- Holi Festival in Braj Tour
- Hola Mohalla Ganges Tour
- Holi & Hola Mohalla Tour
- Hemis Festival Ladakh Tour
- Pushkar Camel Fair Tour
- Hornbill Festival Nagaland Tour
- Rann Mahotsav Gujarat Tour
- Paro festival Bhutan Tour
- Nepal Mani Rimdu Festival Tour
- Sri Lanka Kandy Festival Tour
- International Yoga Festival Rishikesh Tour
Hemis Festival Ladakh Tour 2025
There is no better time to visit Ladakh than during Hemis Festival as HemisGompa becomes a hub of celebrations. During the festival , sacred dances, contradictory explanations and special musical performances are the major highlights. Buddhist lamas and monks gather at the HemisGompa to perform the sacred Mask Dance. This also gives you an opportunity to experience life of Ladakhi as it is an occasion for villagers and families to come together and socialise. This tour also takes you other beautiful monasteries of Ladakh and Nubra Valley, a must visit place in Ladakh which lies on an extraordinary trans-Himalayan trade route which originated with the Silk Road in medieval period.
| Tour starts : | 3 July 2025 in Leh |
| Tour ends : | 12 July 2025 In Leh |
| Festival location : | Hemis |
| Festival Dates : | 5 – 6 July 2025 |
1
Arrive at Leh airport and then transfer to hotel. Leh is a picturesque little town, cocooned amid the hills and is drowned in calmness. Beautiful monasteries and historical monuments attract visitors from all over the world. The rugged terrain with snow clad mountains in the clear blue sky is the perfect holiday destination. Complete day is for acclimatization as Leh is situated at 3500 meters above the sea level.In the evening we will set out for a short walk through the bazaars of Leh. Overnight stay at hotel.
2
Full day excursion to the monasteries of Leh. The tour starts with visit of Thiksey Monastery. Resting on the hill top in the Indus Valley region is the extraordinary Monastery, Thiksey monastery. It is the largest Gompa in central Ladakh. This 12 storey building houses an amazing collection of Buddhist art. The monastery got a nickname – Mini Patola since its architecture resembles that of Tibet’s Patola Palace. Continue tour to visit Shey Monastery which is situated within the complex of Shey Palace. The palace was the summer capital of the royal kingdom, but now it is in ruins. The palace was built in 1655 by the king of Ladakh. SheyGompa has a high elevated statue of Lord Buddha. Finally visit Stok Palace which is the private palace of the present king of Ladakh. A part of the Stok Palace has been converted into a museum. It is a photogenic palace with colourful window frames and patola like architecture. Return to hotel for overnight stay.
3
Morning drive to Hemis to witness famous Hemis Festival. HemisGompa becomes a hub of activities during the festival. The gompa, which is known to be the wealthiest and the biggest in Ladakh, also features the largest thangka in Ladakh. The Buddhist gompa remains divided into two main parts – the assembly hall on the right and the temple on the left. Sacred dances, contradictory explanations and special musical performances are the major highlights of the Hemis Festival in Ladakh. During the festival, lamas and monks gather to perform sacred Mask Dance. The specific dance form is meant to celebrate good over evil. The Hemis Festival brings an opportunity for all the villagers and families to come together and socialise. Men can be seen wearing cummerbands while women are dressed in bright headgear and lots of jewellery. Brass trumpets, which are 3 metre in length, are played and the whole festive scene becomes a sight to behold. Later return to Leh hotel for overnight stay.
4
After breakfast drive to Uleytokpo and on the way visit Alchi village which is ancient site known for its Alchi monastery. The monastery is situated on the banks of River Indus and is the only monastery situated on the plains. The place houses a spot where Lama’s walking stick was planted and has now grown into a tree. Continue drive to Likir Monastery which belongs to Gelugpa sect or Yellow Hat sect. The monastery was founded in the year 1065 by Lama DuwangChosje under the reign of the fifth king of Ladakh. The monastery houses a 25 ft high gold covered Buddha statue. It is a repository of old manuscripts, magnetizing array of Thangkas, and ancient costumes. It has very colorful buildings and offers breathtaking views over the mountains.
Finally drive to Uleytokpo. Overnight stay in the camp.
5
After breakfast drive to Lamayuru Monastery which was built in the 10th century. The monastery is situated between Kyagar and Sumur villages. Belonging to Red- hat sect of Buddhism, the monastery is famed for its opulent wall paintings, murals, scriptures, collection of Thangkas and statutes of different form of Buddha.Later drive to Rizong Monastery, located in the remote end of the valley. The monastery provides an impression of rocky fortress. Lama TsultimNim founded the monastery and the Gompa follows strict monastic disciplines. Return to Uleytokpo Village which is one of the largest villages in Ladakh, situated on the banks of the Indus river. Overnight stay in camp.
6
After breakfast drive to Leh.En-route stop at Phyang monastery which is named after the blue mountain that is situated behind the monastery. The monastery complex features numerous shrines along with a wide array of exquisite paintings that date back to royal period. The oldest temple in the monastery complex is Gomkhang which was founded in the 16th century. Then visit Spituk monastery located on the hill top offering a commanding view of Indusriver. The SpitukGompa was founded in 11thcentury There is a collection of ancient masks, antique arms and fine thangkas. The terrifying face of Vajrabhairva is unveiled only at the annual festival in January. Continue drive to Leh and check in at hotel for overnight stay.
7
After early breakfast at hotel we shall leave for the Nubra valley with lunch box.In the north of Leh, capital of Ladakh is the Nubra Valley. The natural beauty of this place will leave you spellbound. This high altitude valley in the tranquil region of Leh – Ladakh serves as the ideal place for the finest serene trekking routes as well as a few ancient Buddhist monasteries. Stop en-route and visit Diskit and Hunder Monastery.Diskit Monastery is the oldest and the largest monastery in Nubra Valley. The monastery was established in the 14th century and belongs to the Gelukpa sect of Buddhism. The monastery was constructed in Tibetan style and houses beautiful murals and frescos. The monastery also offers picturesque view of the Nubra valley. Hunder Monastery is situated just below Diskit monastery. It is a very beautiful monastery housing a huge statue of Buddha.Arrive and check in at camp for overnight stay.
8
After breakfast, visit Panamik village. This is the last village that is accessible to foreigners. The green valley of Panamik is the sight to behold because the village is surrounded by snow clad mountains. The village is renowned for its curative hot springs. The destination is worth a visit as it has sulfur springs and Saichan glacier in close proximity. The village is also famous for Bactrian camels and Pashmina goats.Return to camp for lunch and in the afternoon visit Samtaling monastery in Sumur village. It is a very beautiful monastery located in Nubra Valley.
The monastery houses numerous shrines with intricate wood carvings.Later in the evening return to camp for dinner and overnight stay.
9
After a breakfast we shall leave for Leh with a lunchbox.En-route stop at the Khardung-La Pass. The Khardung-La Pass is a high mountain pass located in Ladakh region and is 39 kms from Leh. The pass is the gateway to Nubra Valley. Some of the locals claim the pass to be the highest motorable road in the world. Continue drive to Leh. Arrive and check in at hotel. The rest of the day is free for exploring local bazaar and independent activities.Overnight stay at hotel.
10
In the morning transfer to Leh airport to catch your flight.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQ'S)
No, this is a private travel exclusively for you, your friends and family who may accompany you on the tour.
Yes, it is possible. But, the cost may be high in case of a single traveler. You may send us information in the form and we shall send you our best offer depending on number of persons in your group or for a single person.
Yes, since this is a private tour, you may decide the dates as per your choice. Only in case of certain tours, we have to check if there are any operational difficulties for organizing a tour of your choice. Certain tours are not possible for particular period which we shall let you know. Besides, the cost may vary depending on seasonality.
It is better if you could buy international tickets directly through your local agent or on internet. Although we can provide you international flight tickets, but you may a get a better deal locally.
No, you have to obtain visa on your own. The visa regulations will depend on your nationality. You may contact us for further details.
Yes, it is very much possible. You can extend your stay on arrival or departure or at any other place. You may also modify the tour. You may let us know your interest and we can send you modified tour itinerary with cost.
Our cost normally includes hotel accommodation with breakfast, private air-conditioned car with driver which includes fuel, parking and all taxes, entrance fee to monuments, train tickets if any, guided city tours in English or in other foreign languages, viz French, German, Italian, Spanish, Japanese, Chinese, Russian or other foreign languages subject to availability which we can notify at the time of reservation request. Our cost also includes some other services viz Elephant ride at Amer fort in Jaipur, camel safari in Jaisalmer and boat tour in Varanasi. We shall send you all details at the time of sending you quotation.
We may also include other services viz lunches, dinners or other services if you wish. We may also exclude guide service and entrance fee to monuments if you so wish.
Train tickets are included in our cost. But, we give supplement cost for domestic flight tickets as these days, there are dynamic fares and these are not fixed. We send you indicative fare at the time of sending you quotation which is subject to change until issue of tickets with advance purchase for which we need payment from you to issue flight tickets. You may also purchase domestic flight tickets directly on your own if you prefer.
We provide minimum standard (3 star or similar), superior (4 star or similar), deluxe (5 star or similar) hotels and the cost will depend depending on category of hotels. We can send you quotation for the category that you are interested in. We usually provide heritage or palace hotels which fit in your category of hotels. We may also mix the hotel category if you prefer and can also provide you rates based on hotels of your liking in all places if you like.
We usually request 25% advance upon confirmation of our services unless otherwise informed at the time of sending you quotation. We shall send you all payment terms at the time of sending you our offer.I am interested.
Click here to send us information of your trip and we shall send you soonest possible.
Why StateExpress
Established in 1980, State Express has been providing most reliable services to travelers all over the world for last 35 years. We are renowned for our customer first approach and unobtrusive efficiency which ensures the highest levels of customer satisfaction. We have been awarded several times by State Government for being best Tour Operator. All aspects of our tours have been carefully researched and then designed to give ultimate experience to travelers. Let our travel knowledge help you to create a wonderful experience, whether on one of our tour itineraries or a tailor made tour itinerary made exclusively for you to give you an unforgettable holiday.
Our people make the difference
Our success has been possible because of our people who are our biggest asset. We have a team of highly dedicated, sincere, hardworking who work with integrity that has made State Express one of the leading and most reliable tour companies in India. They not only have expertise and experience to meet any requirement, they also speak foreign languages and trained to offer only the best and leave nothing to chance. We know that travel to Indian sub-continent is a dream of many of our guests and our team does everything possible to make their dream true and give them an experience of their lifetime.
Our infrastructure
We have complete infrastructure to provide you best rate and services to you. We are an IATA approved and authorized agents for all domestic airlines and Indian Railways. We have our own cars vans and coaches with experienced drivers. We have multi lingual staff to ensure that our guests do not face any language problem. We also have associate offices in all major tourist centers to provide assistance in shortest possible time.
Our fleet of vehicles & drivers
We undoubtedly have one of the best and most modern fleet of cars, vans, 4X4s and large coaches. Surface travel is a very important aspect in India as you spend lot of your time while travelling on the road and therefore given us an edge over other tour companies who have to rely on other transport companies to provide this service to their clients. We have our own garage and all our vehicles are well maintained to give you hassle free journey.
Besides having the best fleet, it is our drivers who truly make the difference as they play a crucial role in making a tour successful. Even if you stay in best of the hotels and travel in most comfortable and luxurious vehicles, if you do not have a good driver, it may spoil your experience. We have our team of drivers who are part of State Express and have been working with us for years and they are trained, dedicated and motivated to take care of our guests and make them comfortable. That is the reason that more than 90% of our guests thank us and appreciate them after returning to their home.
Our choice of hotels
We take utmost care in selection of hotels that we recommend to our clients and include in our list of suggested hotels. We inspect these hotels regularly to be sure of their quality of product and services. We give lot of emphasis on the location and the people who run those hotels. We want to give you clients an experience of heritage and palace hotels which are unique and not available in other part of the world.
Our tour itineraries
All our tour itineraries are designed by experts to give you an opportunity to see most wonderful sites in number of days at your disposal at the same time giving you time to explore the places in your own way. We have a number of itineraries to choose from which covers all India, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and Tibet. We also include mode of travel and approximate time taken between places to ensure that you do not have any surprises during the tour. Our specialists will also work with you to create an itinerary of your choice either by modifying our readymade tour itineraries or prepare an exclusive tailor made tour for you based on your interest and liking keeping in mind local conditions.
24×7 assistance during the tour
We provide you clients real 24×7 assistance during the tour. This is not a marketing gimmick but we have someone in our office always to assist you in case of any emergency anytime. We also provide cell phone numbers of our executive who you may contact even during odd hours when you need them for anything urgent. We have associate offices in all major cities of India to provide you assistance in minimum possible time.
Response time
We know that response time is key to our success and we value it a lot. Even at initial stages before reservation, you will get replies from us in not more than 24 working hours. We shall always be there whenever you need us during the tour.
Personalised Service
Apart from professional service, we believe in emphasising on personalised service. That is to make our guests feel at home in a foreign country and also feel that they have friends here who they can trust for any need. Our customer executives remain in constant touch with our guests during the tour to give them comfort and trust that we are always with them.
Good value for money
We know that there are so many travel companies providing their services and unless we provide good value for money to our clients, they will not be satisfied. Our own fleet of cars, vans and coaches and best special discounted rates with hotels due to our volumes enables us to offer value for money.
What our clients say about us
Good Morning,
we are in Rome and none problem in the return trip; I send you an email to add comments and let you know our feedback in details; my wife and I are frequent travelers and have custom to evaluate our trips in all the aspects; so
. Booking process excellent (rapid, clear and exhaustive answers; we have appreciated the help to obtain the e-visa and the contacts during the tour to know possible problems;
. Driver excellent (polite, punctual and very expert in the drive), he gave us many suggestions and accompanied us directly to the coach in the Tundla station; the other driver in Varanasi good but should improve his english;
. Car good;
. Guide only in Jaisalmer good;
. Tour organization good for times and the included hotspots;
. Hotels: we evaluate the hotels for cleaning and comfort of the room and bathroom and for breakfast; we use a ranking from 1 (bad) to 5 (excellent):
Iris Park 2; dirty bathroom with dirty towels, room dirty and uncomfortable (too small, difficult to move inside, put and open the suitcases; breakfast room trivial and food inadequate for european tourists;
Mandawa Palace 4 for all;
Lallgarl Palace 4 and no 5 for inadequate breakfast respect to the level of the hotel;
Mandar Palace 3-4 , room and bathroom no perfectly clean , breakfast inadequate for european tourist and internet didn’t work;
Krishna Prakas Havei unacceptable; room located in the roof without elevator and with dangerous stairs; room dirty with a door that didn’t close perfectly, bathroom dirty with dirty towels; breakfast room dirty with tablecloth dirty and broken, food trivial and inadequate also for amount;
Master Paradise 3, cold uncomfortable room without possibility to warm it; bathroom in the average and skinny breakfast;
Golden Tulip 5 and more, the best
Atulayaa Tay unacceptable, dirty and small room, dirty bathroom with microscopic sink an a glass wall between the bed, dirty towels, trivial breakfast;
Meradan Grand 4 for all
Last hotel in Dehli 4 for room and bathroom also here glass wall between bathroom and the bed but the light didn’t across;
we suggest, personal opinion, to cancel the hotel with a rank less than 3 and choose others of superior quality ( also if more expensive) because the hotel is important to rest in a daily tour step by step.
In summary we evaluate very good the experience of our first trip in India and surely we will recommend State Express to our friends.
Enzo Ferrante
27 January 2023
Hi Rinki,
Just wanted to say thank you for all the organisation for our India trip. Everything went very smoothly. Our vehicles, drivers and accommodation were all faultless.
Look forward to our next trip now whenever that may be.
I’d like to just comment on one thing… please encourage clients to do Chittorgarh as a day trip. The accommodation there must’ve been really good at some point but is quite run down now. They were lovely and very obliging but when we compare the accommodations it wasn’t the best.
I know I’d said I wanted a night in Chittorgarh but I wasn’t as conversant with availability there as someone who knows the areas more.
Thank you once again from my mum, massi and I.
Best wishes and regards to your team,
Ps. Next visit we must meet!! 🙂
Priya
14 January 2023
Dear Sirs, namaste.
The journey of my group is over and we have returned to our homes.
I hope all of you are fine.
I wish to thank State Express for the usual good assistance. A special thank to Mr Mamlesh Sahu for following my trip through his frequent telephone calls.
I hope to have the chance to come again.
Dhanyavad.
Alfredo Sermasi
12 December 2022
we are in Rome and none problem in the return trip; I send you an email to add comments and let you know our feedback in details; my wife and I are frequent travelers and have custom to evaluate our trips in all the aspects; so
- Booking process excellent (rapid, clear and exhaustive answers; we have appreciated the help to obtain the e-visa and the contacts during the tour to know possible problems;
- Driver excellent (polite, punctual and very expert in the drive), he gave us many suggestions and accompanied us directly to the coach in the Tundla station; the other driver in Varanasi good but should improve his english;
- Car good;
- Guide only in Jaisalmer good . Tour organization good for times and the included hotspots; . Hotels: we evaluate the hotels for cleaning and comfort of the room and bathroom and for breakfast;
Emily and I are home now, and we would like to thank you for organising what turned out to be a wonderful trip. We enjoyed visiting all the various places, and the hotels were comfortable. People were very friendly and helpful. The pace of the trip was perfect, travelling but not exhausting. The driver Chandra was very good and I would have no issue with recommending him as a driver. He was very polite, punctual, and courteous. We felt he was a very safe driver, and would like to extend our thanks to him as well. With the benefit of hindsight, I would have stayed an extra day or two in Verkala rather than the extra days in Mumbai, but that is as I say with the benefit of hindsight. Once again, thank you so very much for all your help in organising this trip for us, which we will remember fondly for many years to come.
To whom it may concern, we are writing you regarding the package booked with andanitravel for the India golden triangle from the 01/03/2020 to the 11/03/2020. On the 4th of March ’20 the staff from the Sher Gary Resort in Road Village Sherpur, Khilchipur, Rajasthan 322001, Ranthanbore, following the Advise from the Government of Rajasthan, invited us to leave the resort and the State of India as soon as possible due to our Italian Nationality. Immediately we contacted the DCM Italy of Rajasthan, Mr Carini, who told us there was a mistake and the Advise number 27 of the 4th of March 2020 was withdrawn with immediate effect. Although we informed on a timely manner the resort staff, we have been asked to leave anyhow. Only after the DCM Italy informed the resort about the mistake, we have been given the opportunity to leave the resort the following morning. All these difficulties, the constant hostility by the people in India despite the advise number 28, the decision made by the State Express emergency contact( Harish Bhatt) to interrupt our trip and the news regarding the spread of COVID-19 in India, induced us to arrange autonomously for a flight back home as soon as possible. At least but not last we kindly ask you to let us know of any official way to provide a positive feedback to the great support, empathy, help, kindness, professionalism, flexibility and special assistant given by the driver Mr Ashok Yadav in the sphere of his competences.
Hi, Rinki
Thank you for the trip arrangement. We have enjoyed very much.
Looking forward to our next trip in India next year and will get in touch with you again.
Once again, thank you very much for your excellent service.
Chua Boon Hua
09 October 2018
