That Heady Feeling

One minute you are flying over fluffy white clouds. The next, there are stark, jagged mountain ranges right beneath you. Heady stuff. So muc...

One minute you are flying over fluffy white clouds. The next, there are stark, jagged mountain ranges right beneath you. Heady stuff.

So much so that landing at Leh, I wasn8217;t sure if the feeling was due to the high altitude or just the result of that extraordinary flight.

We tourists were greeted with a katak, a delicate white scarf, the Ladakhi equivalent of the garland, while jule, the one word for every form of greeting and farewell, floated in the thin air.

A quaint town with a broad main street running through, Leh is dominated by the old palace up on the hill. The dusty brown sixteenth century palace, built in the medieval Tibetan architecture style, is a striking sight, more so due to the region8217;s dark blue skies.

Leh is a great to just sit and contemplate, but there also exist places definitely worth seeing. We, my guide and I, first visited the Shanti Stupa, or Peace Pagoda, built by Japanese Buddhists and inaugurated in 1983 by the Dalai Lama. Accessed either by car, or 500 winding steps, it is particularly beautiful at dusk from where breathtaking sunsets can be viewed.

nbsp;	LEH OF THE LAND

		nbsp;	8226; Most of Ladakh is over 3,000 metres, high-altitude territory 8226; Take ample rest on reaching 8226; Avoid smoking and all kinds of alcoholic beverages 8226; Apply lots of suntan lotion and UV protection 8226; Carry ample moisturising lotions or cold cream 8226; Keep a steady pace while trekking or even walking, no matter how fit you are 8226; Drink lots of fluids	nbsp;

Easier to access is the Sankar Gompa, the official residence of Ladakh8217;s head of the Gelug-Pa yellow hat sect. Of interest in the monastery are the multi-coloured murals in the high-ceilinged hall, while the roof terrace offers fine views of the hills and valley.

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The Stok Palace, the royal residence of the present king and his family, which includes the 8216;queen mother8217;, is located 16 km north from Leh, across the Indus. It is a lovely old building, converted partially into a museum displaying over a hundred thankas scroll paintings and other objets d8217;art.

Three hours and 140 km from Leh, on the Srinagar highway, lies the Ridzong monastery. Built high on a hilltop, it is now accessible by a road still under construction8212;quite a climb for the uninitiated! And nearby is one of Ladakh8217;s very few nunneries.

Closer to our overnight destination of Uleytokpo is Alchi and the Chos-Khor or religious enclave8212;a cluster of five small temples. Easily accessible and situated in serene surroundings, the wall paintings and wood sculptures within have been miraculously preserved for centuries. The pleasant Uleytokpo tent resort, situated in a valley overlooking the mighty Indus, makes for an ideal overnight stop.

The next day we drove to Lamayuru and visited the gompa monastery by the same name. The one-way road to the gompa winds up 8216;jalebi8217; mountain and then down through the 8216;moonland8217; named, I was told, by the army as the hill formations resemble craters of the moon. The dramatic landscape, which did make me feel as if I were on another planet, has now also become popular with Bollywood film-makers.

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On the drive back to Leh, on a road thankfully less winding, we halted at a dhaba at Khalsi, one and a half hours from Lamayuru, for a delicious vegetarian meal. And in the small market parallel to the main road, we bought fresh apricots sold in half kilo packets for Rs 10 each! This is apricot country and apart from the fresh fruit, the dried variety is available in plenty.

Try to include a visit to a village on your itinerary8212;it is amazing how suddenly in the midst of this mountainous desert, exist lush green villages where poplar trees abound and fields of barley and wheat, irrigated with water channelled from mountain streams, sway in the breeze.

I visited my friend8217;s home in Saboo, a small hamlet 8 km north-west of Leh with houses built in the typical Ladakhi style, each with their little garden and field and, of course, their own mountain stream!

A glass of chang, the local 8216;brew8217; of fermented barley, was followed by a traditional lunch. The vegetables were straight from the garden8212;and even the simple potato tasted better.