Non, je n'ai pas les lèvres gercées.

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No, I don't have chapped lips...

Indeed in this very dry area, with high altitude (all above 3000m) and blazing sun, even through the clouds; MY LIPS ARE COMPLETELY DRY!

Leh is in fact a bit of a city in a desert. All around Leh it is rocks and sand. And only the city is a bit green. It's like that all over Ladakh. Very arid landscapes is sprinkled with little green valleys. As soon as there is a little river, usually glacier melting water, then the Ladakhi use them to build their villages around it. Through a smart and communal irrigation system they succeed at making thess high altitude deserts into fertile farmland.

But so, water is a rarity here, and tourist like us form a threat to the environment. So it is very important to use as little water as possible. Don't flush the toilet too often, take few little showers, etc....

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