Day 6 – Leh

The next morning was pretty chilled out and I took some sometime check out the property that I was staying in. The hotel has a lovely terrace on the first floor that gives you views of glaciers far off, true to its name. The hotel itself has an old world construction, with a spacious lobby and even a souvenir shop. Met up with some of my group members and we decided to hit the Leh market in the day. A few of us set off towards the main Leh market, which was just a 10-minute walk from our hotel. The market was already buzzing with activity, with locals and tourists strolling down the fantastically laid pathways. There are loads of shopping options here, and if you want to grab a bite, there’s no dearth of restaurants and cafés either, and they all serve multiple cuisines. After roaming around for an hour, including shopping, we settled down at Leh Café for a lunch of home made momos and pizza. We returned to the hotel by 3.00 pm, and took a breather before we set off again to visit the Thiksey Monastery.

The Thiksey Monastery is located outside Leh, at an altitude of 11,800 ft. There are a total of 80 steps that lead up to the monastery and while these will leave you gasping for breath by the time you reach the top, the view and the feeling of calm that you get once you are up there is worth it. A highlight of this monastery is a 49 ft high statue of the Maitreya Buddha. It took four years to build and was erected to commemorate the visit of the 14th Dalai Lama to the monastery in 1970.

We retuned to the hotel a little before sunset and the rest of the evening  was all about letting your hair down and partying over food, drinks and a bonfire. The next day we would be driving to Nubra Valley via the Khardung La, claimed to be the highest motorable pass in the world.

Contd…