Leh for any Bollywood buff is now synonymous with the famous ending sequence of Rajkumar Hirani’s blockbuster 3 Idiots. The scene where Aamir Khan’s Rancho kisses Kareena Kapoor’s Pia was shot there.

Shantanu Moitra, the film’s music director, had suggested the location.

“I had gone there earlier for trekking and felt that the particular area around the Tso Moriri lake would be perfect for the last scene. At 16,200 feet above sea level, it was painfully beautiful and also painfully difficult, given that there was so little oxygen. Doing the kiss was really tough for Aamir and Kareena, because of the lack of oxygen,” Shantanu said.

He added that it must have been because of the lack of vegetation in the area that the cloudburst created such havoc.