10D The Hemis Festival at Leh, Ladakh;
Jul 03-12, 2011,
Indian Himalaya

Tour Itinerary

Day 01 / Jul 03 / Singapore – Delhi SQ408 ETA DEL 22:10hours
On arrival in Delhi greet/meet by your Tour Manager and transfer to Hotel.

Day 02 / Jul 04 / Delhi – Chandigarh – Mandi (B/L/D)
Early morning transfer to New Delhi Railway Station to board the Shatabedi train leaving 0740 hour from Delhi and arriving 1100 hour at Chandigarh. Drive to Mandi (210km, 5 hours) by ascending slowly from the Punjab plains to the Shivalik or the Outer Himalayas. On arrival transfer to Hotel in the middle of one of the most fertile lands in Himachal Pradesh.

Day 03 / Jul 05 / Mandi – Himachal Dharshan Gallery – Naggar – Manali (B/L/D)
Early morning drive to Manali (120km, 3-4 hours) stopping first at Himachal Photo Darshan Gallery just after Mandi town. Our next interesting stop is at Bajaura to visit Basheshar Mahadev temple with fine stone carvings and sculptures, believed to have been built in the mid 8th century.
Drive on to Naggar. After lunch visit Naggar Castle and Rorich Art Gallery, displaying the artwork of both Professor Nicholas Rerich and his son. Naggar was the old capital of Kullu state before it was shifted to Kullu town in 1660. Kullu is the short name changed from Kulantdasha, a Sanskrit word literary meaning “end of habitable world”.

Day 04 / Jul 06 / Manali – Keylong (B/L/D)
After breakfast begin our incredible journey over the Pir Panjal range of the High Himalaya crossing Rohtang Pass (3,978m) with fantastic views of the surrounding Chandra Bhaga range of peaks, mountains and glaciers. Most of the peaks in Chandra Bhaga range are above 5,000m. From Rohtang, descend into the Lahaul valley at Koksar check-point. After completing formalities to enter into the tribal area of Lahaul, we follow the Chandra river to our next destination, a small town called Keylong – the district headquarters of Lahaul. Enroute we will pass through many traditional tribal villages against a backdrop of huge glaciers and snow capped peaks.

Day 05 / Jul 07 / Keylong (B/L/D)
After breakfast trek to Shishur Monastery, located just above Keylong town. We head back to Keylong for lunch and then drive to visit Kardang Monastery on the opposite side of the valley. The afternoon is free for shopping and own activities.

Optional: Kora Trek at no extra cost
Those who wish for a longer trek and would like to acclimatise can do so by crossing a small pass. We start by walking from Keylong to Kardang monastery before crossing the Kardang Pass above the monastery in about 5-6 hours. This trek is called the Kora, one of the traditional pilgrims trek of the natives of Lahaul, and it ends at Gondla about 15km from Keylong on the other side of the mount. We drive back to Keylong after the trek.

Day 06 / Jul 08 / Keylong – Sarchu (B/L/D)
Today is an easy day covering a short distance. We drive through Lahaul valley to Sarchu (120km, 4-5 hours), over the second pass at Baralachala 4,890m. After Baralachala the landscape changes from the semi-barren Lahaul to a barren landscape with different colours of the Trans Himalayan mountains. Three rivers originate from this pass, namely the Chandra, Bhaga and Yanum. The top of the pass is a photographer’s delight for its panoramic views of the Western Himalaya. Four valleys meet here at the trade post where the traders of four valleys used to bring their goods in barter trade with other traders of the other valleys. The traders of Changthang used to bring their fine pashimna and the traders of Lahaul would bring them salt, butter and other spices in exchange. We will also be visiting two small mountain lakes, Deepak Tal and Surej Tal on the way.
Overnight Camp.

Day 07 / Jul 09 / Sarchu – Leh (B/L/D)
Early morning drive to Leh (240km, 7-8 hours) driving over 3 of the highest passes – the Nakee La (5,050m), Lachlungla (5,100m) and Tanglangla (5,360m). If we are lucky, we may chance upon some of the “Changpas” nomadic shepherds, who also engaged in trade and who used to work for caravans in Ladakh, Lahaul and Spiti. The area is rich in wildlife including the “Kyang” (wild ass), red fox and the rare, highly endangered, snow leopard. The mountains on this route offers excellent views and you will understand why this area is also known as Moonland.

Day 08 / Jul 10 / Leh – Hemis Festival (B/L/D)
We drive 40km to Hemis – no visit to Ladakh is complete without visiting Hemis monastery. It is one of the largest and most important monasteries with an excellent library, well preserved wall paintings and good Buddha figures.

We will spend the revelling in the colourful Hemis festival in the monastery courtyards.

Day 09 / Jul 11 / Leh – Thikshey & Stok excursion (B/L/D)
We leave on an early morning excursion to Thikshey Monastery, rated by many travellers as the most spectacular monastery in Ladakh. The monastery is set on a small hilltop in front of a small water pond.

We visit Stok Palace, which houses a museum with fabulous display of costumes and jewelry of the royal family of Ladakh.

If time permits we will visit the Project Lakakh managed by International Society of Ecology & Culture (ISEG).

About Hemis Festival
Each year the Hemis Festival attracts more than its share of pilgrims & tourists. Held during the full moon in June or July for 2 days (Jul 10-11 in 2011), it is a series of colourful masked dances performed to the accompaniment of cymbals, drums & long horns. We have the whole day to witness and photograph the entire ceremonial process including the revealing of the priceless Thangka and possible glimpses of the Head Lama

Day 10 / Jul 12 / Leh – Delhi – Singapore (B/L/D)
Early morning transfer to the airport for our scheduled flight to Delhi. On arrival we have free time for our own activities. We meet again for dinner before our transfer to the airport for our scheduled flight to Singapore.

Day 11 / Jul 13 / Arrive Singapore SQ407 ETA SIN 07:35hours

Group Tour Cost
Price per person in SGD Dollars.

• SGD $2,366 Twin
• SGD $ 424 Single Supplement

Group Size

• Min. 06 persons
• Max. 12 persons

Moonscapes of Ladakh

Inclusions

• Return airfare on Singapore Airlines ‘Q’ Class: SIN/DEL/SIN
• One-way domestic airfare from Leh to Dehli
• Seats in air-conditioned chair car in Satabadi Express between Delhi to Chandigarh
• Airport transfers and all chartered transport including jeeps for journey between Manali to Leh
• Hotels as indicated in the itinerary
• All camping arrangements at Sarchu in camping tents with vegetarian catering arrangements
• Day use room at Delhi at Sahara Hotel on Day 09
• All meals as indicated
• English-speaking Indian Tour Leader from Delhi airport to Leh airport, and local guide in Leh

Exclusions

• Indian Visa and application fee
• All airport taxes
• Monument and monasteries entrance charges
• All personal expenses like soft/hard drinks, telephone calls, etc.
• Travel insurance including medical and evacuation expenses if any
• Tips & gratuities for guides and drivers)/li>
• Any other expenses to be paid owing to any changes in itinerary

Hotels

• Delhi – Silver Fern Hotel
• Mandi – Hotel Valley View
• Manali – Silmog Garden
• Keylong – Tashi Delek
• Sarchu – Deluxe Tents
• Leh – Hotel Lasermo

Toyota Inovas on the Manali-Leh highway

Hemis Festival
The Hemis Monastery, located 40km from Leh, is the wealthiest, best-known and biggest gompa of Ladakh. Its popularity stems from the major annual festival held here in summer. The festival is in honour of Guru Padma Sambhav’s birth anniversary.

Hemis was built in 1630 during the reign of Sengge Namgyal, an illustrious ruler of Ladakh. It flourished under the Namgyal dynasty for the royalty favoured the Drugpa sect, which managed the monastery.

The courtyard of Hemis Monastery or Gompa is the stage for the famous ‘Hemis’ festival. The colourful two-day pageant falls on the 10th day (Tse-Chu) of the Tibetan lunar month. The local people are seen dressed up in their finest traditional garb for the occasion. Lamas called ‘chhams’ perform splendid masked dances and sacred plays to the accompaniment of cymbals, drums and long horns. The head lama presides over the function.

The festival takes an auspicious turn every 12 years in the Tibetan Year of the Monkey, when the two-storey high ‘Thanka’ depicting Padmasambhava is displayed. This famous ‘Thanka’, richly embroidered with pearls and semi-precious stones, is due to be displayed at next year’s festival i.e. in 2012. A colourful fair, displaying some beautiful handicrafts, is the special highlight of the festival.