Leh Palace, a sight to behold

LEH Palace is a beautiful monastery which stands tall and magnificent while viewed from Shanti Stupa. We got to explore this striking fortification during our last few hours of stay at Leh as we decided to take a walk to this place on a cold windy morning. 

It was initially difficult to locate the path to the palace for two reasons — one, the lanes in Leh town are a bit narrow and two, there were a lot of people. Managing to climb a couple of steps and navigating through the dark caves between the lanes, twilight ushered in showing two lanes in front of us — one leading to the palace and the other leading to Tsemo Gompa. Entering the Leh Palace that is modelled on the Potola Palace of Lhasa, Tibet, with a gleaming golden light in a dark, gloomy and narrow entrance, we found that most of the rooms were locked due to renovation purposes. To reach the subsequent storeys, we had to use ladders since there were no stairs or pathways leading to the higher storeys. Quite challenging, but we explored seven levels with the help of ladders. 

The same evening, we decided to trek to the Namgyal Tsemo Gompa, a Buddhist monastery which did not have any clear path and a moderate level trek was needed to climb the cliff. We were mesmerised by the view offered by the top storey of the Gompa that made us forget all the hassle that we went through to reach the top. The panoramic view of the Leh city and Shanti Stupa from the Tsemo Gompa was captivating. A three-storey, gold statue of Maitreya Buddha is the highlight of this monastery that has ancient manuscripts and frescoes. The challenge was climbing down the ladders with camera in one hand and balancing myself with the other. Regaining our energies with a sip of Ladakhi tea, we called it a day spellbound with fascinating memories of landscapes recorded.