Matho Gompa - a Tibetan Buddhist monastery in Ladakh

Matho Gompa - a monastery of Central Ladakh. A winter view from the Thikse Monastery located on the opposite side of the Indus Valley. The monastery belongs to the Sakya order of the Tibetan Buddhism. Strata (the rock layers) of the sediment rocks are seen in the background. They had been formed in the Paleo-Tethys Ocean before the Indian sub-continent hit the rest of Asia and the Himalayas were uplifted. This part of the mountain chain is called Tethys Himalayas and its part seen here belong to the Stok Range. North of them, and towards the photographer on this photo, is the Indus River, which marks the Earth highest mountains’ northernmost border. Photographed in January, Ladakh, India.