Indian Trek Memorialized as a Custom Postage Stamp

by Sam
(San Francisco, CA, USA)

Ladakh - an Indian trek memorialized as a custom postage stamp

This past summer, customized postage stamps were the furthest thing from my mind. I had a month off between jobs and was looking for something interesting and fun to do.

I was going to be alone on this trip, since none of my close friends or family had that kind of time available, or weren’t able or willing to spend much on a month-long vacation. I was also going to be a bit tight on finances too so I had to choose a place that would offer me the kind of sight-seeing and activities that I wanted to do, while still remaining on a budget.

So, that’s how I ended up in Ladakh, the Northern-most region of India.

Ladakh is one of those places that can feel like it’s in a time-warp, combining elements of the ancient and the modern. Perhaps the greatest draw of Ladakh is its amazing natural beauty, situated as it is high in the Himalayan Range. The environment is still more or less pristine, and the traditional Buddhist-influenced culture largely intact.

One of the best activities that Ladakh has to offer visitors is trekking. The picture I’m using for a custom postage stamp is one that I took along my trek through a part of Ladakh known as the Markha Valley, a sparsely populated series of villages along a river, deep within tall mountain peaks.

The view seen in the picture is one of my trek, when I was going over a hill and the view opened up to this beautiful village nestled in the hills, with a few farms along the river. After strenuous trekking, I’ll never forget how inspired I was by the simple beauty of the place, and I’m happy to have it memorialized as a personalized postage stamp.