The region of Ladakh is an integral part of the state of Jammu and Kashmir, which was open to extremely limited initiatives of modern education and improvement in communications. Since 1970 Ladakh was finally opened to tourism, making it the focus of intense scrutiny on a global scale. Until then, whatever was known of the region came from travel accounts and the studies of the Tibetan borderlands made by European scholars and Indian pundits. The author lived in the Ladakhi kingdom for two years. She found in Ladakh the noticeable absence of cultural and social markers that connect it to India being distinctive; physically, linguistically and culturally. Through an account of the author’s engagement with the people and institutions of the region, this paper attempts to draw out points of similarity and difference between the regions of Ladakh, Tibet (China) and the rest of J & K state. She focusses on her working experience at the educational institute of Druk Padma Karpo School, a secular establishment founded by a prominent Buddhist monk who enjoys a degree of eminence in the region. The activities and nature of the school throw light on the nature of this form of education in Ladakh and how far it is distinctive. The overall Tibetan and Buddhist context from which the school has evolved also provides important perspectives on the identity of the region as a whole – just as many aspects of its profile show the ways in which Ladakh has “modernized” in recent years.