Jordan: Wadi Rum & Dead Sea Day-3 and 4

Half-Day in Petra

We had one more day in Petra before our drive towards Amman and the Dead Sea area. We decided to visit the sites that we missed in Day-2, and then also explore Wadi Rum. "Wadi Rum" is Arabic for "Valley of the Moon", and it is a desert landscape that looks similar to the moon. Actually, it looks closer to the surface of Mars, due to it's reddish rock, so the naming is not too accurate. Anyways, I contacted Omran (our tourist taxi guy), and he arranged for a drive to Wadi Rum in the early evening. We spent the first half of the day revisiting Petra.

Colorful Camels ready for the ride.

The first place we headed to were the three rows of tombs called the "Royal Tombs" which we had missed yesterday - the Urn Tomb, Silk Tomb, Corinthian Tomb and the Palace Tomb. These were named "Royal" tombs since they were of considerably large size, compared to the rest of the city.

Urn Tomb

The Urn Tomb is the first o the right, as you walk from Al Khazneh. It is called so, because it has a carved urn at the top (similar to Al Khazneh and Ad Deir Monastery). The inside looks quite amazing, as the erosion pattern shows up like a rich design on the rocks. The Urn Tomb was later adapted as a Church during the Byzantine rule of Petra. 

Alcove inside Urn Tomb.

Next to this was the Silk Tomb - named so because of the erosion patterns of the rocks. Further down, there are two larger tombs - Corinthian Tomb and Palace Tomb. The Corinthian Tomb has been named so because of the Greek Corinthian style pillars, while the Palace Tomb is named so because it is the largest, and looks like a Roman or Greek period palace.

Corinthian (right), and (left) Palace Tombs.

These monuments look a bit like the Al-Khazneh, but they are not so well preserved. It may be because these monuments were more exposed to the elements than the Al-Khazneh, which is sheltered by the Siq canyon.

By this time, the wind picked up a bit, and it was blowing the sand around everywhere. I purchased a keffiyeh scarf from an old Bedouin woman's stall for 5 dinars. It turned out to be quite useful, for protecting against the sand and the sun, and also was useful later in Wadi Rum. With my head wrapped up Bedouin-style, we headed to the Nabataen Theater.

Nabataen Theater

With almost everything covered in Petra, we headed back to the visitor center. This time, we decided to ride horses on the way back. IMHO, it was quite a waste of money, and the horses did not look well kept. Still, it turned out as a good photo shoot for us, as the horseman ran ahead and clicked pictures on the way back!

At the visitor center, we had a good traditional lunch of Jordanian "mansaf". This is a dish made of rice with lamb simmered in yogurt, and garnished with parsley and pine nuts. The waiter told us that it's a traditional wedding dish.

Mansaf

Valley of the Moon

Once back at our hotel, we contacted Omran, and sure enough, our ride to Wadi Rum was ready! Wadi Rum is a desert region in Southern Jordan, and is well known for it's other-worldly landscape. Several Hollywood movies, including Transformers, Prometheus, and The Martian, have been shot here, as the desolate landscape looks like the surface of Mars. We drove from Wadi Musa in a sedan, and our driver told us the recent history of Jordan, and the royal family. It was interesting, as he showed us each Jordanian currency had the portrait of some royal family member. We soon reached a gas station at the fringe of the desert, and, we were joined by Hussain, another driver, in a battered old Mitsubishi 4x4 pickup truck. The truck had converted it's bed into benches on each side, and we rode out into the desert on the open truck bed.

One solitary donkey in the desert.

The truck drove into the desert, and the landscape really looked other-worldy, and it was quite apparent why Hollywood choose this as the location for alien planets!

Looks like an uninhabited planet in outer space!

Further on, we saw a few camels grazing on desert scrub, so it was not really as desolate and devoid of life as it looked.

Camels.

Hussain drove the truck near a rock cliff, and stopped. He told us that the cliff had ancient petroglyphs carved on it. This was surprising, as it meant that man had inhabited this desert long ago.

Wadi Rum landscape with our ride - the pickup truck.

 We were not sure how old these were, and Hussain also did not know, except the generic "a long time ago".

There were petroglyphs on this cliff face - at the bottom of the alcove-like formation to the right.

We climbed up the cliff face for a closer look at this. The petroglyphs depicted a family - two adults and a child to the left. There was an inscription of two human feet between the adults and the child, and what could be a dog between the two adults.  

Up close with the petroglyphs, with us for scale.

Next up was a natural bridge formed out of erosion of the rocks.

Rock bridge.

We then moved on from here to an open scrub area, where Hussain stopped the truck again, asked us if we would like a cup of tea. "What, out here?" was the first reaction, as there was not a single tea shop or restaurant for miles and miles.

We stopped here for tea!

Hussain then proceeded to dig a small hole in the sand, behind a medium-sized desert bush, and gathered some dry twigs to light a fire. Sure enough, soon a kettle of tea was brewing in the middle of the desert! 

Tea in the desert!

We had an incredible experience, sipping tea as the sun set over Wadi Rum.

Sunset over Wadi Rum.

This ended our trip into the Wadi Rum desert, and we headed back to our hotel in Petra. Our driver offered to take us to a traditional restaurant for a "Maqluba" dinner, but we were too tired to head out. Politely refusing the offer, we ate a quick in-room dinner, and called it a day. 

The Dead Sea

The next morning, our old driver, Yousef, showed up at breakfast time. We checked out of the hotel in Petra, and headed off towards Amman. Our destination was the Dead Sea area of Sweimeh. The route took us through the Dana biosphere. 

Dana Biosphere.

 The drive took about 3 hours, and soon we were driving alongside the Dead Sea. 

Dead Sea from the cliffs along the highway.

  The Dead Sea is a bit of a misnomer, as it is really a large lake. While the lake it quite long, lengthwise, it is just about 10 kms wide, and you can see the shores of Palestine/Israel on the other side. It is also the lowest region on the Earth, at 400 meters below sea level. 

Elevation level

The "sea" is also extremely saline, and has no apparent marine life (hence the "Dead" in Dead Sea). We checked into our hotel - the Marriott Jordan Valley - and grabbed some lunch at one of their many restaurants. The hotel is very large and luxurious, and has a private beach area. 

Hotel grounds - Jordan Valley Resort & Spa

So far, we had been staying at a mid-range hotel in Jordan, and this was quite an upgrade! The hotel was spread out over a large area, had multiple outdoor swimming pools, and a spa. They even provided the famed "Dead Sea mud" which has several healing and medicinal properties. You are supposed to apply the mud, wait for it to dry, and then jump into the Dead Sea to wash it off!

Private beach area on the Dead Sea

 The experience of "swimming" in the Dead Sea was quite unique. The water feels almost like oil on the skin. One cannot really swim here, but just float on your back. The water is incredibly salty, as I found out when a little splashed into my mouth (you need to get out of the sea and rinse your mouth with fresh water if this happens). The buoyancy of the water is such that one cannot really sink, even if  one does not know how to swim. However, people do drown in the Dead Sea if not careful. It is difficult to roll over in the water, and hence, if swimming a front stroke, one needs to be very careful not to get the head into the water.

A rose-gold sunset on the Dead Sea.

We spent two days at this resort, swimming in the sea and their outdoor pools, and trying out the excellent Jordanian cuisine. It so turned out that they did make Maqluba - the same traditional dish that out Wadi Musa driver wanted us to try. We also had what could be the best falafel & hummus (as expected) for breakfast in this resort. The Dead Sea experience was a great way to end to our stay in Jordan. We flew back from Amman airport the third morning. 

Jordan: Petra Day-1 and 2

Pre-Trip Planning

To be honest, Jordan was not the first choice when we were planning our next trip. We were toying with the Philippines or Israel. When my wife was leaning towards Israel because she wanted to see the Dead Sea, the next thought was "Why not Jordan?" What clinched the deal for Jordan was this one video by Mark Wiens.




We soon booked our tickets and hotel in Petra. The hotel had a strange sounding name - "P Quattro Relax Hotel" - but was well rated in tripadvisor. One of my wife's colleagues had been to Jordan before, and recommended Omran Brkavi and his taxi company. Omran is a well known tourist taxi operator in Jordan, and we booked him for our trip from Amman (the capital) to Petra, and then onwards to the Dead Sea in Sweimeh. 

Arrival at Amman

    We flew Etihad from Bangalore to Abu-Dhabi, and then onwards to Amman. Both flights were comfortable, even in economy class. I was dressed in touristy shorts, and for a change, it was my wife was concerned about the amount of skin I was exposing. Sure enough, I was the only one in Amman airport with my knees exposed!
The next step was getting the visa-on-arrival. Jordan is one of the few countries where Indian tourists are allowed to get a visa-on-arrival. Having said that, we were in for some tense moments. We stood in line, and when we reached the counter, the immigration officer just frowned and could not figure out our passports. It didn't help that he had a limited vocabulary of English, and neither of us spoke Arabic. He finally gave up, and asked us to go contact his supervisor, who was in the "office". The said "office" was a small and dingy police room. A rotund uniformed officer sat behind the desk, and a slimmer junior officer sat in front. Both were casually smoking, and from the looks of the ashtray between them, one would have thought that the two were actively engaged in a smoking competition! Both were oblivious to the fact that the room had turned into a mini gas chamber. 
    The officer looked up, and I explained the situation to him. With a weary look, he held his palm up indicating that I should give him the passports. After thumbing through our passports, he shouts at another guy in Arabic. After a few minutes of conversation, he hands us back the passports, and tells us to go back to the same line we were in. Once we reach the counter, the immigration officer again does not know what to do with us. He asks me if I went to his supervisor, and I told him that his supervisor asked us to get back in line here! Then a few more minutes of confusion, but finally the immigration officer beside him manages to figure things out, and he starts the visa process. We are asked at least 4 times how long we intend to stay. Each time, we reply "1 week". Immigration officer says, "OK, I give you 2 weeks visa". Relived, I say "Shukran!". Visa officer is happy to hear Arabic for "Thank you", and stamps the visa and we are on our way, finally.
    Omran, our taxi company guy had sent one of his drivers to take us from Amman to Petra. It was about a two-and-half hour drive, and we used the "desert highway". Our driver Yousef was very cheerful, and gracious host. This highway is, as suggested by the name, quite barren, and not picturesque at all. We stopped mid-way for some coffee at a place called "New Jerusalem Rest House".

Coffee break at New Jerusalem Rest House, Tafilah.

We soon reached Wadi-Musa, the gateway to Petra. A bit about the history of Petra; the area was home to a tribe called "The Nabateans". The Nabateans were nomadic initially, but later settled down and formed their capital of "Raqmu" in 100 BC. Raqmu was called "Petra" by the Greco-Roman world, due to the rock sculpted city-scape (petra means rock in Greek). The entire city had temples, buildings and amphitheaters, carved out of the sides of a rocky mountain. Petra was later annexed by the Romain empire, and continued to thrive until 300 AD. Wadi-Musa, the gateway to Petra, is Arabic for "Valley of Moses", and is a small hilly town. There are numerous small hotels in the town, and some big names like Radisson and Movenpick just outside the main town.

 

The Valley of Moses - Wadi Musa.

We entered our hotel - the "P Quattaro Relax" - at around 3:30 PM. The place was small, but clean, and had good service. The room we had booked was upgraded to a larger suite, free of cost. The room was nice and comfortable, but the bathroom was not the best that we have experienced. 

Suite room in P Quattaro

While checking in, the staff informed us that there was a "Petra by Night" event, where the path to the monuments in Petra were lit up with small lamps, and there is a Bedouin folk-music performance. The hotel also provided a drop and pick up from the venue, so we decided to purchase the tickets to this event. Having traveled by airplane and car for a good part of the day, both of us were tired, and needed to catch some shut eye, so we set an alarm for 6PM, and hit the sack. When the alarm rang, neither of us wanted to go out, but we did force ourselves out of the bed. We ordered room service for a hurried dinner of farmer's omelettes with grilled veggies. The food took some time to reach, but eventually we had a good meal, and set out in the taxi for the Petra tourist complex.
    As we started down the path to "Al-Khazneh" - The Treasury - which is the most famous monument in Petra, we were in for a visual treat. The entire path to Al-Khazneh was lit up, and it was a really unique experience to walk on the quiet path, lit only dimly by the lamps.

Path to Al-Khazneh

    The path goes through a narrow gorge (which we later found was called the "Siq"), as we continued down the lamp-lit path. As we exited the gorge, the sight of a thousand lamps lighting the monument greeted us.

Al-Khazneh all lit up.

There was a Bedouin musician playing a flute, and walking around the seated tourists. As you can imagine, it was a haunting melody to hear on a dark night with lights of a hundred lamps, valiantly trying to battle the darkness. I could not help but name the Bedouin flutist the "Pied Piper of Petra".





Once the musical performance was over, the Al-Khazneh was lit up with floodlights, to help us tourists take breath-taking shots of the monument!

Al-Khazneh by night.

This was one of the defining experiences of our travel in Jordan, and we were glad that we opted for this tour. We walked back to the Petra visitor entrance, where our taxi was waiting for us to take us back to the hotel. 

Exploring Petra by Day

The next day, after a good breakfast, we headed out to explore Petra again. The hotel provides a free shuttle to the Petra visitor center, so it is quite useful. We headed to the ticket counter, and it turned out to be quite a steep fare. We paid 55 Jordanian Dinars per head, for a 2 day pass, and an additional 50 JD for a guided tour. That amounted to a little north of 200 USD overall, so definitely not cheap.
The guided tour starts off along the same path to Al-Khazneh that we had followed the night before. 

Trail to Al-Khazneh

  The trail from the visitor entrance to Al-Khazneh is a easy, but rocky path. We followed along, with our guide for the day - Mohammed. On the way, the first minor monuments one sees is the "Djinn blocks". These are large rectangular blocks, which the Nabatheans used for their tombs and temples. The local Bedouins, who later discovered them, were convinced that only a Djinn could have moved such large blocks... hence the name.  

Djinn blocks

A few steps from these blocks are more Nabathean tombs, of different sizes. The larger ones were probably for aristocrats while the smaller were for the common folk. The largest of these is the "Obelisk Tomb", which is a three-tiered structure. The rock inscriptions state that the entire family of a Nabathean nobleman is probably buried there.

The Obelisk Tomb

 Further down, the trail first widens, into a large flat clearing, and then branches towards the left through a narrow canyon. This canyon is called the "Siq" in Arabic, and the entrance is called "Bab Al Siq". We had already walked down this path last night, but had missed the dramatic gate, as it was dark. 

Bab Al-Siq - the entrace to the Siq

The Himalayan Desert: Ladakh - Day 3 & 4

Day-3: The Road To Pangong-Tso

Pangong Tso is a large lake east of Leh, close to the China border. The lake had always been a tourist spot, but it has exploded in popularity after the Bollywood movie "3 Idiots". In the summer time, the lake is teeming with tourists, and I guess the tranquil beauty is lost. Luckily, we were visiting in winter. We headed out around 7:00AM, with our same old driver - Jordan. The hotel had a packed lunch for us, and a couple of oxygen cylinders. This was because we would be crossing the second-highest pass in the Himalayas - Chang La. We headed off, and were soon on the outskirts of Leh. Jordan pointed out as we crossed his village - "Sakti" - on the way.

Monastery near Jordan's village.

We soon took a steep road, and started climbing higher. The roads were really rugged from here on. 

There were no pitstops, rest-areas or "dhabas", but the Indian Army has posts with usable toilets.

A dog watches as we stop to use the rest room at a Army outpost.

 All around, the surroundings are extremely rugged and barren. As usual, the temperature was low, but the sun was shining strong, which made it warm in the car. 

Barren, rocky landscape.

Rocky road, and mountains with a spattering of snow.

On the way, we passed Chang-La - the 2nd highest motorable road in the world. This pass lies at 17,680 feet (5.4 km) above sea level, and is the reason why taxis to Pangong-Tso always carry oxygen cylinders.

Chang-La - 17,600 feet high pass.

While we did not need the oxygen cylinders, it was definitely a bit uncomfortable here. The air was thin, and even walking took some effort. There are warning signs advising tourists to not linger here more than 10 minutes. From here onwards the road was downhill for a while. We entered a valley, which had a large Army camp of the "Hodson's Horse" regiment. I could see a sign proudly proclaiming - "This valley is protected by the Good Lord... and Hodson's Horse". I was familiar with this Army regiment, as it is mentioned in William Dalrymple's "The Last Mughal", which I had read some five or six years back.

Further down the road, Jordan stopped the car near meadow with a half-frozen stream. There was a herd of yaks grazing on the other side. 

Yaks grazing.

The whole place was eerily silent, except for the bubbling of the water, and the occasional startling sound as some ice melted and plopped into the water. As we moved on, we spotted a herd of pashmina goat. This is the goat whose wool is used for the famous pashmina shawls.

Pashmina goats.

  

As we moved on, the road became more and more bumpy. The video below gives an idea of how bumpy this ride was. Jordan had a pen-drive of old-and-new Bollywood songs, which he kept playing throughout the 5 hour drive!





 Soon, we could catch a glimpse of the lake from the mountain roads.We were getting closer to the lake! We finally crested a hill, and crossed another Army camp, and saw the vast expanse of the lake surrounded by mountains. 

First glimpse of Pangong-Tso

The Himalayan Desert: Ladakh - Day 1 & 2

Ladakh is the eastern district in the state of Jammu & Kashmir, bordered by Kargil to the west, Himachal Pradesh to the south & Tibet to the east. The region has a dry, "cold desert" climate, and is very sparsely populated. Leh is the capital city, and if located on the banks of the Indus river. Post 2009 (i.e. after Pangong Tso was prominently featured in the Bollywood movie "3 Idiots"), Leh has been known to have become very touristy. Even the remote banks of Pangong Tso are thronged with tourists during summer. So we naturally decided to go at the onset of winter... the time when all the tourists head back towards the plains.

Day-1: The First Glimpse of the Cold Desert

Flying in to Leh from Delhi, was a surreal experience. Due to the great heights of the Himalayan ranges, it seemed like our plane was just skimming the ground, and not flying at 30,000 feet.  

Feels like you can reach out and touch the mountains here.

The airport is located in a small clearing surrounded by rust-coloured craggy peaks. Despite this, the landing was smoother than some in larger cities! A rickety old mini-bus takes you from the plane to the terminal.

A small spartan airport with a rugged landscape.

Leh is situated at an altitude of 3,500 m (11,500 feet), and there are signs all over the airport on altitude sickness. This was the first time both my wife and me had ventured this high in the Himalayas, and we had been advised by doctors to start medication (Diamox) the night before the trip. We had ignored this advice, and thought we'll deal with the problem when it presents itself. While driving to the hotel (The Grand Dragon), our driver Jordan also advised us on the medication, saying in broken hindi "Aap logon ko zaroorat hoga" i.e. "you people from the plains need the medicine".

The first day in Leh is always spent in acclimatization. This is to prevent altitude sickness, irrespective of if you are popping the diamox pills or not. On reaching the hotel, we headed straight for their breakfast buffet, and enjoyed a nice slow breakfast in the sunshine outside.

 

Kawah in the winter sun.

The hotel lawns and rooms face the "Stok Kangri" range, and we spent sometime looking at the arid mountains. The different ranges seemed to be painted in different colours - deep blue for the farthest ones to a yellow ochre to the nearer ones.

Room with a view.

We started feeling the effects of the high altitude by mid-day. Although neither of us felt any nausea, dissiness or headache - all signs of altitude sickness as per the altitude sickness flyer kept in the room. However, there was a general feeling of lethargy and tiredness, and even walking up two flights of stairs got us breathing heavy. We spent the time organizing and negotiating the itinerary for the next few days with the hotel's travel agent. One of the disadvantages of the winter travel was that most tour organizers were closed for the season. So we had to deal with the higher rates of the hotel-organized taxis. The itinerary included the Indus confluence on Day-2, Pangong Tso (a lake close to the border with China) on Day-3, and Leh Palace & Hemis Monastery on Day-4. Pangong Tso was quite steep at Rs. 8,800 for a round trip, but this included packed food and oxygen cylinders.

Day-2: The Mighty Indus, Ancient Monasteries, and Guru Nanak in Leh

The next day, we woke up almost fully acclimatized, and were ready for the trip. I had asked for the same driver who had picked us up from the airport - Jordan. Off we went after breakfast - driving a short distance out of Leh town to the confluence of the Indus and Zanskar rivers. The Indus is one of the great rivers of the Indian Subcontinent, and significant in that it gave the nation it's name. Called "Sindhu" in ancient Vedic texts, it soon became "Hindu" and "Hind" to Arabs who could not pronounce the 'S', and the French silenced off the 'H' into "Inde", which the English then called "India". The oldest known civilizations in India settled along the banks of this river. The Indus was to us what the Euphrates was to Mesopotamia and the Nile to Egypt. The might of the river is very apparent, as it changes the landscape near Leh - carving out a thin oasis of grass and poplar trees which stand is stark contrast to the slate grey mountains.

The Indus supporting tree life in the barren mountains

On the way, we also encountered the so-called "Magnetic Hill" outside Leh. The urban legend is that the hill has magnetic properties that moves your car forward with the engine off, even though it is uphill. One of the explanations is that the road looks like it is uphill due to optical illusion, but is actually downhill.

"Magnetic Hill" outside Leh.

The Zanskar is a tributary that joins the Indus at almost a right angle. The turquoise colours of the two rivers really stand out among the mountains.

Confluence of the Indus and Zanskar rivers.

Jordan drove us right up to the banks of the confluence. There was just one more tourist family there, so the off-season trip seems to have paid off here. We could enjoy the beauty of the place without jostling with tourists.

Confluence of the Indus and Zanskar - up close.

We sat on the banks and enjoyed a cup of Kashmiri kawah tea, before moving on to Alchi village - home to a 11th century monastery. The drive to Alchi was a long one winding through high plateaus, and interestingly, while it was cold outside, the car gets quite uncomfortably hot due to the strong sunshine. It was a very strange feeling - a bit too warm inside the car, but if you touch the window pane, it's freezing cold!

Alchi village turned out to be almost completely shut down and deserted. We could see empty guest houses, deserted "German" bakeries and tourist souvenir shops. It is probably quite vibrant in the summers, but now there was not a single tourist around. Alchi monastery is actually a collection of small shrines and temples in this village.

Sumstek temple in Alchi Monastery

Unfortunately, the Lama of the temple was also taking a off-season break, and we had to wait for him, as he had locked the main temple and gone shopping! We did visit some of the ancient shrines, and got to mix the the few locals who were praying there. The recurring theme was the four-directions Guardian Buddhist deity. We did not take any pictures inside as the shrines had wall paintings all over, and we did not want the flash to degrade the ancient pigment.

On the way back from Alchi, we visited the Gurudwara "Patthar Sahib". Legend has it that when Guru Nanak was visiting Ladakh, he meditated at this place. An evil demon was tormenting the people around this area, and this demon decided to attack the Guru by rolling a large boulder towards him. It so happened that the boulder did not harm the meditating Guru, but turned soft as molten wax and and acquired an impression of the Guru's back. The Gurudwara is built around this boulder, and hence "Patthar Sahib". It is now run by the Indian Army, and we joined in the langar or free lunch after visiting the shrine.

Next on the itinerary was the "Thiksey Monastery". This monastery has a history starting from the 15th century, and is the largest monastery in Ladakh.

Entrance to Thiksey village.

The Monastery is built on the side of a hill, in the typical Tibetan architecture. It is said to be built as a replica of the Potala Palace in Lhasa, Tibet. A row of "chorten" stupas line the bottom tier, with various Monastery buildings after that, and the main building at the top.

Thiksey Monastery.

Climbing up the steps to the main Monastery building, we got to see great views of the Thiksey village.

View of the village.

 Inside, there are many temples, with hardly a soul around, as it was the start of winter. We spent some time meditating in the Maitreya Buddha temple. Unfortunately, I dont have any pictures of this , but the Maitreya Buddha statue is huge - it starts on the ground floor of the temple, and extends up to the first floor.

View from the inside the main monastery - the Maitreya Buddha temple is on the left.

 I guess photography was prohibited (I dont really remember), or we were too spellbound to click pictures. Wikipedia has a picture of the statue in their article on Thiksey Monastery.

Monastery courtyard.

After Thiksey, there was one more place to see - this was the Shey Palace. This palace was used by the ruler of Ladakh as a summer capital. Strangely, the palace did not look like a palace at all. It is a very simple - drab even - grey coloured building. Inside are some simple buildings with Tibetan prayer wheels and large chorten/stupas.

Stupa inside Shey Palace.

Overall, it does not look like a palace at all, but more like a very simple building. In fact, Thiksey Monastery looked way more majestic and imposing than Shey Palace. Perhaps it was deliberate that  religious buildings were made to look more splendid than royal buildings. A King was, after all, not larger than God.
We ended the day with a visit to the Leh market. There is a Mughal-era mosque at the end of the market street. This was built during Aurangzeb's rule, as a compensation to the Mugals for sending troops to help crush an invasion from a neighboring princely state.

Mughal-era mosque. Leh Palace can also be seen in the background (above, right).

The Leh market is a bit disappointing, as it hardly has any local shops. Sindh Bakerries and Punjab Dhabas, and Kashmiri Pashmina stores are prominent, while the local, Ladhaki shops are few. We walked in to one of these little shops, and got some tea, and then returned back to the hotel. Tomorrow we were scheduled for a longer drive to Pangong-Tso.