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Painting
Holiday to Ladakh 2004
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In June/July 2004 we took 12 painters on a painting holiday
to Ladakh in India . It is known as Little Tibet and is part of the
Himalayas but unlike Nepal it is high altitude desert. It is very dry
and dusty with patches of green where the river Indus is used to irrigate
fields, and in some of the valleys where glacier melt water provides
irrigation. The combination of snow capped peaks, warm colour, desert-like
hillsides and verdant patches of cultivated land, with ancient buddhist
monasteries perched on rocky crags provided us with fantastic sketching
subjects.
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Likir, sketch by David Bellamy
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Lamayuru, pastel from the sketch on the right by Jenny Keal
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Lamayuru. sketch by Jenny Keal
We can't wait to find time to turn more of them into paintings. The
people were kind and friendly and many of them wear their traditional
costumes on a daily basis so they also provided us with plenty of sketching
opportunities. Their way of life is, of course, disappearing fast with
the onslaught of tourism but there are several NGO's working to preserve
the culture and customs, so we can but hope. We feel very privileged
to have been there.
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There
were two treks and we rafted down the Indus River, losing two of the
group overboard in wild water. As Hazel was swept off down the rapids,
fending off the rocks with her paddle, our raft became jammed in the
boulders. Happily she was picked up by the second raft and was none
the worse for her dip. David did, however, berate her for not sketching
as she floated away.
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The group including guides and porters
at Lamayuru
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David at Lamayuru
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Jenny
at Lamayuru
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Prayer Flags on Sarmanchan La,
sketch by David Bellamy
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Old woman in Leh,
sketch by Jenny Keal
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We
travelled to Ladakh with
The Ultimate Travel Company
who have organised many of our overseas trips and we can thoroughly
recommend them
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Art Trips 
