Ladakhi Food, Festivals and Shopping: A Cultural Guide

Ladakh's culture is shaped by Tibetan Buddhism, by the old trade routes that crossed the region, and by the challenge of living in a high, cold desert. You will taste it in hearty noodle soups and apricot jam, see it in masked monastery dances, and feel it in the warm greeting of 'Jullay', which means hello, thank you and goodbye.

This guide covers the food to try, the main festivals and when they are held, and what to buy in Leh.

• Thukpa: a noodle soup with vegetables or meat, perfect on a cold evening.
• Skyu and chhutagi: hand-made pasta cooked in a stew with vegetables, a Ladakhi home favourite.
• Momos: steamed or fried dumplings, found everywhere in Leh.
• Tingmo and khambir: steamed bread and local whole-wheat bread.
• Butter tea (gur gur cha): salty tea churned with butter, an acquired taste; also try sweet milk tea.
• Apricots: fresh in August, dried all year, and as jam and apricot oil; also sea-buckthorn juice.

Leh also has plenty of Indian, Tibetan, Israeli, Italian and continental restaurants, and vegetarian and Jain food is easy to arrange.

• Losar (December or January): the Ladakhi new year, celebrated with prayers, feasts and fire rituals.
• Winter monastery festivals: Spituk Gustor, Dosmoche in Leh and Matho Nagrang, with masked dances.
• Apricot blossom (April): the lower valleys turn pink and white, and the administration has promoted a blossom festival in recent years.
• Hemis festival (June or July): Ladakh's best-known festival, honouring Guru Padmasambhava, with masked cham dances in the courtyard of Hemis Monastery.
• Sindhu Darshan (June): a celebration on the banks of the Indus at Shey, with cultural programmes and prayers.
• Ladakh Festival (September): a week of parades, dances, polo and archery in and around Leh.
• Thiksey Gustor (October or November): masked dances at Thiksey Monastery.

Monastery festivals follow the Tibetan lunar calendar, so dates change each year; we confirm them when you plan your trip. See our monasteries of Ladakh.

Polo has been played in Ladakh for centuries, and summer matches in Leh are a lively sight. Archery contests with music and dancing are held in villages, especially in summer. Some of our itineraries include a polo match and cultural show arranged by our local partner, where scheduled.

• Pashmina shawls: buy from reputable shops, as fakes are common.
• Woollens: socks, caps, gloves and yak-wool shawls.
• Tibetan handicrafts: thangka paintings, prayer wheels, singing bowls, carpets and masks.
• Jewellery: silver, turquoise and coral.
• Food: dried apricots, apricot oil and jam, and sea-buckthorn products.

Leh Market and the Tibetan market are the main shopping areas. Bargaining is common at street stalls. See places to visit in Leh.

Ladakh is home to several communities: Buddhist Ladakhis around Leh and the Indus valley, a largely Shia Muslim population around Kargil, Balti villagers in Turtuk, Changpa nomads on the Changthang plateau, and the Brokpa of the Aryan Valley. English and Hindi are widely understood in Leh and on the tourist routes, but a smile and a 'Jullay' go a long way everywhere.

Water is precious in this high desert: use it sparingly, reuse towels, and refill your bottle at hotels or refill stations instead of buying plastic bottles. Buy local products such as apricots, woollens and handicrafts directly from producers when you can, and support homestays and local guides. Keep to marked tracks at lakes and in the dunes.

Greet people with 'Jullay'. Dress modestly, especially in monasteries and in Muslim areas such as Kargil and Turtuk. Walk clockwise around stupas and mani walls, ask before photographing people, and do not touch religious objects. Ladakh's environment is fragile: refill water bottles, avoid plastic and leave no rubbish behind.