View of Leh Palace from the second floor of a cafeteria in main market Leh. U can walk up from the market or go at base of hill in car. The palace overlooks the town. The hill on which the
palace rests is visible from virtually every part of Leh.
Leh Palace is a miniature version of the Potala Palace Lhasa in Tibet. The construction of the 9 storied palace on the Tsemo hill was started in 1553. Only the chapel inside the palace is
used.
View of the palace from the other side. There are steps on right of pic which I climbed to go up. Missed going to the other end of the road from where cars come and taking a palace pic from there.
Entrance made of wood. This album includes Leh Palace, Stok Palace 14 kms from Leh, and Shey Palace i.e. enroute to Stok.
Close up. Centre and side looks like wooden images of a tiger.
Inside the chapel. 3 images. Right is Shakya Muni Buddha, centre is Sitatraputra statue and left that cannot see is Guru Lhatin.
Close up of Sitatraputra - this is in Sanskrit. In Tibet it is called Chags Tong Jaljong. In English God with 1,000 arms. Image has many faces.
Buddha Shakya Muni.
This is Guru Lhatin Dey-gyed.
Frescoes in the ceiling of the chapel. There is a Kali temple inside the palace and photo exhibition.
Get an excellent view from the palace. A view of Leh. It is a bustling town with tourists from all over. Besides Indians met tourists from Argentina, Yugoslavia, Australia and Italy.
Main market in centre of pic. Right of pic is a recently rebuilt mosque i.e. atleast 250 years. Do not remember full details but as part of a settlement between Ladakh ruler and a Mughal king
it was agreed to construct a mosque there.
Chorten in front. A side view of Leh.
In Leh market is NEHA SNACKS, a small rest that serves lovely vegetarian food. U get all types of food from dosas, chole bathure, dhokla etc. Lovely place. Rest been around for over 25 years.
This monastery is in the main market forget its name. In the main market is a rooftop Pizza rest. Super food and great place to go in the evening.
Mosque referred to in earlier caption was a Sunni one. This is a Shia mosque.
Inside a Tibetan shop. Love the stuff the ladies sell. Lots of Tibetans in Leh - saw many shops run by them.
This shop is again run by a Tibetan lady named Tenzin. Bought ear rings for my wife who loved them so much, she said Yeah Dil Mange More. Tenzin number is 91 9622156800. She is also
a very nice lady. Very close to her shop you get Pani Puris also known as gol gappas.
On road up from market saw this stone. Excerpts from board "In ancient time source of drinking water in Ladakh was spring water. People of the village would construct rock sculptures of different
Bodhisattvas above water source. Purpose was to ensure water source not contaminated. This area called Chubi Yokma when king Sangay built the Leh Palace in the 17th century. This used
to be only source of water in area and king ordered to carve five structures on monolithic".
View of the Thiksey Monastery. Truly connected with this monastery at a deeper level, did not wish to leave. Hope to be there soon.
On the way to Karu, take a diversion to Stok Palace ie 14 kms from Leh. It is a private palace with a museum and very well maintained. Has lots of interesting pictures and arti facts worth a
visit.
It has a very popular open air rest. View from there is spectacular.
A close. Lots of trees and greenery in Leh. However, greenery in large patches like what you see. This is a great place to read a book or just spend a day having a conversation.
The flag post in centre of pic is called Tharchen. End of flag post is a face of a Langto Bull or Balang Cow.
Cannot take pics inside. They allowed me to take pics of this board. Useful information.
This tells you about the 35 set of Thankas 1500-1530 a.d from the Stok Palace Museum.
Overview of Shey Palace from the road that goes to Thinsey Monastery. Royal palace and shrine built in the 16th century a.d. The Changchup Chorten (Victory Stupa) gold color that you
see in centre of pic is made of pure gold (not sure if present one is). The Royal Family shifted to Stok Palace, that you saw earlier, in 1834 A.D.
About the palace. I walked up to the palace. Nothing spectacular. U get a good view from top. Since you are visiting spend some time there.