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Published: September 7th 2005
Leh is beautiful. It was described in guide books as a moonscape - now never having been to the moon this is difficult to substantiate, but we can say it is bleak, majestic and with an amphitheatre quality set by the surrounding mountains. Situated at 11,800ft Leh flourished until the 1950's when the silk route from China was closed, but the town was revived in 1974 when it opened to tourism. Oh, and interestingly the electricity is only on from 7pm until 11pm - so candles are essential if you're a night person or have a weak bladder.
Our main passtime in Leh was Gompa stompin (Gompas are Buddhist monastaries, and stompin - well, hunting them down; and it rhymes with Gompa)! There are loads of other things to see in Leh: The Royal Palace, long since abandoned, delapadated and in the process of much needed renovation. And a note worthy point about the palace - the guide books say it opens at 7am and closes at 9am - bollocks - It opens at 10am. If you do the sums that leaves 3 hours of sitting on the top of a very big hill wondering if it was worth the
Backstreet
Typical old Leh backstreeteffort. It was by the way, not simply because of the palace but also the Gompa high above Leh palace in which the presiding monk had just woken and was chanting and freeing up phlegm in beautiful harmony.
Thiksey Gompa was a highlight, set high on a rocky peak (about 10 km from Leh). This picturesque monastary is occupied and looked after by an 'order' of Buddhist monks. Housing a monk school and a three storey statue of Maitraya Buddha, it overlooks grand Himalaya which displayed a light show for us from the distant electrical storm. The most endearing part of the visit was sitting with one of the monks who's curiosity led him to take videos with our camera, play with the GPS, try on my prescription sun glasses (which he described as 'no good') and read our guide book.
The best of the rest: Shanti Stupa - a very large monument paying homage to the life and teachings of Buddha and providing a dammed good view of Leh. It also has a Japanese built monastery and shrine dedicated to world peace - 'shanti' - which was inaugurated by the Dali Lama.
There are many varied
Moonscape
Where's moonbase Alpha? stupas scattered around Leh which are worth visiting, and also a small Gompa 'Sankar' which provides home to most of the monks in the area.
Leh town is lovely, as are the people, although we were lucky to arrive before the influx of western tourists and were treated to the town 'au naturale'. When we left, 2 weeks on, the tourists were starting to outnumber the locals, undermining what we felt was the biggest charm of the area.
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