Ladakh

When one listens to Ladakh all they think is snow, mountains, scenary, landscapes etc. Well, it is right !!

My cousin Kartik and I planned my trip from Makemytrip. It was a trip starting from Delhi by flight. Yes we missed the road travel from Manali to Ladakh because the travelling time in Ladakh as per itinerary it was 6-7 hours per day travelling. So we skipped the road travel. If you are a big group don’t miss the road travel as you are visiting it so explore it to the fullest.

So we arrived on Ladakh airport First scene we saw was this ….

Clicked from mobile phone, yes it is edited a bit 🙂

There were announcements at the airport, that everyone needs to rest for 24 hours to get adapted to the weather. Since it is at a high altitude the air is thin, that means you get tired and start panting if you hurry up or even walk for continuous 15-20 minutes. Then went to hotel, one family of 4 from Delhi joined us for the trip. We went to our hotel Lharimo, 5 minutes away from the market place. We checked in, then went in our rooms and rested. Then went for lunch and again went for rest.

And after the whole afternoon resting we went to market. It was 10-15 minutes walk from the hotel. Below is just a random pic in the evening.

Market was full of different types of shawls, T-shirts with some writings on it. We can also customize the colour and writing on the T-shirts. Then there were varieties of keychains, idols, sizes of flags, buddhas, rings etc. in other place of market.

Mobile clicks 😀

Just glanced through everything because we had lot of time next few days to buy. We then searched the position of moon and stars in laptop app known as “Stellarium”. In this app we can change the place and see the exact position of moon and stars, sunrise, sunset etc. Then went on terrace to just try clicking moon and stars. We had seen lots of videos and read about night photography.

Above are camera clicks.

Then had dinner and rested. The hotel was nice and cozy. Even the food was delicious.

We leave early to visit monasteries. And the scenary around is soothing 🙂

First was Hemis monastery. The monastery was founded by the 1st incarnation of Stagsang Raspa Nawang Gyatso in 1630, which was invited to Ladakh by the king Singay Namgial and offered him a religious estate through out the region. A pleasant 3 Km walk, on the side of the mountain above the monastery there is a sacred hermitage founded by the great Gyalwa Kotsang where in the cave, his foot-print and hand – print on the rock is available for visit. The monastery has quite a few gold statues and stupas decorated with precious stones.

Then after sometime then went to thiksey monastery. Here are some pictures while going to the monastery.

Well many places you will see these flags. People have tied these flags to almost every place.

Had lunch at Chamba Restaurant which is near thiksey monastery. Had a local soup known as Thupka. Order a cheese Thupka to get the creaminess in the soup. It had noodles and some other ingredients and it was filling too.

We heard some sounds coming from up somewhere. Then we went to Thiksey monastery.

Means guardians of the 4 cardinal directions. Yulkhor sung, who is white in colour and resides in the East, plays a guitar because he rules over the realm that lives on melodious music. Phak-Skespo is blue in colour and resides in the south with a drawn sword that shows him as a defender of the faith. Chanme-Zang, red in colour, resides in the West, carrying a stupa in his right hand and holding a a snake in his left hand. Nathos-Ses, who is yellow in colour, resides in the North with a mongoose in his left hand which keeps pouring gems out of his mouth and has a victory banner in his right hand, causing showers of wealth to fall merely by shaking it.

It is said that the Kings generated their altruistic minds and performed religious services for the Buddhas, determining to reside in the four directions of Mount Meru for the sake of preserving and protecting the Buddhadharma by taking the form of heavenly protectors.

Then we saw some ritual prayers and some pooja going on.

This instrument was quite heavy and the sound was good.

Where we had lunch we heard this sound, so we saw the instruments and even saw it from close.

After visiting 2 monasteries we then headed to see Shanti Stupa. Shanti Stupa as know Buddhist white-domed stupa. It was built in 1991 by Japanese Buddhist Bhikshu Gyomyo Nakamura .The Shanti Stupa holds the relics of the Buddha at its base, enshrined by the 14th Dalai Lama himself. Shanti stupa has provides beautiful and panoramic view of the surrounding landscape. This has become a primary reason for Shanti Stupa to become a popular tourist attraction, apart from its religious significance.

The Shanti Stupa was built to promote world peace and prosperity and to commemorate 2500 years of Buddhism. It is considered a symbol of the ties between the people of Japan and Ladakh.