For as long as I can remember, the Himalayas have pulled at my imagination: the highest and most majestic mountain range on earth, formed by two continents crashing together, a spiritual home for seekers across the millennia. Ten years ago, when I heard about Shakti Himalaya, which offers the chance to live in rural villages in houses equipped with Western comforts, I thought: there’s my way in. I set my sights on the Ladakh region of northern India, a high-altitude (10,000-plus feet) landscape ...