Images of Ladakh and Zanskar here and in store.
View these and more in our Travel Photographs section.
You can watch a video of some of our travels in Ladakh and Zanskar here.
Ladakh and Zanskar are Buddhist enclaves in the high Himalayas of Northern India, between Kashmir and Tibet. Buddhism arrived over 1000 years ago and the cultural similarity with neighbouring Tibet earned it the name Little Tibet. Until China annexed Tibet in 1950, Silk Road caravans came with salt and wool to be traded in Leh, Ladakh’s main town.
The remoteness of Ladakh - the name means Land of High Passes - has isolated it from the rest of India and preserved its traditional Buddhist culture of ancient monasteries, friendly people, remote villages and dramatic landscapes. Zanskar is even more remote and until recently could only be reached by several days walking over 5000 metre passes.
Over the last 14 years Peter and his partner Bev have walked many of the paths across Ladakh and Zanskar to remote monasteries and villages. The photographs express our gratitude for these encounters.
The photos shown are:
The spectacular Zarlung Karpo La, a 5200m pass in Ladakh, south of which you enter the area known as Karnak. There are dramatic views from the Zarlung Karpo down into the deep valleys of Ladakh. The photo was taken as the ponies started to descend to the valley below.
Karsha monastery, sited on a ridge, is the largest in Zanskar. Clouds were scudding past casting shadows on the hills in the background. In the foreground a path leads to the much smaller Karsha nunnery.
This beautiful Vajrasattva statue, adjacent to a painted stupa, is inside the monastery at Lamayuru. The Vajra, missing from the right hand, has been replaced with rupee notes placed there by local people.instead.
The mother and father in law of our friend Tsering Dolkar in the village of Hanupatta. We've known Tsering for over ten years but lost touch with her until the last couple of years ago when we've twice revisited her village. We now keep in touch with WhatsApp.
The spectacular landscape between Photoksar and Kanji, a three day trek where we always seem to encounter rough weather. The following day we climbed slowly through sleet and snow to a 5200metre pass, the path had turned to slurry and it was like climbing up a 45 degree liquid slag heap.
View these and more in our Travel Photographs section.
Photos from our previous exhibition The Forgotten Stepwells of Rajasthan are still available.
