Central Zanskar

Zangla, Stongde, Karsha & Padum

Central Zanskar

Our Land Beyond group, 2005 ...

Sani Gompa, one of the oldest in the Zanskar region ...

Stongde Gompa, another nearly thousand year old gompa, spectacularly perched on a craggy rock-top overlooking the Zanskar Valley ...

Karsha Gompa, another old monastery with a large & lively community of monks ...

Meme Seldor, the key-keeper and butter-lamp lighter of Karsha Gompa ...

The green patchwork of Stongde village during their mid-summer growing season ...

The view of the Himalayan Range and plains near Padum from Karsha Gompa ...

Our Tibetan Dining tent at the grassy campsite of Zangla Doksa ...

Wheree we are visited by the locals' sheep, goats and donkeys mid-afternoon ...

My friends Geshe Lobsang (back) and Geshe Tenzing (in hat) from Stongde Gompa at our campsite with a trekker, Joy, in Padum ...

Geshe Stenzin with Lobsang, one of our Tibetan guides ...

The key-keeper of Stongde Gompa showing us an old thanka from their 'treasure room' ...

Looking back towards the 'exploratory' route to Shade from Stongde Gompa ...

The magnificent Zangla Fort ...

The horses emerging towards Zangla Doksa from the Bear Valley route ...

Dying clothes outside the doksa ....

Phuktal Gompa, Zanskar

The incredibly picturesque, 1000 year old Phutkal Gompa, built into the cliff-side over the Tsarap River, a two hour walk from our camp at Purne ...

Young novice monks ...

Curious as any young boys (photo Marv Godner) ...

Richard joking with some of the novices ...

The Richard Gere monk ...

Grinding herbs for Tibetan medicine ...

The teacher ...

The upper balcony of the medieval Phuktal gompa, looking down onto the courtyard ...

One of my favorites ...

Our wonderful campsite at Purne, at the confluence of the Tsarap Chu (river) and the Kargiak Chu, seen from the prayer flags on the hill-top above ...

The guys relax during our rest day. Tents by Big Agnes, Steamboat Springs, Colorado ...

Bear Valley

Scenes from the stunning and exciting 'Bear Valley' which separates Ladakh from Zanskar. We did see three bears here in 2003, but only tracks and scat in the following years. There are also Ibex and Blue Sheep scattered throughout the valley ...