The setting is severe: a landscape of hulking, bare-sloped mountains and cold, flat desert; all greys and browns, dappled by the shadows of passing clouds. Against this sepia backdrop, any colours are vivid: the green of skinny poplars and barley fields; the bright red of painted windows and balconies; the deep blue of the uninterrupted sky. It’s the roof of the world — harsh, sweeping, and breathtakingly beautiful.

If this little, 300-household village seems an unassuming place to be the seat of the Ladakhi Royal Family, that’s because it isn’t — not traditionally, anyway. The Namgyal Dynasty were ousted from their (now-derelict) palace in Leh two centuries ago, when the Sikh Empire succeeded the Mughals and the Dogra Rajputs invaded Leh. It was at this time that the Ladakhi King Tsespal Namgyal was exiled to his summer residence at Stok, where his descendants still live today.

Stok is picturesque — but so is everywhere in Ladakh, quite frankly, and the village is too modest to draw many visitors (giant gold Buddha notwithstanding). The real reason to come here is to stay in the palace itself, where the current monarch-in-exile has converted six rooms into a heritage hotel.

A stay here is a really special experience, and not only for the royal trappings. As you stoop through low doorways and follow atmospheric corridors lined with hand-painted frescoes, you might stop and have a chat with the Ladakhi king or a member of his family. You might come upon a green courtyard with apricot and willow trees, or step onto a balcony with peerless views over the valley. Follow the sounds of chanting and you might come to the palace’s in-house monastery, where the resident monk performs daily rituals and makes amulets. The palace’s museum is full of more treasures: perak headdresses encrusted with gems; an Afghan sword tied in a knot by one of the old kings’ oracles.

Most visitors give Stok a miss, heading in the opposite direction from Leh to the Nubra Valley. Those who do come here find themselves enveloped in Ladakhi culture, in the last outpost of a lost world. If you make it here, you will not be disappointed.