We got up at 8.30am, had breakfast and left for Alchi. Mr. Hadi was our new travel guide cum driver from Kargil onwards. What made us very happy was that we were this time going to travel in a new & a much better and comfortable car!
We left from Kargil, parallel to Suru River which comes from Nun Kun Glacier. When we start with this by road, Baru Valley can be seen. We can also see the military base & a lot of shops which had got bombarded during the Kargil War.
We spent a few minutes of silence over there & proceeded further.
Next, on our way was Mulbekh. This village is scattered around the banks of river Wakha. This place is filled with poplars & orchards of Walnut & Apricot Trees. There a quite a few roadside Dhaba’s on the way.
We also had a quick look at the 7 metre high Maitreya (Chamba in Tibetan) Statue carved from the face of a gigantic boulder.
We then reached the – Namki La Pass (12198Ft above Sea Level!). This pass consists of Zig-Zag roads passing through barren desert-rock like Mountains.
Next we come across the Fotula Pass (13479Ft above Sea Level) It is the Highest Point on The Srinagar – Leh Road!
Next stop was Lamayuru – We halted there in Hotel Niranjana for Lunch. After having lunch, we took a few pictures of the Lamayuru Gompa (Monastery). Lamayuru Gompa is one of the oldest & one of the most important monasteries set in picturesque Moonland surroundings.
The white washed medieval monastery towers above scruffy cluster of tumbled down mud-brick houses from the top of near vertical, weirdly eroded cliff.
The doors of Du-Khang were opened and this Gompa was extremely vibrant & colourful with a lot of tibetan art work. Du-Khang is Lamayuru’s newly opened prayer hall.
After that we got back into our car and proceeded further for Alchi…
On our way we saw – Moonland. Moonland is a very distinct & very different mountain with respect to the other mountains surrounding it. It has many layers to it & is more yellow desert sand like mountain.
We then come across the Sangeluma River. This river contributes a lot to the scenic beauty of the place. As most of the place is surrounded by dry lands and mountainous ranges, this river adds life to this place.
This river proceeds further towards Pakistan. Since it’s a forceful river, river rafting is also done here but a little further down closer from Alchi at Saspol Village.
Finally we reached Alchi. Alchi has an extraordinary wealth of the ancient wall paintings & wooden sculptures miraculously preserved for more than 9 centuries inside 5 tiny mud walled temples!!!
We checked into our Hotel Zimskhang – a very beautiful & scenic hotel in it’s own way. The balcony area next to our rooms was very spacious and you get a very beautiful view of the place. On the left, you even see a small Cabbage farm.
Checking into our room, we first got fresh & then headed out of our hotel to check the near by market place…however since it was evening 6.30pm, most of the places were shut or almost on the verge of winding up for the day.
We got back into our rooms as sight seeing at this time was a bit too late. The weather in Alchi was quite hot in comparison to the other places we had been.
After some time we had dinner, watched TV for a while and then went to sleep. At night time, we didn’t have power so had to sleep early.
Here is a Slideshow version of the above pics.
Captures from Art Pixel Photography (Amit Desai)
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