Tashi, novice monk, poised to score a hit while playing sockball on a sunny afternoon after classes with his buddies 'in the open' at the ancient Lamayuru Buddhist monastery in Ladakh. Perched on a craggy grey-white Himalayan hillside at 3,510 meters, the 11th-century 'gompa' is among the largest of its kind. A friend and I joined in and soon had the little monks howling in delight as they tried to catch that swirling ball thrown high into the mountain air.