Incredible Ladakh: The Palace and Market (Day 7)

Leh Palace

We woke up a little relaxed, had breakfast and got ready to visit local places in Leh. While the rest of the days were packed, our plan for today was going south. We wanted to visit the Zorawar Fort but it was closed for weekly maintenance (we had the tickets already), scratched Shey palace and monastery from our list, couldn’t see the light and sound show as it was closed for weekly maintenance on Mondays. We went to the Leh Palace instead. This palace was very different from other palaces that we have visited in the past. The ceiling was low, courtyards at every level of the nine levels in the palace, a small museum inside the palace and some areas that were closed for the public. The view from the top level (level 9) was amazing. There were army choppers flying over the area continuously. Outside the palace we bought a pair of Himalayan hand-knitted socks knitted by the old women there.

Shanti Stupa

Another place of interest was the Shanti Stupa. The idol of Buddha is built by a Japanese Buddhist. Once can find the relics of Buddha at its base. This Stupa is one of the many Peace Pagodas built by the Japanese around the world

Paljor then brought us to the Leh Market where we had lunch - Pad Thai, Pasta, Ting Momo at the Lamayuru Restaurant. After lunch we headed out to the Central Asian Museum near Jama Masjid to understand more about the Old Silk Route, but it was closed for Bakrid. As we headed out, we saw a small Gurudwara – Gurudwara Datun Sahib Ji. It is believed that the tree there was planted by Saint Guru Nanak.

Leh Market

After offering our prayers, we spent some time in the Leh market. We did a good amount of shopping – authentic Pashmina shawls, fresh and dried apricots, apricot jams, a lot of gifts made of stones from the mountains and a wonderful thangka of Guru Padmasambava drawn by one of the monks, to name a few.

We finally came back to the hotel, had good dinner and spent quite a while outside in the lawn savouring the beauty of the place. We could feel our hearts getting heavier, but this time it was because we were to leave the next day – we were going to miss this place and mountains. We did not want to hit the bed early, so we stayed up for quite a while and finally went to our rooms late in the night and packed our bags reluctantly