Dha hanu

Dha Hanu is situated to the south-west of leh around 163 kms passing through the beautiful villages of khaltesey, domkhar and Achinathang. There are many small villages in the valley but only two villages of dha and bema are opened to tourists. Bearing on lower altitude, dha hanu is warmer than leh which makes it possible to grow crops and variety of fruits i.e. apricot, apples, walnut and grapes.

The drogpa community is considered as the last race of Aryans confined to this valley. Their features are pure indo-Aryan and they appear to have preserved their racial purity down the centuries. Their cultural and religious practices are very similar to ancient pre-buddhist as practice in the rest of ladakh. They have preserved their ancient traditions and way of life partly through the celebration fo harvest and partly through their songs and hymns. Their language is similar to that spoken in gilgit and by immigrants from gilgit and settled in drass.

Besides the Aryan features, what differentiates the people of dha hanu from the rest of ladakh region is their attire adorned with heavy jewellery and unique styled head wear decorated with colourful plastic flowers and fascinating traditional dress worn by the people of dha-hanu is the identification of their place and community.

Lastangs Dha hanu

Lastangs dha hanu is a beautiful place on a hilly area. It is 2 kms away from beama (hanu). There are around 16 families staying in that village. There you can visit monastery (photang) of dalai lama. Once can see the real taste of Aryan culture and lifestyle in lastangs dha hanu.

Sanjak Village Dha hanu

Near hanu the road crosses the Indus into sanjak village dha hanu. It is 4 kms away from lastangs and 3 kms from beama. Which is in a dark and narrow gorge. Here, a finger of water emerges from the iced sangeluma tokpo (stream) to join the semi-frozen Indus. The road is a narrow strip wedged between the bare willow-and poplar-fringed sangeluma and the steep mountain side. Once out of sanjak village dha hanu gorge, the valley opens out and the sun shines bright on the fields and homes on either side of the tokpo. Nearly all the people in this valley are balti muslims.