After 35 degrees Celsius and rather hectic and noisy days in Rajasthan and Delhi, we moved on to the cold and remote north. As Leh is located 3500 m above sea level we relaxed the first days to acclimatisate properly. Thus we had time to visit some Buddhism Temple, Stupas (spirituel monuments) and the Ladakh Festival. The latter constituted predominately by local archery and horse polo games.
We also experienced our mental and spiritual limits by joining the morning prayer session of the Buddhism Monks at the Thikse Monastery. Not sure if it was the butter tea, the complicated rituals or just the fact that we can’t sit cross-legged for more than two hours, we had to leave the ceremony before the end to grasp some fresh air. However, it was a very fascinating experience and we realized that not all monks take these long daily mornjng prayer sessions too serious – especially if the young students from the monastery school join.
