The Outsider Posted January 3, 2009 Posted January 3, 2009 .....from my trip last month. Will probably add them to my blog with a small write up later on.. A monk getting Yak butter candles ready for the festival next day View from the Lamayuru Gompa Thiksey Gompa Valley beneath Lamayuru On the route from Lamayuru to Kargil Indus Mountain rises in the background of the monastery threads. View from Stok castle Dalai Lama's room in Spituk gompa. Largest Metal Buddha in India - made from Copper and is 30 feet tall. Stupas scattered over the landscape from Shey castle
vroomfondel Posted January 3, 2009 Posted January 3, 2009 aaaah beautiful. still using film cameras? these looked scanned in. I'm going in summer -- did you fly in or take the manali/srinagar road? any recommended hikes?
cowboysfan Posted January 3, 2009 Posted January 3, 2009 amazing-i took the manali to leh bus 4 years ago just before coming to the US-it had just started snowing and the bus journey(2nd highest road in the world)was something i will never forget.
The Outsider Posted January 3, 2009 Author Posted January 3, 2009 aaaah beautiful. still using film cameras? these looked scanned in. I'm going in summer -- did you fly in or take the manali/srinagar road? any recommended hikes? Yeah, still on film. Flew in from Delhi, but drove to Kargil from Leh - it's about the halfway mark between Srinagar and Leh. Was a bit short on time(6 days) to do any serious hikes, moreover it was too damn cold - temperatures in Leh were around -15 in the night and went to Khardung La and Pengong Lake(via Chang La) and those places were blistering cold - around -30. There is a nice trek from Leh to Lamayuru (3 days) which is highly recommended. I drove there on the way to Kargil and it's beautiful. Spent a lot of time in monasteries though - winter is the perfect time for that. No tourists means you can talk to the monks for as long as you want, have food with them and even attend their private worship or teaching sessions. How long are you going for? Try to make a longer trip because it's going to take you at least 3 days to acclimatize enough to do any serious hiking. Moreover, above 15,000 feet you are going to go really slow anyways.
vroomfondel Posted January 3, 2009 Posted January 3, 2009 Yeah, still on film. Flew in from Delhi, but drove to Kargil from Leh - it's about the halfway mark between Srinagar and Leh. Was a bit short on time(6 days) to do any serious hikes, moreover it was too damn cold - temperatures in Leh were around -15 in the night and went to Khardung La and Pengong Lake(via Chang La) and those places were blistering cold - around -30. There is a nice trek from Leh to Lamayuru (3 days) which is highly recommended. I drove there on the way to Kargil and it's beautiful. Spent a lot of time in monasteries though - winter is the perfect time for that. No tourists means you can talk to the monks for as long as you want, have food with them and even attend their private worship or teaching sessions. How long are you going for? Try to make a longer trip because it's going to take you at least 3 days to acclimatize enough to do any serious hiking. Moreover, above 15,000 feet you are going to go really slow anyways. Dude, I can't get over your pictures. They're so perfectly exposed. Something special about film, it gives pictures a different feel from digital but I can't pinpoint what it is. It's like the difference between watching movies and tv series, there's a difference in how the colors look or something. I want to go for a month-ish in June, want to climb Stok Kangri if it's not too busy, and I was planning on doing the Lamayaru trek also. Hanging out at monestaries sounds amazing though. Did you alone, or with SigO? Cowboyji, the road was open in the winter?
Cricketics Posted January 3, 2009 Posted January 3, 2009 brilliant stuff shwetabh.. koi dilli ki pictures bhi hai toh woh bhi lagado yaar.. it's been ages since i was in India.
ludhianvi Posted January 3, 2009 Posted January 3, 2009 Wow, was this trip taken with a tour-package or did you just stroll there yourself? Quite interesting that you went there, as it seems a little exotic. Must've been quite a different experience. Did the monks understand hindi?
cowboysfan Posted January 3, 2009 Posted January 3, 2009 Dude, I can't get over your pictures. They're so perfectly exposed. Something special about film, it gives pictures a different feel from digital but I can't pinpoint what it is. It's like the difference between watching movies and tv series, there's a difference in how the colors look or something. I want to go for a month-ish in June, want to climb Stok Kangri if it's not too busy, and I was planning on doing the Lamayaru trek also. Hanging out at monestaries sounds amazing though. Did you alone, or with SigO? Cowboyji, the road was open in the winter? this was in september-the road was still open ,i think they were to be closed in like 20 days.there is a overnight halt and you have to sleep outside in a tent!!!
The Outsider Posted January 3, 2009 Author Posted January 3, 2009 Dude, I can't get over your pictures. They're so perfectly exposed. Something special about film, it gives pictures a different feel from digital but I can't pinpoint what it is. It's like the difference between watching movies and tv series, there's a difference in how the colors look or something. I used my 8 year old Nikon F-4. I borrowed a friend's digital D2H once it gave awesome results. Am saving up for it and plan to use film as a backup or for black and white and slides only when I can save up. The operating costs of film are becoming high, but yeah, I've noticed that low speed results come out distinctly better on film. I want to go for a month-ish in June, want to climb Stok Kangri if it's not too busy, and I was planning on doing the Lamayaru trek also. Hanging out at monestaries sounds amazing though. Did you alone, or with SigO? That would be awesome. Locals told me the best time is July/August for Stok Kangri - you won't need any special equipment during that time. Had gone alone......the monasteries experience was truly special. Just sitting down, having tea, and chatting with the monks about how they go about their daily routines, learning how it's a struggle in the winters to get basic things like water etc. was just great.
The Outsider Posted January 3, 2009 Author Posted January 3, 2009 brilliant stuff shwetabh.. koi dilli ki pictures bhi hai toh woh bhi lagado yaar.. it's been ages since i was in India. Dilli ki to nahin hai yaar abhi koi. If I find something in my old stuff, then will scan and put it up.
Cricketics Posted January 3, 2009 Posted January 3, 2009 Dilli ki to nahin hai yaar abhi koi. If I find something in my old stuff' date=' then will scan and put it up.[/quote'] kool. btw the hill stations of India are always fun. also u mentioned u drank chai(tea).. i remember drinking those Kullad waali chai back in mussorrie, nainital, kashmir, shimla etc.. its real fun and the taste of tha kullad chai is just class. i am sure in leh-ladakh that kullad waali chai would be available a lot
The Outsider Posted January 3, 2009 Author Posted January 3, 2009 Wow, was this trip taken with a tour-package or did you just stroll there yourself? Quite interesting that you went there, as it seems a little exotic. Must've been quite a different experience. Did the monks understand hindi? Yeah, ludh, quite a few of them understand Hindi - if not completely then enough to make a conversation. I had gone solo - hate the tour packages etc. In fact did all the driving around myself too except for the trip to Pangong Lake for which I hired a taxi. A university friend of mine has an underwater drilling company there and though he wasn't there, he let me use his car. Pangong was not recommended on a Santro though and lucky for me that I did hire a taxi for that trip because parts of the road had quite a lot of snow. I'll put up the Pangong lake pictures when I can get them developed, but here is something I found on google : It is on the India-China border. Across the lake is Aksai Chin. The weather was pretty bad the day I visited - cloudy, windy, and cold - so I don't expect my pictures to come out even remotely as good as above, but it was really beautiful.
The Outsider Posted January 3, 2009 Author Posted January 3, 2009 kool. btw the hill stations of India are always fun. also u mentioned u drank chai(tea).. i remember drinking those Kullad waali chai back in mussorrie, nainital, kashmir, shimla etc.. its real fun and the taste of tha kullad chai is just class. i am sure in leh-ladakh that kullad waali chai would be available a lot Actually, the tea in Ladakh is completely different. It's made from green tea with salt and Yak butter. Of course, you can find the regular tea in Leh restaurants etc. but you won't get it in monasteries. The area is very different from the usual hill station image- specially in winters. It did not have much tourist presence and there is a strong local culture which is still alive. It's only in proper Leh that you can get the mainstream food, drink etc.
beetle Posted January 5, 2009 Posted January 5, 2009 Thanks shwetabh! These pictures bring back some lovely memories.............. Did the srinagar -Ladakh route long time back with mom,dad and siblings.Started the beautiful trip by fainting in Gulmarg..........:P The picture of the lake is beautiful.....
Lurker Posted January 5, 2009 Posted January 5, 2009 Beautiful pictures Shwetabh. Good to see all of them. Is that copper Buddha statue the largest of its kind in India? I always thought the one at Bodh Gaya is the largest(over 80 feet tall) http://wikitravel.org/en/Bodh_Gaya
veer Posted January 5, 2009 Posted January 5, 2009 awesome pics... I was in sikkim, darjeeling last month.. great experience... sikkim people are so friendly and soft spoken.. will post pictures in a week or two..
The Outsider Posted January 5, 2009 Author Posted January 5, 2009 Beautiful pictures Shwetabh. Good to see all of them. Is that copper Buddha statue the largest of its kind in India? I always thought the one at Bodh Gaya is the largest(over 80 feet tall) http://wikitravel.org/en/Bodh_Gaya You are right......the one in Ladakh is the largest metal statue I think.
sandeep Posted January 5, 2009 Posted January 5, 2009 lucky bum. very nice pictures. thanks for sharing.
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