flying to 3524 metres (11,562 ft) - Leh in Ladak {part one}

In the evening on the 5th of August, we flew to Delhi where we spent a few hours sleeping in a not so cool & comfortable hotel which was close to the airport. On the way there, our driver thought it best to drive up the wrong side of the dual carriageway for the best part of a kilometre. It was gone 11pm by this time and the roads weren't that busy. One port pedestrian got the fright of his life when our driver hit the horn to tell him he was in the way - I kid you not! Despite having asked for a room with a double bed and a single bed for Charlotte {no need for two rooms when you are only putting your head on a pillow for 3 or 4 hours} AND a non-smoking room, we were given a room with one double bed and it stank of smoke! Not such a good start really! We waited whist they sorted out the room that was meant for us which didn't take particularly long, never the less, it did delay the time we got to put our heads on our pillows!

don't mind if we do! we were offered a lift and we weren't about to say no thanks :)

We were up really early in the morning for our flight to Leh, the 'capital' of Ladakh. Our flight was due to leave at 06H25 {that means getting to the airport at 05H00} but got delayed around an hour so we landed around 08H45 at 3524 meters above sea level. What a flight it was too! Flying over the foot hills of The Himalayas was pretty special! Sorry the photos aren't clear but that's what happens when you take pics through an aeroplane window!

From the up in the air

flying over the foothills of the Himalayas 

snow-capped peaks

gorgeous green valleys were seen as we approached Leh

the Namgyal Tsemo monastery can be seen on a hill top above Leh Palace {the palace can be seen just off the bottom left corner at the foot of the hill the monastery is on}

barley and wheat are grown in the area; fruit is also grown in some parts

this photo doesn't show just how close we were to the mountains when coming into land!

A little bit about Leh…..Leh was the capital of the Himalayan kingdom of Ladakh, today it is known as the Leh district in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. The town is dominated by the ruined Leh Palace, the former mansion of the royal family of Ladakh, built in the same style and about the same time as the Potala Palace-the chief residence of the Dalai Lama until the 14th Dalai Lama fled to Dharamsala, India, during the 1959 Tibetan uprising.

Since the 8th century people belonging to different religions, particularly Buddhism and Islam, have been living in harmony in Leh. They co-inhabited the region from the time of early period of Namgyal dynasty and there are no records of any conflict between them.

However, in recent times, relations between the Buddhist and Muslim communities soured due to the petty conflicts motivated by political interest. With the visit of the Dalai Lama in August 2003 and his strong appeal to the masses regarding religious pluralism and peaceful coexistence, the situation has improved and normalcy has been restored. As a result, Ladakh resumed its age-old tradition of cohesiveness. Besides these two communities there are other people living in the region of different religions such as Christianity, Hinduism, and Sikhism who also live in harmony forming a vital part of the society.

After landing, we had to wait on the tarmac next to the plane for a bus to take us all of 500/600 metres to the terminal {which you can just see under the nose of the plane}; walking to the terminal is not permitted for those who've just landed! Altitude sickness is taken seriously and it's not fun {as I was to find out!}. So all tourists arriving in Leh are asked to relax and take it really easy so you can acclimatise on the first day! After going through something similar to Immigration at the airport {a couple of forms needed filling out and passports checked - security is very tight} we were met by our driver Shabir {who turned out to be the most excellent driver & you need to be really good at driving on the roads we were going to travel on!} who took us to our hotel.

waiting on the tarmac for our little bus

on the bus

We spent most of the day at the hotel in the sunshine playing cards and as the hours crept by, I got an awful headache & I started to feel quite ill. Andrew and Charlotte had headaches but not as bad as mine. The three of us felt the effects of a lot less oxygen when walking up stairs….heavy legs and short of breath. Around mid afternoon I need to lie down as I was not well at all. I tried to sleep but had to keep getting up and the toilet became all to familiar to me :( As the afternoon started to draw to a close, Andrew and Charlotte took a gentle walk to the Shanti Stupa up on a hill not too far from the hotel, {a stupa is a dome-shaped building erected as a Buddhist shrine - we were to see many of these on our road trip around Ladak over the next 6 days} I stayed behind in bed; I was barely capable of walking more than 5 meters.

Charlotte saying hi through the window of her room at our hotel

a pretty entrance to the hotel

We woke up early {I probably woke Andrew up} as I'd been sleeping since eight or nine the night before, feeling a lot more like myself but not quite right! Andrew and I took a gentle stroll up to the Shanti Stupa which offers gorgeous views over Leh. After breakfast, we met up with our guide Chemeth and driver Shabir.

walking up towards the Shanti Stupa early in the morning {yes, before 7am}

Shanti Stupa 

view from the stupa

view from the stupa {you can just make out the landing strip in the middle of the photo before the 'green belt' and just behind the hill on the right}

a home with-in the stupa complex

water is sold here!

a little house with-in the stupa complex; love the ladder!

a prayer wheel on the way up/down to the stupa

shaggy dog

the ladies and gents facilities just outside the main entrance to the stupa

We spent the day visiting 3 monasteries in the area. The first was Hemis Monastery which was established in 1672 and it's 47 Km from Leh on the west bank of the Indus river. The monastery belongs to the Dugpa Kargyutpa order. It's built on a green hillside surrounded by spectacular mountain scenery and hidden in a gorge. It is the biggest and richest monastery in Ladakh. We went onto the museum which is full of wonderful relics {priceless relics} from years gone by; sadly, due to security reasons photography was not permitted {and rightly so I may add}

the entrance to the monastery {no photo of the monastery from the road}

prayer beads

the lower/ground floor of the monastery 

colourful paint work

a number of Buddhas in another room within the Monastery {they all had names, none of which I can  remember!}

looking up at the first floor

pretty paint work

one of the monks reciting scripture

a buddha 

the details; painted carved woodwork

one of the many murals in very good condition

a small sit-out area up on the first floor

in the kitchen : meals are cooked in this massive pot

this prayer wheel is hundreds of years old; prayer wheels should only be spun clock-wise

We then went onto see Thikse Monastery. I chose not to go into the monastery & I stayed at the bottom of the very many stairs as I wasn't quite 100% yet. Thiksey Monastery is the largest monastery in central Ladakh and situated at the top of a hill. It's 18 km from Leh in the Indus valley. The monastery is famous for its architecture and its location. The 12 storey monastery has 10 temples, assembly hall, and residence for 120 monks and nunnery. The monastery buildings are structured in a hierarchal order.

Thikse Monastery

Thikse

Thikse

looking up from where I sat whist Andrew, Charlotte and Chemeth explored the monastery {Shebair always stayed with the 4x4}

despite the lack of visible water, we came across quite a lot of flowers

another prayer wheel {next to where I waited}

it was SO hot, I felt really sorry for this little girl dressed in her winter jacket! 

I'm sorry if this offends anyone; I really like how the mother is embracing her child after feeding

in the hour or so I sat waiting, about 10 labourers walked past me up the many stairs in the heat with a large rock on their back!

the view from the monastery 

The third monastery we visited was the Shey Monastery and the Shey Palace complex. They are structures located on a hillock in Shey, 15 kilometres south of Leh. The palace, mostly in ruins now, was built first in 1655 near Shey village by the king of Ladakh, Deldan Namgyal. The Shey Monastery was also built in 1655 on the instructions of Deldan Namgyal, in the memory of his late father within the palace complex. The monastery is noted for its giant copper with gilded gold statue of a seated Shakyamuni Buddha. Shakyamuni Buddha is so named since Buddha was the sage (muni) of the Sakya people who resided in the Himalayan foothills and their capital was Kapilvastu. It is said to be the second largest such statue in Ladakh. I didn't take too many photos here!

info about the palace {see Sakyamuni Buddha below}

stupas below the monastery

there are colourful prayer flags everywhere!

 Sakyamuni Buddha  

One monastery maybe two is more than enough to visit unless you are really interested in seeing how many Buddhas are inside the monasteries or your religion is Buddhism. Don't get me wrong, they are interesting but visiting a couple will do.

Leh was a hot and dusty town. The rains appeared to have long gone and winter was a little way off yet. We got back to the town in the late afternoon and took a wonder up the hill to the market area which is in the centre of town.

a barefoot boy selling balloons 

dried fruit was main product on sale in this market along a dusty street

guessing it's hard work selling!

the main 'drag' in town; lots of work to be done still; it looked like they were starting to pave the street

and along this street, the main drag, fresh fruit and veg are sold

I love looking up as you just don't know what you may see!

I don't know why these ladies were dressed in what appeared to winter clothing as it was pretty hot in the late afternoon still and really quite warm even after the sun went down! Having said that, I think they stayed where they were well into the night and maybe it gets quite cool around 9 or 10pm when one is sitting on a concrete slab!

this gentleman was chatting to a couple of tourists when I snapped his photo

fruit; looked like apricots to me

heading back down the hill to our hotel past the 'tourist' shops

Seen on/from the streets during the day

we saw these ice-cream carts throughout the day all over Leh

prayers carved into large stones {plenty of them all over Leh}

the road works or cleaning up after the rains appeared to be done by ladies and some of them weren't that young anymore; it's a hard life!

a butcher

she was happy to have her photo taken; guess it was a break from collecting herbs/flowers/veggies from  the land {see  2 photos down}

a little girl entertains herself whilst her mother tends to the land

ladies gathering produce from the land

having a chat on the mobile/cel

faded prayer flags

a view from just below Thikse

we left Thikse Monastery only to discover we couldn't go very far; a car had wedged one of it's tyres between rocks in this river. The driver needed to stay in the car but the two passagers were not getting out! So, our guide Chemeth, driver Shabir, Andrew and Charlotte got out the car, rolled up their trousers and rocked/pushed the car free whilst I saved in our car taking photos! {I didn't have the energy after yesterday's not so exciting adventures in the bathroom!}

ladies clearing up mud from a flood

pretty clouds reflecting the evening sunlight

This is a very long blog post; there were so many photos to choose from and this is just the start of our Ladakh road trip! Ladakh is breath-takingly beautiful as you will see from the next few posts; the views are pretty spectacular! If you ever find yourself in India, get yourself up north, way up north; it will be so worth it!! I'd go back again should the opportunity arise! Thanks for reading all the way to 'here'.

Till the next time……….