Prayer flags and mountains around Nako

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After our happy day walking around Kalpa we were up early and in the jeep enroute for Nako. The scenery got more spectacular and almost surreal as the day progressed. We were held up just outside Kalpa whilst they cleared a landslide from the road - there had been rain on and off all night and it had made the roads even more unstable. We stopped for coffee in a small dhaba at Jangi where we met a group of three Canadian cyclists who were on their second day of cycling through Spiti and ounward over the high mountain passes to Leh. Though we had seen many motorcyclists doing the same trip these were the first group of cyclists we had met. One of the group was an inexperienced rider and she was already ill and looking for a lift to Nako. Sanju couldn't take her as he was not allowed to put her bike on the roof of the jeep. She found a lift in a truck to Nako which later broke down and she ended up sleeping the night in it with a group of men. We didn't meet her again - she bused to Leh - but on our last day in Spiti we met the other two again. They had loved every minute of the ride and said it was the best ride they had ever done. Just out of the little village we had to stop at a police roadblock so they could check our permits allowing us to travel through the area. Just as we were leaving Sanju stopped at a temple and I spotted the toilet so we stayed a couple of minutes after most of the other cars.
Ten minutes later we turned a corner and were stopped by another car - it's driver told us a small landslide had just started. Next minute the whole mountain came down in a massive cloud of dust and debris in front of our car - if I hadn't stopped at the toilet we may have been underneath it! It was frightening as rocks kept coming down - an army vehicle behind us radioed for help - and we just had to wait for a grader to come and clear the road. Not a job I would relish... The worst part was that it was obvious that the road we were stopped on was also very unstable - it was all shale and all the drivers were quite fidgety and kept looking upwards at the cliff above us. Over an hour later the road was cleared - the government keep graders all along the road so they are ready if needed - and we were off. It was the only time during the whole trip that Sanju sped - he said later that he was scared that there was going to be more landslides.
Later that morning we left the Sutlej River and crossed into the Spiti River valley - it was amazing to see the junction of the these two massive rivers. A swirling mess of water that met in an obvious V shape before we left the Sutlej heading towards Tibet and we started up the high altitude desert around the Spiti River. The scenery was beautiful - all very stark with glorious stripes of colour through the mountains. We were surrounded by snow covered peaks and gradually wound our way higher and higher above the river. You felt like you were on another planet. The road to Nako is new and is constant hairpin bends. All we could see was the vibrant blue sky, the river far below and the bends in the road we had travelled on winding backwards and forwards below us. There was very little vegetation, mainly gorse and a yellow wildflower. The colours in the mountains were beautiful - silvers, greys, purples and yellows.
Suddenly we turned a corner and there was Nako - and it took our breath away. It was gorgeous - surrounded by green fields of peas and potato crops, stone fences and a village full of flat roofed piled stone and rubble houses with a small lake in front. Everywhere the roofs were covered in upright prayer flags in red, white, yellow, green and blue and streamers of prayer flags everywhere else. The village has just been put on the Heritage list in India so it will hopefully remain as beautiful for future tourists. We stayed in one of the newer guest houses at the edge of the. village - accommodation is quite limited there. The village was small and all the houses were made from piles of loose rocks with a timber framework. They were painted white and had flat roofs on which were piled dried straw and wood for winter fires. There were a few higher houses including one prettily painted in Tibetan patterns. Around every corner were piles of inscribed stones - mainly flat sheets of slate, all etched with Tibetan prayer symbols. Sanju said some of them would have been hundreds of years old. There were also many chortens (Himalayan Buddhist shrines) and prayer wheels made from everything imagainable - from modern day tin cans to wood and cow hide. I've not been in such a small village before that had as many religious shrines.
The villagers showed little interest in us and just went on with their daily chores. All houses had at least one cow in the yard and were all decorated with cow pats drying for winter fuel. We visited the ancient temple in Nako, made of rubble but painted a rusty pink. The young monk let us look at the wall paintings - it was very dark and most were badly damaged - one however was still in good condition. You can see hoe easy it would be for them to be damaged as they are only painted on mud brick walls and the ceiling is lined with cut branches. You could see the areas where the roof had leaked - more from melting snow than rain I guess. Bandbox had 3 jeeps in town that evening - they had taken the best available accommodation - and the 3 drivers decided to cook us all our evening meal. It was a thalis, very tasty and made from borrowed tomatoes (ours) and green vegetables grown in the garden. The guesthouse had a very pretty garden, full of flowers (including red poppies) and vegetables. Next morning Jerry and I were up early exploring the village once again. The clouds were low and the mist only added to the atmosphere. I bought some Buddhist prayer flags before we left - it seemed an appropriate plaqce to buy some!

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