Sightseeing In Leh

The first stops on our tour of Leh were relatively close by. In the center of town, Kate and I had quickly ascended a hilltop trail to find ourselves looking out over the rest of the valley. Hundreds of strands of Tibetan Buddhist prayer flags were draped from the corner of the building, across the valley to the other side of town spanning a distance of a few hundred feet. As the afternoon breeze whipped north up the valley, the flags stood at attention, perpendicular to the ground below.

Upon returning to town, our driver took us to Leh palace, which standing prominently above the city was a monument to at least a few hundred years of history in our present locale.

We entered the palace, which was deserted. I was shocked by the lack of security, tour guides and general freedom with which we were given to explore. As we walked further into the depths of the massive building, the 6-foot ceilings and lack of daylight gave off the impression of descending into an archeological dig straight out of the Discovery Channel.

We climbed staircases, explored dead ends, and studied the town below from tiny open-air windows. Finally arriving on the roof of the building, I took photos which I fully expected would never do the moment justice.

As we left, we passed a Monk (the first human encounter we'd seen in over an hour) who pointed us towards the door and donation station. On our way back to the car, we purchased tickets from the now-manned ticket booth for about $2 a piece.

We then proceeded to another location, higher and further West where we could watch the sun set called Shantistupa.

Kate and I again spent the better half of an hour pacing the large platform in front of the massive white monument, chatting and making funny poses (I did handstands until I attracted the attention of the local authorities who didn't appreciate my lack of reverence for the sanctity of the monument).

As the sun set, and we got chilly, we headed into the hilltop restaurant for tea and french fries before meeting our driver, heading back to the hotel and enjoying a quiet dinner.