Ladakh

Our Ladakh Photo Tour, from June 6th to 20th, 2021 (plus several different dates for summer 2021), is one of our most complete photography experiences that includes landscape, portraits, travel and architecture photography all in the same trip.  This area, also known as ‘The Little Tibet’, is an amazing destination with thousands of possibilities for culture, landscape, nature and portrait photography lovers. One of the highlights of this trip will be the fact that we will be accompanied but a Buddhist monk as our local guide, an incredible experience that will make much easier our visits and photography sessions in monasteries, local houses or nomads settings.

Located North to the Indian Himalayas, the majority of Ladakh is around 9,800 ft./3,000 m high offering us sweeping valley views surrounded by stunning peaks, mountain ranges, beautiful deep blue lakes and high mountain deserts with incredible dunes begging to be photographed.

All these impressive sceneries will bring us countless photography opportunities day by day as we enjoy the beautiful light and contrast of the sky as the sun goes down and hides behind the mountains.

Some of the locations we will be photographing include Pangong Tso, a mountain lake 13,800 ft./4,200 m high bordering India and China. We will also visit Tsomoriri Lake which is even higher and surrounded by spectacular mountains where we will be able to do some fantastic sunrise and sunset sessions there.

Nubra Valley is another area where we will photograph the extraordinarily beautiful Diskit Monastery, as well as a magical mountain desert in the middle of this valley. To get to this location, we will drive the world famous Khardung La Mountain Pass, at around 18,300 ft./5,600 m. high, one of the highest roads on Earth. The views and the moments we will be enjoying on our drive will be unforgettable.

In many of the towns and villages we will be visiting there are extraordinary Buddhist monasteries often nestled between mountains making for beautiful landscapes photos, a dream come true for architecture and cultural photographers. We’ll also have the chance to capture the monks praying and going about their daily routines.

Apart from the monks, we will be constantly finding great opportunities to photograph locals, especially in Leh, the largest town in Ladakh where we will walk by the local  markets which will allow us to get hundreds of great pictures.

We will even be searching for the Changpa, a nomadic tribe that we have been able to photograph in the past which is one of the highlights of our trip. It’s not sure we will be able to photograph them, but we will try our best to locate them during our time there.

We are absolutely sure that this Ladakh Photo Tour will be an unforgettable experience for any photography lover which will take you to one of the most unique and less known areas on Earth allowing you to capture incredible images.

Don’t miss this special opportunity and reserve your place, spots are limited!

 

ITINERARY

 

Day 1 – LEH

Welcome! Today we will plan to meet our group at the Delhi airport and then fly from Delhi to Leh, in Ladakh. The 90-minute flight will bring us impressive views of the surrounding peaks as it’s one of the most scenic flights on Earth taking you over the top of stunning mountain peaks.

Once in Leh, it’s necessary to adapt to the high altitude, so we will have a relaxed first day where we will check in to our hotel and get acclimated.

In the afternoon, we will walk to Leh’s main street, Main Bazar, where we will take our first portraits in Ladakh.

Later, we’ll drive to Shanti Stupa where we will be able to enjoy spectacular views of the town. We will be there for sunset and also capture blue hour.

 

 

Day 2 – LAMAYURU

After sunrise, we will drive by the Indus River where we will stop in many different places to get some shots.

We will then head to Lamayuru where we will get to the monastery to take some pictures of the monks and their routines.

For sunset, we’ll be able to capture the impressive views of the village and the spectacular monastery which is surrounded by mountains.

After, we’ll end our day at our accommodation in Lamayuru.

 

Day 3 – WAY BACK TO LEH

We will get up early to photograph the sunrise in the amazing Lamayuru area.

After breakfast we’ll drive back East stopping by the Alchi monastery. Here, we will be visiting several Buddhist temples, some of them more than 1,000 years old. We will be able to see Buddha statutes and some of the oldest paintings in Ladakh. Unfortunately, it’s forbidden to photograph in most of the temples however the exterior views will bring us some good opportunities.

We will also visit the Likir Monastery which was built in the XIV century and houses a 25 foot tall Buddha gold statue. We will also try to photograph some of the Gelukpa monks living there.

Later, we will continue to Leh where we may do some street photography and later capture the sunset from some of the viewpoints of the city before heading back to the hotel.

 

Day 4 – THIKSE MONASTERY AND HEMIS

Today, we’ll go to Thikse Monastery early in the morning where if lucky, photograph some monks praying. Thikse monastery is located on top of a hill in Thiksey, a village around 10 miles from Leh. Its structure is quite similar to the Potala Palace in Lhasa, Tibet, but much smaller.

Then, we’ll visit the Hemis Monastery as well as the surroundings. Hemis is one of the most important monasteries in Ladakh and is located near the entrance of Hemis National Park, one of the best areas to spot snow leopards.

We’ll stay there till the end of the day either staying in the area or in Leh.

 

Day 5 – ROUTE TO PANGONG

Our journey continues today to the impressive Pangong Lake. We’ll wake up very early and head to Thiksey monastery for a sunrise session. Afterwards, we will try to photograph the monks praying which is one of the highlights of the trip.

After our stop by Thiksey, we’ll continue our way to Pangong Lake stopping to photograph several of the beautiful sceneries along the way.

At 13,800 ft./4,200 m. high, Pangon Lake is a huge deep blue lake located between India, Tibet and China. The lake is surrounded by spectacular mountains and peaks which will be the perfect spot for our sunset session.

 

Day 6 – PANGONG LAKE

Today, we’ll wake up early to photograph the sunrise by the shores of Pangong Lake.

We’ll then continue to explore and photograph the lake and the surrounding roads the rest of the day staying out until the sun is gone. During our day in Pangong, we will be able to practice long exposure photography with the use of neutral density filters.

At night, if the sky is clear, we may do a night photography session where we will try to capture the Milky Way.

 

Day 7 – BACK TO DAKTHOK MONASTERY

Today, we’ll have our last sunrise shoot by Pangong Lake and then drive back to Takthok where we will stay the night. We have quite a long drive this day but we will be stopping several times to capture the sceneries and photographing locals we will be encountering.

After arriving at our hotel, we will enjoy the monasteries of Takthok and Chamday, which will be the location where we will shoot the sunset.

 

 

Day 8 – TSOMORIRI LAKE AND KORZOK

We’ll wake up early again to enjoy the festival at Takthok Gompa monastery and then head towards Korzok located by Tsomoriri Lake.

Again, we have a long drive to our destination but we’ll stop several times to photograph the vast landscapes we’ll have around us.

We’ll arrive at Korzok by lunch time, and after some time to rest, we’ll go out to capture some portraits of the people living in this remote village.

For sunset, we will get by the shore of the beautiful Tsomoriri Lake where we will enjoy the views as the last light of the day begins to set upon the mountains in front of us.

 

 

 

Day 9 –  TSOMORIRI LAKE

For sunrise, we’ll head again to the shorelines of the lake hoping to get some beautiful light.

After our session, we’ll have breakfast at the hotel and then will drive out of the village in search of the Changpa, a nomadic tribe that is usually staying near the lake during this time of  year.

Meeting and photographing the Changpa will be another one of the highlights of the trip as we will have the opportunity to photograph them inside their tents while they go about their daily routines.

After spending most of the time in the Changpa area, we will go back to the lake to photograph the sunset and, if conditions are good, also do a night photography session in the area to capture the Milky Way and the wonderful night sky.

 

Day 10 – BACK TO LEH

After shooting sunrise by Tsomoriri Lake, we will get back on the road again and head back to Leh.

We’ll spend the day on the road, stopping by several locations to photograph the sceneries and the people we will be finding on our way.

We will arrive to Leh in the afternoon and have some free time for shopping and preparing our luggage for the next day.

Day 11 – KHARDUNG LA TO NUBRA VALLEY – DISKIT

Today, we’ll head North to the Nubra Valley. Nubra means “garden” in the local dialect and is known for it’s amazing valley in the middle of the mountains. We will be able to see and photograph a vast array of landscapes during our drive to get there.

After, we will cross the impressive Khardung La mountain pass at 18,300 ft./ 5,600 m, high. This is one of the highest roads on Earth and we will be able to enjoy fantastic views from it.

Once we arrive to the Nubra Valley, we will get to our hotel in Diskit to rest and then head to the impressive desert in the valley which will bring us spectacular opportunities for photography where we’ll stay until sunset.

 

 

Day 12 – NUBRA VALLEY

This morning we’ll wake up early to capture the sunrise by the beautiful Hunder dunes.

After breakfast, we’ll travel to the Diskit monastery to photograph the monks and the beautiful architecture there. We will be visiting a stunning 105 ft. / 32 m Buddha statue which was recently built in the last few years.

After lunch, we will go for a walk by the village where we’ll find countless opportunities to photograph the locals and their daily routines.

 

 

Day 13 – BACK TO LEH

We will wake up early to go back to Leh after photographing the sunrise by the Diskit monastery.

We’ll spend most of the day driving back to Leh, but at the same time, we will stop several times to photograph the great views by our drive.

 

 

Day 14 – FLY BACK FROM LEH – END OF THE TRIP

We’ll be waking up early to drive to the airport where we will say goodbye to this amazing country and get our flights back to Delhi and our final destinations.

 

 

* Optionally, we can offer a Photo Tour extension that will take place in Delhi, India. This extension would be two or three days long after the Ladakh trip.

On this extension (two days long), we will explore Old Delhi, its incredible streets and markets and capture fantastic portraits of the people living in this impressive city.
We will also photograph some of the most famous locations in Delhi such as the Lotus Temple and the Red Fort, where we will capture the sunset and blue hour.

 

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