Lamayuru

If you find the wheels of your wanderlust rolling through Leh, make sure you stop at Lamayuru. Unconventional geological events have lent a spectral appearance to the landscape which tourists have come to associate with the moon. That’s how it came to be known as a moonscape.

When you visit the wizened monastery of Lamayuru, remember to breathe in the sacral panorama – the frozen figures on the fresco, reaching out through the mists of the accumulated centuries, the daunting masks, the glassed-in meditation cave of the Lama Naropa. Every speck of dust that shrouds the stately ruins of the monastery carries memories of the old world, its folkways and its fervours.

What you cannot miss is the annual festival, Yuru Kabgyat. It is a celebration of communitarian well-being, marked by masked dances and ritual burning of effigies. Once you have had your fill of exotica, ecstasy and exhilaration, remember to take a slice of Lamayuru home with you, leaving tyre tracks and a sense of untiring wonder in your wake.