Rangdum Monastery

Rangdum Monastery, also called Shadup Dzamlinggyan, belongs to the Gelugpa school and sits on top of a small, steep sugarloaf hill at 4,031 metres where Ladakh's Suru Valley begins. It stands beside the tiny village of Julidok, about 25 km north of the Pensi La pass into Zanskar, on the Kargil–Padum road. An inscription credits its building to Gelek Yashy Takpa while Tsewang Namgyal II ruled Ladakh (1753–1782). Though it lies in the Suru Valley, it belongs culturally to Zanskar.

About 30 monks live here, with nearly as many donkeys. The summer is short, so the monastery and village depend on supplies brought up the bare Suru Valley or over the Pensi La. In June 2017 the monastery and the nearby village of Shakma Karpo were given solar power, installed by the region's first two women engineers, and homestays in the villages let travellers stay nearby.