Phugtal Monastery — the 12th-c. cave-cliff complex you can only reach on foot.
Every Zanskar photograph features Phugtal but most travellers see it only in pictures — getting there means a 7-hour 4WD ride from Padum to Cha village, then a 3-4 hour walk along the Tsarap river, and the road still doesn't reach the monastery itself.WHY NOBODY KNOWS
Phugtal Gompa is built into and around a natural cave-mouth in a sheer cliff above the Tsarap river, founded in the 12th c. by Gangsem Sherap Sampo as a hermitage retreat for the Gelug order (it became a full monastery later). About 70 monks live there year-round. The honeycomb of stacked white-washed buildings clinging to the rock-face is among the most photogenic monastic complexes in India — and because there is no road to the monastery itself (only as far as Cha village, then trail), it has the as-it-was-since-1100 feel that Hemis and Thiksey have long since lost. Best done as a 3-day overnight from Padum: Day 1 drive Padum-Cha, walk in, sleep at the monastery guesthouse; Day 2 explore the temples and cave-shrines, sleep again; Day 3 walk out, drive back. Carry your own dry rations; the monastery feeds you tsampa and butter tea but no shop in Cha. Mid-June to mid-September only.
