In our hotel in Alchi, breakfast was better than in Leh. We had muesli and fruit, toast, apricot jam and egg omelets. Then we got into the jeeps again to drive to Mangyu, another monastery that is located in a valley that didn’t have any road leading to it until 14 years ago and where there is a bus that drives there once a week.
For our tour today, a professor from Austria who has been working in Ladakh as an architect, joined us and explained some things as well. In Mangyu we also met a young woman who was in charge of the renovation works that were currently being done. She explained that the most important thing of a monastery like the one here or any other building with paintings was the roof. If the roof leaks, the paintings get destroyed. She showed us some wooden parts which they had replaced and we saw people working in the temple.
Two were just making a new courtyard which would allow the water to flow down instead of into the temple.Inside we weren’t allowed to take any pictures because the paintings are very fragile.
We walked down the road we had come up with the jeeps. On our way we were fascinated by all the different rocks and mountain forms.
For lunch we had Italian and American food: really good french fries, maccaroni, spaghetti and vegetables. And after a short rest we had tea and then walked up the hill to see Tsatsapuri, a temple that is somehow a secret tip. It is a private building and therefore we were allowed to take as many pictures as we wanted. We saw many beautiful paintings and some rare mandalas. One was not symmetrical but had five smaller mandalas in the middle which represented the five forms of the Buddha. Another mandala had eight entrances instead of the typical four.
On our way down we met some sheep and cows that were running around freely.
Now lunch and tomorrow we ware getting up early to avoid the midday sun when hiking.
For our tour today, a professor from Austria who has been working in Ladakh as an architect, joined us and explained some things as well. In Mangyu we also met a young woman who was in charge of the renovation works that were currently being done. She explained that the most important thing of a monastery like the one here or any other building with paintings was the roof. If the roof leaks, the paintings get destroyed. She showed us some wooden parts which they had replaced and we saw people working in the temple.
We walked down the road we had come up with the jeeps. On our way we were fascinated by all the different rocks and mountain forms.
For lunch we had Italian and American food: really good french fries, maccaroni, spaghetti and vegetables. And after a short rest we had tea and then walked up the hill to see Tsatsapuri, a temple that is somehow a secret tip. It is a private building and therefore we were allowed to take as many pictures as we wanted. We saw many beautiful paintings and some rare mandalas. One was not symmetrical but had five smaller mandalas in the middle which represented the five forms of the Buddha. Another mandala had eight entrances instead of the typical four.
 |
| A very rare mandala |
Now lunch and tomorrow we ware getting up early to avoid the midday sun when hiking.
No comments:
Post a Comment