Our first views in Leh...

 

The Hall of fame... 

 

The temple in Leh Palace 

 

The Leh town as seen from the Palace windows

 

The shanti stupa... 

On the day of our arrival, we rested for a few hours and then left in the evening to visit three of the local places in Leh city - the Leh Palace, the shanti stupa and the Hall of fame.

The Hall of fame is a museum dedicated to the armed forces and their efforts in Leh / Ladhakh over the years. It depicted the battles fought in the recent past and the territory in question. It also showed interesting glimpses of the history of Ladhakh and its people.

The Leh Palace is an unusual palace to say the least. Unlike all other palaces that I have seen, this one showed no signs of riches - no gold, no grand scheme, no jewels or art work. It was plain for the most part but was impressively located at a high ground in the city such that the whole of Leh could be viewed from its higher reaches. It had a temple in it which was lit by nothing but natural light and some of the photos above try to capture that theme.

The Shanti stupa is a Japanese style monastery in Leh built relatively recently. It has an interesting architecture and the paintings and scupltures on the walls have a story of their own to tell.

By the time we visited these three places, the lack of oxygen was beginning to affect us. Climbing a few steps at he Leh Palace was becoming a difficult task. Though we were not the fittest of specimens, never have I labored with breathing while climbing just a few steps. At the end of the day, the lack of sleep, the lack of oxygen and the sheer fatigue, meant that we only wanted to be taken back to our guest house for a good night's rest.

On our way... the first views of Ladhakh...

We boarded our flights from Delhi at 5 am and reached Leh at around 6 am (May 30th to June 8th 2011). These were some of our first views of this magnificent terrain. Despite the early morning grogginess and the sleep deprived dullness numbing our minds, these images will be imprinted in my mind for a long time to come. Landing in Leh was like landing on the clouds because at 10,000 feet, it almost seemed that you could reach out and wrap the clouds around a stick like candy floss..... :) The sunrise was gorgeous and left us gaping out of the window for a long time.

Footloose in Ladhakh...

Dreams are what you live for - against all odds. They give you something to look forward to even as the going gets tough. And I have always been a dreamer. While most of my dreams are too big to come true in a few days, there was this one. I have long cherished a desire to visit Leh in India and it was something that could be done with a few days and some sturdy finances.... ;) 

And when I finally reached a stage where I could afford to spend both and one of the first things I wanted to do was to visit this place. It is of course thanks to my brother and my friend, A, that this trip actually happened.

Leh is the capitol of the himalayan region of Ladhakh and I have wanted to visit it for at least a good 5 years now. And despite the tourists, the terrain, the fitness levels required, the costs and the planning needed, it was a place I absolutely loved and a trip, I hope to remember for long. There are very few places where I have loved the people as much as the landscape, where I have really, deeply considered coming back, just to be with the locals. Leh is that place for me. The place and its people have captured my heart. I loved their simplicity and honesty. I loved how truly helpful and straight-forward they were, far from the corrupting influence of the cities. I loved how life was uncomplicated when people just spoke their mind clearly and honestly without any fear or malice. 

Leh and the region of Ladhakh is a beautiful place - and I need a lot more time and a lot many more words to paint a real picture of the place. And that is the plan ! I plan to start another space (Yes ! yet another addition) for my travels and escapades but that is still a work in progress. But meanwhile, I do have some vignettes of Ladhakh to build up the tempo. 

Hope you enjoy these snaps as much as i did clicking them...