Namgyal Tsemo Gompa

[Manfred M]

High above the town of Leh, Ladakh, India is "Victory Peak", site of a ruined fortress and royal palace as well as the Namgyal Tsemo Gompa (monastery). I shot this winter scene at the beginning of the afternoon golden hour. Some of the snow capped mountains of the Himalaya range can be seen in the background.




Please open in Lightbox. This image works much better when looked at that way.

[rpcrowe]

Nice capture... Really remarkable, this little outpost of humanity against those stark mountains...

[Shadowman]

Nicely captured.

[joebranko]

Beautiful capture

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[Rita]

Now that is being in solitude. Great detail, I love the image.

[Mutley]

Lovely lighting and nicely composed, shows some fine detail too

[Manfred M]

Nice capture... Really remarkable, this little outpost of humanity against those stark mountains...

Now that is being in solitude. Great detail, I love the image.

Sorry Richard and Rita. My carefully chosen camera angle tells a bit of a lie. This site is not quite as isolated as I made it seem in the shot. If I show you a shot using a 70mm focal length, rather than a 125mm, the "truth" comes out.

While Ladakh is quite isolated, Leh itself, with a population of around 31,000 is the busiest and most populated part of the region. The monastery and ruins are up on a high hill, and Leh Palace (which is also abandoned; the royal family moved to Stok Palace, which is about 17km / 10 miles from Leh) is further down. Urban sprawl continues on the camera right side.

[Wavelength]

Two great images !!!!