Leh, Last Days

25/06
We spend the day shopping and walking around Leh. We buy a nice small local table and some shawls from the region. Not much to say about today, the shops are busy, the roads even busier, there are more and more tourists (Indians and foreigners) escaping the Indian plains and the heat. We walk along the alleyways and streets and it feels more like a summer town now...Interesting...Soon we will go back to Europe...How would that be? We both feel anxious and happy at the same time...so many things have been thrown in the air during that journey...We bump into Lisette and Matteo, nice to see them, it has been a while since Manali, we will meet up tomorrow and catch up properly, so many stories to share!!!
Dinner time, we meet up with our Italian friends and a lovely Indian couple from Delhi, nice eve, chatting away, sharing and having fun!! Our friends are leaving tomorrow for Srinagar so it is goodbye time...until Europe!

26/06
Today we hire a bike to go to Kardung La, the highest pass (5602 metres), it is an amazing journey on the highest motorable road in the world!! The road goes through rock canyons, sand desert, snow clad peaks...it is enjoyable until we reach the lst few kilometres before the pass: we are now fighting with the elements and the dirt road is so bad, holes, bumps...My bum is suffering at the back of the motorbike and Fab has to drive so carefully to avoid the bumps...It is so isolated and so cold, from time to time, miraculously we meet some road workers, destroying rocks, building the road....right here in the middle of nowhere...so weird!!!
Apparently we need a permit for this zone but at ever check point, we keep riding and nobody stops us: good!!! The views on the Leh valley are impressive, we can see the fields cultivated, the small houses...we keep going up and up...Funny enough we don't suffer from altitude sickness today!! We finally reach the pass, nothing special but the view, some military base, a small temple, lots of snow...and that is it but it feels joyful to be so high and so close to the world's summit!! We look around, take few piccies then start going down, slowly until we reach Leh. Small lunch break then we decide to go visit Stakna, a monastery 20 kilometres from the town. Another ride, not so enjoyable, as there are so many military trucks and big lorries polluting us...We cross the Indus valley, a small bridge entirely decorated by floating prayers flags then reach the monastery. We vist the gompa, the paintings are fairly new, some are scary, some horrible deities, the buddhas seem very Chinese, it is the new style...We then look around, take a smaller bumpy road, through small villages until we make our way back to Leh, the mountains are gold and fiery with the sunset...We both almost forget our tiredness and the bumpiness of the road!!! Short rest then we meet up with our Manali friends for a good catch up and a Tibetan meal. We hear about their stories, everyone seems to have adventures in India, the crazy drugged up driver, the meditation retreat, the trek...etc etc...Already time for bed, one of the last nights here, again hearing the muezzin and the dogs...

27/06
Last full day in Leh, we are sad to leave...it is coming to an end so quickly...We laze around, email, go and check the airport restrictions then meet up with our friends for a last lunch. They still have one month in India and are going to spend few days in the Markha valley...another place we would have loved to go...but hey, it will be for another trip...it is not the last time we come here, such a diverse place, it finds its way under your skin even if you don't want it to...A bit of shopping, packing, chatting to the lady at home, sorting out the medications to donate to the local hospital then the day is already gone...one last meal and then...6am tomorrow we are leaving to go back to crazy Delhi and 45 degrees...