Thikse-Chemday-Leh – Friends, Rain, Pictures
20. – 26. July 2026
On Monday, my life here changed a bit. I got company. A lot of company. In the morning, Spalgon and I drove to the airport to pick up my friend Andrea and her travel group. There are seven of them, traveling mostly on their own—I only arranged the start of the trip. I wasn’t officially tour-guiding, but I couldn’t completely avoid slipping into the role either. Apart from her husband, I didn’t really know the rest of the group. Andrea was the only one who had been to Ladakh before, but that was many, many years ago—in fact, that’s where we first met. To save them all from immediate culture shock right away, I thought starting off somewhere quiet was a good idea, so we headed to the guesthouse at the Nyerma Nunnery.
There are only about five elderly nuns living there now, and it looks a bit sad. Although the guesthouse itself was still in good shape and two lovely gentlemen from Himachal Pradesh cooked and took fantastic care of us (they cook for the nuns, too), the whole place felt somewhat deserted and ‘dead. There used to be so much vibrant life here, but now there isn’t much of it left. It made me feel sad.
The weather was sad, too. It had rained quite a bit during the night, and the forecast for the next few days called for lots of clouds and more rain.
The first day was meant for resting, and on the second, we walked to Thikse. We didn’t make very fast progress, though, because we were invited in for tea at a large, newly built house. Really sweet—and just like the old days.
It’s really impressive how big and fancy people are building these days! And how few people actually live in these houses—here, the residents were just her, her husband, and his or her mother. And then we even ended up dancing, too. Perfect for starting into Ladakh!
Then we continued along the road to Thikse, which fortunately didn’t have much traffic, even for summer. But it really is interesting to see how lots of plots have sprung up on land that used to be completely empty, with more and more building going on. We also ran into a traveling vendor selling electronic stuff. Back in the day, it was mostly wandering traders with bedsheets, carpets, and things like that—so that’s another thing that has changed.
In Thikse, we just did a quick tour of the monastery. It has so many rooms and, wow, so many visitors, too! And they had an ice cream kiosk.
We grabbed a bite to eat down below, and the weather didn’t look so good. But nice for a photo.
And on the way back, it finally happened: it rained.
The next day it was still damp, and we set off to Chemday to visit the monastery. What a contrast to Thikse—there was hardly anyone here. Instead, 1 monk in each room was doing puja.
In the winter, I had already started photographing the wall painting faces in one of the rooms. This time, I realized there were way more, so I snapped those as well. I think it’s quite a wealth of special-looking paintings. Sorry, the proper gallery view doesn’t work on mobile….
Afterwards, we were at Tsering Dolma’s in Kharu for lunch, a chat, and a look at the garden. Stupidly, I took almost no pictures while there. But it was really nice to show the others a bit of everyday life in Ladakh.
Afterwards, we drove to Leh, and a disaster started unfolding—though it was averted in the end. The pre-booked accommodation (from Overland Escape) was not good. Not at all. The group had the exact same complaints that I often have here: lack of warmth, lack of love for the place, lack of cleanliness, lack of effort. Unfortunately, I didn’t know the guesthouse and hadn’t checked it out beforehand. So we walked around looking for a replacement—and found one! Now the group is really, really happy in one of the cleanest places around here, where they not only put in the effort, but also take great care of everything and look after the guests with genuine love. I was so relieved that it turned out well in the end! And nicely enough, no cancellation fee had to be paid. We all hope it serves as motivation for them to improve!
In Leh, too, the weather was very hesitant to improve. But everyone was still in high spirits.
We went on a walk around town, running a lot of errands and doing a little shopping.
We ate delicious food—and some not-so-delicious food—and went to Sankar Gompa (which was closed), watched wild dogs in their territorial fights, and played games in the evening. I lost big time. And then the next day, they headed off to the Nubra Valley. I always find it amazing that private little groups can travel together without an organized tour. I think you really have to get along well and be pretty laid-back about a lot of things. Admirable.
So then I was on my own again and didn’t do much. I walked around a bit, ate well, spent some time with my guesthouse owner, marveled at how swollen the rivers here have become, looked for new undies (two are already ruined and number three is on its last legs), finished reading a book, and generally just spent two pretty quiet days.
And then a little “photo fever” caught hold of me, and I went looking for specific motifs—and managed to find a few!
And so it’s time to say goodbye to Ladakh for now. Tomorrow I fly to Delhi, and the day after tomorrow to Kathmandu. Built in a flight buffer just in case—you never know. Since my health still isn’t great—meaning shortness of breath, a dry cough, and feeling pretty spacey—I’m actually not too sad to be leaving, and after Nepal, back in Delhi, I’ll get my lungs and bronchial tubes checked out. For now, I’m curious to see if the change in altitude makes a difference. It did make my stay a bit frustrating, since I really wanted to hop around the mountains and explore new high passes. But if it’s not meant to be, it’s not meant to be. And I’m realizing once again how important it is to do things sooner rather than waiting too long. But then: I’ve already experienced so much in my life, so I’m not feeling too overly frustrated.