Leh

Leh is breathtaking. Towering over the city is the tall nine storeyed palace built by Ladakh’s ruler Sengge Namgyal in the early 17th century. It is said to have served as the model for the Potala palace in Lhasa. Another palace in Lhasa. Another palace built by King Tashi Namgyal in the 16th century stands above it on the Namgyal Tsemo peak. Down below, the town is a maze of little box like buildings bristling with brushwood stored on the roof for winter, set in an oasis of green fields.

Within the town of Leh itself there is plenty to see and do. An easy walk away through the interesting coppersmith’s quarter, past the Moravian Church, the Ladakh Ecological Centre and across the fields, is the Sankar Gompa. Another interesting walk to the Ladakh Shanti Stupa goes through the picturesque village of Changspa. In the colourful bazaar are fascinating little shops with everything from semi precious stones - Lapiz, Coral, Turquoise and Pearls to fine curios and artefacts. It is a marvellous shopping experience. Skara another pretty village and the ramparts of the old Earthern Fort of Zorawar Singh makes another little expedition. Eating out is fun at open air garden and sidewalk restaurants that offer Tibetan, Indian and even Continental cuisine

Not far from Leh, Shey is the oldest capital of Ladakh from where its earliest Tibetan kings ruled. Perched on top of a huge rock are the royal palace and temples adorned with brilliantly coloured murals and a 7.5 metre gold statue of the Buddha. Basgo and Tingmosgang with their forts and palaces were also capitals of Ladakh. Stok Palace across the river from Leh is the home of the erstwhile royal family. The Palace Museum here has collections of beautiful royal costumes and jewellery, exquisite Thangkas, porcelain, jade, weapons and armour.

Within easy reach of Leh is the Spituk Monastery with its commanding view of he indus. It has fine Thangkas and a collection of ancient masks. Thikse Monastery one of the most impressive in the area is spectacularly located and is noted for its beautiful murals. Hemis is of course the biggest gompa in Ladakh and the best known for its magnificent summer festival that celebrates the birth anniversary of Guru Padmasambhava. The largest thangka in Ladakh is to be found here. It is unfolded only once every 12 years.

Other magnificent gompas located in the vicinity include the splendid Lamayuru, Likir, Phyang, Rizdong, Stakna, Matho and Chemrey Gompas, all easily accessible from Leh. Alchi no longer an active religious centre, is among Ladakh’s most beautiful monasteries. Over a thousand years old, its wall paintings like those of Tabo in Spiti are reminiscent of the Ajanta style of painting.

Around Leh in the upper Indus valley is the cultural heartland of Ladakh, where the old capitals of the area are located and where many of the splendid palaces and Gompas are also to be found.

The people of Ladakh are predominantly Buddhist and practise ‘Mahayana’ Buddhism tempered with the old Bon animistic faith and Tantric Hinduism. It was brought Buddhism to Tibet and Ladakh during his travels in the 7th century AD. In the 11th century the Buddhist scholar Rinchen Tsangpo established 108 monasteries in the region. The Gompas at Lamayuru and Alchi are said to date from that time.

The living Buddhist heritage is manifest in the villages where ‘Mani’ walls are engraved with the mantra ‘ Om Mani Padme Hum’ and stones are piled into commemorative mounds known as ‘Chorten’. The Gompas precariously perched on steep hillsides or rock faces seem an integral part of the rugged landscape.

In Western Ladakh, in Drass, Kargil and the Suru valley where the Muslim Shia faith prevails there are mosques and imposing Imambaras in the Islamic style, surmounted with domes.

Kargil
The second largest town in Ladakh marks the mid point of the journey from Srinagar to Leh. Kargil is also the take off point for excursions into the Suru valley and the remote Zanskar Valley with their exciting opportunities for mountaineering, camping, river rafting and trekking trails into Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and the Indus valley.

Kargil was once at the cross roads of a network of trade routes that led to kashmir, Baltistan, Afghanistan, Central Asia and Tibet and an air of romance still lingers around its narrow cobbled streets and bazaars spilling over with locally crafted curios. The town retains its conservative Balti Shia Muslim culture and has two fine mosques built in the Turkish style.

Nestling in the Suru valley, Kargil is set amidst green, richly cultivated hill sides. The two tributaries of the river suru the Drass and Wakha meet there. There are pretty walks around the town breathtaking views of the mountains. A day long excursion into the Suru valley goes past the picturesque Imambara of Trespone.

Suru Valley
The Suru Valley one of the prettiest areas of Ladakh, runs for 140-km beyond Kargil to the Penzi La pass, the point of entry into the Zanskar valley. Its verdant hills are intensively cultivated. Enough snow and water during the year sustain two crops annually. The valleys are especially picturesque in spring when they are the Sankoo-Panikhar tract is magnificent. The open valley adorned with undulating alpine meadows strewn with wild flowers, groves of poplars and willows are set against the majestic backdrop of the Himalayan peaks dusted with snow.

At Thangbu, a little village, the traveller gets a first glimpse of the spectacular Nun - Kun massif. Panikhar 12-km beyond this is the base for treks to Kashmir and Kishtwar. The road goes past the glaciers of the Nun - Kun massif to descend to Rangdum set in wild and beautiful surroundings. It is located at the furthest end of the suru valley before the Penzi La pass. Set high on a central hillock the Rangdum gompa with a little stream forming a moat around it, looks like an ancient fort protecting the valley.