TO LAMAYURU

TO LAMAYURU

TO LAMAYURU

This part of the shrinagar - leh highway passes through high and steep cliffs .....the road is winding and narrow....the cliffs are sheer and are made of different varieties of stone and sand ...at places the landscape is so bleak and barren that it gives the impression of on alien land...then suddenly you cross a ridge and lush green fields greet you...thats the magic of ladakh for you......this part of ladakh is also known as Moon Land because the sandstones and rocks shimmer at night.....

HIGH ALTITUDE TRAFFIC JAM

The culprits.....tourist vehicles, supply truks, army trucks, horses...all on the same road....ofcourse the horses have their way ......

TO LAMAYURU

TO LAMAYURU

After Alchi we set off towards lamayuru following the Leh - Shrinagar highway....the route is picturesque and follows the indus ....
this is also close to the sensitive regions of drass, batalik and kargil so there is a sizable army presence here ....we saw the base camp of a helicopter unit called KARGIL KONDORS....the mottos and symbols on the army camps were really inspiring....as our trek progressed later we could really imagine how tough high altitude warfare is ......at places where a normal person finds breathing strenuous these jawans fought in highly adverse circumstances and reclamied the territory taken over by our enemies against all odds and paid a very heavy price for itin terms of life and limb.....this is something that we must remember......JAI HIND...

ALCHI

Indus river at alchi......

ALCHI

Alchi is a big monastery consisting of many small temples......the interior of all the temples is dark and a torch is handy to see the intricate wall paintings and the ornate idols.....thats the reason i donot have any pics from inside the gompas....
Later in a leh bookshop i saw a beautiful coffee table picture book about alchi.....the price only rs.12500 ( us$300)....

ALCHI MONASTERY

The ancient monastery of alchi is located on the banks of indus......

CONFLUENCE OF INDUS & ZANSKAR

Panoramic view of confluence of indus and zanskar rivers near nimmo....note the difference in shades of the two streams even after the rivers join.....our route largely followed this river......

THE LIONS OF LADAKH

Those were sonias words.......

sonia & justin

shewang, charlotte, rachel, urs truly, samir,sanjay,salim.....

bala, pankaj , olov....

DAY 3 - LEH (11500 ft)- ALCHI - LAMAYURU - HINJU(12300 ft)

Today was the beginning of the real trek......
BREIFING( by pankaj) : we leave at 8.30 sharp.....drive to alchi monastery.....have packed lunch on the way......visit lamayuru monastery...then we drive to hinju and walk for about and hour to reach our camp....any querries??? no worries ya.....we will take care of everything......

SHEY

View from shey...the monastery overlooks a hugea plain and a lake .......

SHEY

Note the makeshift dish antenna made from the rim of and old bicycle tyre.....thats innovation for you.....

SHEY

SHEY PALACE AND MONASTERY

After thiksey we went to shey palace and monastery..this was nearer to leh and from here we had clear views of stok kangri...( i wish to climb that peak someday)...

THIKSEY

THIKSEY

THIKSEY