Hemis Festival in Ladakhs, India
| country: | India |
| location: | Indian Himalayas, Ladakh |
| departures: | 2010: 20 Jun, 8 Jul, 1 Aug, 15 Aug |
| price: | From £1745 (17 days) including flights from the UK, from £1195 excluding flights. Based on 2 sharing. Single supplement £215 |
| vouchers: | Gift vouchers can be used with this holiday |
the amazing things you'll be doing
Easy to moderate day walks are included, and you should have the chance to do white-water rafting (optional) on the Indus. The drive from Leh to Manali is tough due to poor road conditions, but being the second highest road in the world, the views are fantastic.
Ladakh's Hemis Festival:
The courtyard of Hemis Gompa, the largest and wealthiest Buddhist monastery in Ladakh, is the stage for the famous Hemis festival, a colourful pageant held to celebrate the birthday of Guru Padmasambhava, the founder of Tibetan Buddhism. Sacred in their meaning, a series of visually stunning masked dances and sacred plays are performed by the monastery's monks, to the accompaniment of cymbals, drums and long horns. The intricate brocades and tapestry of their robes and the brightly painted, often fierce-looking masks worn by the monks to represent the guardian divinities of the Buddhist world, all combine to help create an other-worldly feel to the spectacle. We plan to spend the best part of one day at the festival where one of the other highlights is the chance to mingle among the Ladakhi people who dress up in their finest traditional clothes for the occasion - be sure to bring your camera along!
Discover the Indian Himalaya:
Flying in to Leh (3500m) from Delhi, we spend time acclimatising in Ladakh's remote capital and visiting some of the Tibetan Buddhist monasteries of the Indus Valley and beyond. We also enjoy traditional Ladakhi hospitality in the charming village of Alchi. Striking out, we make a spectacular journey across the Himalaya: giant peaks tower above us as the road snakes its way south over high passes to reach the lush meadows of Manali, famed for its temples and hot springs. Continuing through the Himalayan foothills we reach Dharamsala, the home of many Tibetans including the exiled Dalai Lama himself. At our journeys end, Amritsar, we pay a sunset visit to one of the trip highlights; the majestic splendour of the Golden Temple, the Sikh faith's most holy shrine.
Ladakh's Hemis Festival:
The courtyard of Hemis Gompa, the largest and wealthiest Buddhist monastery in Ladakh, is the stage for the famous Hemis festival, a colourful pageant held to celebrate the birthday of Guru Padmasambhava, the founder of Tibetan Buddhism. Sacred in their meaning, a series of visually stunning masked dances and sacred plays are performed by the monastery's monks, to the accompaniment of cymbals, drums and long horns. The intricate brocades and tapestry of their robes and the brightly painted, often fierce-looking masks worn by the monks to represent the guardian divinities of the Buddhist world, all combine to help create an other-worldly feel to the spectacle. We plan to spend the best part of one day at the festival where one of the other highlights is the chance to mingle among the Ladakhi people who dress up in their finest traditional clothes for the occasion - be sure to bring your camera along!
Discover the Indian Himalaya:
Flying in to Leh (3500m) from Delhi, we spend time acclimatising in Ladakh's remote capital and visiting some of the Tibetan Buddhist monasteries of the Indus Valley and beyond. We also enjoy traditional Ladakhi hospitality in the charming village of Alchi. Striking out, we make a spectacular journey across the Himalaya: giant peaks tower above us as the road snakes its way south over high passes to reach the lush meadows of Manali, famed for its temples and hot springs. Continuing through the Himalayan foothills we reach Dharamsala, the home of many Tibetans including the exiled Dalai Lama himself. At our journeys end, Amritsar, we pay a sunset visit to one of the trip highlights; the majestic splendour of the Golden Temple, the Sikh faith's most holy shrine.
day-by-day itinerary
| Day 1: | Fly London/Delhi. |
| Day 2: | Arrive Delhi; city tour of Delhi. |
| Day 3: | Fly Leh (3500m); free day to acclimatise; optional orientation tour. |
| Day 4: | Drive to Phyang Gompa (monastery) for festival; drive Alchi. |
| Day 5: | AM visit Alchi Gompa; walk Saspol Caves; visit Rizong Gompa. |
| Day 6: | Walk or drive to Likir Gompa; drive Leh. |
| Day 7: | Visit Tiksey Gompa and Hemis Gompa. |
| Day 8: | Drive Sarchu via Tanglang La Pass (5328m). |
| Day 9: | Drive Jespa. |
| Day 10: | Drive Manali; free. |
| Day 11: | In Manali; optional visit to hot springs or temple, optional walks. |
| Day 12: | Drive Mandi via Kulu and Nagar Castle. |
| Day 13: | Drive Dharamsala; orientation walk. |
| Day 14: | In Dharamsala; visit monasteries and optional walks. |
| Day 15: | Drive Amritsar via Pathankot; visit Golden Temple. |
| Day 16: | Fly London. |
small group cultural tours
Typically you will be sharing your experiences with between 4-20 like minded travellers (depending on the trip, operator and how many others are booked on the trip) and you'll have a group leader with you. Whether you are travelling alone or with friends it's good value, and a great way to meet new people! While itineraries are pre-planned there is some flexibility and you'll have plenty of privacy. This trip will appeal to travellers of all ages who enjoy meeting new people as well as experiencing new cultures.award winner
This tourism business won an Award in our 2008 Virgin Holidays Responsible Tourism Awards - organised by responsibletravel.com in association with The Daily Telegraph, World Travel Market, Geographical Magazine, of the Royal Geographical Society and BBC World News.Since 2004, the Awards has recognised individuals, companies and organisations in travel making a big commitment to the culture and economies of local communities and helping to conserve biodiversity.
how this holiday makes a difference
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Community:
Festivals express the very soul of a community, rooted as they are in local history and folklore. They’ll engage all your senses, with their din, colours, scents, tastes – the sheer rawness and spontaneity of the whole experience. This is a fabulous way to learn about the local customs and traditions and get an authentic view of the country you are travelling to in an unpackaged way. This tour offers a unique opportunity to witness religious festivals which date back centuries. We use local tour leaders on this tour, so we’ll be able to get a real insight into not only the background to the festival but also the daily life of local people in this remote part of India. The fact that we get out on foot so much makes it so much easier to meet people. Wherever possible we like to meet the people themselves and get to learn a bit more of their lifestyle, but only where we can be sure we that we are not imposing on them. We believe learning about and respecting local people is an integral part of the travel experience and particularly important in such a traditional region. Our leaders keep us well briefed so that we enter the many temples and places of worship in a respectful manner. Employing local leaders also generates employment. We also support a variety of other local businesses such as restaurants, locally owned hotels and transport businesses, ensuring our visit benefits a wide range of people. We believe that responsible travel is first and foremost about doing business well but we also think that it is important to extend our support to people who are unable to benefit from tourism/ We thus support the work of Hope Worldwide with vulnerable communities in India and you will have the opportunity to learn about their work and maybe even visit their orphanage in Delhi. Gifts of clothes are always welcome. Environment: As well as the above, we support a variety of charities and projects worldwide which support vulnerable communities and habitats including Friends of Conservation, Hope Worldwide and Send A Cow. We are also actively engaged with UK travel industry bodies which promote best practice in responsible tourism, such as Tourism Concern, The Travel Foundation and AITO. Our commitment to responsible tourism is not limited to our overseas operation and we have measures to ensure our UK office operates according to our responsible tourism policy. Carbon offsets for all flights booked with us are included in the tour cost. |
Tourism can be good and bad for destinations & local people. We carefully screen every holiday against our criteria for responsible travel. 'Look behind the brochure' to find how each holiday makes a difference (see left). We don't claim to be perfect - there is no global accreditation - but we've led the way since 2001 and screened 1000's of holidays. We invite every traveller to write a review about their experiences and responsible tourism. This valuable feedback is sent to the people who run the holidays. We keep a very close eye on it and take off holidays that don't live up to our standards. |