The light can play such beautiful tricks up here. And it’s wonderful to be close to nature. I don’t want my hotel to be in the middle of the market.

By that measure, Nature Residency is the perfect location — on the banks of the Indus River, and about 10 km from the main market where all the big hotels are. There’s the babble of the river, the beautiful snowcapped mountains very close by, and the very nice room with running hot water, huge windows, and room service.

The food that they that make you is very good, and it’s reasonably priced. There’s no big-hotel artificial hospitality here. Everything’s real, and I love it. At first, I regretted not getting a hotel high up in the mountains, 10 km from the Pangong Lake. But now, I’m glad I didn’t. While the mountains are so very beautiful, the lack of oxygen makes your head hurt. I would come here to Leh again, and again, and again. I’d pick this hotel each time. I have to have the river right next to me.