"Tangste-Monastery-Return to Leh-Zorawar Fort" Top 5 Page for this destination Leh Things to Do Tip by anilpradhanshillong

On day six, you return through the same thrilling scenery back to Leh. If you did not get proper sleep the previous night, blame it on the height of Tangtse (4,322m; 14,180 ft). There are locations for a helipad here but security concerns may not permit this. However, before starting your return journey, don’t miss out the engravings on a huge boulder in Tangste. From the market, go towards the Forest Department Guest House, ask around and you will be directed to the rock. People say some of the engravings were made by travellers and merchants going towards Tibet or returning from there. Next to the Guest House is the rushing waters of the Tangste River and above it, the sheer and barren mountain. It is a place worth visiting. In the market, go into Dothguling Guest House & Restaurant, the place where the Bollywood star Aamir Khan stayed with his team while filming the movie, ‘The Idiots’. If time permits, visit the Tangste monastery nearby, perched as it is on the edge of a precipitous ledge. Once you reach Leh, take you lunch and go in for a last stroll towards Leh market. Who knows? You just might get lucky and bag a treasure.

Later in the evening don’t miss the chance to visit the sound and light show at Zorawar Singh Fort. This huge fortification is at the edge of the town on the General Hospital Road by the side of the Gangeis Shynem Stream. Maintained by the Army, you need someone in the Armed Forces to vouch for your good intentions. The show itself is educative as well as enjoyable but the history is engrossing. General Zorawar Singh led as many as four expeditions into the Ladakh region before the Ladakh kingdom was lost forever. By 1819, Kashmir was under Sikh rule and Raja Gulab Singh wanted to fill his exchequer as well as expand his kingdom. The only way he could accomplish his twin objectives was to bring the entire pashmina-producing areas under his control by conquering the Ladakh region. He therefore despatched his Dogra General Zorawar Singh who, between 1834 and 1841, managed to subjugate the region. Thus ended the Namgyal (Victorious) dynasty which had ruled Ladakh since 1551. Before that was the Lhachen dynasty from 990 AD. Prior to that, Tibet was following the Bon Chos religion. With the advent of Buddhism, a schism between these two religions divided the Tibet empire. To reunite his kingdom, king Lang-darma tried his best to promote the Bon Chos religion, leading to his assassination. His two sons then divided the empire between themselves, with Utshang ruling over western Tibet and Yemstan over the Ladakh region. This historical fact is, perhaps, the basis for the Chinese claim over Ladakh and by extension, Arunachal Pradesh.