We reached Leh, late at night on 15th Aug. After the adventurous and strenuous journey of two days, we were really very tired. So we decided that we will not start early in the morning the next day, 16th Aug.
On waking up on the 16th, we found that our hotel, (The Nature Residency Hotel) was by a small river. It was a beautiful and peaceful location. We stayed at this hotel in all for 4 days and enjoyed the stay very much. But at such a good hotel too, we found that the things we take for granted in cities like Pune don’t come by easily. There are regular power cuts in Leh – for good 8+ hours daily. The hotel used to run an inverter/generator for some time, but a few hours in the afternoon and in the night there was no electricity – and at night it got pitch-dark. Hot water was another luxury which we had to do without for most days.
As we discovered going around the place, Leh is a very nice and friendly town. When we went sightseeing or went to the market to shop for gifts and souvenirs, we came across simple and cheerful people who were happy to talk to us, provide information or generally have a conversation about life…
On 16th August, we started with Shanti Stupa and went to different monasteries and palaces. This is such a hilly region that each place you visit, there is a climb to reach the place. Most places, you go to the entrance gate of the place in a vehicle but beyond that point, you need to climb to reach the actual palace or the monastery. Even within the complex, you need to climb to go from one building to another or one temple to another. These climbs are about 50+ to about 150+ feet at a stretch but since Leh is at an altitude of 11000+ ft, each one of these seems quite difficult.
We started our sightseeing at the Shanti Stupa and ended at Sindhu ghat where we watched the sunset. And during the day, we visited the Stok Palace & Museum, Thiksey monastery and Shey palace.
Shanti stupa itself and the view of Leh from the top of the hill is magnifiscant! We spent close to an hour here and took a lot of photographs. Devendra and Mayuresh got people to wear big sunglasses so that they could take photograph of the stupa reflected in the glasses. It was a lot of fun!
At the Stok Palace and the museum, we took a lot of picture outside, near the entrance of the museum since photography is not allowed within. The most impressive item on display in the museum was a sword that has been made into a “knot” by king’s oracle to demonstrate his muscle power. How does anyone do that?? Make a knot in a sword, as if it’s a cable??!!
As we were coming out of Stock, we met Monlam Gyatso, a lama and had a wonderful conversation with him. He talked about his path as a lama, his views on various things from army (its necessity) to various places to visit and of course about life. Sitting there in the Stok portico, feeling very relaxed and happy, looking around at the beautiful place and listening to a lama talk about various things – that will remain with me for a long time…
Before climbing to Thiksey, we had lunch at this quaint restaurant called “Chamba” near Thiksey. We sat outside in the courtyard, under a shade and spent time looking at the birds and butterflies and bantering with each other, waiting for our food. The place runs at a laid back, relaxed pace (which means the service is slow ), but it’s a place to enjoy just sitting around, taking in the atmosphere – especially if you have a good group.
Thiksey was quite impressive – the Maitreya Budhha is 2 stories tall. There are old frescos of Jatak kathas (These are tales depicting the Buddha in several of his births in the form of animals) in the courtyard and there is a temple for Tara. I found this place really beautiful – the combination of the architecture and the colors and the views of the surrounding mountains, they make many beautiful frames…
Climb to Shey seemed the hardest and you also can’t enter the palace; but the view of the Shey marshes from the top makes the climb worthwhile.
Sindhu ghat was the last thing on our itinerary for 16th – the river is very small in Leh, but the ghat was picturesque, with the small chhatris there. It was made more attractive by lack of tourists..
Then on 20th, we went to see the confluence of Sindu (Indus) and Zanskar. On our way there, we saw the Himalayan Urial (Shapo) high on the mountains. It would have been impossible to spot these for me. And the only reason I got to see them was that Devendra and Mayuresh, with the trained eyes could spot these!!
Driving ahead, we also saw a movie being shot – a song, for sure. Watching the girl do the same steps again and again, the camera, the people around – it looked pretty ridiculous and we had a good laugh! Of course, it also looked like a LOT of work - standing in the bright & hot sun, in a fancy dress and doing the same dance steps again and again definitely can’t be easy or fun!
On the way we also passed the memagnetic (??) hill. At the magnetic hill, they ask you to park your vehicle in neutral and watch it slide up the slope; which is supposed to be due to the magnetic force. However, this is not so – its only an optical illusion caused by the layout of the landscape. Also, it looks like the vehicle is moving up the slope, only from s specific spot.
At the confluence of the two rivers, one can see each of the rivers distinctly different from the other – Sindu looks muddy and Zanskar looks “white”.
Hall of Fame museum, Leh –
On 19th August, after returning from the Nubra valley, we went to the Hall of fame museum in the late afternoon. It is a glorious museum built/setup by the Indian Army. The museum has two separate sections one of which covers various facets of Ladakh region – like the geography, history, culture as well as flora and fauna. The other section covers a lot of information about various wars and operations carried out by the Army. It makes one realize about the difficulties faced by the army – especially when you read about the highest war zone of the world – the Siachin glacier; it makes you proud of your army and it also makes you feel very emotional.
Shopping in Leh – We went to the market street 2-3 times in all – looking for some things specific – like the T-shirts with embroidery, so instead of a T-shirt, with “Ladakh – at the top of the wolrd” printed on it, you buy a T-shirt with the same embroidered on it!! And it makes a big difference to the overall look of the T-shirt. There were a lot of cool T-shirts too – about Leh, about Khardung La. Some of the ones I really liked were “My sister went to Ladakh and all she got me was this silly t-shirt!” – having this embroidered on the t-shirt in beautiful silk colors, makes it look anything but silly! The best one had 5 yaks standing in a line with this line at the bottom – “Yak Yak Yak Yak Yak” – just loved it!! Needless to say I got t-shirts as gifts…
Apart from these, we were told that one gets good turquoise (which is found in Ladakh) and other semi-precious stones here. We mostly only window shopped for these…
Apart from the T-shirts, things we ended up buying were apricots, apricot jam, prayer flags, prayer wheels and some small souvenirs like key chains.
By the time it was time to leave Leh and return home, we had gotten very comfrotable in Leh - with its simple people and simple life as well as the beauty of the surrounding, start mountains and the background of blue, blue sky! It was really difficult to say goodby to the place on 21st morning and board our flight to Delhi...
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| View from our room at the Nature Residency |
On waking up on the 16th, we found that our hotel, (The Nature Residency Hotel) was by a small river. It was a beautiful and peaceful location. We stayed at this hotel in all for 4 days and enjoyed the stay very much. But at such a good hotel too, we found that the things we take for granted in cities like Pune don’t come by easily. There are regular power cuts in Leh – for good 8+ hours daily. The hotel used to run an inverter/generator for some time, but a few hours in the afternoon and in the night there was no electricity – and at night it got pitch-dark. Hot water was another luxury which we had to do without for most days.
As we discovered going around the place, Leh is a very nice and friendly town. When we went sightseeing or went to the market to shop for gifts and souvenirs, we came across simple and cheerful people who were happy to talk to us, provide information or generally have a conversation about life…
 |
| Shanti Stupa |
We started our sightseeing at the Shanti Stupa and ended at Sindhu ghat where we watched the sunset. And during the day, we visited the Stok Palace & Museum, Thiksey monastery and Shey palace.
Shanti stupa itself and the view of Leh from the top of the hill is magnifiscant! We spent close to an hour here and took a lot of photographs. Devendra and Mayuresh got people to wear big sunglasses so that they could take photograph of the stupa reflected in the glasses. It was a lot of fun!
 |
| Stok Palace & Museum |
 |
| Lama Monlam Gyatso |
Before climbing to Thiksey, we had lunch at this quaint restaurant called “Chamba” near Thiksey. We sat outside in the courtyard, under a shade and spent time looking at the birds and butterflies and bantering with each other, waiting for our food. The place runs at a laid back, relaxed pace (which means the service is slow ), but it’s a place to enjoy just sitting around, taking in the atmosphere – especially if you have a good group.
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| Jatak Katha frescos |
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| Thiksey |
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| Shey Marshes |
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| Sindhu Ghaat |
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| Shapo |
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| Movie shooting... |
On the way we also passed the memagnetic (??) hill. At the magnetic hill, they ask you to park your vehicle in neutral and watch it slide up the slope; which is supposed to be due to the magnetic force. However, this is not so – its only an optical illusion caused by the layout of the landscape. Also, it looks like the vehicle is moving up the slope, only from s specific spot.
At the confluence of the two rivers, one can see each of the rivers distinctly different from the other – Sindu looks muddy and Zanskar looks “white”.
Hall of Fame museum, Leh –
On 19th August, after returning from the Nubra valley, we went to the Hall of fame museum in the late afternoon. It is a glorious museum built/setup by the Indian Army. The museum has two separate sections one of which covers various facets of Ladakh region – like the geography, history, culture as well as flora and fauna. The other section covers a lot of information about various wars and operations carried out by the Army. It makes one realize about the difficulties faced by the army – especially when you read about the highest war zone of the world – the Siachin glacier; it makes you proud of your army and it also makes you feel very emotional.
Shopping in Leh – We went to the market street 2-3 times in all – looking for some things specific – like the T-shirts with embroidery, so instead of a T-shirt, with “Ladakh – at the top of the wolrd” printed on it, you buy a T-shirt with the same embroidered on it!! And it makes a big difference to the overall look of the T-shirt. There were a lot of cool T-shirts too – about Leh, about Khardung La. Some of the ones I really liked were “My sister went to Ladakh and all she got me was this silly t-shirt!” – having this embroidered on the t-shirt in beautiful silk colors, makes it look anything but silly! The best one had 5 yaks standing in a line with this line at the bottom – “Yak Yak Yak Yak Yak” – just loved it!! Needless to say I got t-shirts as gifts…
Apart from these, we were told that one gets good turquoise (which is found in Ladakh) and other semi-precious stones here. We mostly only window shopped for these…
Apart from the T-shirts, things we ended up buying were apricots, apricot jam, prayer flags, prayer wheels and some small souvenirs like key chains.
By the time it was time to leave Leh and return home, we had gotten very comfrotable in Leh - with its simple people and simple life as well as the beauty of the surrounding, start mountains and the background of blue, blue sky! It was really difficult to say goodby to the place on 21st morning and board our flight to Delhi...
Nice article! I haven't been to Leh as yet ... Have done most of the Eastern Himalayas, but must try for Leh next
ReplyDeleteSeems like a completely different country... its sad that I now associate India with just hustle and bustle ... really miss the quieter countryside, I wish I will be able to travel again just for my own sake sometime in the future.
ReplyDeleteVery beautiful pics and descriptions, I'm happy I could at least see and know this much about Leh from you ...