Shopping at Leh

Indian tourists visiting any destination in India or abroad, will more often than not return with at least a few bulging shopping  bags.  One is not surprised to see them buying some ‘Made in India’ tee-shirts from supermarkets in USA or UK.  So, buying Tee-shirts at Leh town which has actually been stitched in some small scale unit in Gujarat is no great deal! But, what makes one buy a few of them is, every such shop has a tailor who stitches a plethora of designs, in front or back of tee-shirt. The designs which are popular are, map of Leh – Ladakh with indication of high altitude destinations; or it could be the good luck charm geometric pattern; or any design you may fancy.  On average each tee-shirt costs Rs. 200/-. If one is lucky three of them may cost mere Rs. 500/-.

Tee-shirts

Leh being situated at an altitude of 11,500/-, it is cold round the year, except the late summer months of July/August/September.  Hence it is no surprise that, there are many shops selling clothing to combat different degrees of cold climate. The stuff is mostly imported from China, Korea and other Asian counties. A jacket capable of combating 5 to 10 degrees Celsius with thick woolen linings may sell for Rs. 1200/- to Rs 1800/-, depending on quality and county of origin. A pair of gloves for combating -22 degree Celsius will set you back by Rs. 150/-. But the quality is suspect.  Most of the shops selling woolen clothing do not offer bargain; hence it is better to scour a few more shops before selecting; Leh is such a small place, if one is willing to walk for two hours, he may have seen it all. 

Food items like honey, dry fruits etc. can be purchased at Dzomsa a chain of shops; three of them scattered at different locations in Leh. Following photo shows the inside of Dzomsa on Fort Road displaying food items and books. 

Dzomsa Shop

More adventurous ones can buy dry fruits like Akhrots, apricot seeds, raisins, spread and sold on road side, somewhere between main market and Jama Masjid. 

A typical ‘gifts and presents’  shop in Leh, is well stocked with Thangkas ( painted scrolls, which can be used as wall hangings ), the miniature black and white Yaks, for decorating a table, replicas of Tibetan prayer wheels, Buddhist paintings and many other items.

Curio Shop

Plethora of Thangkas or painted scrolls dispalayed, are in great demand.

Thangkas

Buddhist prayer wheels where prayers are inscribed could be pricey but a nice souvenir to take home.

Prayer Wheels

Near Jama Masjid one finds a books and CD shop, where, books on Tibetan and Ladakhi literature, one can thumb through. The music CD’s have some lilting tunes created on meditation and the beautiful mountain high altitude scenario. 

Turquoise coloured Ladakhi gem stone is very popular item for those who want to buy some jewellery. Pendants, necklace, ear-rings made up of gem stones, encased in silver, is very popular. Jama Masjid area by-lanes have many shops to attract this class of clientele. Jewellery being priced on higher side of the budget, it is better to be accompanied by a local Ladakhi guide, whom you may have engaged for your travel safaris. If loaded with good tips, they will more often than not see that you get a good bargain; unless you are an expert in this stuff and want to venture on your own. We found our driver for jeep safaris, making every effort to get us a good bargain in all our shopping expeditions.  

Ladakhi stone jewelry

Apart from Leh town, Thiksey museum offers a lot of Ladakhi artifacts, CD’s with lilting tunes befitting the Trans-Himalayan mystic.  

As in Indian psyche Bhajan and Bhojan go together, so is shopping and hogging! We somehow, most of the time ended up at Lamayuru Restaurant for our vegetarian food ( eggs included ) and for Non-Veg food just crossed the street to Best food restaurant.  Service at Best Food restaurant is not at its best, you may have to hold on to your hunger pangs for 45 minutes or more. But if you have the endurance, it will be worth it. The best food I tasted at this restaurant was Rice – Chicken sizzler; not too pricey at Rs. 150.

Following video clips created by author is as per the captioned link:

Curio Shopping at Leh - Ladakh 

Dzomsa for Shopping at Leh - Ladakh

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Hunder - Idyllic Village In Nubra Valley, Ladakh

Hunder environs

Connectivity of Leh through land and air route has seen tourists of all hues pouring in this Ladakh town in summer months between June and September. Most of the tourists avail of the tour packages offered by travel companies with duration anything between 7 days and 14 days. The discerning group of travelers make their own arrangement of jeep hiring from Leh and chart out an itinerary of their own. Leh being focal point of all jeep safari circuits, one rarely stays and has a feel of so many idyllic villages dotted all across Ladakh. During jeep safaris, at the most one gets a night halt at villages like Hunder, Tsomoriri and Pangong Tso. Those who go for trekking or on expeditions do come across many more villages for their overnight halts. 

In our ten day trip to Ladakh in early summer, with our own pre-set itinerary, we came across many idyllic villages, stayed overnight in some of them. If I have to select top three such villages as my choice, I would unhesitatingly select Hunder, Stok and Shey. Each of them is worth a stay for 2/3 days.

Hunder village, located in Nubra Valley, will be on top of my list of idyllic villages in Ladakh. Situated at an elevation of 10,000 ft, much lower than even Leh at 11,500’, keeps the visitors free from those high altitude sickness if at all one is prone to. This idyllic village has all the ingredient of modern amenities which will take care of a comfortable stay for every tourist and his family. There are plethora of guest houses, located in huge plots of lands, surrounded by greenery, with 24 hours water supply and good food. Some of them we came across are two storied Goba guest house, single storied Ibex guest house and a huge complex housing tented accommodation known as Organic Retreat. Some guest houses offer the genuine Ladakhi cuisine, including Ladakhi bread and low spiced yet tasty cuisines. For the non-vegetarians, egg preparations are always available for asking. 

Goba guest house

Ibex guest house

Hunder village abounds in Willow, Poplar, Apple and Apricot trees in almost every compound. An early morning walk in lush green environs, through the narrow but clean streets is a rejuvenating experience. From terrace of every house the wonderful vista of hillside enhances one’s perception of nature in its pristine glory. A careful eye on the flying birds among the trees will possibly result in a sight of specie of a beautiful bird with a few feathers in its crest and the wings with black and white patterns. Camera totting, I had a quite a chase in spotting and trying to shoot this bird by trespassing through the tented camp, but could not get a clear crisp shot to my dismay. Later, I discovered this species has a common name as ‘Common Hoopoe’ with biological name as ‘Upupa Epops’. 

Crossing outskirts of Hunder village, one arrives on the road which brings the tourists to this idyllic place. Distant snow clad hills is a reminder to the tourists, that it is still early summer and that one is at 10,000’ elevation.

Snow peaks from Hunder

The road, facing the hill is dotted with chortens of different sizes scattered rather randomly, breaking the monotony of otherwise barren hills.

Chorten on hill, Hunder

Tourists who are thrilled to do some climbing exercise in the adjoining hill, can take mud-stone steep track going up. Stepping over scattered pebbles one comes across ruins of few religious structures at different elevations.

Fort like structure on hill, Hunder

 Lay tourists are perplexed by Ladakh being mentioned as high altitude cold desert. They will have a real down to earth feel of desert, with sand dunes, the seabuckthorn bushes, the camels of Bactrian species, at a walking distance from Hunder village.

As the sun rises, so do the Bactrian camels on all their fours in their camps. The owners along with their camels in tow, begin yet another of their journeys to the sand dunes, to earn their livelihood. From village, tourists take a short journey to arrive at the spot to have an experience of Bactrian camel ride. For me, the two humped animal was some kind of a novelty; kept busy my shutter finger as much as possible, capturing camels in their various moods and postures. The young ones of the camels, stayed glued to their mothers and even if got separated, reunited with them without any hassle.

Bactrian camels at Hunder

At the end of the day at sand dunes with sunlight fading, momentary golden glow on the distant hills looks spectacular.

Evening at cold desert, Hunder

Places to visit around Hunder: 

Diskit is a short 8 km drive from Hunder and has the biggest Gompa in the Nubra valley. Monastic School at a somewhat lower elevation is an imposing structure and offers a great view of Gompa. 

Sumur is 40 km drive from Hunder, via the diversion point Khalsar. The journey from Khalsar to Sumur, is through greeneries interspaced with wild rose bushes. Samstanling Gompa at Sumur attract a lot of tourists. Panamik 20 km further, is a place of hot water springs. Beyond Panamik, the drive is restricted to Army who head in the direction of Siachen, the biggest glacier outside of polar region. 

Following captioned link gives footages of Bactrain Camel ride at Hundar:

Riding Bactrian Camel - Hunder, Nubra, Ladakh 

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Diskit Monastery - Nubra Valley, Ladakh

Diskit Monastey

A very sought after jeep safari from Leh is that of Nubra Valley. After starting at early morning from Leh and covering  40 km, one is delighted to have visited the highest motorable pass in the world - Khardung-la. Another 56 km drive and one arrives at Khalsar. From Khalsar one can take a detour to Shyok valley and proceed to Sumur and Panamik. Alternately one can drive on 20 km to Diskit, famous for its ‘cold desert’, which is full of sand dunes. 

On 2^nd of June 2010, on our return journey from Hundar village, with plenty of time in our hand, it was worth while visiting Diskit monastery - the largest in the Nubra valley. On the way we came  across a beautiful looking Monastic School, run by Monastery administration. 

Lama School

Alighting from jeep, we entered the huge compound.  The gigantic Buddha statue structure was being freshly painted and spruced up on the eve of His Holiness Dalai Lama’s visit.

Buddha statue being painted

From School compound we got an awesome view of seven storied Diskit Gompa clutching the mountain side.

View of Diskit Monastery from Lama School

We resumed our short journey towards the Diskit Gompa and on the way come across students from Monastic School carrying the big diameter cable or pipe, whatever.

Lama Students on job

A climb to seven storied Diskit Gompa through a few hundred steps takes some time and effort; but the effort is adequately rewarded. From elevation of upper stories of the Gompa, the panorama of hills and the greenery around the Diskit village looks spectacular. After negotiating Final flight of steps, we get a view of Gompa hall; it looks spectacular, with the court yard painted with murals.

Vista from Diskit Monastery

The Lama School, with gigantic Buddha statue, on the backside on a small hillock looked imposing.

View from Diskit Monastery

The Gompa Hall, housing Buddha idol, was dimly lit compared to other Gompas like Shey and Thiksey. As camera flash is not supposed to be used hence a good shot in low lighting conditions proved to be difficult. Also, there was objection to video camera to be used in this monastery. The Buddha idol appeared to be installed in a rectangular box, recessed into wall.  

Inside Diskit Gompa

I get another image of a close-up of Buddha idol.

Buddha idol - a close-up

The Gompa Hall walls are decorated with Thangkas or painted scrolls. 

Thangkas

From Nubra Valley, we drove towards the Shyok valley. From road, a view of Shyok river with a very low level of water during early summer, breaking into many small rivulets, created some kind of abstract painting in sand.

Shyok river in Shyok valley

Having written a few words on various Gompas of Ladakh, some readers may feel tad monotonous on this aspect of Ladakh. If one is at Ladakh, he cannot wish away Gompas and Chortens, which are fountain heads of Buddhist religion and will make their appearance in every possible destination. These mountain clutching multistoried structures, invariably give a kind of divine dimension to the mountains of this Trans-Himalayan region and from layman’s point of view, break the monotony of the rugged hills.