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Steve Elkins

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Ladakh and Zanskar

After four years of persistent petitions to the Indian government (which involved collaborating personally with the King of Ladakh), special permission was finally granted to visit a place very few people on earth are allowed to see: Hanle, Ladakh. 15,000 feet high in the Himalayas on the tense border of India between Pakistan and Tibet (and a full day’s drive on rough unpaved roads from the nearest town), you won’t find much here but silence, and the people who are using it to push the boundaries of what we know about the universe and ourselves: astronomers who built the world’s second highest optical telescope here, and a 400 year-old Drukpa monastery inhabited by only ten monks. This journey involved traveling on foot and horseback to remote monasteries in Zanskar, which are days from the nearest roads and cut off from the world most of the year. September - October 2016.

For more on the sand mandalas made in this region: https://www.steveelkins.net/Interviews/On-Art/Sand-Mandalas/

For more on the journey: https://www.steveelkins.net/Interviews/On-Making-ECHOES-OF-THE-INVISIBLE/Behind-The-Scenes-Photos/
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  • Near Kargil And The Pakistan Border

    Near Kargil And The Pakistan Border

    There were concerns about traveling here due to recent "surgical strikes" along this border region and shelling on the roads. Locals helped determine when it was safe to pass through between attacks.

  • Short Break With Our Horse

    Short Break With Our Horse

    Zanskar, Himalayas

  • Thiksey, Ladakh

    Thiksey, Ladakh

  • 400 Year Old Monastery

    400 Year Old Monastery

    Near the Tibetan border.

  • One night in Zanskar, after being invited to dinner by a group of child monks in a cave near a mountain top, which they used as a kitchen with an open fire and pots to make soup and tea from rancid yak butter, barley flour, and yak cheese. Just outside the cave entrance was a vertical drop-off straight into the river far below. Above, shooting stars and the milky way illuminated the night.

    One night in Zanskar, after being invited to dinner by a group of child monks in a cave near a mountain top, which they used as a kitchen with an open fire and pots to make soup and tea from rancid yak butter, barley flour, and yak cheese. Just outside the cave entrance was a vertical drop-off straight into the river far below. Above, shooting stars and the milky way illuminated the night.

  • A Short Rest For Our Horse

    A Short Rest For Our Horse

    Zanskar, Himalayas

  • Our Horse And Guide

    Our Horse And Guide

    Crossing the Himalayas.

  • After several days journeying on foot and horseback, we finally arrive at a monastery which has been hidden away from the rest of the world since the 15th century. A local villager provided his horse to carry our gear through the mountains, which made the 16,000 foot journey possible since there's a lot less oxygen at this altitude.

    After several days journeying on foot and horseback, we finally arrive at a monastery which has been hidden away from the rest of the world since the 15th century. A local villager provided his horse to carry our gear through the mountains, which made the 16,000 foot journey possible since there's a lot less oxygen at this altitude.

  • After thousands of years, this Maitreya Buddha (or future Buddha-to-come) is still overlooking the old trade route in Mulbekh, surrounded by ancient Kharoṣṭhī inscriptions, a language used in present day Afghanistan and Pakistan from roughly the 3rd century BC till it died in the 3rd century AD.

    After thousands of years, this Maitreya Buddha (or future Buddha-to-come) is still overlooking the old trade route in Mulbekh, surrounded by ancient Kharoṣṭhī inscriptions, a language used in present day Afghanistan and Pakistan from roughly the 3rd century BC till it died in the 3rd century AD.

  • Untitled photo
  • Untitled photo
  • Untitled photo
  • Traveling On Foot And Horseback Across Zanskar

    Traveling On Foot And Horseback Across Zanskar

  • Shergole, Ladakh

    Shergole, Ladakh

  • Near Cha Village

    Near Cha Village

    Zanskar, Himalayas

  • Untitled photo
  • At one monastery we visited, monks meditate in readiness for the moment when they are possessed by the deity, at which point they perform all manner of death-defying stunts that include leaping blindfold around the gompa's precipitous parapets while slurping kettle-fulls of chang (an alcoholic rice drink from Tibet), and slashing themselves with razor-sharp sabres. A question and answer session follows in which they make prophecies about the coming year.

    At one monastery we visited, monks meditate in readiness for the moment when they are possessed by the deity, at which point they perform all manner of death-defying stunts that include leaping blindfold around the gompa's precipitous parapets while slurping kettle-fulls of chang (an alcoholic rice drink from Tibet), and slashing themselves with razor-sharp sabres. A question and answer session follows in which they make prophecies about the coming year.

  • Ladakh

    Ladakh

  • 17th Century Hanle Monastery

    17th Century Hanle Monastery

  • Restricted Zone, Ladakh

    Restricted Zone, Ladakh

  • Jan Waking Up On A Rooftop In Zanskar

    Jan Waking Up On A Rooftop In Zanskar

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    Short Break With Our Horse
    Thiksey, Ladakh
    400 Year Old Monastery