Sights from ladakh/india

Pangong Lake

Saravana@kettik.com (Saravana Kumar) — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 15:55:04 +0000

Situated at an altitude of around 4200m, Pangong Tso ('Tso' being Tibetian for lake), is the largest and most visited of all of Ladkah's high altitude lakes. The lake is around 130km long.. so long that over two-thirds of the lake is across the international border in China. The lake is brackish and it is one of the largest and most beautiful brackish lakes in the country.

Shey Palace

Saravana@kettik.com (Saravana Kumar) — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 14:02:50 +0000

Located 15km to the south of Leh on the Leh-Manali highway is the Shey Palace. The 3 storey palace is perched on a hillock overlooking the beautiful Shey village. 'Shey' loosely translated into Ladakhi means mirror (or maybe reflection) and it is the reflection of the palace on the still waters of the lake below which gave origins to its name.

Shey used to be the capital and the home for Ladakh's royal family up until the Dogra conquests forced the royal family to be stripped of their power and move to Stok. The Shey palace is situated at a strategic location overlooking the entire heartland of Ladakh. This importance of the location is attested by the numerous chortens that are scattered around the village, particularly near the barren plains north of the palace complex.

There are 2 statues of Sakyamuni in the palace complex. The first one located inside palace is made of gilded copper and is about 3 storeys tall. The other statue is in a temple outside the palace, nearby a group of white chortens. This seated statue of Sakyamuni is about 7.5m tall, made of copper and brass plated with gold and studded with gems and other precious stones.

Tsomori Lake

Saravana@kettik.com (Saravana Kumar) — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 18:25:15 +0000

Situated at an altitude of over 4500m in the Changthang Plateau, TsoMoriri is one of the most beautiful lakes in Ladakh. Ringed on all sides by high mountains, TsoMoriri lake sits in a perfect bowl like depression. On the western shores of the lake lie the Korzok village. Inhabited by the Changpa nomads, their main source of income is by rearing the pashmina goats around the grassy shores of the lake. Owing to the high tourist traffic, Korzok village is the most developed of the villages in the area (Sumdo, Tsokar etc).

Tangtse village

Saravana@kettik.com (Saravana Kumar) — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 17:07:29 +0000

For most people Tangtse is no more than a passing signboard on their way to Pangong. But you owe yourself a couple hours stopover to explore this beautiful village.

Tsokar Lake

Saravana@kettik.com (Saravana Kumar) — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 16:12:17 +0000

The TsoKar ('White Lake') is one of the three high altitude salt water lakes in Ladakh. It is located at an altitude of 4660m/15280ft in the Changthang region of South Eastern Ladakh. The reason why it is called the 'White Lake' ('Kar' - White, 'Tso' - Lake) is obvious when one visits the lake and sees all the white salt deposits all over the lake shores. In fact in the years gone by, the Changpa nomads living in this region used to barter the salt for goods like rice and vegetables all over Ladakh and Western Tibet.

There are actually 2 lakes here (see map), Startsapuk Tso is a smaller fresh water lake which drains into the Tsokar lake. And the whole region surrounding the Tso kar is a wetland and is home to numerous migratory birds and also to the resident herds of Kiang (Tibetan wild ass).

This region is a nature and wildlife lover's paradise and one can spend many number of days here exploring the lake and its surroundings. One can find accommodation & provisions at the Thukje village located on the north bank of the lake.

Hemis Monastery

Saravana@kettik.com (Saravana Kumar) — Sat, 16 Apr 2011 09:52:34 +0000

Nestled deep in a narrow valley, the Hemis monastery is the largest and the most important monastic institution in Ladakh. Hemis has more than 200 branch monasteries around the Himalayas and over 1000 monks under its care. It is an important living monument to the heritage of the Himalayas and its people.

The monastery belongs to the Drukpa lineage or the Dragon Order of Mahayana Buddhism. The main driving force behind the creation of this Monastery was a sage called Taktsang Repa (Staktsang Raspa in Ladakhi), popularly known as "Taktsand Sambunath". He setup the monastery in the 1630s under the aegis of King Sengge Namgyal. Taktsang Repa is responsible for popularizing the Drukpa order of Tibetan Buddhism in Ladakh. He and his successive reincarnations became the spiritual gurus of Ladakhi Kings and their people.