Retirement gives a person an extremely vantage position to view life. You can look back leisurely and examine all that one has done without any rancor. Then I realized, I had hordes of stories to tell, analyze various incidents, make up a few and so on. I have written on many aspects of life – grand children, marriage, art of drinking, cooking, bull fights and the list is endless. My childhood days in Bengaluru figures prominently. Apart from life and people, I have also written extensively about our travel to various places in India and abroad. Blog also includes a few articles about my life as a naval officer. Incidentally the blog is read by viewers from 83 different countries.
Our first visit of the day was to Hemis Monastery. It existed before the 11th century and is the largest monastic institution in Ladakh. Hemis has more than 200 branch monasteries in the Himalayas and more than 1,000 monks under its care. It is an important living monument and heritage of Himalayas and its people.
As you begin the climb
A local – Her face resembling the contours of the Himalayas
View of the rooms
Hemis prayer wheel
A section of the monastery
Inside the court yard
At the Hemis
A complete view
A section of the monastery
Part of the museum
Maitreya Buddha – a two storey high statue
Statue of Buddha
Floral painting
Part of the museum
The next on the list was Thiksey Monastery. It is noted for its resemblance to the Potola Palace in Lhasa,Tibet and is the largest Gompa in central Ladakh. The monastery is located at an altitude of 3,600 metres (11,800 ft) in the Indus valley. It is a 12-storey complex and houses many items of Buddhist art such as stupas, statues, thangkas, wall paintings and swords. Here we met a doctor monk and bought some Ladhaki medicines
A view of Thiskey
With the Doctor monk
A distant view
The Stok Palace Museum is located about 14 kilometers away from Leh across the Choglamsar bridge. This was constructed in 1825 by King Tsespal Tondup Namgyal who was the last ruler of independent Ladakh. The current royal family lives in Stok Palace. The museum at this place has a huge collection of ornaments related to royal family, traditional clothing and a huge collection of thankas
Interiors of the palace
Rooms in the palace
The Shanti Stupa was built by both Japanese Buddhists and Ladakh Buddhists. The Shanti Stupa features the photograph of the current Dalai Lama with the relics of the Buddha at its base. The stupa is built as a two-level structure. 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
The imposing dome of the Shanti Stupa
View of Leh from the Stupa
Inside the Stupa – wheel of Dharma
Birth of Buddha
Image of Buddha
Defeating the devils
Lovely view of the roof
Shey is a town in ladhak that has the old summer palace. It is located 15 km. from Leh towards Hemis. The palace was built more than 555 years ago by Lhachen Palgyigon, the king of Ladakh. The palace has the largest golden Buddha statue in Ladakh.
Shey palace in the back drop of Beas
Shey palace
Shey palace brings out the best in Ladakhi architecture
A distant view
Another view
Last look at the Himalayas – another 10 days the entire range will be white
Yaks on the way to the mess. In all we saw Ibex,red fox,black – billed Magpie,Himalayan Marmot,mouse hare
Mirror like Beas channeled for irrigation
The sun is about to set
Never ending fascination with Ladakh
Some of the last impressions of Leh
Way back to the mess
After a tiring day, we returned to 603 EME Battalion Mess and bid good bye to Driver of Xylo Nazeer and our Sahayak Sepoy Vipin Kumar.
With Nazeer our Xylo driver
With Sepoy Vipin Kumar
The notice sums up the eternal bond between the Indian Army and Ladakh
Chits sums up the happy feeling at the end of the trip
An extremely contended look
There ended our very fascinating trip to Leh, Ladhak. We returned to Bangalore on 06th Oct fully satisfied and happy we undertook this journey.
Captain MV Prabhakar is an alumnus of National Defence Academy. He was commissioned in the Indian Navy on 01 Jan 1970. He is a graduate of the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington and completed his post graduation at the Collage of Naval Warfare, Mumbai. He participated in the 1971 Indo Pak war and IPKF operations in Sri Lanka in 1989.After retirement from the navy he worked in MACMET Technologies Limited, Bangalore/CAE India developing simulators for the Indian Defence Forces. He is married to Jayanti who is an educationalist. They have a son and daughter and four grandchildren. Pubs is a keen golfer and loves cooking. He also spends time looking after the garden.He is a avid traveler and blogger.
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7 thoughts on “We Visited Leh – Part IV – Last day in Leh”
Your blog is good for those who are planning to visit ladakh for the first time. Ladakh is a good place to visit.I had been there through http://www.tourismladakh.com and had enjoyed a lot on my trip.
Wow! This could be one of the most useful blogs we have ever come across on thesubject. Actually excellent info! I’m also an expert in this topic so I can understand your effort. leh ladakh trip
Captain's Corner 
Your blog is good for those who are planning to visit ladakh for the first time. Ladakh is a good place to visit.I had been there through http://www.tourismladakh.com and had enjoyed a lot on my trip.
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Dear Harjeet Kaur,Thanks for ur comments.Hope u will continue to read my blog
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Yes sure sir….waiting for more interesting blogs….Are you from Defence background?
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Dear Harjeet Kaur,Yes,I retired from the Indian Navy.
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Ok sir…
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Wow! This could be one of the most useful blogs we have ever come across on thesubject. Actually excellent info! I’m also an expert in this topic so I can understand your effort. leh ladakh trip
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Thanks you enjoyed the blog.
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