It was our first day in Leh and we were advised not to sleep during the day time as a part of acclimatization process, we tried to relax and my ever elusive sleep tried to descend on me promptly, normally I can’t sleep during daytime even if I count 1000 black sheep, here I was groggily fighting my sleep, luckily by 4 pm our car driver arrived to take us on a short trip around Leh
We were driven to the Shanti Stupa 5 km away from our resort, it was at a height of 11,841 ft, on a steep hill
After parking the car we slowly went up the incline, on the way we saw two temples of Buddha,
One was the main temple ,the Buddha statues were huge and glittering with mesmerizing art on the walls and there were benches for people who can‘t sit on the floor ,these were meant for people to sit and meditate
We heard that the daily prayers are held there , one must visit at the time of prayers before 10:00 A.M, the Tibetan hymns the monks chant along with the ringing bells are musical in nature and refresh and cool the mind
We tried to meditate and could do it for a while when we suddenly heard two women probably co sisters avidly and viciously discussing their mother in law who must have been choking on her food wherever she was, I tried to avoid my husband’s eyes and pondered on why these ladies spoiled their minds after coming so far from home, to add to this bedlam their respective kids started fighting loudly and there disappeared our peace and we got up with a loud sigh
This is the main difference I notice while traveling ,we Indians are quite loud on phones, set very loud ring tones and let our kids shout at their top most pitch ,most of us don’t seem to understand that religious places need some sanctity and sobriety ,alas!
We reached the Shanti stupa by slowly going up the steep road , we saw people climbing the 500 steep steps to the hilltop and few monks dressed in red robes nimbly skipping up the steps , however we thought it was not our cup of tea at least in Ladakh
The Shanti Stupa is a Buddhist white-domed stupa whose construction began in April 1983 by Japanese Buddhist Bhikshu , Gyomyo Nakamura and part of the Peace Pagoda mission and holds the relics of the Buddha at its base, enshrined by the 14th Dalai Lama.
The project was built with the help of Ladakhi Buddhists, who offered voluntary labor and Japanese Buddhists, who consider India as the "sacred" birthplace of the Buddha.
The 14th and current Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso inaugurated the Shanti Stupa in August 1991.
Going to the stupa we were spell bound by its special location as its 360 degrees view was stupendous and we had a panoramic views of surrounding landscape, we were instructed to go around it in a clockwise direction, as we usually do in all our temples
Entire Leh city unfurled itself before our delighted eyes, we could see small hamlets visible and wherever there were elevated hills monasteries were constructed though it was obvious some of them were in dis- repair and only some were being maintained well, the white hills were playing hide and seek with the fluffy clouds which occasionally threatened to burst on all under them
The stupa is built as a two-level structure. The first level featured the central relief of Dharmachakra with deer on each side. A central golden Buddha image sat on a platform depicting the "turning wheel of Dharma"
The second level had reliefs depicting the "birth" of Buddha, the death of Buddha (Mahanirvana) and Buddha "defeating the devils" while meditating.
Both levels featured a series of smaller meditating Buddha reliefs.
The mission of Nichidatsu Fujii was to build Peace Pagodas and temples over the world and try to resurrect Buddhism back in India.
The Shanti Stupa was built to promote world peace and prosperity and to commemorate 2500 years of Buddhism and is considered a symbol of the ties between people of Japan and Ladakh.
Sunrise and sunset are considered to provide the best views from Shanti Stupa. The stupa is best visited in evening as it is illuminated with lights at night.
When we stood and gazed at the stupa we felt that its tall tip was playing with the clouds
We next went to the Leh Palace, our driver parked the car at a sharp incline and we ascended up the rough path
On the way we saw that several repair and renovation works were being undertaken
On the way I saw cute Ladakh women selling hand woven woolen scarves and head bands
At the first glance the Leh palace had a desolate look, covered with fine white dust , the palace however had 7-9 floors which were connected by narrow and squeaky wooden stairs, walls were huge and the special attraction were wide open balconies ,it is said to be a great example of medieval Tibetan architecture and was the main establishment of the Namgyal kings
We then went to the entrance which was decorated with wooden carved figurines but these too were looking old and tired
I could see that the palace was perched on a ridge and I wondered how difficult it must have been for workers to carry up the construction material to such heights
Tourists can approach the palace from the Leh market through the winding alleys of old Leh town but it is quite a strenuous task for the oxygen starved tourists
We entered the palace but we were not very impressed by the display, light was in sufficient and the steps creaky, there were no sign boards or public address system to guide the tourists
The building was built of brick and mud, there were decorated wooden beams and pillars and windows adorned with intricate wood carving.
There were benches everywhere to sit, the 9th floor however was closed to the tourists, only positive feature of the palace was the 360 degree views from the balconies getting better as we went up the floors, offering amazing views of the Ladakh region and the Stok Kangri.
We wondered why the maintenance of the former royal palace was so poor, it was constructed in 1600 and abandoned when Dogra forces took control of Ladakh in mid 19th century
To our disappointment none of the original interior artefacts survive, but we found an interesting exhibition of the best heritage sites across India, and the Buddhist shrine
Our next visit was to the Leh Market an ancient market dating back to the 15th century, from the era of King Singe Namgyal, supposedly many old trees were felled in recent times and the market was renovated
As always when we go to a market while traveling ,my husband tells me strictly that we are not going to buy anything more ,we would only be doing window shopping ,I blithely nod very obediently knowing that he would be the first to break the rule Ha ,Ha!
The Leh Market is one of the main attraction of Leh City and needs to be seen preferably in the evening when the lights are on which we were fortunate
It had wide pedestrian walking space and sitting spaces as well. It was very well managed place and we leisurely strolled down the lanes ,I observed that everywhere in Ladakh there were many stray dogs quite obviously well fed ,satiated and relaxing ,I remembered the quote ‘ every dog has its day ‘
At the pedestrian side we found rows of vegetables being sold by the women, mostly potato, peas, onions, cabbage, carrot and cauliflower
Apricots, walnuts, berries and almonds were also being sold along with the green apples
We saw many restaurants , trinket shops and few ATMs and other shopping options. One can buy Pashmina shawls and woolen clothes. We also went to Tibetan refugee shops where we could get good fridge magnets and key chains
I found a quaint little stall run by a sprightly Leh lady, we bought some key chains and hand mirrors from her, when I wanted a snap with her she consented and promptly pulled out her goggles and adjusted her hairdo, she also wanted a snap of both of us on her phone too
Wherever we travelled in Ladakh I observed that almost all the native people including the laborers were wearing sun shades
Finally we had a cup of hot coffee in a small café where I saw books kept for the tourists to read and relax and returned to our resort loaded with our shopping bags.