Last Day in Leh – 05 Oct 2011
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.
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As you begin the climb
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A local – Her face resembling the contours of the Himalayas |
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View of the rooms
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Hemis prayer wheel
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A section of the monastery
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Inside the court yard
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At the Hemis
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A complete view
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| A section of the monastery
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| Part of the museum |
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| Maitreya Buddha – a two storey high statue |
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| Statue of Buddha |
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| Floral painting |
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| Part of the museum |
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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
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A view of Thiskey
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With the Doctor monk
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| A distant view
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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
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| Interiors of the palace |
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| 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
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The imposing dome of the Shanti Stupa
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View of Leh from the Stupa
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Inside the Stupa – wheel of Dharma
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| Birth of Buddha |
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Image of Buddha
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| Defeating the devils |
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| 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.
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Shey palace in the back drop of Beas
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| Shey palace |
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| Shey palace brings out the best in Ladakhi architecture |
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| A distant view |
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Another view
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| Last look at the Himalayas – another 10 days the entire range will be white |
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| Yaks on the way to the mess. In all we saw Ibex,red fox,black – billed Magpie,Himalayan Marmot,mouse hare |
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Mirror like Beas channeled for irrigation
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| The sun is about to set |
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| Never ending fascination with Ladakh
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Some of the last impressions of Leh
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| Way back to the mess
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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.
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With Nazeer our Xylo driver
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| With Sepoy Vipin Kumar |
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| The notice sums up the eternal bond between the Indian Army and Ladakh |
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| Chits sums up the happy feeling at the end of the trip |
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An extremely contended look
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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's Corner 