Leh diaries :Part II
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| View of Leh town with Shanti Stupa in the distance. |
Leh Town:
As mentioned in my previous blog post (here), Leh is a very
buoyant town situated at 3326 mts above sea level, with lovely souvenir shops
and awesome eateries. It’s the capital of the Himalayan kingdom of Ladakh and
is loaded with lots of past stories for the history buffs.
Quick tips:
- Leh has amazing restaurants and bakeries. Recommended ones are Chopstix ,Lama Yuru restaurant and German bakery. There are lots of other garden restaurants which serve international cuisine.
- Try the Seabukthron berry juice, which is a Himalayan berry juice you get only in ladakh region.
- Shop for apricots.
- We stayed at Oriental Guest house and they know how to take care of their guests.
- Visit the school featured in the famous bollywood movie 'The Three idiots'.
- You can shop for Pashmina wool shawls but personally I wouldn't vouch for the authenticity.
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| The Druk White Lotus School where the movie 'Three Idoits ' was shot. |
During our stay in Leh we visited quite a few places , first stop being the Hemis Gompa. This is a Tibetan Buddhist monastery located around 40 kms from Leh. I found this monastery a very serene place nestled between the hills of Hemis town, and having an artistic incline myself, I found the murals and paintings depicting Tibetan deities intriguing.
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| Entrance of the Hemis monastery |
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| Inside Hemis |
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| Wall Murals. |
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| Wall Murals of Tibetan deity. |
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| Buddha |
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| Arena inside the Gompa. |
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| Prayer Flags |
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| Stupas |
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| Thiksey Gompa |
Thiksay Gompa : One of the most interesting monasteries in Leh, Thiksey Gompa
is known for the statue of Maitreya buddha.I was overwhelmed visiting
this place and my sister who has been there earlier, highly recommends attending
the early morning prayer session for the protector deity which is
an experience in itself.
Leh palace: Leh Palace is a former royal palace overlooking the town of
Leh. It is nine stories high; the upper
floors accommodated the royal family, while the lower floors held stables and
store rooms.
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| Maitreya Buddha at Thiksey |
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| Maitreya (Future) buddha side view. |
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| Protector Deity |
After a day of sightseeing around Leh, we left for Nubra valley the next day. Nubra valley is a valley formed by the Shyok river, which is a tributary of Indus. To reach the Nubra valley you need to pass the Khardungla Pass which is the highest motorable road in the world.
Diskit is a small town in the Nubra valley famous for its monastery and also a massive statue of Maitreya Buddha facing the valley. The enormous effigy against the raw mountainous backdrop is a sight which will take your breath away.
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| View of the Valley from Diskit Buddha. |
Also in Nubra Valley are the famous cold sand dunes of Hunder. I was surprised to see sand dunes in a valley. Its something we do not expect to encounter. Nonetheless the sights were breathtaking. Hunder , the place where the sand dunes are located also is the home of the double humped Bactrain camels.
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| Nubra Landscape |
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| Hunder Sand dunes |
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| Nubra Valley |
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| Maitreya Buddha first look while arriving at Diskit |
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| Maitreya Buddha facing the Nubra valley |
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| The Diskit Monastery |
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| Nubra Sand Dunes |
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| Double humped Bactrain camel in the silhouette |
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| Glacial water stream meeting the Shyok River. |
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| Shyok River |
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| Lovely Spring flowers at our hotel in Hunder |
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| Independence Day celebration at Turtuk |
Turtuk:
After staying in Hunder for a night we moved the next day to a village called Turtuk.
The village of Turtuk which was unseen by tourists till 2010 is a virgin destination for people who seek peace and an interaction with a tribal community of Ladakh. The village is stuffed with apricot trees and children. The local tribe, Balti, follows its age old customs in their lifestyle and speak a language which is just spoken and not written. For tourists Turtuk offers serene camping sites with environment friendly infrastructure.
We were lucky enough to be in Turkut on 15th of August and were able to attend the Independence Day Function, where the chief guest was an Army Brigadier.
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| Independence Day celebration at Turkut (Can you spot me ;)) |
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| Lovely colors and kids at Turkut |
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| Jai Hind |
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| Turtuk Village : Farrol area |
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| On the way back to Diskit |
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| Prayer Wheels |
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| Occasional Glacial Spring of fresh and clean water |
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| Accomodation at Turkut. The tents were luxurious. |
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| Evening Tea |
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Ubiquitous Doors at Yul ,Turtuk
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| A painters dream |
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| My favorite so far. |
We came back from Turtuk and stayed over at Hunder again before leaving for Leh. Nubra Valley is a beautiful part of Ladakh and I would highly recommend staying there for at least 3 days.
Quick Tips:
- Khardungla is highest motorable road and also a place with less oxygen. I would recommend carrying an oxygen cylinder available at local chemist in Leh.
- Hunder ,in Nubra valley is a 7 hour journey from Leh.
- Its recommended to stay at Hunder where there are lots of places for accommodation in tents and lodges.
- Taking a camel ride on the sand dunes is a famous tourist attraction.
- There are other places to sightsee around such as the Diskit monastery and hot water springs in a place called Panamik.
- Nubra valley is close to the famous Siachen glacier and its amazing to hear Siachen stories from army men who you tend to encounter everywhere.
- Its not necessary to stay at Turtuk, you can do a day trip and back from Hunder.
Pangong Tso:
We arrived in Leh late afternoon and rested while preparing ourselves for the final leg of our journey the infamous Pangong Lake on the India China border the next day.
I was very fortunate that our driver allowed me and my cousin to sit on the top of our car, while he drove towards the lake.
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| Me on top of the car going towards Pangong.:) |
Nothing and absolutely nothing in this world can beat the feeling and I thank god for those moments when I took in the beauty of this fabulous road towards Pangong Tso.
It was as it is an awe-inspiring experience to drive through this scenic roads complete with quirky sign boards put up by BRO , wild horses ,himalayan marmots and pashmina sheeps grazing lazily and then we saw which took our breath away even further. It was the first look of Pangong Tso.
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| Wild Horses on the way. |
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| :) |
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| Quirky Yet entertaining Road signs. |
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| Pangong the first look |
I have nothing to say about Pangong-Tso as words fail me, but I can just say this, no camera. no picture can do justice to this beautiful place , you have to see it with your own eyes to believe it exists. I am just going to post pictures for you to take in this beauty.
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| Pangong Tso |
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| Sunrise at Pangong |
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| Milky way in the night at Pangong. How I miss these sights in the city. |
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| One for the records |
We stayed overnight at a tent and left for Leh the next morning. It was hard for me not to turn back and see as much as I could and all I could just make a mental note in an attempt to reassure myself that I shall be back to get Leh'd again.
Quick Tips:
- Stay overnight at pangong lake , its absolutely worth it. Many hotels in Leh provide tent accomodation.
- Carry an oxygen cylinder as you have to pass the Chang-la pass which is at 17000 ft to get to Pangong.
I hope you enjoyed this virtual journey as much as I loved writing it.
Note: Photographs are copyrighted. Please do not use without permission,
