CULTURE & MONASTERY TOUR OF LEH & LADAKH

Best Period : May to September As you drive into Leh and after the odyssey of a long drive, comes a fairy-tale ending. A fort, a palace and a monastery stand out against the sky, amidst an avenue of poplars. This is Leh. The journey has just begun. As the Buddhists say:`When you are ready, the teacher will appear Ladakh is the northern most province of the state, with a bleak terrain of barren mountains. Hilltop monasteries and a colourful way of life, completely at one with the surroundings, make Ladakh one of the best living traditions of Tibetan Buddhism in the world today. Ladakh is the abode of rare Kiang & highland Yak. Leh its capital city lies at the Tri junction of the historic silkroute from Sinkiang to West Asia and to the plains of India.

Day 1 EUROPE - DELHI   Upon arrival, meet and transfer to the hotel Qutub   Day 2 DELHI TO LEH   Early morning transfer to the airport to board the flight to Leh (0640 hrs / 0755hrs) Upon arrival transfer to the hotel. Rest of the day at leisure. Overnight Hotel Spick n Span or similar (Comfortable guest house)   Day 3 LEH   Day at leisure to acclimatize with the height & just sleep & drink water. Overnight Hotel Spick n Span or similar (Comfortable guest house)   Day 4 LEH   After breakfast proceed with sightseeing of the town and the Leh Palace. Though ruined and austere for ages, Leh Palace still makes an unforgettable backdrop to the Mud City with its flat roofs bristling with brushwood used in the winters for a fire. At a height of 3,505 meters the climate is cold and very dry. Despite their hard life the people are cheerful and friendly and their religion is colorful and omnipresent. Lamas are held in high regard and the Dalai Lama is their specific God incarnate. The true flavor of the old religion of Tibet can now only be found in Ladakh. Ladakhi architecture is simple and elegant. The kitchen enjoys the pride of place in the home and the polished stove will always be surrounded by gleaming copper and brass vessels combining beauty with utility. Thirty-five km above Leh (but closed to visitors) is the Khardung La Pass, the highest motor road in India (above 5,500 meters). Of the many gompas in the vicinity of the town, the Leh Monastery perched above the palace gives a splendid view. Nine km from Leh on the road to Hemis is Choglamsar where Buddhist novice monks are trained. Another six km on is the old Shey Gompa on top of a huge rock and part of a former palace. Shey is famous for its oracle who goes into a trance and predicts events. The monastery has the largest Golden Buddha in Ladakh. However, next door (five km), in the fort-like gompa of Thikse where you can see a truly resplendent and large modern Buddha statue proving that the Lamas have not lost their touch. Hemis, probably the best known of all the Indus Valley gompas, lies only 25 km from Thikse, but on the southern bank of the river. The large rambling building is located partly concealed in a gorge. Its Annual Religious Festival is famous for the mask dances where the monks go through an elaborate ritual to depict Tantric teaching. The Palace Museum is excellent and worth a visit. Trekking around Leh is rewarding because the snow line is very high. Trekking in the wilderness requires stamina and resourcefulness but you will be rewarded with a sublime mountain scenery and some very blessed glimpses of rare wild species like the ibex, the wolf and the legendary snow leopard. Overnight Hotel Spick n Span or similar (Comfortable guest house)   First day we cross Rohtang Pass (3978 m), Keylong (3350 m), Baralacha Pass (4890m) with overnight stopover at Sarchu (4253 m), border of the states of Himachal Pradesh (Lahaul) and Jammu & Kashmir (Ladakh). In Sarchu, we stay overnight in tented campsite.   Day 5 LEH   After breakfast proceed with sightseeing to Hemis, Shey, Thiksey and Statkna monastery. HEMIS GOMPA : This is the biggest gompa of Ladakh. It was built by Chapgon Gyalshas. It is situated 44 kms from Leh on the Leh-Manali road at some distance from the road. For a visit to this place one has to travel 8 kms via Karu, after crossing the river Indus. Hemis Gompa is not visible from the road. There are several temples here, which contain stupas and precious images made of gold. The art pieces glitter with precious stones. There is a valuable store of thankas in this gompa including the biggest in Ladakh. It is displayed once in eleven years and the next display will be in 1992.The lamas of Hemis were associated with royal families and were thus quite prosperous. However, they were soon to be in a pitiable plight for Zorawar Singh had reached the Hemis Gompa after plundering and destroying the other gompas on his route. The manager of the Hemis Gompa skilfully saved his monastery by surrendering before Zorawar Singh could do any damage. The manager, however, had to provide for the needs of the plundering army. In 1956, the chief lama of the gompa disappeared never to be seen again. His absence led to the deterioration of the condition of the Hemis Gompa. A twelve year old lama was enthroned in 1976. The lamas of Ladakh respect other religions also. In this gompa important posts like that of the motbir (manager) were given to Kadir Sheikh and Akhon Abdul Hussain who were Muslims. The kitchen of this gompa is unique. There is a huge vessel of copper whose diameter is 12 m, capable of cooking rice or thuppa for 500 people at a time. Buddhist visitors donate money to the kitchen. There is is a courtyard in front of the gompa which is 60 m long and 18 m wide. In this courtyard four long poles are stuck in the ground at equaldistances and four different banners fly atop these poles. A big worn-out thanka is hung in front of the temple, on which the picture of Chapgon Gyalshas, the founder of the Hemis Gompa, is painted. Three-fourths of the area of the court yard is left for religious dances. The rest of the place is normally full of spectators on such occasions. SHEY GOMPA : The oldest palace of Ladakh is located at Shey. whichis situated at a distance of 16 km on the Leh-Manali road. King Lhachen Smal Gigun built this palace. The Shey Gompa is situated on a hillock, and there is a 7.5 mtr high Buddha image in this temple. King Deldan Namgyal, son of King Singhye Namgyal, built this temple in A.D. 1655 in memory of his father. The statue of the Buddha is made of copper, platted with gold, and is the biggest metal statue of its kind in Ladakh. A lamp with butter burns in front of the statue throughout the year. A Nepalese sculpture named Sanga Zargar Wanduk was commissioned to make this statue. Three Ladakhi craftsmen- Paldana Shering Gyaso, Gamani Jal Shring & Nakbiri-assisted him. The castings of the statue were made in Leh at a place called Zanstin Palace. Zans means copper & til means to hammer. Actually the copper for this statue was hammered into plates on a big rock. For this, copper was collected from Lingshet & other villages of the Zanskar area. More than 5 kg of gold were used for platting. This huge statue was built in Zanstil Palace in parts & then transported the Shey temple, where they were assembled and installed. SHEY PALACE : This striking palace of the kings of Ladakh is practically in ruins now. Sitting on the top of an escarpment, it is really imposing and like any place of eminence commands a breath-taking view of the river Indus. It was built in the early 16th century by the then King of Ladakh, Singhe Namgyal, as a summer palace. On the western side of the hill there was a lake from which Shey derives its name (Shey means a mirror in the local language). It was customary for the queen to give birth there. The royal chapel in the palace has a massive statue of the sitting Sakya Muni Buddha - the biggest of its kind in Ladakh. This comes under the management of the Hemis Monastery. A festival called "Shey Stroopla" is generally held every September. THIKSEY : Situated on a splendid hill-top perch, overlooking the green valley of the Indus, in the 12-storeyed Thiksey monastry which is more than 800 years old. Within the Monastry are 10 temples, sixty lamps and a few nuns or the Chomos , whose heads like the lama are shaved. The chambres of this institution are treasure troves of gold and silver statues of Buddha, ancient swords, thankas and the Tantrik wall paintings. There is also a huge brass pillar which was brought from Tibet, engraved with Buddha's sayings. A fair is held here in the twelvth month of the lunar year. STAKNA : This monastery sits like a crown atop a huge rock hill that appears suddenly amidst lush green fields on the left bank of the Indus, a little upstream of Thiksey. It presents a very fine profile from the Leh Upshi road. Built like most monasteries of the 17th century, the Stakna ( tiger's nose) belongs to the Drugpa Kargyud-pa order as does the neighbouring Hemis Gompa,and at one time it enjoyed a greater status than Hemis. The credit for its establishment goes there Sengge Namgyal, and Stag-tsang-ras-pa though it was sengge's half brother Nawang, a celebrate, who was responsible for its resurrection. From the courtyard a flight of steps leads up to the dukhang, which has a beautiful silver chorten with semiprecious stones. The ghonkhas has paintings of fiery patron deities, the Dorjee Padmo being the principle deity among them. Overnight Hotel Spick n Span or similar (Comfortable guest house)   Day 6 LEH   After brealkfast proceed with sightseeing to Spituk, Pheyang and Sabu Gompa. SPITUK : This monastry is built on a lone rocky hill on the right bank of Indus, eight km away from the town of Leh towards Srinagar. It is one of the most influntial monastries of the 'Yello Hat' the Ge-lugs-pa order has as its subsidary, the Shankar Gompa. Built in the 15th century on the ruins of a 11th century gompa, the Spituk gompa has as its abbot the Kushak Bakula( Kushak is an incarnate head lama of a monastry who has attained highest form of training of Buddhism).The dhukhang has a veranda with the usual frescos of the Wheel of Life and other Buddhist symbols. The kangyur and Tangyur lie stacked on one side, while wall paintings adorn the walls. Statues of the Avalokiteswara and Yamantaka stand on either side of te seat of Dalai Lama and Kushak Bakula. On the altar can be seen standing the statues of the fifth Dalai Lama and the 18th Kushak Bakula, along with those of Sakyamuni and another Buddha. There are some interesting rooms which contain some very old and rare statues and other articles, but unfortunately now these are closed as some things were stolen. PHYANG GOMPA : This monastery is situated about 17 km away from Leh on the Leh-Kargil road. One has to leave the highway and go 5 km north to reach it. It is visible from far away and looks like a huge palace on the top of a mountain. The local people call it `Gang On Gompa'. In Ladakhi, `gang' means the peak & `on' means blue. A glacial river flows through this valley. The village of Chhiwang is situated on both banks of this river & it has a population of 1500-1600 people. The red cap sect of the Buddhists live here. There are three temples here, which are full of riches. Hundreds of icons of the Buddha and other gods are kept on wooden shelves. The chief lama of this gompa is Lama Tobdang. He has studied Buddhist philosophy at Digung Nima Changa University near Lhasa for 8 years. He claims that he retains memory of his previous lives. He renovated the gompa in 1975. The temple of Mahakal is situated infront of the main temple. It is full of articles of tantrik worship, strange looking images, antiques & arms. There is even a shield made of cane. The pillars of the temples are covered with the hides of tigers. The premier (Kalon in Ladakhi dailect) Of King Jamyang Namgyal, named Harish Chandra presented these hides to Mahakal in 1595. Overnight Hotel Spick n Span or similar (Comfortable guest house)   Day 7 LEH After breakfast proceed with sightseeing to Alchi and Likir Monastry. ALCHI GOMPA : About a 1000 years back, this gompa was built by Rinchen Zangpo. It is about 70 kms away from Leh. The village of Saspol is situated on the right side of the Indus river and across this, on the left bank of the river, is Alchi. Between Saspol & Alchi there is no bridge. A bridge has been built about 2-3 kms down the river which is negotiable by vehicles. The main temple of Alchi is comparitively small. The central pavillion is 3 m long, 3 m wide & 6 m high. Several clay images have been placed on three walls. On one of its walls thousands of mini-pictures of the Buddha have been painted. Wooden statues have been placed at the gate. On the right side stands the statue of Avalokiteshwar, which has a thousand arms. The head of an ibex with four horns, instead of the usual two hangs here. The ibex was shot by a soldier & presented to the gompa. The Alchi temple has three images as high as three floors of the building & they stand in a very narrow space. They are made of clay & painted with different colours. There are thousands of mini-pictures of the Buddha on the walls of the third temple.In .A.D. 985, the king of Ladakh brought 32 painters from Kashmir to paint these wall-paintings. During the reign of Langtarma, the Buddhist religion was banned in this region. Lotsav Rinchen Zangpo, the head priest of the then king established Buddhism again in the region. He arranged from Kashmiri expertize to be used in building 108 Buddhist temples & decorating them during the reign of King Yeshe. Out of these, three gompas were later turned into universities of Buddhist learning. The biggest of them was Nirma Chhoskor, which has become extinct. It was situated near Thikse, about 14 kms away from Leh. This age old gompa is in bad shape now. The walls have been disfigured by rain water seeping through cracks in the roof and many wall paintings have been spoilt. The gompa has no resources to maintain itself. LIKIR GOMPA : King Lachhen Gyalpo built this gompa in the 11th century. From Leh, on the way to Saspol there is aroad diverting to the right. About 5 km from the crossing of this road lies Likir. It has 120 lamas. The temple has many Buddha images of clay in different postures. The wall-paintings of Likir are about a 1000 years old. Likir is famous for its earthen pots, which are in great demand. These pots are sturdy, plain and beautiful. The pot makers of Likir have been making their wares for hundreds of years. Overnight Hotel Spick n Span or similar (Comfortable guest house) Day 8 LEH : Sightseeing to Chemere, Traktghok   CHEMERE : The Chemere village and Gompa are perched on a high rock. It is supposed to be built in the 17th Century by Stag-tsan-ras-pa under the royal patronage of Sengge Namgyal. This monastary belongs to Drugpa - Kargyub - pa "Red Hat" order and house over a hundred monks. There is steep path leading from the village to the monastary. It has little images of Buddha and other in carnations of the sect. TRAKTHOGK : This monastary above the Sakti Village near a cave. It is said that Padmasambhava stopped here to meditate, while on his way to Tibet. It belongs to the oldest order of Buddhism, the Nying-ma-pa. In the lhakhang there are the image of Padmasabhavana and Avalokitshewra, but the wall paintings are covered with black soot and are hardly discernible. The dukhang on the other hand is a recent addition. Overnight Snowview.   Day 9 LEH - SARCHU (256 KMS)   The motor road from Leh to Manali traverses across incredible Himalayan terrain of 485 kms. taking us over high mountain passes, from the top of these passes you gaze out over wave after wave of mountain ranges backed by a deep blue sky. As you take in this strange, desolate and often meloncholic landscape, the savage beauty of the country grips one. Deep narrow valleys and high plateaus are seen in hues of red, yellow, ochre and rust. Rocks sculpted into weird shapes appear like illusions as you traverse the roof of the world. After an early breakfast depart for Sarchu, leaving behind the mysterious land of Gompas. The road moves along the tributary of the Indus to the village Upshi (49 kms). The villages appear tiny oasis. After 60 kms we cross the highest point of the road i.e., the Tanglang La (17520 ft). A small temple and a few Buddhist prayer flags flutter in the breeze. View the serpentine road leading into Rupshu Valley of Ladakh. We cross into the grassy plains of the Kyungshu and reach Pang. After a brief rest drive on to Sarchu 72 kms from here. Just before arriving Sarchu we reach the second pass on the road, the Lachlung La (16715 ft) and reach Sarchu - the scenery becomes more engrossing as the hills assume bizarre shapes & forms and splash colors of different hues. We camp here for the night. Overnight Camp.   Day 10 SARCHU - MANALI, (229 KMS)   WE start our drive after early breakfast driving through the Lhoul valley. The land is desolate and barren and the only greenery is around the villages. Here you can see the prayer flags fluttering from flat mud baked roofs. You are again in Buddhist country. During the course of the drive we will be crossing the Baralach-la pass (4778 mt) and the 3849m Rohtang pass. Once across the Rohtang pass the landscape trandscends into magnificient alpine country. Manali is at the bottom of this pas and is apple country. It was once the trading center for the Tibetan convoys that came to barter their pearls, torquoise and wool. Overnight Banon Resorts. (3 star resort)   Day 11 IN MANALI Free to visit the places Day 12 MANALI - NALAGARH ( 180 Km ) Drive through the beautiful hills of Himachal, gradually loosing height we reach Nalagarh at foothills of the Shivaliks. Nalagarh is a 14th century palace which has been converted in a beautiful relaxing hotel. Overnight Nalagarh Fort Day 13 NALAGARH - DELHI Drive to Chandigarh to board the Shatabdi express train to Delhi (1220hrs / 1530hrs). Reach Delhi at 1530 hrs. Upon arrival transfer to the hotel Imperial. Overnight Day 14 DELHI-AGRA-DELHI Early morning departure to the railway station to board the Express train to Agra leaving at 0600hrs. On arrival at 0830 hrs meet and drive to Fatehpur Sikri the one time Mughal capital of Hindoostan. Lunch at hotel, after which visit the Red Fort and the Tomb of Itmadullah. Evening the Taj by Sunset. Return for boarding the train (2020hrs / 2230hrs).Meet and transfer to hotel Day 15 DELHI OUT Early morning transfer to the airport to board the flight to Europe. THE PRICE IS (USD Per Person) Min 02 Pax USD 1850/-   03 - 06 Pax USD 1650/-   07 - 09 Pax USD 1450/-   10 + 1 Free USD 1250/-   Single Supplement : USD 400/-   Airfare USD 230/- net per person. (Delhi / Leh / Delhi)   The Price Includes the following : Transport Delhi to Delhi for the tour by non-air-conditioned car / coach. All accommodation as per the itinerary All meals during the tour. Hot Breakfast & Dinner served, but lunch is usually packed. All Camping arrangements like sleeping tents, mattresses. English speaking local guide. Sightseeing as per the itinerary. Government Service tax. Does Not Include the following : Any expense of personal nature such as telephones, laundry etc. Any type of drinks or mineral water. Sleeping bags.( can be arranged on prior request ) Air Tickets, Visa Fees, Insurance, Risk cover, etc. Toilet tents (only provided on advance notice) otherwise its nature’s way when camping. • Sanskriti Tours Pvt. Ltd. reserves right to alter, cancel or divert the trek, at its own discretion. The same if done is for the benefit of clients traveling. AS the weather & mountain conditions have to accessed for the safety pupose. We shall not be liable for any claims coming due to last minute cancellation or diversion of the trek / tour. • Sanskriti Tours Pvt. Ltd will accept no responsibility for loss or additional expenses due to delay or changes in air & transportation schedules or other services, sickness, weather, strikes, war quarantine or other causes. All such losses or expenses must be borne by the passengers/company themselves.