Travel Photos: Leh, Hampi, Paris and beyond

Where did you head this summer? We want to know! Send in your most memorable summer photographs!

W'd asked you, our readers, to share your summer travel photos with us and we’ve been flooded with your emails. Today, we bring you a fresh batch of photographs -- from the monks of Leh to the step wells of Hampi, the markets of Goa and a lot more. Keep clicking.

And yes, if you want to share your memorable summer pictures, simply e-mail your photographs to travelpicsga@rediffmail.com (subject line: 'Memorable summer pics')!

Make sure to include a small write-up of where you clicked the snap and we will publish the most interesting ones right here on rediff.com and in India Abroad.

We start out with this breathtaking photograph of the Leh Palace. Overlooking the town of Leh and modelled on the Potala Palace in Lhasa, the palace was originally built by King Sengge Namgyal in the 17th century but was abandoned in the mid-19th century when Dogra forces took control of Ladakh in the mid-19th century. Standing tall at nine storeys, the Leh Palace offers amazing views of Leh and its surrounding landscape.

This photograph of the Palace itself has been shot by Jayakumar Radhakrishnan.

Next up are two photographs by Shiladitya Mukherjee. This one’s a monochrome picture offering a stunning view of Gangtok from the ropeway. The ropeway is stopped midway so that travellers can get an aerial view of the city writes Mukherjee.

Here is another one by Shiladitya Mukherjee, this time of the Nathang Valley in Sikkim. The Valley is located at 13,500 feet and is home to yak herders who originally travelled here from Tibet. It is said that the Valley changes colours with the seasons -- turning golden in autumn as the grass dries up, turning colourful in the monsoon as the flowers blossom and drawing a white blanket during winter when the snow takes over.

While on seasons, we received this photograph by Sudhir Kumar Saxena with just this note: 'Jeth mas ki bhari dopahar' (Peak noon of the month of Jyeshth/June).

Can any summer vacation album ever be complete without Goa? This one’s by Arjun Bhat shot at a bread stall at Mapusa market in Goa. Bread or pao forms an important part of Goan breakfast. Cheap and readily available, it also makes pao a preferred choice of meal for the underprivileged.

Another one by Arjun Bhat of a beautiful stepped well at Hampi. Bhat and his colleague Satya Tammareddy run a travel startup called Travspire which is an online platform that allows travellers to book unique and offbeat travel experiences in India.

Next up is this image of a solitary Guggul tree in Gujarat’s Gir National Park shot by Prahlad Shrivastava.

Guggul is best known for its medicinal properties and therefore has been overharvested. So much so that it is on the Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Palanki Suryanarayana shared this photograph with us and wrote: “We returned to Bangalore after our summer sojourn to Kerala backwaters via Madikere (Mercara).The sunset is captured over a coconut grove there.”

Next up is this photograph by Amol Mujumdar shot in Madhya Pradesh’s Pench forest while travelling from Indore to Nagpur.

Much in the news thanks to a certain Bollywood film right now, Manali has always been a summer destination of choice for thousands of Indian families. Nirav Pandya visited Manali recently and sent us this photograph.

Up next is this photograph of the Namakkal Fort by Arupratan Sit. Deriving its name from Namagiri, the name of the rock on which stands this majestic fort, the historic town of Namakkal dates back to the 7th century.

The fort itself was built by Ramachandra Nayakar, a minor king who ruled the town during the 16th century and became a haven for Tipu Sultan who was escaping British.

Raju Bhowmick shares with us this picture of Sillery, a village in the Darjeeling district that is said to be an upcoming tourist destination.

The sleepy village, also called ‘New Darjeeling’ by the locals, offers magnificent views of the Kanchendzonga.

One of the most recognisable landmarks of the western world -- the Eifel Tower -- shot here by Ramadas Acharya.

Finally, we have this rather cute image shot by Gaurav Rathi while he was on his way to Sonmarg form Srinagar.