India - Ladakh : Lamayuru Gompa on the Leh-Srinagar Highway

 

Amit Basu Photography / Getty Images

If you head out west from Leh on the Leh-Srinagar highway, you can see the ancient monasteries ("gompa" in Ladakhi language) of Lamayuru, Alchi, Rizong and Likir. The drive is beautiful and breathtaking at the same time. On a bright day, you can get glimpses of the Zanskar mountain range and Stok Kangri, a 20187 feet peak popular with mountain climbers visiting Ladakh. 

The road passes through high desert areas. The only places we saw green were areas along the river. The desert parts, even if not green, were really colorful in all shades of brown, with sprinkles of gray, yellow and red. The army, which maintains the roads at these altitudes, has a sense of humor, and you will see little mileposts with something funny or philosophical written on them. This one says in Hindi, "Live and let live."

The road circuits along the Indus river for a while. The colors of the hills around it are quite amazing.

We came across an interesting cable car that is used by villagers to cross the Indus river. The cable car works by human power. You will need to pull a rope yourself to travel across the river. R absolutely had to try it! So, he and our driver Tsiring went on a cable car journey across the river.

                                                                                                Amit Basu Photography / Getty Images

The Indus river meets the Zanskar river and continues through Kargil district as Indus. You can see where the colors of the two rivers meet. The place is known as 'Sangam'. There are facilities here for river rafting. Somewhere up the river ahead is the place made famous by 'Chador trek', a winter-time hike along the partially frozen river that is very popular.





After Khalsi, the road leaves the Indus river and starts to climb up a steep hillside. The road has a lot of sharp hair-pin bends.

  

Along the road were colorful sights. We stopped to admire them. This one is called 'Moonland'.





We eventually reached Lamayuru, the oldest and largest existing gompa in Ladakh. It sits on the top of a small hill amidst humongous mountain peaks all around. It was nice bright sunny day, with rather comfortable temperatures. I suspect it will be hard to drive from Lamayuru to Leh on the winding road down during snow or rain.

Inside the gompa was peaceful, dark and colorful at the same time. The place had an aura about it.

There were people praying inside. There was silence.

 

Outside, we were welcomed by older Ladakhis. Two older men were using prayer wheels. The two ladies had just completed their walk around the gompa. Apparently they were waiting for a bus to go someplace. They sat down to take a little break and provided a perfect photo opportunity for us.

After spending considerable time soaking in the sights and sounds of the Lamayuru monastery, we finally decided to leave. It was early afternoon, and we were on our way to Rizong monastery.

But first, one has to take the very winding mountain road down towards Leh.

Its quite a drive if you are only interested in sightseeing.