Discover Ladakh through its hands—its wool spinners, herb gatherers, seed savers, and women-led collectives shaping the future of sustainable rural tourism.
If you’re looking to explore Ladakh beyond monasteries and mountains, there’s a richer, quieter way to travel—by rolling up your sleeves and joining a village workshop. Across Ladakh, Self Help Groups (SHGs), women artisans, and farming families are offering authentic, hands-on learning experiences that combine craft, cuisine, ecology, and local wisdom.
Here’s a curated guide to workshops across Ladakh, by village, theme, and hosted by the very communities that keep these traditions alive.
What You’ll Do: Learn how to spin yarn using drop spindles, extract colors from walnut husks and seabuckthorn bark, and weave basic patterns on traditional Ladakhi handlooms.
Who Hosts: Dye & Weave SHG, a women’s collective preserving wool craft.
Why It’s Unique: Everything is plant-based and waste-free—just like in the old days. This full-day experience includes lunch, tea, and you get to take home your hand-dyed yarn or sample weave.
Best Season: October to March (post-harvest, active weaving season)
What You’ll Do: Make rare dishes like Paba (barley flatbread) and Tangtur (fermented buttermilk stew), followed by a hands-on seed-saving activity using indigenous barley and buckwheat varieties.
Who Hosts: Brokpa Women SHG, a Dardic community-based collective.
Why It’s Unique: You learn directly from Ladakh’s oldest ethnolinguistic group. The workshop ends with seed ball making and a short field walk.
Best Season: May to September
What You’ll Do: Step into a working farm kitchen to cook Skyu (wheat pasta stew), roast barley flour (Ngampe), and churn butter using wooden churns. Great for families.
Who Hosts: Heritage Kitchen SHG, a multigenerational family initiative.
Why It’s Unique: You’re not just observing—you’re part of a real meal-making process in a functioning farm kitchen.
Best Season: All year, except deep winter
What You’ll Do: Walk with Amchi women to identify healing herbs, then make herbal teas, balms, and oils. You’ll also learn pulse diagnosis and healing basics.
Who Hosts: Amchi-led Women SHG trained in traditional Tibetan medicine.
Why It’s Unique: This is the only place offering hands-on exposure to Sowa-Rigpa in a village setting.
Best Season: May to October
What You’ll Do: Learn to card yak wool, spin it, and help a local artisan set up the loom for carpet weaving. Stitching motifs inspired by Ladakhi symbols is also part of the session.
Who Hosts: Stok Wool Artisans, supported by the royal family’s heritage program.
Why It’s Unique: Connects the royal legacy of Stok Palace with modern artisan livelihoods.
Best Season: November to February
What You’ll Do: Make your own paper using Himalayan shrubs, dye it with natural extracts, and add pressed herbs or leaf designs. Perfect for kids and eco-enthusiasts.
Who Hosts: Creative Earth SHG, an artisan-environmentalist collective.
Why It’s Unique: Zero-waste, no plastics, and everything is biodegradable.
Best Season: May to August
What You’ll Do: Cold-press your own apricot oil, infuse it with herbs, and make small batch scented soaps with natural colorants.
Who Hosts: Apricot Bloom SHG, a Shey-based women’s enterprise.
Why It’s Unique: You leave with your own soap and oil bottle—completely made from local ingredients.
Best Season: August to October (apricot harvest time)
What You’ll Do: Hike into canyon farms, forage herbs like Wild Thyme, and prepare a full meal in an outdoor clay oven. Cooking is done on-site using solar and firewood setups.
Who Hosts: Eco-Food SHG, a farmer-chef collective.
Why It’s Unique: It’s an outdoor, forest-to-table cooking class in a canyon!
Best Season: May to September
What You’ll Do: Join women to collect seabuckthorn berries, then extract juice, make jam, face packs, or herbal capsules.
Who Hosts: Nubra Women SHG working across Sumoor and nearby villages.
Why It’s Unique: Wild harvest techniques and natural processing with minimal machines.
Best Season: August to October
What You’ll Do: Spend a morning in organic farms learning about composting, soil testing, natural pest control, and Ladakhi irrigation systems.
Who Hosts: Phey Green SHG, a farmers’ cooperative.
Why It’s Unique: No theory—this is real-time learning on real farms.
Best Season: June to September
What You’ll Do: Pick herbs like Tulsi, Seabuckthorn leaf, and Thyme from community fields, then dry, crush, and blend your own herbal tea.
Who Hosts: Herbal Roots SHG, a local women’s group working in forest-friendly tea production.
Why It’s Unique: You create your own herbal tea blend, packed in handmade paper bags.
Best Season: June to September
Participating in these craft and agro-ecological workshops in Ladakh is more than just a fun activity—it’s a way to:
Each session is facilitated by village-based SHGs, who offer authentic, safe, and well-guided experiences that respect local rhythms and capacities.
In a world moving fast, Ladakh’s villages offer you something rare: the chance to sit beside a loom, taste fresh barley bread, or bottle a soap made by your own hands. These craft, culinary, and agro-ecological workshops are the future of responsible, enriching travel—led by Ladakh’s most inspiring changemakers: its women, artisans, and farmers.
From pottery workshops to Ladakhi cooking sessions, uncover the authentic experiences that Leh offers. Dive into the local culture with hands-on activities that will leave lasting memories.
Leh is home to some of the most stunning and serene monasteries in the world. Visit these sacred sites, learn about their rich history, and experience the spiritual calm of Ladakh.
