All our cultural tours go towards exploring the local traditions and customs of the local people. We visit the local temples and monasteries which constitute the mainstay and stabilizing factor in the local people’s lives. We also take time to visit a local family’s home and experience their lifestyle that radically differs from that of city life. On all our cultural tours our main emphasis is benefiting the locals of that particular area by focusing on no or low impact tourism. We generally attempt at buying local produce and handicrafts, employing local staff and sensitising our clients to the local traditions and customs. By doing this we not only bring economic gain to the locals but also respect their customs. On all our cultural tours our guides wear the local dress and interact with the locals so that you get a real feel and ambience of that particular region.

Spiti is very similar in its landscape with Ladakh and Zanskar. The same kind of hills and sparse vegetation the same kind of Architecture and ancient monasteries are found here. Of the monasteries the Tabo Monastery unlike other monastery is just off the main road on flat ground. The group of temples are a dusty brown but the interiors are something else. Inside the main temple are some of the most exquisite paintings and stucco images found anywhere in the world. Tabo has been declared a world heritage site and after visiting this amazing complex of monasteries we head on towards the dramatically located Dhankar monastery once the fort of the Spiti rulers. Later we visit the ancient Ki monastery known for its exhaustive library of scrolls and religious scriptures. We spend a day with a family in the Pin valley which is just off the main Kaza road to get a look into the Spitian culture. From Kaza we drive down to Manali from where you can access Delhi by bus or air.

Ladakh’s entire way of life revolves around the numerous Monasteries in and around Leh and Zanskar. The monasteries around Leh are relatively in close proximity to each other compared to the ancient monasteries in the Zanskar region which are spread out over a vast area and quite isolated and need to be reached by foot. Among the more well known monasteries in Ladakh Hemis, Spituk, Phyang, Lamayuru, Likir, Alchi, Basgo and Stok palaces, Shey and Stakna. We visit all of them as per your schedule. We then take a day off in a village to spend time with a typical Ladakhi family to interact with them with the help of a local guide and spend the day with them experiencing their way of life and customs.

Zanskar also has its share of ancient monasteries except that unlike Ladakh monasteries which are relatively close to each the Zanskar monasteries are at quite a distance from each other perched high up on cliffs. Some of the more famous monasteries we will visit on our culture tour are Zangla, Rangdum Karsha, Bardan and Stongde. The Zangla palace is now in ruins but well worth a visit. After a fruitful 4 day trip we stop over at a typical home in Zangla to spend the day with a Zanskari family and experience the difference between the Ladakhi and Zanskari way of life. Return to Leh after the tour.