Fruition of our trip...

...a baby from Ladakh!

There are touch-points in life which entreats us to change and grow, to mature, to take responsibility, to be happy as a person, a couple...this trip has been a major one for us...as is... this pregnancy!

Some things will stay embedded in our hearts and minds forever – the many extraordinary sceneries, the laughters, the adventures, the vibrant cultures, but there will always be a special place, somewhere in India, far far up North....some snowy summits magnified by the crystal-clear sunshine, arid plains interspersed with a moonscape of deep gorges and an aura of greatness...a little clandestine decided to come back with us from Ladakh and take us on another journey. Parenthood!!!

One that hopefully will help us listen to ourselves, enrich our lives with a sense of connection where communication can happen in silence or through physical contact. One that compels us to defocus and let go, to live for the experience and to expand our horizons in all sorts of directions...

Conceiving, carrying during those long months a baby, seeing it coming to life is probably one of the most profound and beautiful adventures that can be lived...after this wonderful journey around the world.

Next stop: March, London when we will become three!

The Very Last Days

28/06
It's 5am and we wake up with a sore heart. The sun rises over the Himalayan mountains in a symphony of purple and pink. It seems the skies are also saying goodbye in a marvellous style. We're leaving for Delhi this morning and we're excited but also very sad to leave this beautiful part of the world that worked its magic on us...
Our lovely host wakes up to get us some chai and to say goodbye, we are very touched. Wrapping up our bags and sipping our tea away, we say farewell to our fabulous bedroom and get in the taxi. We are pretty silent, looking at the mountains and the roads we've rode on passing in front of our windows. Leh is still, quiet and deserted, the shops are closed, like a little mourning, the town shying away, fading away. New adventures wait for us, Delhi is near, so does the end of the trip. We try not to think too much about it but it's there. We're both very emotional and our eyes speak for ourselves. We pass in front of the gigantic army camps on the way to the airport. We get our numerous luggages through the check in and customs and wait for our plane in the less than fancy derelict airport. We chose to fly in order to stay in Leh longer and avoid that dreadful 3 day trip on the bus to Delhi. Our carbon footprint is getting a little bit too much but things we want to do in and around Delhi can't wait...
For some reason we got an upgrade once again for this flight...it's only one and a half hour flight but we're in first class...loads of legroom and seats are twice as large as normal ones...self indulgence...We take off and after few moments we see all the Himalayan range from a different point of view...green valleys inserts between these enormous sharp teeth that are the summits, few clouds around and peaks piercing through them...then the mountains shrink to make space for larger valleys, slowly covering themselves with trees. The Himalayas draw to a close and in a spectacular drop, disappear underneath the arid plains...the landscape is absolutely stunning from the little plane windows...I try to take pictures, Val passing out in her comfy seat. Slowly we see buildings and the gigantism of Delhi unravelling. And we finally touch down in Delhi. We knew about it but it's early morning and we're already near the 40 degrees here. And a little more humid than two months ago...the monsoon is arriving soon...The next three days will be HOT. Period. We get our bags and make our way to Pahar Ganj in a taxi we're sharing with a Hungarian guy. We find a small hotel, cheap but with aircon in a side alleyway to the bazar. It's a great location as it is not on the main street but many more locals are around and we get to see loads of local life with local eateries and chai shops busy with locals and (nearly) no tourists. We rest for a little while and go visit a few shops in the area, talk to shopkeepers, street vendors or simply smiling indian people etc. We then decide to explore some further areas outside of Delhi to try and find some furnitures...It's sunday many furniture shops are closed. We visit Hauz Khas village near a very posh new part of the town and some other colourful markets nearby. Then the sky breaks up in a massive storm which leaves us soaked once again. But within minutes and thanks to the heat (a little less hot now!) we dry up quicky. We then move back to the city, near Connaught Place where we go to an emporium. And we decide to walk back to the bazar. We really want to take in as much as we can of the people's kindness, interest, curiosity, vision of life during our last days. We smile to everyone around and walk and walk again. We buy a few souvenirs and discover some parts of the bazar we did not know. At the end of the day we come across a ceremony in the middle of the street. Women are making offerings to deities, candles, burning oil, flowers, candies, asking for the protection of a newborn. We go for dinner in one of our favourite local we discovered the last time. The kids still remember us and we have fun with them as they play fools when the boss turn around...and we go to bed...tomorrow we'll wake up early again: we're going to the Taj Mahal!!!!!!!!!!!

29/06
Our train is at 6am so we wake up very early. It's been raining all night. The bazar is muddy and we walk in the middle of the street trying to avoid the puddles, but at this time the bazar is still asleep so we have loads of space! New Delhi train station is already very busy, some people going on business, some going on holidays, some still sleeping on the floor, some around a ticket office probably still queuing since yesterday to get second class tickets to wherever...We find our train which will take us to Agra and the legendary Taj Mahal. We take place on our train with a lot of Indian tourists going on a day trip like us. Two hours later we make it to the station of one of the most touristic place of India, if not the most touristic. Hords of touts and desperate taxis and rikshaw drivers are waiting outside and jump on the freshly arrived people, Indian or not. We try to make it to the taxi boot but are being sort of rescued by a German couple who are going to the Taj. The've already been negociating for a while and are looking for two other people to share the cost. It won't be much! We're at the lowest of the season here, not so many tourists are around because of the temperature. Many drivers will not make a roupie today, surprisingly they're haggling between them, it's madness, they're argueing and the prices are still dropping...it's very disturbing, we start thinking they won't even cover their costs...so we get one of the nicest guys and not the cheaper and get in his taxi. The Taj Mahal is few kilometers away and the taxi takes us to the outside of the West Gate, on the outskirts of the external walls. Once again a large number of street sellers come to us desperate to sell a wooden box, a plastic snake, batteries or even useful stuff like light bulbs or bicycle tubes...We take our extremely expensive entry tickets comparatively to the standards of India. But hey it's the Taj Mahal right?!
We make our way to the first inner gate, the West gate, where we get thoroughly checked for security (I had to leave my newspapers?!) and process along the red walls to get to the gardens. Our hearts beat fast, the moment is magical and the mausoleum reveals itself slowly to our eyes. The set is theatrical, in a sort of movement of curtains created by the walls and the porch of the gigantic gate, the marvellous white splendour is uncovered...our eyes are wide opened and we're holding our breath. The moment is magical. Like millions (billions??) of people, we've seen it in books, on post-cards, on tv, in cinema...it's part of our world heritage and one of the most well know monument on earth...and it's in front of us...I don't know what to feel or think...this dream has become real and for a long time since I knew I would come here I was scared of having this myth crumbling down in front of me...being disappointed by something that would not be as beautiful I expected, or simply sad of the dream becoming a reality. But nothing as such...the Taj Mahal IS REALLY a splendor.
We walk around this piece of architecture built in 1653 (the work lasted for 22 years) by Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his favorite wife, Mumtaz Mahal. It is said that he was so sad after the loss of his wife that the emperor looked for an architect who could understand his vision of desperate love, found the best Persian architect and killed his wife so he could understand the pain and build the most beautiful testimony of love. The monument is entirely made of white marble with inlay of semi precious stones. We take a few pictures and walk around the magnificient gardens and walk towards the mausoleum. It is actually much larger and taller than I ever thought and we understand why it's taken so long to built it. We are really struck by the beauty of the place, the proportions, the symetry and the precision and perfection. The craft is impressive, the stone inlays are stunning, beauty and such a fluidity in the movements...we're in love...The mausoleum chamber is sensational, really moving, with the carving of the thin marble pannels surrounding the tomb. Ceilings, floor, walls, dome...all marble and all splendid...We're so glad to be here...We then walk around and visit the symetrical mosques that flank the Taj, we observe (and ARE observed) the many local tourists, some with modern outfits, some in traditional dresses and saris...there is a feeling of time suspension here. We stop for a while and sit to watch the Taj...but we have to leave after few hours as Agra has other things to visit.
We take a rickshaw and go to visit the Red Fort, few kilometres away. The fort is one of the most important complex of India, made of many buildings and gardens. Its foundation dates back to the 11th century. But it took its present form under Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan, the same behind the Taj Mahal. The fort in mainly made of red sandstone but also of inlaid white marble and sometimes gold. The emperor was at some point emprisoned by his son, and a white marble palace was built inside the fort so the emperor could still see his wife mausoleum. The compound is splendid, the gardens very well kept and the very strong sun reflecting on the white surfaces dazzles us despite the sun glasses!! We also spend a long time here, wandering around...but the day is soon over so we make our way to a place called the 'Baby Taj' (the real name is I'timād-ud-Daulah's Tomb). It's another mausoleum actually older than the Taj Mahal and is said to have been an inspiration for his more famous sister.
We hire a new rickshaw which is going to take us there, it's far but really worth it. On the way we see colourful markets, local life...not so many tourists around here. We witness the sad example of a widely spread corrupt system, a policeman is guarding a bridge and takes a bribe to any motor vehicle that may wish to cross. But not directly!!! A 'bribe collector' sits nearby and is a sort of intermediary...the policeman doesn't want to be seen being given the money!!! The rickshaw rides in the traffic, some motorbikes so heavily loaded they take three quarters of the road, other rickshaw with ten people inside...dear old India...and we arrive at the monument.
Val and I both loved this place, there is nearly nobody here, only us and a few monkeys...the mausoleum is not as big as the Taj but the inlaid marble is largely used here which is slowly turning red with the setting sun...and carved on the inside and the outside. The inside walls are covered with beautiful frescos, marble floor etc...In one of the wings some craftsmen are actually restoring the wall, manufacturing detailed inlays with traditional hand tools. Their father, and the father or their father worked the same way...We feel happy and privileged to share a moment with them. We then wait and watch the beginning of the sunset. Time flies and we have to return to see our rickshaw and go back to the station. We ask him to drop us in a nice eatery on the way and have a quick dinner before heading back to the station. We eat, read and start walking to the station...but it's much further away than planned and we have to take a cycle rickshaw on the fly! We make it the station and find our German friends on the platform...Streets kids are begging, some aggressively, some too young to be so, some crippled guys...'Agra cant't' station is a real theatre of India's drama...After a while (it's now 9pm) the different kids gather at the foot of the stairs, a policeman gives some of his baton...minutes later a man in a suit with a Panama arrives...they all show their hands and he picks the few rupees a couple of the kids have. The ones who have raised money will come and eat with him tonight...the others will have to beg for longer...maybe all night....We looked at each other and me and the German guy are really near to go and have 'a man chat' with this guy...but what about the kids???! We really feel useless here...
Our train finally arrives (rather late) and takes us back to Delhi. The bazar is now closed and we go and have another quick meal. The day has been rather filled up with intense emotions and we are very tired...we come back to the hotel and go to sleep quickly...

30/06
It's our last day here in India, and is also the last stop before our final destination...
We decided that we'll spend our last day trying to combine the excitment of shoppping with the sadness of our last day. The task seems hard as we are rather anxious about the next days as this incredible part of our life is coming to an end...so...we're going shopping, trying to find everlasting memories of our journey here...a mission...
We first get on a rickshaw to Sunder Nagar village. People have been recommending this place as we may find some nice antique furnitures. It's set in a very luxurious area with beautiful well fenced and guarded villas...But there is no furniture shop here so we do some window shopping for a while as the square presents some nice little shops of various junk from all over India. Inside the small shops, it's a symphony of so called antique jewellery, fake aged reproductions of various tribal objects, real pieces of ethnic art and imported stuff... Before we set off we enter a shop held by a Sikh guy, Singh. This short stop turns to a real head turning (or buzzing) event! We were just watching some old Indian movie posters and we end up talking Tibetan singing bowls and sound therapy with him...With another couple, we start experimenting the beneficial resonance of the singing bowls on our heads one after the other. We spend around an hour there....and a few roupies on a singing bowl!!!! It's a great purchase, from all the one we've seen in the North of India, this one DOES have a beautiful sound, unique, soft and pure...We're very happy...Then following a tip from our friend, we head off to Sharma Farm in the Southern outskirts of the city. After nearly an hour drive, we reach a vast area with several warehouses...filled up with...antiques!!!! They're not even restored yet!!! We walk through the alleys looking left and right in search of THE piece we'll bring back with us...We could furnish an entire house with what they have to offer: chairs, tables, coffee tables, doors, palaces wooden porches, wardrobes, chandeliers, beds, carpets, plantpots, garden benches and so on...This place is absolutely fantastic...We keep walking in the hope we'll find what we want...then after a long while, we finally find a buffalo cart we can transform as a coffee table...it's got some work to be done on it but we love its shape and look...then we carry on our search...after many ideas and conversations, we suddely see a pair of beautiful wooden doors...that strikes us: that it'll become a dining table...
After many more conversations with the sellers (and heavy negociations!!!) we decide to go back to the guesthouse. We've spent about 4 hours in the warehouse and it's getting late. We take our taxi back (we asked him to wait for us) to Pahar Ganj but the sky has completely change colour. It's nearly black due to the thickness of the clouds. Then, on a large road, it starts pouring down as the pre-monsoon season is tearing the sky away...pure deluge, it seems that the see is falling from the heavens...we can't see much...and, suddenly, our taxi breaks down as a lorry passing by drives through a massive puddle and literally floods the car in a huge tidal wave...a little mud tsunami get the engine to drawn and splashes all over me through the small gap of the slightly opened window...we laugh out loud despite the discomfort...but the car does not start anymore...the engine is flooded. After waiting for a while on the motorway the driver calls for another taxi to come and pick us up. 20 minutes later our new taxi arrives. We are slightly soaked but never mind, it's about 45 degrees out there and we'll dry fast.
The bazar is as muddy as Verdun battlefield in the middle of the autumn...we kind of carefully walk in the middle of the puddle, slaloming between the patches and diverses obstacles...unexpectedly, in the middle of the brown and shiny ground, a man dressed in white on a white horse is parading like a prince in a sort of hallucinated vision and incredible drum noise...The groom and his family are going to pick up his bride...On the last day of our honeymoon we witness a beautiful traditional Indian wedding in one of the poorest and dirtiest area of Delhi...a beautiful flash of remembrance passes between us...In a rush I grab my camera and take a short movie of the scene...We make it to the hotel, rest for a little while and decide to go out again to eat and enjoy our last moments in the bazar. We walk the dark back alleys and enjoy sights of the life here, the barber shop still opened late at night, the corner outside, the restaurant kitchen busy with the sweaty glaring cooks making chapatis and other culinary delicatessen, the jeweller still making copper bracelets, the laundry man ironing at the light of a candle, the temples under a wan neon striplight, candy makers etc...few dark figures walk at some distance in the poorly lit alleys...few stray dogs emerge from nowhere and disappear in the dark...We live a very atmospheric moment...quite meaningful and meditative...We then arrive at our local restaurant, the kids are still there, playing with us and the camera again...they're funny...we need this on our last night...after a lovely dahl meal, we go and get a last chai...we make our way through the traffic of rickshaw, delivery boy with a massive cube of ice on the bike carrier, the rickshaw loaded so much it looks like an elephant, cows eating garbage, we meet 'Shiva', a young guy wearing a Bob Marley t-shirt who just wants to know where we're from and that I take a picture of him so we can remember him and Delhi, a very smiley figure...we then sit on the front step of the hotel and watch life going past...We're not talking much at this time, our throats are tight, our eyes humid...it's been six month we've been away...how is going to be the return? We go to bed and dream of all the experiences...

31/07
We wake up and finish packing. I order some tea for this morning and we make our way to the airport. The flight seems very long and we're not in great joy...we watch a movie or two or three, cry, sleep a bit...
We then arrive at Heathrow airport, it seems surreal...they aren't many travellers around, and we feel a bit 'mis-casted'...everything is so modern, sleek, people look down, grim....even the ones coming back from holidays look unhappy...luckily the sky is blue and it's kind of hot here today...around 30...that's still 15 degrees difference with this morning but at least it's not raining...We then see a familiar face round the corner...Bertrand is here to pick us up...it's a nice touch from our dear friends, the shock would be soften...We drive through London, see familiar places, we respectively talk about our last days...To welcome us home, they've also prepared a duck confit...one of our favourite dish. So nice of them...we then chat for a while and go to bed...
Tomorrow, our life will return in a familiar surrounding but it's down to us to make it different after all these months exploring, discovering, loving, laughing (see: smoking), hating, enjoying, crying, walking, surfing (wooosh), riding, trekking, panting (hard-breathing), diving (nice bubbles), flying (bad carbon footprint), crawling (can't remember this one too well), swimming (35 degrees in the sea, anyone?), eating (I could eat the world, but Vietnam will be enough!!!), drinking (I testify, you can find beer anywhere), smoking (not so much), driving (too much?), meditating, levitating (for joking, see: smoking again), yoga-ing, snapping, photographing (gosh, my first finger hurts), singing (la-laa-la, om, om...), writing, drawing, talking (see: drinking), and for the last two, please READ THE BLOG: dreaming and just LIVING...

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...

Pangong Lake

23/06
We have booked a jeep with our Italian friends from the trek and our Swiss friend to go to Pangong Lake, a high altitude lake, actually the biggest saltwater lake in Asia. It is far away, 5-6 hours of jeep on crazy bumpy dirt road but the journey is amazing, taking us through picturesque villages. We all must have a permit as those zones are striclty restricted by the military and very few are open to foreigners... First check point: we realise our guide has made a mistake on our permits and forgot to add Gloria, instead he puts her partner's name Vincenzo twice...We spend half an hour trying to explain it to a very narrow minded military who doesn't speak English, he is not getting it!! He cannot see Gloria's passport number on the permit so we cannot pass and go through...We try anything, to explain to him slowly, to smile, Gloria even loses it, shouting a bit at him, we try to ask him to let us go, that we will hide Gloria under the seat for the next two check points: 4 passports, four permits and only 4 foreigners..the fifth one will be clandestine under the seat...he is not impressed!!! Finally after some phone calls, he decides to allow us to go but keeps our driver's driving licence until we come back tomorrow...then we have to hide Gloria under the seat at the next check points!! The joy of military in India!!! We keep going, laughing at this mad moment and the atmosphere is fun in the car even our driver has a laugh!!! We drive more and more, pass two check points, Gloria clandestine under the bags and coats until we reach the high mountain area...
Snow, glaciers, peaks, wild horses in cultivated valleys far away from us, stupas everywhere and down below, we finally reach the pass: Chang La (5360 metres), the pass over the Ladakh range of mountain and the third highest pass in the world! A strong military presence on the pass, we stop for some tea and pipi, I feel a bit dizzy and high, the altitude is getting to me...I somehow feel detached from the landscape, the people around...weird feeling, I go and wait in the jeep for my companions to come back, I try to communicate with our driver but his English consists of yes and no so it will be hard, still we will manage to exchange a bit during those two days. The views are breathtaking, a manificient panorama of snow cald peaks, rock mountains, arid sand dunes. I think of Ladakh as a name, it comes from La-Tags in Tibetan, the land of the La, the land of the high moutains passes...so true here, right now. We keep going more and more, the road is worse now, so bumpy, I am happy to sit at the front...what a variety of landscapes, arid and wild terrains then beautiful meadows then more often bare rolling hills and peaks. So amazing, we stop on the way to observe marmottes, to eat in the last village before the lake, a small village...noodle and soup for lunch before driving the last 35 kms which takes us 1 hour and a half!!! A crazy mountain road, slow serpent on the hills, we see sudden glimpses of ravines, far peaks of moutains, bare rocky surface with sheeps, we finally get a glimpse of the lake: unbelievable!
Pangoing has blue green purple water, the colours are really amazing, unbelievably clear water, surrounded by majestuous mountains all around and sand dunes. We stop at the beginning to taste the water, a bit saltish and cold and take many piccies...it is truly spectacular, the mountains are strong but the lake is sparkling, it is practically an inland sea, as it is 150kms long and 2 to 10 kms wide. Two third are in China (occupied Tibet) and so we are not permitted to go further than the small village of Spangmik, the furthest point to which foreigners are permitted...a bad war between China and India happened here in 1962 so the area is still restricted and very much under strict military surveillance because of its strategic importance. We drive again another 10 kms to the village and stop there, we will spend the night here, no guesthouse, but tents or homestays. After visiting few options, we choose to stay in a traditional family home, an elderly couple welcomes us and accepts to host the five of us tonight!! Padma and Tashi are typical Ladakhi farmers, tough, hard limbed, small, skin darkened by the harsh sun but with great toothless smiles!! They are both beautiful in their brown robes in front of their isolated farm, the highest in that small village, we agree with them then sit on the balcony and watch the landscape drinking chai: the power of the landscape, the lake so blue, dark moutains, we all smile and feel so happy here!!A paradise!!! The air at that height (4267 metres) is very thin and so full of light!! We go for walk around the lake, we pass the forbidden one kilometre zone allowed to the foreigners but there is no check point here, Fab and I keep walking, looking at this desert, the village disappears away from us, it seems so tiny, this arid land around, we have found out that there are two more villages and a town until the Tibet border around 100 kms from here...amazing to think people live here, there is nothing, just this impressive austere landscape...We walk back, observe th few villagers with their farm animals, pashmina sheeps and goats and few dzos, we go home and at 7.30 all meet in the living room with the family to haev some rice and dhal, we chat to the son, a very charming educated man, his English is almost perfect! He tells us about life here, during winter when temperatures are below - 35, -40 degrees!! How the lake is frozen, how people sometimes go to the border and celebrate parties with the Tibetan on the other side, how life is slow during winter times...The old dad keeps observing us, aliens on his mats, trying to communicate with no Ladakhi, still many smiles...such a different life far from our Western lifestyle...life of the village, of the fields, of the mountains. We go out to observe the sky, thousands of stars again, air so thin, the milky way then bed time....We light up a candle and make our bed on the traditional mats...a tranquil night for me, hidden under two heavy blankets (it will go down -7 this night!!), Fab is more restless....

24/06
We wake up at 5.30am to see the sunrise on the lake, it is hard to get up but we meet the man from the home, we have a little chat, observe the sun suddenly burning the lake and the barren peaks around, watch the ochres and red of the rocks. The little stream close to the house is still frozen, it feels misty and beautiful. We take few piccies, admire the view...and go back to bed as breakfast will be served at 7.30am!! I cannot get back to sleep and decide to get up at 6.30, go wash (cold stream water) and chat with Vincenzo, both watching the changing colours of the lake, until everyone else wake up. Ladakhi bread and mango jam for breakkie with chai, then we all go for a walk , walking far far from the restricted zone (no check point this year), admiring the lake, the deep blue-green colours, touching the cold water, watching few geeses, and enjoying the walk, the sand, the sun. After this long walk, time to say goodbye to our lovely family, old man and woman with wrinkled brown faces and take the jeep back as it will be a long journey. We leave around 11am and start the road, it is a brilliant cloudless morning. The last images of the lake are very strong, powerful barren moutains with many crevaces, blue deep water, the silence of snow, rock, water, silence sustained over millenia in that small village...The journey will be long, yes but again it is great, an education into wilderness: wild forms of mountains, snow, rocks, wild horses, small fertile valleys...We stop few times but we are all exhausted by the bumpy road!! After a long da drive, we are all happy to reach Leh, its familiar palace, the streets. It feels busier now, more and more tourists, many Indians are here, there are more noise, more jeeps around...We feel glad to reach our little home and see the family again, the joy of going back to our little room and chill out...watching the snow clad peaks from our little sofa, see the last sun catch the top of the moutains and the Shanti stupa! We go for dinner very close to our place, after watching many piccies from the trip...sadly it is coming to an end and we want to keep being relaxed, slow, laze and not become too anxious about Europe. Funny enough, what this trip has done for me, for us is to start us on a journey...We have a long way to travel...finding a new kind of strenght...

Leh - The Trek

17/06
Today is THE day. The trek will finally start today so we wake up very excited about it. After our traditional breakfast, we tae our litlle day pack and go down the town to meet up with our driver, Jigmet our local guide and our trekking companions: an Italian couple, Gloria and Vicenzo from Bologne and Rome, and two young English girls from Cambridge, Bex and Flora. We all climb in our big 4wd and leave or a three hour drive to Lamayuru where we are going to visit the monastery. The atmosphere in the car is great, we get to know each other, we laugh, we talk a lot. The road brings us once again to high altitude passes but nothing bad really. We get stuck for half an hour as a landslide has blocked the road. We contemplate the landscape and bare sandy mountains and the beautiful cathedral-like erosion of the mountain flanks.
We then reach Lamayuru monastery, set at 3390m, one of most famous and picturesque gompa of Ladakh, holding a spectacular position on the rock. It was built in the 10th century and is one of the oldest in Ladakh. It hosts every year a big festival, but we are there 4 days too early!!! We meet old Ladakhi women in their traditional outfit, prayer wheel at hand swinging, here to pray...Few monks are around as the monastery is still active. We vist the temple and monks are chanting...a monk stands out as his hair are very long...he looks like a sadhu but he is a buddhist monk...The monastery is under preparation for the festival and we get to see 'tomas', small votive objects made of barley and butter, representing deities, humans and animals. After few more moments spent around the place we leave to the car and meet women in their celebration outfits, with their ancestral family coiffes made of turquoise... They shine in the bright sun and it's a real pleasure to the eyes and we feel privileged to see them. So far the only ones we saw were in antique shops... We get back in the car and drive down the old Lamayuru road, which laces up the mountain side to the start of the trek. We have lunch from our lunchbox. We then walk for about three hours, an easy road over the river to get used to the walking in the high mountains. The mountains are bare and the sun is strong this afternoon. We reach Hinju a small village at the end of the track, overlooking the valley with a lovely and very small monastery. The village is mainly inhabited by shepperds of pashmina goats and we witness the goats coming back home. Then at the corner of the house we were standing, an old woman in her dark traditional clothing starts talking to us in Ladakhi of course. We laugh a lot during a very weird conversation and all of a sudden Val and her start talking about exchanging their shoes. We spend half an hour laughing as Val gets one of the traditional woolen shoes and the old woman one of Val's trekking shoe. We all laugh so much, and they exchange again their shoes: the woman prefers her shoes, softer and more comfortable!!! After this peculiar moment, we make it back top the camp that our guide, (who will be our) horsemen and cook have set up for us. We take our dinner and talk quite late around a mutton dinner, the first non vegetarian meal for two months!!! We chat around dinner to get to know each other more and then all go to bed as tomorrow something big is waiting for us...

18/06
At 6.30am Jigmet comes and wakes us up with a cup of chai, which he calls 'bed chai'. Litteraly stil in bed we sip our warm beverage before getting ready for breakfast and unsetting the camp. Whilst we are pulliung the tents apart, the horsemen arrive with our new trek companions: seven small donkey which will carry all the food, camp gear and cooking stuff for the next four days...and a two month old baby donkey!!! He is too young to carry anything and still needs the milk from the mother. So he'll come with us and enjoy the landscape!!! The start of the day is gentle, slowly going up along the river bank. The village slowly disappear, like the vegetation around it, and we go deeper in the bare rocky mountain. The lanscape is breathtaking, the light is really strong, the slopes appear even whiter and the sun washes away all the tints of beige the mountain can offer. Only the clear colour of the pure river water running at the bottom of the valley strikes out... But two hours later we are at the foot of the biggest climb of the trek. For three and a half hours we need to go over the Kungski La pass which culminates at 4950m high. The climb is strenuous, we need to stop every twenty steps as the air is so thin it feels that there is no oxygen...It is our first real experience of high mountains and we soon realise that we will not experience this in Europe. We are here above the Mont-Blanc, highest mountain of Europe at 4807m. I feel a lot of excitement because of this and really pushing some limits. We make it to the top safe, if not cold as the wind is blowing hard here. We all need a long rest, on the sheltered side of the pass, lying under the sun. The girls are exhausted and some of them even fall asleep! I push a little higher and make even it to 4957m (or around)! The view from the pass is mind blowing, the snow capped peaks around us are enormous and we feel very very small, grandeur of mother nature. The valley on the other side offers views of purple, green, blue-ish stones all co-existing in a palette of amazing colours. The mountains here are young and we see all the different layers of the ground that one day started emerging from the earth, raw, sharp like a razor egde or a shark tooth... We all contemplate the beauty offered to us and feel blessed...We then start the descent down the valley...a long stretch of near constant inclination that breaks the legs a bit...or what remains of our legs! On the way we meet a group of Ladakhis going up the pass, the have a beautifully dressed up horse in colourful robe. It appears that it is the Rinpoche's horse and they are going to meet him in Hinju tomorrow. We'll discover later that the Rinpoche is more or less taking the same route as us and will attend some celebrations around the various valleys around. We'll be a day early in front of him in all the places, but won't meet him! A little further down, we meet for the first time the real mountain inhabitants, the yaks! They are really big and some of them can reach the weight of 1000kg!!! Their hair is really long and thick and make them appear even bigger!!! What a discovery!! Crossing rivers, low rise bushes and rocky river beds we reach our camp set in a bend of the river banks. Our horsement are already here and the cook is getting the dinner ready. But before hand we enjoy a noodle soup at 4.30pm to warm us up. The area is bear and quite cold, and the valley emphasis the cold wind strength. We wrap up in our warmest clothes and lay down under the once again deep blue sky and soothing bright sunshine to get warm. All of us, trekkers, horsemen, guide, cook AND donkeys are tired and we all laze under the warm sun...We talk a lot more and exchange about our feelings and still can't believe we made it!!! We then wrap up in more clothes and have our favourite dinner, rice and dahl!! We talk a bit more after dinner, laugh and kid around for a while and then go to bed. It's been a long and surprising day, full of beauty and challenges. We fall asleep quickly in the cold ans starry night...

19/06
6.30am and Jigmet wakes up up with a cup of chai...It is blessing as the night has been extremely cold. So cold that it kept me awake for some time (we went out in the freezing cold temperature which allowed us to witness the beautiful sky) as I was trying to warm up despite the multi layers and the warm sleeping bag... We wake up under a bright deep blue sky and we gather for breakfast under the warming sun... The sky last night was absolutely amazing, clear, loads of endless shooting stars and the stars so close it felt we could have picked them like picking a fruit from a tree. Just before we leave, the baby donkey comes close to us as the mother is eating porridge out of the pan... We all enjoy a very touching moment as the baby donkey drops on his side and lets us stroke him like you would stroke a pet animal... None of us can resist... But it is now time to resume our trek and we set off, down river. But shortly after the start of our walk I slip on a rock and twist my ankle pretty badly. The pain is so violent that it takes me a long time before I can even utter a sound. I am so scared I've sprained my ankle and that I won't be able to carry on... My foot is numb because of the shock. Val and the other ones gather around me, worried. The pain is so bad and because of the altitude I struggle to find my breath. I get rid of my shoe and after a minute or two, I manage to move it. Slowly but surely I stretch it. I put my shoe back on, lace it up tight and put the foot on the floor...gently...and it holds without too much pain. I start walking slowly, step after step the ankle holds and I gain confidence...the trek can go on!!! We walk down the river to the next stage, in the middle of the valley, flanked by dry slopes overlooked by snow capped peaks, we meet women working on the maintenance of the track, and arrive in a small village where we visit the small monastery. It is under preparation as the Rinpoche is coming...tomorrow! There will be celebrations all day and a sort of marquee has been put together to receive all the guests. Gloria, Enzo and I decide to go to visit the temple, the girls decide to stay low and avoid another climb. In the temple Jigmet explains to me a few things about the paintings and the representations of Buddhas. I take few more pictures and we start our walk again to the foot of our next climb, the Dundunchen La, 4700m above sea level. Leaving the village we meet two ladakhis on their horses who are coming to help for the preparations The climb is not too steep and we arrive at the top not too exhausted...nothing compared to the Kungski La! The views are impressive once again and we stroll on a gentle slope down to our next camp. At the end of the rather short walk, maybe an hour, and just before reaching the camp, we stop on the river bed and bath our burning feet in the cold mountain stream. It feels absolutely great and so soothing! We then head off to our beautiful camp in the birth of a valley near spring waters. We are surrounded by an arch of dry and high mountains and set in a patch of green, which makes it very unique...like a little oasis. Many dzos are around as the place is used by shepperds during the summer as a grazing station. We watch the donkeys that have been here for a while. As usual, they overtook us during the climb.... We set up the tents and then relax, read and let the time go by until dinner. it's now 9pm and we go to bed, tomorrow will be a challenge...

20/06
We had a good sleep last night and feel good to face the day. After breakfast, we start the hike with a steep climb, no warming up, no preparation and a belly too full of another great breakfast...our legs are hard and it's very difficult to get into a rythm. Adding to my cold twisted ankle, the day does not start on a jolly note! The climb should take about an hour and a half to two hours and will take us to 4600m, to the Lanak Pass. 500m inclination but the track is quite vertical. After a very painful climb, many stops and few tears, we arrive at the top an hour and ten minutes later. Not bad! The lanscape that unveils in front of us offers once again breathtaking views, very high peaks, we can see the Stok Kangri (6200m) and the Kangyatse (6400m)piercing the horizon, purple, grey blue and bronze green mountains alternating in a dance of colours changing under the sun.
We take a rest here, watching the landscape, chatting about ladakhi culture and history with Jigmet. After a good rest, we start the descent to our next camp. The slope is quite steep, dusty and rather long, with no flat area. It is very stainuous and the knees and legs and my ankle decides to play a trick again! Not as bad as the first time but twisting it a second is rather painful...and frustating. After a few rants and lovely words (shame on me) I get up and carry on the very slow (now) and long journey to the camp. It is set in the grounds of a shepperd station. We have lunch in the pen, surrounded by various donkeys and goats little souvenirs, and set the tents in the same spot. No smell though so all is fine! We spend the afternoon talking and reading in the warm sun. Towards the end of the afternoon we decoide to play cards in the 'dinning room' as the sun sets and the fresh air is wrapping us. We have a fantastic laugh playing 'Cheat' and 'Wist', games the girls taught us. Our laughter are shortly interrupted by dinner and we crack on for few more rounds of funny games...We then all go to brush our teeth in the same spot, 'group therapy activity' according to Enzo, I take some night sky pictures and we happily go to bed...stars in the eyes...

21/06
The night was not too cold, but I could not sleep very well. The hard floor and thin matress start to show no mercy to my back. I woke up a few times and it is a bit tired that we have our breakfast early morning. Short walk downhill to Chilling. We go down fairly steeply to follow the river. From desert we end up following a track alond the river with flowering bushes. Nice little touches of pink and green in the middle of the beige sand and limestone mountains. We arrive in Chilling, visit the small monastery that is under intense preparations as the Rinpoche is coming here...tomorrow!!! Wait for our jeeps, one will bring Bex and Flora back, the other will take the four of us as we want to go back to Lamayuru today as there is the festival going on. The girl's jeep arrives and it's time to say goodbye to our young fellow trekkers. Few minutes later we take the road, but the driver does not want to take us to the festival, this is being against his 'orders'. But apparently it will carry on tomorrrow...little hope here! We are pretty silent in the car, all of us are rather tired, Val dozzing off against the window. We manage to decide to go for another experience with our transalpin companion in two days time, to the lake.
We make it to our guesthouse where our little family has kept the big room for us! We unpack and start sorting out the laundry. We have so many dirty clothes...A bit of sewing for my trouser (I ripped it the last day!) and shirt, a bit of admin, washing the stinky shoes, Val naps, she's tired...But MOST OF ALL, we have a wonderful and regenerating HOT SHOWER!!!!!

22/06
Lazy today, we recover from the trek and as we're going to the lake tomorrow, we chill out. Val reads on the roof terrace, I stay in the room, have a nap. Later we meet up with our friends and Chris joins us in our favourite Tibetan canteen to eat momos and special thenthuk! We go to bed late-ish and get our stuff organised for tomorrow as we are leaving for a two day trip to the Pangong lake.

Leh, crazy journey, monasteries and stupas

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!!

Manali

02/06
After a short night we make our way to Macleod Ganj bus station. It's 5.30am and we are everything but looking forward to our trip to Manali. Manali, Manali, Manali shouts someone and in a rumble of people gathering as fast as a lightning, our bus arrives. We thought it would be a crappy old local bus with (close to!) wooden benches, but it has rather nice seats....but no leg room! We look at each other and we instantly now that this trip won't be fun... We find two seats and make sure we can sit with the legs on the side. The seats in front are so close to us that we cannot fit our legs in the space provided! Even sitting sideways, our legs are still touching the back of the seat!! 11 hours of pain are to follow. The bus stops every 500 metres, it takes every single person on the road who waves to catch the bus. We have boarded a properly local bus. A local bus that will still cover 275km! The driver has a whistle he blows right in our ears once everytime someone wants to get off and twice everytime the bus can drive away again... We must have endured some 1500 blows in the time of the journey!!!!! Everytime we stop in a bus station (off course it stops there also!!) the conductor shouts 'Manali, Manali, Manali' at such a speed that it makes us laugh...A very entertaining journey indeed. The bus is sometimes a bit more empty (we deploy, one per seat or row, if possible, to stretch a bit), most of the time completely full. At some point I get a sleepy Val on one of my shoulders (she has the window!), a standing passanger leaning on my other shoulder (the bus looks like the tube in rush hour) and the guy in the seat in front resting his elbow on the knee I've managed to squeeze in the aisle between 4 passengers (yes the bus is FUUUUULLLLLLLL)!!!!!
We finally arrive in New Manali (Manali, Manali, Manali!!!) where we share a taxi with other tourists and make it to Old Manali (Manali, Manali, Manali!!). I check a couple of guesthouses and we check in a small hostel with character, communal stinky and as damp as sea bathroom, but a lovely garden. Dinner and we go to bed. We are exhausted, I have a migraine, and our legs are missing...I think we have left them welded to the seat in front...

3/06
Wake up after a cold and damp night. The guesthouse has some character but our room is on the ground floor and does not receive much light. As the climate is far from what we have had in other parts of the world, we decide to move before catching a cold!!! We still set off for a walk to Vashisht, a village close to Manali, set on the high banks of the Beas river. The walk is very enjoyable, in the middle of orchards and small agricultural farming lands where women harvest the mature wheat. Men, as usual are waiting under a tree somking a cigarette, a joint or simply sleeping under a tree!!! Some farmers are ploughing their minuscule parcel of land with cows pulling that old piece of wood with a single blade that splits the ground in a perfect line. We make it to Vashisht, a lovely village wrecked by tourism in its main part. There are hot springs (the water is not renewed, just constantly heated up) in a massive concrete tub, where indian tourists seems to enjoy splashing... and a famous wooden Vishnu temple. We have a drink in a nice cafe overlooking the main stage of the local attractions, entertainers with snakes around the neck passing it to daring men for the picture, snake charmers, himalashi women with their angora rabbits posing for the 20 roupies picture (did not managed to get a sneaky snap, they're really good at spotting cameras...), the odd saddhu waiting here for something (usually a smoke!), and off course the Indian tourists from all over the country. Some in their own traditional regional outfit and some other very westernised...It is quite interesting watching 'local' tourism in a different country. The way one interacts with compatriots whom they have not a thing in common... We go for a walk around the village and discover that the back streets tell a totally different story. We discover old and beautiful regional houses with their painted and carved wooden balconies which appear to be traditional himalashi farm houses, wood and stone houses, cows and sheep in the village (the small alleyways are ridden with cow faeces, dungs which makes them quite sensitively interesting!), women washing their clothes, the newly harvest wheat is laid on every open part of the area, roof top, front yard, car roof, the road itself, we see farmers leading cows to walk on the harvest in circles to split the grain from the stem, men carrying the bunches back from the field to the village, they look like a big ball of straw on two min legs! It is very unusual and makes us feel like we go back 100 years earlier. It reminds us of old postcards and pictures of rural mountain areas we could see in our school books about farming at the beginning of the 20th century. It is very striking how we forget that we are disconnected from the reality of the world sometimes, and that technology and modernity has not come to some parts of the earth, even in a country which wants to show the world a modernity that is in fact very superficial and anecdotic. 70% of indian people live in rural areas and still cultivate the land. Only 6% of indians belong to what we refer in the west as the 'middle class'. Puzzling! We stop in a lovely cafe,the Seven Space, located on the balcony of one of the farmhouses. Cows are just below, and the farmers are fouling the wheat with the cows. We have lunch here, the smell does not even bother us. It smells... natural! As natural as the cigarettes our neibourghs smoke, cannabis everywhee hee, it gros like weed! We then make our way back, crossing the wobbly wodden bridges over the Beas river, and we see the same women working and the men still smoking. Some other women are digging a big rock which fell and smashed the road, and the men sitting on the tractor, simply waiting for the trailer to be loaded by....women!!!
On the road, we meet Matteo and Lisette, thay arrive few days earlier and after a quick chat we decide to meet up for dinner. Back to Old Manali, we decide to check a few guesthouses around, a bit less damp and we end up finding a (tired) room with bathroom and a lovely balcony wide open to a fantastic landscape of snow capped mountains. We move in. We catch up with our friends and have a chat till quite late.

4/06
We decide to go walking today, to explore the area, there are many waling trekking paths here. We set off to walk the path to Solang around 11am, get lost in the steep slopes in the forest, it is nice to see the mountain, to see the view on the valley but we arer lost and cannot find our way back...no path...we have to ge down and climb down, under the heat....after going down, we keep following the river but get lost again in the middle of little streams!!! we both feel tired so we stop for a very nice picnic near a stream, lovely day. It feels like being in Switzerland though, nice river, nice moutains, snow capped summits, sun, fields...What started as a wonky trek ends up in a nice romantic walk along the river bank. We push a little further and finally find the track to Solang but it is time to turn around and get back before dark. We then go for a quick walk in the Old Manali village, very rural still with a mix of guesthouses and farmhouses in the same area, it feels like a serene moutain village wth rock houses, farmers, cows and brilliant views on some of the peaks. I go to a tabla lesson to larn how to play this instrument, it is fun, but quite challenging as I never played those kind of instruments before. My hands are so uncoordinated, it is unbelievable! Anyway I have a good laugh with the teacher and I really enjoyed the session. We meet up again with our friends for dinner at a nice place called People, we ca and draw some pictures, sheets are provided for people to draw and because most of the people here smoke non stop, the drawings are interesting!!!We are reminded that we are in the Kullu valley and so close to the Parvati valley, the capital of charas (cannabis) and an impotant place for drugs here in India. Those valleys have a bad reputation because of the drug stuff but also because many trekers and travellers disappear here....sure it is linked to drug trafficking...Our feets are tired and we ae happy to sleep despite having to fight hundred of small creepy crawlers on the walls....joy of being in a cheap hotel!!

5/06
Day off today. We chill out, we walk to the Manali temple, the Hadimba temple, build in wood in the middle of a small park, for a goddess, Hadimba, associated with Kali. It is so busy so we don't get in and just look from te outside. We then make our way to new Manali, to do some shopping: some socks as we are a bit cold in the evenings, books, and walk around New Manali. The town is divided in two parts, the old bit where we are staying, an old village with some guesthouses and the new part, more urban, more modern with many expensive hotels and lots of Indian tourism. We reach our old Manali in time for the rain and seek refuge for a late lunch at the Shiva Garden Cafe, then we spend some time on the internet. We meet up with our friends to have dinner at a Tibetan restaurant and go back to our hotel, observing the little shacks we see from our windows, the farmers coming back home with their yacks, the women carrying loads of wheat on their shoulders, kids running around, all of that in a very alpine landscape, it's so strange! We fight with more bugs then sleeping time!!

6/06
Today we are hiring a motorbike to go explore the Kullu Valley. We hire a beautiful Royal Enfield Bullet 500 (yes 500cc, and yes without a motorbike license!!!!). The strat of the day is grey but it suddenly clears up. We get on the noisy machine, it sounds half between a tractor and a powerfull Harley Davidson!!!) and we start the ride through nice rural villages, wheat spread on the road, farmers and women in local dresses, cows, yaks, alpine fields and flowers, through villages until we reach Naggar. The road is so full of pot holes and bumpy, a challenge to ride, at least we do not go fast, and even more for Val at the back!! I can hear her grunts in the effort to stay on board, she laughs, that makes me laugh also!!! Our first stop is a visit to the castle, from the 11th century, when Naggar was the capital of the Kullu valley and it was built by a Raj, entirely made of wood and stones and now has been transformed in a posh hotel. Nice wooden work, nice to visit some places. We also go and check some amazing stone temples dedicated to Shiva and Vishnu but from the 11th and 12th centuries, some amazing stone carving work, the deities all have a painted orange dot on the forehead, red, we walk through some lovely paths in that charming village. We then walk all the way to the weird Roerich Gallery, dedicated to the Russian painter Nicholas Roerich and his son, we see some paintings, weird style mixed of surrealism and russian style. The painter was the one who initiated the international Roerich pact which protects cultural monuments during war times. We see the house, the garden and walk to the small Himalayan Folk museum, observe some local dresses and crafts then come down under the heat for lunch at the small German bakery. We set off again but cannot find the temple we are looking for so we decide to make our way back as it will take us some time and we want to see some small villages in the valley and and go back. We reach some villages but suddendly the sky becomes grey, dark and a dusty storm starts before ending in big lightning and pouring rain. We have to ride completely drenched, wet everywhere, it is fun but really hard to steer and see, I have all the rain coming to my eyes and it feels like having open eyes in a swimming pool... We manage to come back safe, completely soaked, head to toes, wet to the bones, everything is dripping, our shoes must contain a liter of water and mud each. We take a hot shower to warm up, go for dinner at the Tibetan place and tuck ourselves, together, in bed, to keep warm!!!!

7/06
We take it easy today, we will be leaving tonight fo Leh, where the temperature will drop sub zero during the nights. We need to do some warm clothes shopping (we regret sooo much to have sent all of our warm stuff back!!!). We find a shop that can make us jackets cheap and made to measure in a day. We take our lunch in the nice little cafe where a blank sheet of paper is given to everybody with crayons... We go back to the guesthouse and do some homework. We start packing because tonight a hell 20 hour-journey in a minibus is waiting for us!!!! We leave at 2am to reach Leh may be at 7pm the next day...Scary scary...