Nubra Valley, Alchi and Lamayuru Monastery

  Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir, India
Sunday, September 16, 2007

I met a fellow Canadian and together we went to the Nubra Valley.  At first we were supposed to go to a beautiful lake.  That morning we got in the jeep with 2 other travellers who were supposed to be German, but turned out to be Indians.  After about 30 min of driving, we got to a checkpoint and saw everyone turning back.  The bridge to the lake had collapsed and of course no one in town knew about it!  At least, we didn't drive all the way to the bridge to find out!

We already had a special permit so we decided to use it to go to the Nubra Valley.

Camels

You need a permit to visit the area because the Chinese and Pakistani borders are nearby and there are many army posts in the region.  The drive there was beautiful again and we had fun reading the road signs: After whisky, driving risky - If you are married, divorce speed, etc......  We stayed in a nice place and wondered around looking for wild camels.  We looked everywhere and couldn't find them.  Suddenly we saw 2 ......... followed by a guide and foreigners!  They have fur and look very different from the camels I have seen before.  

Beautiful old lady

The next day we went to visit a monastery and were really lucky.  There was a celebration for a monk who had just come back from the city with a degree!  Men and women were wearing their nice clothes and sitting separately in the temple.  I especially loved the women's hats.  We climbed up to admire the view and watch the workers building a huge Buddha.

Then we saw the preparation for a big lunch downstairs.  So we stuck around and got invited.  The women and young monks were served last.  I was told to line up with the men, and didn't want to, but they forced me.  Later a man lined up with the women and was taken ahead of them!

Monks lining up for lunch

Yummy lunch, but we paid for it the next day..........  Plus we missed the bus and taxi and had to stay there one more night.  



Then I went to Alchi to visit the monastery famous for its paintings dating from the 1st century.  The village around Alchi was very simple and interesting to visit.  The next day I took the bus to Lamayuru Monastery. 

Lamayuru Monastery

A picture of this "Gompa" is the reason why I came to Ladakh!  Wow!  It is as spectacular as I thought.  It is very big and perched high up on a cliff.  On one side there is a scenery named after the Moon. 

Dry landscape

It is really dry and looks wonderful.  I saw some young monks studying and a puja inside 2 of the small rooms.  Some old ladies were walking around with their prayer wheel and the students coming back from school were twisting and hanging on the big one.  I stayed in a guesthouse at the bottom and caught a bus early the next morning to head to Kashmir.