8/06
At 2am, we leave Old Manali in a small mini van to reach Leh, it will take us around 19 hours, it is the second highest road in the world...We both feel sleepy, we chat a bit with Christopher, a Swiss guy met few days before and some Israelis in the van. Everyone is trying to sleep, the road is crazy, bumpy, slow, but slowly we are reaching some peaks, some snow clad mountains. I cannot sleep, the road is too bumpy... We stop around 6am for a tea break, all feeling weird, altitude is high, it feels isolated and deserted, this small place in the middle of nowhere...We keep going, more and more, another break around 8am in Keylong, the last town before Leh, at 3350 metres, there are fabulous landscapes around, amazing beauty of the scenery... We keep going, amongst mindblowing nature, we all observe the sheer beauty of the himalayan scenery. It is magnificient but also so harsh, yes such a harsh environment. Most of this region is isolated, the road cut nine months of the year, covered in snow... We go over many passes, including the crazy Tanglang La (5429 metres), I feel bad, Fab too and many in the van too... We start feeling anxious for the driver as he is meant to drive for 19 hours without a break and he is obviously tired...sniffing benzine as all drivers do in India to stay awake... We joke thinking of the health and safety regulations back in Europe, here, it is total madness, crazy roads, peaks, the van driving so fast, honking and overtaking all the time on high mountains roads... We keep checking the driver for signs of tiredness, asking him if he needs to stop or rest... but he keeps going... I make him to stop few times for a pee (the joy of peeing in nature for a woman) behind rocks or behind the van... We all are becoming insane, at 3pm the driver stops in a weird place, Pang, a camp open only in the summer with tents and few chai shops... We eat some crappy noddles, rest a bit, in the middle of that desert and then back in the van for more insane driving time... I swear I will not do that journey again as we are all becoming crazy...time is suspended, I have a big headache, a mild altitude sickness symdrome. However the nature is of course spectacular: strates of mountains, a phantasmagoria of rocks, the more and more valleys, the Indus valley... The landscape slowly changes and becomes more arid, it feels weird to think we might reach a town in the middle of this wilderness of rocks... maybe Leh doesn't exist, it s been so long... We are stuck in that mini van... My consciousness somehow floats away... The journey is like a rite of initiation, from the lush green places close to Manali up the long winding mountains roads slowly reaching Ladakh, the bareness of the peaks, the snow and finally a valley but still feeling very desertic. Ochres, yellow rocks, mud bricks houses, small villages, all dry and sandy... We finally reach Leh at 8pm!!! We are all 'destroyed'!!! It is dark, we can only cach a glimpse of the palace, we share a taxi to reach the Changspa area, full of backpackers haunts, it is dark, everything seems closed... The first impression is bad as we are exhausted and anxious, we need a bed and a shower... We finally find a cheap hotel, not great but it will be enough for tonight... of course no hot water here tonight, only from 7am, there are heavy restrictions on water here... The dream of taking a hot soothing water quickly evaporates... HELL!!! We go for a quick dinner then fall asleep...was it all a dream or did we survive this mad journey?? We wake up around 4am, to hear the muezzin calling muslims to pray, some dogs bark, different barking noise from the hills, the valley...an interesting night!!
9/06
We wake up late, enjoy the hot shower so much and after a late breakie, go for a wander around town, discovering Leh which seems so huge last night and is in fact quite self contained. I will have to fight a small headache all day, getting used to the altitude, we are now at 3500 metres high and it will take few days for the body to adjust and also recover from the journey... the land of high passes here... We walk around, there are few big streets, a market-bazar, many alleyways, the mountains around, the palace... despite some messyness, it does have some charms. Many labyrinthine small roads, some fields, some shops, many gompas, prayers wheels, many people, local Ladakhi, Tibetans, Kashmiris who come here to rent the shops for the summer season, tourists, we hear many languages, see many different faces here. The view of the palace is striking, nearly from everywhere you turn a corner and suddenly a whole flank of the palace is standing in front of you, bare and stark as the peaks and mountains that surround it... We are happy to walk, to search for a new home, as we want a nice place... We feel the peace here, admire the picturesque village, watch the small streams, the rock and snow mountains all around. The valley is quite lush as the melting water from the glaciers nourishes the land, which is quite green...for 3 months of the year!
We meet many Ladakhi in their tradtional outfits, all very friendly and smiley...beautiful in their brown robes, faces tanned by the Himalayan sun. We catch up with Christopher who takes us to a new area, we find a beautiful family home guesthouse, a lovely traditional house with amazing views on the mountains... The Solpon Guesthouse will be our home for our stay in Leh, a lovely home, a great friendly family, a lovely house temple and our bedroom will have the best view of Leh, far from the hustle and bustle but surrounded by farms and fields. We eat in a small Tibetan restaurant, great momos, the electricity cuts out like it does 50 times a day and we finish eating with a candle...how fun!! This place will become our canteen, nice cheap good food and a lovely Tibetan family. The Tibetans are everywhere in Leh, they come for the summer season, selling turquoise and jade jewellery, jumpers, prayers flags, haggling with the tourists... We recognise the women easily with their outfits, different from the traditonal Ladakhi ones. Ladakh holds fragments of Tibet in its hand somnehow...but the culture so close is also very specific to here...the land of the passes, the tough people, the strong Buddisht feeling, an old culture maybe still alive...
10/06
We move to our new home in the morning, such a joy to have a beautiful view on the peaks and surrounded by so many fields. Our host family is ploughing, with dzos, singing to the cows to help them work... Fab is sick today, he needs to rest. We go and check our mails, rest a lot then in the afternoon we make our way to the Women's Alliance to watch a movie, Ancient Futures, which shows us the traditional culture from Ladakh but also raises questions about the social and environmental costs of modernisation or development... Very interesting movie, it strikes a chord for both of us. Like other regions of the Himalayas, Ladakh lived a self contained existence largely undisturbed for centuries...self reliance, local productions, and happiness largely due to the Buddhist philosophy, humane values and respect for nature, then some abrupt changes became noticeable since the opening of the region in the 70's... It made me think of what we call development which is mainly Western style development, building infrastructures and education based on Western values and an international monetary value system, often rejecting local knowledge... It is not about idealising traditional ways of life but here, because the changes have been so dramatic and quick (only 30 years), we can feel the impact on people's life and mind... People are not living off their land anymore thus becoming more dependent, learning the western way that has no relevance to this region or culture...
Fab and I have been reflecting on that very Eurocentric progress, this centralised economy, and how the messages from the advetisements and also from the tourists make the Ladakhi think the Ladakhi culture is backward. The movie showed us that development has destroyed local economy that had served people's needs for more than 1000 years, Westerners brought a very one dimensional view of progress... Is having money means better living standards? What about the negative impact of economic growth? Also more and more we notice that natural resources are limited, science will not stretch the Earth's bounty infinitely...even here we notice environmental problems: polluted streams, rubbish everywhere...
After that interesting moment, we take a walk and go visit the the Sankar Gompa, we get lost in the narrow village alleys and footpaths, we see many beautiful traditional Ladakhi housesd white washed with straw on the roof nicely displayed, prayer flags at every corner of the roofs. There is a sense of total 'depaysement', foreigness here but in a gentle way. We go down to the town, eat at the same tibetan restaurant...we love it!!!
11/06
It was a bad night, dogs have been barking all night, as it is often the case here and we will get used to it, like the muezzin at 4am every day! We then hear our farmers ploughing their field, singing to the yaks to guide them. Small breakie and we go down to the town, to visit the local monuments. Fab gets a shave, he feels he needs a change and a more practical haircut here, it will be no hair!! We walk around, see the mosque from the 17th century, wander in the bazar, full of shops, Tibetan shops, where everything is probably fake, and under stocked shops too, fake and real antiques, traditional clothes, jewellery and trekking gear, what a mess!! We slowly climb to the top of the Leh Palace, from the early 17th century, we admire it, climbing slowly as it stands in the full dazzle of the morning light, sand, rocks around... What a brilliant view from the top, we look at the lush valley, the small fields, all the houses, the mosques, the gompas, the prayers flags shooking in the morning breeze... The mountain sun is strong and our skins are burning everyday here despite the strong UV sun cream... We then climb to the top to the Tsemo Castle with fantastic view over the Leh valley. We go down, walk around town and book a trek, the Lamayuru to Chiling one, 5 days, quite intense, crossing big passes... Reconnecting and discovering nature here, powerful and harsh... We also hire a massive Royal Enfield to go and visit the monasteries around Leh from tomorrow. We have dinner with Christopher, a nice end of the day in our Tibetan canteen.
12/06
Today we are riding the Royal Enfield, exploring the area, discovering the villages and visiting some famous monasteries. The monasteries are everywere in Ladakh, they are the heart of the culture, the kings of the fields too, standing often on small rocks, strong but looking so small and fragile... The bike gives us a feeling of freedom, riding the countryside, watching spectacular landscapes, sand rocks everywhere and snow... We first stop at Shey, the Summer palace of the Ladakhi kings, high on the hill, surrounded by white chortens. Inside the temple there is a massive Buddha statue, so tall...so peaceful...The three of us (our Swiss friend is riding too) are ejoying this day so much!!
We then ride to Thikse, a splendid gompa, built in the 15th century, above the valley, a new and old gompa, a lovely courtyard and some amazing paintings, wheels of life, monks are chanting inside, we can smell the incense, observe the many little Buddhas and deities...a beautiful place.
More kilometres crossing villages, fields, chortens everywhere to finally reach Tak-Tok, build near a cave near Sakti, a small intimate monastery. We loom at the Indus valley, so green, the the temple is closed but we enjoy chilling out there, observing the green fields and apricots trees (a speciality in Ladakh: the apricot jam and apricot juice are part of our breakfast ever morning!!). Few stops on the way to repair the bike, the battery is falling, thanks for the plasters we have with us!!! We then ride to Chemrey, in a wild valley, an 18th century Monastery, hung to the mountain. Such an amazing lanscape here, the village, the farms falling down the mountain, so harmonious, river, fields, gardens... We take the wobbly wooden stairs, explore the temple, see the stuffed goats which symbolise the ephemere character of life...
Then after a nice ride in the valley and up hills on dirt roads (hard to be at the back of the Enfield: the noise and the may bumps!!!), we reach Hemis, a very famous monastery... It is nice, with wooden built veranda and three big gompas but funny enough, it is not our favourite...busy busy...It is known for its Lama party in July where monks with costumes and masks dance and reenact mythology scenes, pilgrims and tourists flock here in thousands... On the way down, Chris crashes the bike but miraculously is safe!! What a big fright: he missed a turn, luckily he has nothing but the bike is in a bad shape. A woman from the village comes and sits with us, worried for us, the guys repair the bike as much a they can so we can reach Leh...the bike is damaged, Chris decides to drop it for tomorrow and have a quiet day. We will ride alone tomorrow... It was a great day, despite the accident, fun to have the bike to explore and discover the region, really a high alttude desert, with awesome physical features. Such a spectacular environment, with some mightiest moutains ranges, streams irrigating the valleys in summer and this amazing concentration of Buddhist monasteries (gompas), near the Indus river. we both reflect on those landscapes, this treeless expanse and the breathtaking rugged beauty of the scenery here. Cheap dinner then bedtime...Riding is tiring too!!!
13/06
We start early this morning as we want to go quite far (60 kms) to visit some monasteries... The dirt roads are challenging and it takes a very long time to reach any destinations here, we take some amazing roads through desert and high mountains. We feel so free and so alone, there is nothing, just sand rocks and rocks...until we reach a military zone (so many here as Ladakh is very strategic in the region...between China and India and not far from Pakistan...). We ride again and cross many militar camps, isolated in the desert, small baracks, big trucks and jeeps...weird!! The road gets more difficult, we have to manage the dirt, the dust, the non existent road, a challenge, specially in some valleys, what a ride!! After this long journey, more than 2 hours in the dust and dirt, we reach the village of Alchi, like a little oasis in the middle of nowhere, fields, arid, flowers, apricots trees and the monastery...a splendor: 5 temples in that gompa, in the middle of a moon like landscape, sculpted wood, carved wood, small verandas, wall paintings so stunning and so differents from what we have seen: antiques and byzantines influences here, the Buddhas are so different: smiling, dancing, a very Indian but also Persian influence...amazing! The temples are really old, from the 11th century and the painrtings were not so formal yet... We both really like this place... After a nice chill lunch in a small garden restaurant where we meet up with some Indian guys we me in Manali, we ride more and more... It will be a long journey back, we both enjoy it but it is long and tiring (specially for the bums!!). Fab has decided to take his bike driving licence when back in Europe... We stop in Spituk, the closest monastery from Leh, a gompa form the 15th century, its environment is quite ugly, surrounded by military camps and the airport... I wonder what the monks think, being surrounded by the army in that desert...hidden thangkas everywhere here, monks preparing a sand mandala for some celebrations, deities painted, beautiful murals...then we climb to the small temple on the hill, the Gonkhang, small rock sanctuary with terrifying deities, many Indians also come here too as they are also worshipping some of those statues as incarnation of Kali... We get offered some traditonal butter cake then rest a bit waching a sweet cat and a monk playing... Many dogs in India but so rare to see cats... We reach back Leh after that exausting but exhilarating journey... Tibetan food then bedtime. The day has been great, amazing to explore this remote land, a repository of Buddhist culture and religion and to discover immemorial treasures like frescoes, paintings, sculptures in this crazy landscape!
14/06
It is a nice sunny day today, we want to take it easy as we are soon leaving to go on a trek, so rest time, and walk to the Shanti Stupa, the new modern stupa high up hill. It was blessed in 1985 by the Daila Lama and was built by the Japanese, it symbolises peace in the world! A very long walk-climb to reach it, very tiring but the views over Leh are great, we sit after having walk around the stupa, making all the prayers-cylinders around it shake, observing the modern buddhas and checking the buildings we know... A nice chill out morning, we end up in a nice terrace for lunch, reading books and Tintin for Fab. Another small walk in the town, then we meet up with Chris and James a Scottish guy, we chat and eat until it gets dark and we go to bed!!
15-16/06
We spend most of those two days trying to organise ourselves for the trek but...everything is closed: there is a STRIKE here!!! Unbelievable, all the shops and offices are closed down, to protest against new taxes and regulations...Mad!! We even struggle to find some foods!! We really need some socks and jackets for the trek and the guide cannot sort out our permits...so we wait and the trek keeps being postponed...in a way, it is OK as we are both tired and lazy, we enjoy having few more days doing not much!! Finally on the 16th, the conflict seems resolved and the shops very quickly reopened!! Shops keepers are happy, busy, smiling to the tourists...we chat to few of them and they tell us the season is so short her, only three months, that they cannot afford to lose too much money!! Leh was so sleepy and suddenly the city awakens, gently: some lights, some buzz, some noise, the restaurants fill up...We rush to get some equipment for the trek and spend the end of the day chilling out! Tomorrow, meeting time: 8am!!
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