Day 1:
“Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find out that going to the mountains is going home; that wildness is a necessity”
― John Muir, Our National Parks

If necessity is the mother of all inventions, then this seven day expedition into the land of passes is an unabridged indispensability. After sailing through 624 kilometeres of flight distance, me and mom reached Leh to be greeted by the rocky mountains surrounded by misty clouds at an elevation of 3,500 meters. Waking up to the reverberating tunes of ambient and secular Tibetan folk music booming in our car stereo made us heedful of the rustic simplicity and peace alive, miles away from the hustle and bustle of our hometowns. The first day was an acclimatisation period where our Tour manager advised us to drink lots of water and not exercise much in order to expend our energy for the remaining 6 days without any hassle.

Day 2:

“We are now in the mountains and they are in us, kindling enthusiasm, making every nerve quiver, filling every pore and cell of us.”
― John Muir, My First Summer in the Sierra.
We dived into our day long excursion as the clock struck 9:30. Our local drivers were waiting for us outside the Hotel foyer along with the Guide. As we fiddled with our winter clothes with the unpredictable rains swishing and sploshing past our headgears and skin-tight vestments, the high-desert city of Leh received us with obliging bywords from Project Himank about road safety and the good-humored “Jhulley” which means “Hello”in the Ladakhi dialect.

The Sindhu Ghat: The Sindhu Ghat ,situated 10 kms ahead of the Indus River offers a redeeming beauty nestled among barren mountains, rocky terrains and lush green vegetation moistened by wet sand. The Indus River which originates near Mansarovar lake in Mt. Kailash flows through the perspicuous contours of Leh before reaching Pakistan. It is one of the seven sacred rivers adorned for it’s cultural identity and communal affinity. We missed the three day long festival celebrated annually i.e. the Sindhu Darshan festival which marks the ritualistic religious affair suffused with the authentic Ladakhi flavour in addition to paying homage to the brave souls who have sacrificed their lives in Kargil,Siachen and other wars till date .

The Shey Palace: The Shey Palace,now reconstructed into the Shey Monastery or Gompa sits atop a hillock in Shey which was the summer capital of Ladakh. This palace , built in the 16th century by the king of Ladakh,Deldan Namgyal,in the memory of his late father,Singay Namgyal. This monastery houses the gilded golden statue of Shakyamuni Buddha,the second largest in Ladakh. The palace has been abandoned after the Dogras from Jammu invaded Ladakh in the 18th century and it’s current residence shifted to Stok village on the opposite site of the Indus River valley. I was heaving through the cobbled stone steps and could sense the reduced forty percent oxygen in the atmosphere, slowing me down to an extant climb with sitting intervals but nothing beats the picturesque affinity that clings to this place

Thiksay Gompa : Thiksa Gompa is affiliated with the newest schools of Tibetan Buddhism,the Gelug pa. This monastery , bearing resemblance to the Potala Palace in Lhasa has an engaging story which runs the contours of the touted hill it formidably hangs in.
Jangsem Sherab Zangpo, a 15th century Tibetan Buddhist monk was one of the disciples of Je Tsongkhapa,the founder of the Gelug school. Gelug is the newest school of Tibetan Buddhism. Zangpo along with his disciple,Palden Sherab were offering the prayer services with a ritualistic cake until a crow happened to grab it away and throw it on top of the hillock. The hillock was bestowed upon a holy sign with unerring auspiciousness. Hence, Thiksey or to be set in perfect order aligned the events following the name of the Monastery.

Shanti Stupa: At a height of 3,609 metres, Shanti Stupa was built as a part of the Peace Pagoda mission to fortify relations between Japan and Ladakh. It’s forebearer, Bhikshu Gyomyo Nakamura belonged to a group called “Japanese for World Peace” who offered supervision and voluntary labour throughout with the sanctimonious intention to commemorate 2500 years of Buddhism
You wouldn’t want to miss this place as the panoramic scenes of the Indus Valley and the green stretch sprawling for a few metres resplendent in the scathing rays of the Sun kissing the dry mountains gives a frame of reference about the landscape scale and depth. I missed out on the Sunrise and Sunset vistas but you shouldn’t as when you are on the ledge,that’s the best spectacle to marvel at and dwell upon

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