4th July ~ Leh – Tangtse
On the way we found these arches and there was no reason why we shouldn’t have stopped for a break. .. Nitin did some portrait shots of a girl sitting next to one of these arches.
Though the distance between Leh and Shey Palace is just 15km, with the kind of photography breaks we were taking, we reached Shey Palace only by around elevenish.
Located 15km to the south of Leh on the Leh-Manali highway is the Shey Palace, built first in 1655 by the king of Ladakh, Deldan Namgyal, also known as Lhachen Palgyigon. The 3 storey palace is perched on a hillock overlooking the beautiful Shey village.
It was used as a summer retreat by the kings of Ladakh.The Shey palace is situated at a strategic location overlooking the entire heartland of Ladakh. This importance of the location is attested by the numerous chortens that are scattered around the village, particularly near the barren plains north of the palace complex.
There are 2 statues of Sakyamuni in the palace complex. The first one located inside palace is made of gilded copper and is about 3 storeys tall. The other statue is in a temple outside the palace, nearby a group of white chortens. This seated statue of Sakyamuni is about 7.5m tall, made of copper and brass plated with gold and studded with gems and other precious stones.
These girls seemed amazed by the visitors at Shey.
We kept moving ahead and reached a fork that led to Phyang monastery.
Phyang, 17 Kms west of Leh on the blue hill, belongs to Dingung order and was founded in 15th century by Chosje Danma Kunja Dragpa in the time of King Jamjang Namgyal. Phyang monastery is also called Tashi Chosang.
It was a lovely place and definitely a setting worth trying a 360 degree pano. So opened up the tripod for the first time and shot my first 360 degree in Ladakh.
Another half an hour drive, and we started seeing green and yellow patches - as we passed by Chemrey Monastery.
The monastery has a notable high Padmasambhava statue. It also contains a valuable collection of scriptures, with title pages in silver and the text in gold letters. The monastery is also a venue for the festival of sacred dances which takes place on the 28th and 29th day of the 9th month of the Tibetan calendar every year.
We reached Chang La pass around 3.30 pm.
It was almost 4pm by the time we left from there. We were told that Pagal nala will be closed by the time we reached there and would have to spend night in Tangtse. Anyways, we thought nothing wrong in trying and kept moving.
We kept moving little further from this place and figured out that it was not possible to go further… It was almost 6.30 pm and the milestone showed Pangong was 20km away. We turned back and started back towards Tangtse.
Another half an hour and we were in Tangtse. We found out one particular guest house called Dothguling, run by a beautiful lady with amazing hospitality. After freshening up we had a lovely home cooked meal before retiring for the day dreaming about Pangong for the next day.
The dining room at Dothguling where we were served a lovely dinner - photo courtesy: Sejal.
Most people do a trip to Pangong Tso in a day. They leave from Leh early in the morning, visit the lake and come back by late evening. Our plan nevertheless was to spend a night at Pangong Tso. Still we were late to leave Leh only by 10am.
On a beautiful morning this lovely site became my first click of the day…
Though the distance between Leh and Shey Palace is just 15km, with the kind of photography breaks we were taking, we reached Shey Palace only by around elevenish.
Located 15km to the south of Leh on the Leh-Manali highway is the Shey Palace, built first in 1655 by the king of Ladakh, Deldan Namgyal, also known as Lhachen Palgyigon. The 3 storey palace is perched on a hillock overlooking the beautiful Shey village.
It was used as a summer retreat by the kings of Ladakh.The Shey palace is situated at a strategic location overlooking the entire heartland of Ladakh. This importance of the location is attested by the numerous chortens that are scattered around the village, particularly near the barren plains north of the palace complex.
There are 2 statues of Sakyamuni in the palace complex. The first one located inside palace is made of gilded copper and is about 3 storeys tall. The other statue is in a temple outside the palace, nearby a group of white chortens. This seated statue of Sakyamuni is about 7.5m tall, made of copper and brass plated with gold and studded with gems and other precious stones.
These girls seemed amazed by the visitors at Shey.
Also met an old couple- they were cycling in Ladakh. That may have inspired Rahul even more. He was accompanying us till Leh to check out the route as his ulterior motive was to cycle from Manali to Leh. He did leave back in a canon-ball from Leh to go back to Chandigarh to come back again on his bicycle.
There are almost 700 stupas close to the Shey Palace many of which date back to 11th century built during the times of the great Tibetan translator and saint scholar Rinchen Zangpo. Sentinels of the bygone era citadels in suns perched atop the hillock stand witness to Shey being the 1st capital of Ladakh.
We kept moving ahead and reached a fork that led to Phyang monastery.
Phyang, 17 Kms west of Leh on the blue hill, belongs to Dingung order and was founded in 15th century by Chosje Danma Kunja Dragpa in the time of King Jamjang Namgyal. Phyang monastery is also called Tashi Chosang.
Ever charming, ever new, when will the landscape tire the view?
It was a lovely place and definitely a setting worth trying a 360 degree pano. So opened up the tripod for the first time and shot my first 360 degree in Ladakh.
Chemrey Monastery is a 1664 Buddhist monastery. It belongs to the Drugpa monastic order and was founded by the Lama Tagsang Raschen and dedicated to King Sengge Namgyal.
The monastery has a notable high Padmasambhava statue. It also contains a valuable collection of scriptures, with title pages in silver and the text in gold letters. The monastery is also a venue for the festival of sacred dances which takes place on the 28th and 29th day of the 9th month of the Tibetan calendar every year.
My imagination is a monastery and I am its monk. - John Keats
We kept on moving… started gaining some altitude on the zig-zag roads.
After driving around an hour from Chemrey monastery we reached this place and the view was just amazing. This place was around 10-15 mins before the Chang La pass when going up from Shakti. Decided to have a chai break. Took out the stove and prepared some fresh chai. We sat there enjoying the view with chai and some garnola bars. :) Also did some video and photo sessions with Sejal before moving on. We saw bikers on the road - a group of eight. It is said – “A good companion shortens the longest road”… I had three! :)
We reached Chang La pass around 3.30 pm.
It was cold and I could see snow wherever I set my eyes… We had maggi in the army canteen and spent some time chatting up with faujis. Gave our respect to Chang La Baba’s temple and left.
It was almost 4pm by the time we left from there. We were told that Pagal nala will be closed by the time we reached there and would have to spend night in Tangtse. Anyways, we thought nothing wrong in trying and kept moving.
We kept moving little further from this place and figured out that it was not possible to go further… It was almost 6.30 pm and the milestone showed Pangong was 20km away. We turned back and started back towards Tangtse.
Another half an hour and we were in Tangtse. We found out one particular guest house called Dothguling, run by a beautiful lady with amazing hospitality. After freshening up we had a lovely home cooked meal before retiring for the day dreaming about Pangong for the next day.
The dining room at Dothguling where we were served a lovely dinner - photo courtesy: Sejal.
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