Leh and My Tibetan Brother From Another Mother

Day 15 – Leh and the Likir Monastery

The day before we left for Sarchu, we took a little day trip to another local Buddhist monastery. Like the other Buddhist monasteries we'd seen here, this one had the now familiar tall prayer flag in the courtyard, the dark and mysterious inner sanctum of the temple, and beautiful wall paintings of gods, demons, the guardian kings and the like.

 

It seems that this monastery was also a common meeting place for the monks of the area surrounding Leh, and as they would be visiting, there were warm clothes left in little piles on the benches inside the temple.

I stopped to get a picture with one of the resident monks. It wasn't until my friend Rob commented on this picture on  Facebook ("Is that your brother?") that I began to see the resemblance.  Well, I had met my long lost Tibetan brother from another mother… Such smiley eyes he has.

Here, instead of a 10 m Buddha inside a 2 story building, Likir monastery had erected a 10 m Buddha just outside the temple. Very nice!

Like many of the temples and monasteries of the area, Likir was high up on a hill with an impressive view of the valley. After our visit, we walked down through the hills and had a chance to see the locals taking in the harvest of wheat.

There was a nice little bridge across the stream, and I stayed perched in the back with my camera, just waiting to catch someone going in the drink. No such thing happened, and then I wondered how I would fair. I crossed just fine.

 

Back in Leh, we were warned that the drive to Sarchu the next day would be very long, and that we might not have as many chances to stop at a Dhaba or restaurant to eat. So, were were advised to stock up on road food from the local German Bakery or "super market".  I found some nice apricot nuts (like almonds), dried apricots, and plenty of German Bakery goods to hold me over.  Now it's time to brace for the road to Sarchu…