JOIN USClose to heaven in Hemis
Whichever way you choose to arrive in Leh, you are assured of an exciting and magical journey. Leh is the biggest city in the Ladakh area of the state of Jammu and Kashmir in India’s northern reaches. Surrounded by the lofty Himalayas, accessible only by one of the highest roads in the world or flight, Leh sits at a breathtaking altitude of 3524 metres and was once a bustling centre of the Trade Route that wound along the Indus River between Tibet, India, Kashmir and China. At times during the almost 500-km road trip to Ladakh, I wondered if we were closer to heaven than to Leh! Clouds came down and met the road at points and great drifts of snow banks lined the road.
Passing over the second highest road in the world, I struggled for breath in the thin mountain air and as our jeep wound its way across the lofty Himalayas, it seemed we had entered a magical kingdom.
There the Himalayas are a riot of colour and shape.
The landscape turned the car window into a moving picture postcard view of a land with
lofty mountains coloured turquoise, orange peaks striped with slashes of black and distant hills coloured with the pastel shades of spring growth, tinted by passing clouds.
While the majority of India bakes in the summer heat, the people of Ladakh have only just awakened from a long and lonely winter.
The arrival of summer there is always a time of celebration. One such celebration is the annual Hemis Festival, held at the Hemis Gompa, the largest Buddhist Monastery in Ladakh.
As the seat of Indo-Tibetan culture, Hemis monastery is home to more than 500 monks and plays host to hundreds of people during the time of the festival.
The festival is dedicated to the Guru Padmasambhava, and the festival is an extravaganza of dance on the day of his birth.
Arriving in Leh, I found it difficult to tell if I was gasping for the beauty of this remote kingdom or for the effects of altitude.
Every step seemed to take place in slow motion and climbing a flight of stairs felt like the highest mountain, it certainly takes a few days to adjust to the affects of breathing such rarified air.
The Hemis Monastery is abuzz with excited children when we arrive. As the horns of the monks ring out over the valley inside the Gompa, masked monks are dancing in precise formation.
During the two-day festival, marked by prayers and the display of an ancient thangka of Guru, traditional dances are performed by masked monks.
Accompanied by cymbals, drums and trumpets, the dances are a portrayal of triumph of good over evil. All too soon, the festival is over but it seems I had saved the best experience of Ladakh till last.
Flying from Leh to Delhi, you are above or level with the spectacular beauty of the Himalayas, it takes your breath away in quite another way!