Stok – even more wonderful experiences and encounters
17. + 18. July 2026
Like almost every place in Ladakh by now, Stok also has a large outdoor Buddhist statue. You can even go inside it. It was consecrated by the Dalai Lama in 2016. Now, another visit from His Holiness was coming up. And for that occasion, everything was being swept, cleaned, and decorated.
I also find this structure on the roof of the building below the statue worth mentioning: wind and solar energy combined into one.
We also quickly popped into the monastery right next door. It is rarely visited—except in winter, when it hosts a monastery festival featuring oracles.
The monks and other workers were fully occupied, but the head monk still took the time to show us around a little. For example, this part. Hundreds of years ago, there was a meditation cave there. But it has basically all collapsed.
In the puja room, there were these cardboard cutouts, which you can now find in almost every monastery. The most magnificent throne is always reserved for the highest lama—in this case, the Dalai Lama—and the one next to it is for another important lama. This one here is Bakula, the highest lama of Ladakh. He is 20 years old now, and I actually still saw him when he was a toddler. How time flies!
A few monks were taking care of the decorations while we were looking around, and outside, quite a bit of fixing up and painting was going on as well.
Further down, more villagers were busy with beautification work—or rather, they were actually taking a siesta. It was quite hot, after all.
You can really be glad when there is such beautiful, cool water to dip your feet and calves into.
A major highlight for me was visiting the local government school. Government schools are generally in a rather unappealing and unengaged state, but here it was completely different! They had appealed to the parents to take their children out of private schools and send them to this one instead. So now there are 67 students here, eager teaching staff, and such a pleasant, stimulating atmosphere that I would have loved to go to school here myself. It has 2 kindergarten classes and otherwise goes up to the 10th grade. The classes are quite small.
Unfortunately, I didn’t take a photo of the principal, I only filmed him. Funnily enough, he is an uncle of Nawang, the gentleman with the pashmina shawls. The Ladakhi world is small sometimes. He is actually quite well-known and highly respected. He believes that all children have talents that go beyond the curriculum and that education needs to be broader anyway, so they also have classes in meditation, martial arts, yoga, etc. And they love going on field trips. Since Tamchos’s farming methods are still rather unknown, they thought it would be a great opportunity for a spontaneous school trip with a farm tour followed by splashing around in the ‘swimming pool,’ and they set a date for the 20th. Unfortunately, I won’t be able to make it; I would have loved to be there.
I was allowed to sit in for a bit with the 8th grade, who were having a science class. The topic was ‘matter’ and how it combines and changes, and the teacher connected it to the example of Ladakhi food. Although the textbooks are not specifically Ladakhi but Indian, they make a real effort here to always establish a connection to the children’s daily lives.
And they also care about health, so they had a ‘sugar board’:
I found it all highly interesting and would have loved to talk and learn much more—but on the other hand, of course, we didn’t want to disturb them for too long. And so we left soon after—me in a very good mood. It made me so happy to see such a great educational institution! But that wasn’t all. We also talked a bit about children’s needs and sex education, and that’s when Tamchos remembered that he has a relative in Stok who deals with exactly that. One phone call—and we were able to drop by that evening!
And that made me just as happy all over again. Stanzin Angmo had received a scholarship for the USA while still in school and spent 8 years there. Now she is in her late 20s and employed in the Health Department, focusing mainly on the topics of hygiene, education, and (sexual) misconduct. She takes a very broad approach to the subject and, among other things, believes that so-called life skills absolutely need to be taught and practiced at a young age. For example, how to name your feelings and then actually talk about them. And the two of us started talking and could hardly stop. Thanks to her time in the USA, she has a completely different perspective on Ladakhi societal sore points. They have developed workshops that they take mainly to remote areas like Changthang and Zanskar. But she would also love to work more on statistics to use numbers to substantiate the need.
I do complain a lot about the developments here, but these two things in the education sector completely thrilled me and make me feel very hopeful.
And because it was already a bit late, we stayed for a small dinner.
Anyway, I saved her contact details, and when I come back in the future, we’d love to meet up again. There is sooo much to talk about!
I’m jumping around quite a bit in this blog post, but then again, we were jumping around all day and experienced so many things, both big and small. You see, we also stopped by for tea with a family who run a homestay, a museum, and a ‘Lunch with Locals’ experience (and are currently building 3 small cottages for travelers as well). They have designed the museum quite beautifully.
Of course, we could have stayed and talked much longer here too, but we did have that evening appointment. And in between, there was yet another event: a person had heard about Tamchos’s accommodation and wanted to view it, so she stopped by. And I must say: the Westerners I’m encountering here this year are really quite something. Tamchos’s wife had already discovered her on Instagram, and after our encounter, I had to take a look too and could hardly believe my eyes. So, first I saw her live, didn’t like her, and when she started carrying on about how God had sent her here, I went completely silent. Tamchos found her strange too and wasn’t really keen on renting his place to her. But how do you handle that cleverly? She wanted to stay for a whole month, and since no other guests were pre-booked either… The solution: quote a relatively high price (he actually charges way too little), and either she cancels, or if not, you can at least look forward to a really good income. She declined, and a collective sigh of relief went around. But truly bizarre, the kinds of people out there. If you’re curious now: search for Adyaxananda on Instagram.
After all these impressions, it was a great idea to hike up the small pass behind the house the next day, which was 160 meters higher in altitude. A gentle breeze was blowing, making it more pleasant than the day before.
From there, you could still see a bit of a path that looked like it would lead to an Indus Valley viewpoint. And so it did—though it wasn’t a proper trail, and I had to battle a bit of fear at times. But it was well worth it.
This here is the path, and near the white stripes is the small pass.
If Tamchos ever gets bored during the winter, it would be a great idea to fix up the path a bit so it’s easier to walk on. Because this little excursion really makes the whole Stok experience even more complete.
Then it was already lunchtime, and Tamchos hurried a bit and got busy at the stove. I had already made a carrot and peanut salad the day before. Together with mutter paneer, rice, and greens from the garden, it was a fantastic lunch to fill our bellies.
I could have stayed longer, and there would have been even more to discover, but for various reasons, it was better to return to Leh in the afternoon. But maybe I will come back again. And I would also love to get to know Tamchos’s wife, Karma, a bit better.
I have a small conclusion: it really is worth dedicating time to the whole villages here and going on a discovery tour together with a local. The best way is to not make an exact plan, but rather to see and arrange things spontaneously. I love days like that. And it is often good to just embrace surprises!