Thursday 19 June Another day, another monastery or two or three! First we visited Thiksey Monastery which was very imposing sitting on a rocky outcrop 25km from Leh. It is a 12 storey building overlooking the flood plain on the east bank of the Indus river. It is a deep red, ochre & white painted building & has 10 temples with many stupas, thangkas, wall paintings & statues including a 15ft high Buddha. Next was Hemis Monastery, the richest monastery in Ladakh. It was built in 1630 with the largest collection of wall paintings, statues & thangkas. We walked down past the pretty village & ate our packed lunch on the bank of the Indus before heading back to Shey Palace, Shey Palace was built in 1645 as a Summer Palace for the Kings of Ladakh.
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