Unwinding at Pangong Lake & spiritual visits
Unwinding at Pangong Lake & spiritual visits
Take a journey to experience the spirituality of ancient sites and revive at Pangong Lake
Why this experience is unique?
Take a refreshing journey through the land of spirituality. This a journey that captures the exact rhythm of a destinations. Travel to a spiritual town of Ladakh – Lamayuru where Buddhism has been in practice since 15th century. Visit a Atitse Monastery that is hardly visited by any tourists. Continue your slow travel in Ladakh and spend your days unwinding at the banks of Pangong Lake. Join locals of Maan Village living on the banks of the lake for Yoga & Meditation Sessions. Let the tranquility help you find balance in your Aasanas. Mediate with natural sounds of lake water to attain utmost relaxation. Stay at authentic homestays with a majestic view of a lake & enjoy organic meals prepared by hospitable hosts.
We will pick you up from the Leh airport and take you to your locally owned homestay in Leh (11,500ft). You will be resting today and acclimatizing yourself to the High-Altitude environment amidst the picturesque Himalayan landscape. This day is called the Acclimatization day and is required to adjust your body to the low oxygen levels of this altitude.
Before we step into the villages of Ladakh we would acquaint ourselves with the Ladakhi culture, heritage, and lifestyle. As per your choice, you can pick local places to visit. Hall of Fame, Shanti Stupa, Leh Palace, Central Asian Museum – these are the places we recommend you to visit. Come back after spending a day doing sightseeing and rest in the same homestay.
After having breakfast in the homestay, embark on the journey towards Spiritual Town. You will be taking couple of stops on the way to enjoy the views of Indus-Zanskar River Confluence and Moonland. By afternoon, you will be reaching in Lamayuru Monastery. Lamayuru is an 11th-century monastery that has an important place in the spirituality and history of Ladakh. It is right on the Leh-Kargil highway on the top of a hill. After a visit to this important Buddhism site, you will head towards a lesser-known monastery situated at a little higher altitude. Atitsey Monastery – is located at a distance of 8 km from Lamayuru. This is the place where one can find old artifacts preserved by the monks. This is a little more quiet monastery with pristine views of mountains. It will be a single day journey and you will be back at Leh to rest for the night.
You will leave for the village Maan situated in Changthang Valley. The journey will be via Shyok and you will keep gaining the altitude to reach the village. Situated at the banks of Pangong Lake, Maan village offers a unique homestay – Astrostay where the community conducts Astronomy sessions every night at the village. Pangong Lake reflects different shades of blue and is considered sacred amongst natives. Reach the village and relax sipping different kinds of teas while enjoying the incredible views on the lake. The day will end in the Astrostay – with the Astronomy session.
The day will start early with the beautiful view of sunrise. After having a morning tea, you will head to attend a Yoga Session where the Yoga Instructor would be guiding you to do Asanas and Mudras. Following the instructions, you will be ending the session with meditating. The experience would be fulfilling with a cool breeze and the sound of water from Pangong Tso. After the session, you will have a freshly cooked breakfast and take a village tour. Enjoy some time at the village at activities like Archery. The rest of the day will be spent at village tour, farming experience, and other insights in the life at 14000ft.
On the way, you can click photographs at the famous ‘three idiots’ point. You can also stop at Chang-La to click photographs. Chang La (17950ft) is one of the highest motorable roads in the world. The name literally means “Northern Pass” (Chang =north, La = Pass). The small town of Tangste is the nearest settlement. The Changla Pass is the main gateway for the Changthang Plateau situated in the Himalayas. The nomadic tribes of the region are collectively known as the Changpa or Chang-pa. On arrival in Leh, stay in a comfortable homestay and rest for the day.
This day is to attend the most peaceful and authentic morning prayer at Thiksey Monastery. Wake up early and head to the monastery. The rituals, Buddhist chanting, and warm welcome by the monks would give the perfect end to your spiritual journey to Ladakh. After the prayer, come back to your homestay for breakfast and spend exploring the town, shopping, or just relaxing.
On the last day, the tour ends post breakfast in the homestay. One can fly back or keep exploring Ladakh for the next few days.
Guests like to eat our Ladakhi food. They say it is delicious, even when it is prepared by an elderly ama (mother) like me. I always make sure I serve them the cleanest and healthiest food. My husband is a copper artist. When guests leave us, they say ‘Julley’, and hug us. It makes us feel happy.
I became a Mountain Homestay Host in 2018, and I have hosted many travellers since then. Running a homestay has helped me and my family a lot. Not only is the solar set up in our house useful for us, but even travellers prefer to stay in our homestay because of it.
The training we got in astronomy turned out to be a life-changing experience for our village. I felt happy and proud while mapping the position of the planets and sharing the secrets of the universe with the tourists. Tourists told me that even they didn’t know so much about the dark skies!
Nice Tour
