India: A Textile Adventure of Ladakh's Cultural Heritage & History

Late evening or early morning arrivals in Delhi and transfer to Taj Vivanti Hotel from the airport (or come a day early and explore Delhi and get over jet lag!) Today’s activities include:

• After breakfast, we enjoy a visit to the National Gallery of Modern Art or the Central Asian Gallery at the National Museum
• Welcome Lunch at National Craft Museum Visit & "Welcome lunch" at Café LOTA
• Afternoon visit to a textile studio to see hands-on fabric work.
• Later, we visit the textile and cottage emporiums to learn about artisanal and textiles from different India States and Indian Handicrafts.
• Return to hotel for dinner and rest.

Accommodations: Taj Vivanta 

Meals: B,L,D

• Morning transfer to Delhi Airport for a 1-hour flight to Leh.
• Upon arrival in Leh, we transfer by car for a 1.5-hour ride to the Apricot Tree Hotel in Nurla.
• Lunch and acclimatize the rest of the day.
• Over dinner, we enjoy a short film about the Silk Road and an introductory talk about the region, history, and textiles of Ladakh.

Accommodations: Apricot Tree Hotel in Nurla

Meals: B,L,D

• Morning meditation at Tse Karmo
• Visit Alchi Monastery, built in the 10th century AD by the Guru Rinchen Zangpo, with a focus on petroglyphs and textile traditions.
• Lunch at Alchi Kitchen, where authentic Ladakhi cuisine is served by award-winning chef Nilza Wangmo and how she is promoting women’s empowerment and introducing Ladakhi cuisine to visitors  (see article about the story of Nilza and her all-women kitchen )  
• Afternoon Visit to Wanla Monastery
• Return to the hotel for rest.
• In the early evening, we will have a briefing about Ladakh’s heritage by our Textile Expert, Dr. Monisha Ahmed, the Co-Founder of Ladakh Arts and Media Organization (LAMO).
• Later, we enjoy a Cultural dinner at Apricot Tree with entertainment featuring Ladakhi music, dance, and art.

Accommodations: Apricot Tree Hotel in Nurla

Meals: B,L,D

• Depart Nurla with optional visits to either Basgo Monastery or Saspol Caves* en route, as well as photo stops, including a view of the confluence of the Indus and Zanskar Rivers.
• Lunch in Leh followed by a visit to Jigmet Couture, a sustainable business whose focus is to preserve the rich Ladakhi art, craft, and culture.
• Free time to explore the bazaar for shopping and get acquainted with the ‘town plaza.
• Reach Stok Village & check into Golden Retreat Hotel where we will have dinner.

*Saspol Caves have paintings of the Buddhist pantheon from the 13th – 15th century.

Accommodations: Golden Retreat Hotel

Meals: B, D

Today, we explore the beautiful village of Stok and an artistic visit to the Central Institute of Buddhist Studies. Flow of Activities are as follows:

• Morning meditation and talk with Khensur Rinpoche
• Stok Palace visit
• Lunch at Gyab Thago House & Cultural Heritage
• Afternoon visit to Central Institute Buddhist Studies (CIBS) to see their workshops/classes on sculpture, wood carving, and thangka painting
• Dinner with a short film and talk at Golden Retreat

Accommodations: Golden Retreat Hotel

Meals: B,L,D

Today, we depart for “Leh Town,” which was an important stopover route for the trade of salt, grain, cashmere, indigo, and silk between India and China. The program for the day is as follows:

• First stop is Leh Palace, followed by an engaging morning with the Ladakh Arts and Media Organization (LAMO). We first enjoy a brief tour of the historical houses they are located in and their current exhibition, followed by a guided cultural heritage walk in Leh Town. 
• For lunch, we enjoy a 2.5-hour-long Ladakhi culinary experience at Artisanal Alchemy, learning how Ladakhi food is a result of its history, its trade with Central Asia, its socio-religious-cultural exchanges with Tibet, and now the influences from the sub-continent.
• Additional shopping in Leh as well as a brief visit to LENA’s shop.
• Return to Stok for rest and a light dinner.

Accommodations: Golden Retreat Hotel

Meals: B,L,D

• We start our day with a visit to Thiksey Monastery, a large gompa in Ladakh belonging to the Gelugpa school (the “yellow hat” sect) of Tibetan Buddhism, and enjoy a special visit to the Monastery’s library.
• Next we proceed to visit LENA for a Pashmina workshop with a simple Ladakhi lunch. LENA is a company co-founded by two Ladakhi women who produce the finest pashmina products using sustainable methods and help the local economy by employing local artisans, especially women; LENA has helped revive traditional methods of spinning, weaving, and using all-natural products to dye their fibers.
• En route back to Stok, we enjoy a sunset visit at Shanti Stupa.

Accommodations: Golden Retreat Hotel

Meals: B,L,D

Today we embark on a journey to the Changtang region of Ladakh, an extension of the Tibetian plateau and home to the pastoral nomads, known as Changpa, and their precious livestock, the Pashmina goat, known locally as the Changra.

• After breakfast, we enjoy the 2-hour ride to Chantang
• Upon arrival, we engage with the nomadic pastoralist community and enjoy local activities with the Changpa.
• In the evening, we enjoy a Ladakhi dinner with our homestay hosts.

Accommodations: Homestay in Gya Village

Meals: B,L,D

• We enjoy a morning walk in Changtang through Gya village with our guide and hosts, exploring the heritage of this historically significant village to Ladakh’s history.
• Afternoon departure to Stok, with a stop in Leh for last-minute shopping!
• Dinner at Golden Retreat

Accommodations: Golden Retreat Hotel

Meals: B,L,D

Today we visit the Hemis Monastery and enjoy seeing the ancient relics at their Museum, and lunch afterward.

Farewell Ladakhi Dinner at the home of our hosts, Tsering Angdu and Family (next door to Golden Retreat Hotel)

Accommodations: Golden Retreat Hotel

Meals: B,L,D

Today, we say goodbye to Ladakh and our new friends (or ask us about options to stay and visit Nubra Valley!)

• Morning flight from Leh to Delhi. Upon arrival, we will venture to Agra for an overnight stay to visit the Taj Mahal and Agra
• Upon arrival in Delhi, we depart by coach bus to Agra via express-way (200 Kms/04h00 approx.) with a lunch stop en route to Agra. On arrival, check in to your accommodations.
• Enjoy a sunset visit to Agra Fort

Accommodations: Trident Hotel

Meals: B, L, D

Flight info:  Go Air 204 Leh-Delhi Dep 0820 arr 0955

• Sunrise visit to the Taj Mahal
• After breakfast, we explore Agra on a heritage walk through the Old City.
• return to New Delhi and check into the hotel for rest before long trip home. 
• Airport drop-offs for evening flight home

Laura Kozaitis is the CEO of Silk Road Spaceship, the slow-fashion, a fair-trade-commerce website featuring hand-dyed silk accessories and gorgeous product collaborations with Himalayan designers. Her passion for Himalayan art and heritage began in 1989 when she first traveled to the region to study with a master Ladakhi thangka painter. Four years later, she co-founded the Siddhartha School Project with her Smith College professor, Khensur Rinpoche Lobzang Tsetan, a Ladakhi Buddhist monk.

In addition, Laura wrote Harvard’s Peabody Museum Guide to their collection of Himalayan objects while completing a master’s degree from Harvard Divinity School in world religions with a focus on Tibetan art and religious history.

The cost of this trip includes a donation to support the art and cultural programming of the Ladakh Arts and Media Organisation (LAMO), a public charitable trust established to articulate an alternative vision for the arts and media in Ladakh. 

The organization set up the LAMO Centre in Leh, the main town of the region, to provide a space for the understanding and development of the arts. The complex on which the Centre is located comprises two historical houses below the 17th-century Lechen Pelkhar (Leh Palace). The houses were restored by LAMO and converted to an art space with galleries, offices, a library and reading room, a screening room, conference room, and an open-air performance site. The Centre is designed to conduct outreach programs, lectures, film screenings, research and documentation projects, workshops, and exhibitions that showcase Ladakh’s material and visual culture, performing arts, and literature. Visit LAMO's website and Instagram page to learn more.

Tashi Morup, Project Director of Ladakh Arts & Media Organization (LAMO), is a published author, journalist, editor, and heritage guide in Leh. After graduating from Punjab University, Chandigarh, with a post-graduate degree in Mass Communication, Tashi joined The Pioneer National Newspaper in New Delhi as a staff reporter. Later he became the managing editor of Ladags Melong (Mirror of Ladakh) news magazine before starting a weekly newspaper called the Magpie, running it from 2005 to 2007. Now he works as a journalist writing for various national and state newspapers and journals.

As a heritage-walk guide, Tashi has been taking tourist groups and students to different historical sites within Leh, on which he has also written books. Passionate about the environment, culture, music, and folklore, Tashi has been writing research papers and making films on these topics, presenting both at national and international forums.

LENA is a company co-founded by two Ladakhi women, Sonam Angmo and Stanzin Minglek who produce the finest pashmina products using sustainable methods and helps the local economy by employing local artisans, especially women. LENA has helped revive traditional methods of spinning, weaving, and using all-natural products to dye their fibers.

The Changthangi or Changra is a breed of pashmina goat native to the Changthang plateau, the highest plateau in the world, and found in northern India, in the Ladakh region. It is closely associated with the nomadic Changpa people of the Changthang plateau. With large twisted horns, this goat breed is raised for food, and the valuable pashmina wool, which is also referred to as cashmere.

At Global Family Travels we believe that the most powerful way to learn is through the first-hand experience. We let the country and its people be your teachers and supplement your experiences with reading lists, informal discussions, and a pre-trip orientation which includes information on the culture and history of your host country, helpful words, and phrases, and cultural “do’s and don’ts”.  

Learning themes unique to this tour include:

• Ladakhi cultural traditions
•  Environmental and social issues affecting the Ladakh region
• Tibetan Buddhist culture and history
• Northern Indian culture and history

Alchi Kitchen offers authentic Ladakhi cuisine served by award-winning chef Nilza Wangmo. Learn how she is promoting women’s empowerment and introducing Ladakhi cuisine to visitors.

The Hemis Monastery is one the largest monasteries in Ladakh. Positioned inside a gorge, the monastery was built in the 17th century under the patronage of King Singey Namgyal, and it holds the distinction of being the biggest and wealthiest monastery in Ladakh. Belonging to the Drukpa Order (sometimes called either Drugpa or "Red Hat sect”), it stands on the western bank of the Indus River. The monastery also boasts a very rich collection of ancient relics.

Agra was once the capital of the Mughal Empire and is now home to three UNESCO World Heritage Sites and other fascinating examples of Islamic architecture commissioned by Emperors Akbar, Jahangir, and Shah Jahan, including the Taj Mahal and the Red Fort. It is an old city, and it is said that its name was derived from Agrabana, a "forest that finds mention" in the epic. In more recent times, Agra came into prominence when Sikandar Lodi made it his capital city in 1501. The Lodi rule was to end very soon, and Agra passed into the possession of the Mughals. It was during the third emperor, the Great Mughal King Akbar, that Agra came into its own.

Emperor Shah Jahan, who commissioned the building of the Taj Mahal, was imprisoned by his son, Aurangzeb, at the Agra Fort in a room where he had a clear view of the building he had made in memory of his wife. Shah Jahan is said to have died in this room in the Agra Fort.

The Agra Fort is found in the Old City of Agra, dates to the 11th century, and was captured by several rulers before it was rebuilt by the Great Mughal King Akbar in the 16th century.