Thiksey Monastery

Thiksey is a Gelug monastery about nineteen kilometres from Leh, built up a hillside in stages so that whitewashed monks' quarters step down the slope and the red and ochre temple buildings sit at the top. The layout invites comparison with the Potala in Lhasa and holds it reasonably well from a distance. The main draw inside is a seated Maitreya figure around fifteen metres high, installed relatively recently, filling a purpose-built hall through two storeys so that you meet the face at gallery level rather than looking up at it. Morning prayers begin early with horns sounded from the roof, and visitors can sit quietly at the back. From the upper terrace the Indus valley opens out below in fields and lines of poplar.

What you actually see

• The Maitreya hall - a seated future Buddha about fifteen metres high, seen at face level from the gallery.
• Morning prayers - horns from the roof and chanting in the assembly hall soon after dawn.
• The stacked buildings - white monks' quarters tiered down the hill under the ochre temples.
• The terrace view - the Indus valley, irrigated fields and bare mountains from the top level.

When to go

May to September is the road season; the passes and most flights close or become unreliable in winter, and Ladakh is severe then. Prayers start around six or seven in the morning, well before the tour vehicles from Leh arrive, and that is the visit worth making. Give yourself two days in Leh to acclimatise before coming.

Honest expectations

This sits above three thousand metres and the climb from the car park to the top temple leaves most people breathless on their first days. Steps and ladders inside are steep and uneven. Photography rules differ from chapel to chapel and a camera fee applies. By mid-morning coach groups fill the courtyards and the calm you came for is gone.

Nearby

Shey palace and Hemis monastery are on the same valley road, and Leh is under an hour away.