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"A Passage through India", a series of photos from Ladakh, India by Sean Schmidt.

From Sean: "These photos were taken during a research trip with Earthwatch International to explore the biological and cultural issues around snow leopards conservatino in Ladakh. Two years prior I spent a week in Aslamabad, Pakistan at a snow leopard conference so it was quite interesting to be in India and Ladakh, so geographically close to where I was in Pakistan, but so different in culture. Ladakh especially was quite interesting as it is located in the Jammu and Kasmir contested area between India and Pakistan but is actually populated with mostly Budhists that are more culturally Tibetan. So in Leh, the capital city of Ladakh, you had Budhists, Muslems, and Christians all in the same city. Our trip started in Delhi and then moved to Ladakh so you'll see one photo from Delhi. The other photos are form the Ladakh region. Prior to ascending to our base camp at 15,000 feet, we spent three days in and around Leh during which time we had the opportunity to visit several Budhist Monestaries. It was by far one of the most beautiful, inspiring, and uplifting periods in my life.