Founded in the 17th century by the Zanskari lama Deva Gyatsho, Shashur's original gompa, featuring 5m-high thangkas, is now encased within a modern concrete one. By road it's 6km of zigzags from Keylong; on foot allow an hour each way by a series of steep, sometimes less-than-obvious shortcut paths (harder to find on the return).
The path starts with the concrete steps that lead up beside the one remaining antique building on the NH3, around 30m west of the Mentokling Guesthouse. The first 10 minutes take you past some interesting semi-traditional farm buildings, then some derelict houses. After that it's a matter of using your nose to spot each relatively insignificant woodland path between loops of road.
