11th July 2008 ~ Lamayuru – Kargil – Drass - Sonmarg
I woke up in the morning with sunrays entering into my room. It was looking lovely out there.
I could see the moonland formations from my room window.
I could even see the monastery from my room and couldn’t resist taking a photo of it as well.
It was 5.30 am. We got ready and decided to visit the monastery.
Went outside the guesthouse and I could see mountains on the opposite side soaking in the lovely morning sun.
I could see a village below waiting for the sun rays to reach it.
Nitin was enjoying the morning view
We decided to go to the monastery.
Lamayuru Monastery
Courtyard with wall paintings.
Sunrays knocking on the entrance.
Pooja dhoop was swaying on morning rays, filling the whole place with a beautiful fragrance.
“(en)Light(ment) comes on its own, we just need to keep the windows OPEN.”
It was bright red all around
This monk was watching me clicking around. I am sure it wouldn’t be a new sight for him, but he kept looking constantly.
After spending a good half hour, we decided to move out to the courtyard.
There was a group of women who came in for early morning prayers. I got talking with them.
We came out. Lovely morning light!
After spending almost 2 hrs near the monastery it was breakfast time.
We decided to have breakfast at the guest house and then leave. It was almost nine by the time we left.
Looking at this scene I remembered - Miles to go before I sleep
We passed by Fotu La around 10. It was a nice sunny morning.
I could see layers and layers of mountains.
After a short break we kept driving, near Heniskot we saw lot of people passing by us dressed up.
We asked and came to know that they had a gathering nearby and some sort of celebration was happening.
Everyone was going there. And we were invited to come and enjoy. How could we miss such an opportunity?
Saw these three ladies ready for celebration.
This mother was also going there. I got fascinated by the way she was carrying her child. Each region has its own streak.
It is said – “A beautiful lady is an accident of nature. A beautiful old lady is a work of art.”
Young and old everyone was going..
I enjoyed clicking them as they passed by. I even met a ladakhi bride. All dressed up shy and coy.
I fell in love with her jewellery. I am a big fan of silver. And the butterfly in the neck she was wearing was just amazing.
Finally following the crowd, we reached the venue. People were pouring in from all directions.
A dance performance was about to begin. They were waiting for their turn.
Some tea and biscuit before dance.
An announcement before the performance started.
Finally music started.
And guys formed half circle and started moving.
They took small steps and swayed so slowly I almost kept waiting all the time for their next step. :)
After a while the ladies joined them.
I was really amazed by the head gear these ladies were wearing with turquois stones.
I took a close up of each, lovely dressing it was
Ladies had two kind of head gear, few with those turquois stones and few had a kind of a hat.
It was almost 12.30 by the time we left from there. It was a one of its kind experience.
It was almost 3 by the time we reached Kargil. There were strong winds and it looked like dust storm.
It looked like late evening even though it was still afternoon.
We kept moving further, a river giving us company.
Sky cleared up as we kept moving further
Weather was lovely, we kept moving.
There was a lovely evening light, had not realized what time it was thanks to the cloudy weather. It was almost six.
We were trying to move ahead with quick photo breaks as light was going down and we still had to cross Zoji La.
Long stretch of road leading into mountains.
When we passed by these shepherds it was almost 7pm.
In no time it started drizzling, and what we feared happened. I was just prying that it shouldn’t rain till we cross Zoji La.
Due to rain and fog visibility dropped drastically, which in turned slowed down our speed further.
We passed by Zoji La around 8. We could see lights of Sonmarg between passing fog.
It took more than half an hour to reach Sonmarg. Long day it was, had dinner and hit the bed directly.
I woke up in the morning with sunrays entering into my room. It was looking lovely out there.
I could see the moonland formations from my room window.
I could even see the monastery from my room and couldn’t resist taking a photo of it as well.
It was 5.30 am. We got ready and decided to visit the monastery.
Went outside the guesthouse and I could see mountains on the opposite side soaking in the lovely morning sun.
I could see a village below waiting for the sun rays to reach it.
“Between the ideas
And the reality
Between the motion
And the act
Falls the Shadow”
And the reality
Between the motion
And the act
Falls the Shadow”
Nitin was enjoying the morning view
We decided to go to the monastery.
Lamayuru Monastery
Courtyard with wall paintings.
Sunrays knocking on the entrance.
It was bright red all around
This monk was watching me clicking around. I am sure it wouldn’t be a new sight for him, but he kept looking constantly.
After spending a good half hour, we decided to move out to the courtyard.
There was a group of women who came in for early morning prayers. I got talking with them.
We came out. Lovely morning light!
After spending almost 2 hrs near the monastery it was breakfast time.
We decided to have breakfast at the guest house and then leave. It was almost nine by the time we left.
Looking at this scene I remembered - Miles to go before I sleep
We passed by Fotu La around 10. It was a nice sunny morning.
I could see layers and layers of mountains.
After a short break we kept driving, near Heniskot we saw lot of people passing by us dressed up.
We asked and came to know that they had a gathering nearby and some sort of celebration was happening.
Everyone was going there. And we were invited to come and enjoy. How could we miss such an opportunity?
Saw these three ladies ready for celebration.
This mother was also going there. I got fascinated by the way she was carrying her child. Each region has its own streak.
It is said – “A beautiful lady is an accident of nature. A beautiful old lady is a work of art.”
Young and old everyone was going..
I enjoyed clicking them as they passed by. I even met a ladakhi bride. All dressed up shy and coy.
I fell in love with her jewellery. I am a big fan of silver. And the butterfly in the neck she was wearing was just amazing.
Finally following the crowd, we reached the venue. People were pouring in from all directions.
A dance performance was about to begin. They were waiting for their turn.
Some tea and biscuit before dance.
An announcement before the performance started.
Finally music started.
And guys formed half circle and started moving.
They took small steps and swayed so slowly I almost kept waiting all the time for their next step. :)
After a while the ladies joined them.
I was really amazed by the head gear these ladies were wearing with turquois stones.
I took a close up of each, lovely dressing it was
Ladies had two kind of head gear, few with those turquois stones and few had a kind of a hat.
It was almost 12.30 by the time we left from there. It was a one of its kind experience.
It was almost 3 by the time we reached Kargil. There were strong winds and it looked like dust storm.
It looked like late evening even though it was still afternoon.
We kept moving further, a river giving us company.
Sky cleared up as we kept moving further
Weather was lovely, we kept moving.
There was a lovely evening light, had not realized what time it was thanks to the cloudy weather. It was almost six.
We were trying to move ahead with quick photo breaks as light was going down and we still had to cross Zoji La.
Long stretch of road leading into mountains.
When we passed by these shepherds it was almost 7pm.
In no time it started drizzling, and what we feared happened. I was just prying that it shouldn’t rain till we cross Zoji La.
Due to rain and fog visibility dropped drastically, which in turned slowed down our speed further.
We passed by Zoji La around 8. We could see lights of Sonmarg between passing fog.
It took more than half an hour to reach Sonmarg. Long day it was, had dinner and hit the bed directly.
No comments:
Post a Comment