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Published: June 14th 2008
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Not sure if any of you are aware but the state of Jammu & Kashmir still experiences War, Gorilla Insurgencies, bombings etc etc but this state holds most of India's beauty so what do you do when you seek adventure????? that's right head into the War zone !!!!!!!!!!!!! So we did..........
To get to Leh which is so remote the road is only open for 4 months of the year the rest of the time it is shut off with snow. You have two options, the first and easiest is to fly, it takes about an hour from Delhi.....The second is only for the hardcore and is to take the road directly through the Himalaya's.!! ha ha yes the so called 'ROAD'. Naturally being hardcore we decided to take the road.............!!!!!
Mini bus collected us at about 3.00am after waiting for an hour and a half in the rain and so we began embarking on our most challaging of journeys yet!!. We navigated around mountains, Land slides, Rivers, Lakes, missing pieces of road, cattle, thunderstorms, fallen rocks, waterfalls, valleys, hairpin bends (hundreds) and of course the snow & ice, the journey took about 20 hours and took us up
as high as 5328m via the 'Taglang La' the second highest motorable pass in the world!!!. (the highest being 5602m just north of Leh.)
Nic - To set you at ease I'll explain a little.......This state is also home to a small area called Ladakh, which is positioned as far East and North as you can go in India, touching the China/Tibet border, and isn't touched by any of the conflicts - A mini Tibet, in the corner of India, bound by mountains and made up of mountains and walls of rock and ice. The only form of civilisation along the way on our epic journey, were small hamlets and a couple of "Dhaba's" (roadside truckstops) which were in the form of parachute tents, with lovely ruddy-faced locals running around making chai and noodles....and then it was onwards again on the desolate roads and cliff edges. Of course a slight problem arose when we met traffic coming in the other direction!.....reversing back to a passing point made us cringe each time, waiting for a convoy of army trucks and fuel tankers to pass. We became even more nervous when we found the cause for all the accidents we'd seen
along the way - a liquor store, in the middle of nowhere (See pic)!
A lot of Tibetans have claimed exile here and Buddhism is the major religion, so this area is completely different to anywhere we've been so far - that and the fact that we were now above 3500m in the mountains.....high enough to suffer from AMS (Acute Mountain Sickness)!!
Leh is a busy little town that now relies on it's tourist season but is surrounded by smaller villages and also has an old side which is made up of crumbling mud bricks and timber - this is where we stayed!....a lovely little guest house made in the traditional style and away from the hussle and bussle, a true place to relax!
The air is quite thin here and if you'd seen us struggling up steps and hills you'd have wondered what was wrong - two fit younguns panting and struggling for air at each step!!!
Dan - Scotty you would love it up here they have all kinds of natural mountain health foods - The locally produced "Sea buckthorne berry" juice is the most special, a luminous orange drink containing many vitamins and
supposed to keep you young!!
There is loads to see and do here trekking and visiting buddhist monastries.........and then there was one of our main experiences to cross off the list....To spend the day exploring the mountains aboard one fine machine..... The 'Royal Enfield'!!!!! for those of you that have never seen rode or heard of these bikes they are all about the feel of the ride the engine has a deep roar chugging sound they are still built to the 1940's spec. and look the sh*t as well, So we spent the day tearing up the road visiting various sights & villages. broomm brooommmmm, chug chug chug chug chugggggg!!
Nic - It really was the perfect way to spend a day up here, exploring all the remote places that you'd never ordinarilly be able to reach - the most fun way to travel, and you couldn't help but feel "The bees knees!!!!"
We ventured out to a couple of Gompas (Buddhist monastries) and got to the first early enough so that we could sit in on their morning puja, which involves a lot of chanting of prayers and banging drums, blowing horns and clashing cymbals! The
novices also bring round salty butter tea (a tibetan speciality) to keep out the cold and also a special flour that is added and mixed around to make a gooey, porridgey breakfast...interesting, but you have to try these things!
The monastries are generally exquisitly decorated with fine paintings and wall hangings and many statues etc. In one monastry we were privilaged to be let into a prayer hall where they were in the middle of creating a detailed 'mandala' made out of coloured sand - the detail was amazing and we made every effort to hold our breaths so as not to blow a grain out of place!
Dan - While up here we decided to spend an undisclosed sum of money on a buddist painting know as a 'Thangka' a very detailed canvas painting perhaps a little investment for the future....!!! got it rolled in a plastic tube in my backpack for safe keeping as I daren't risk sending it home.
Nic - We almost forgot that we were still in India, this really was a place apart from any other we've visited. It's hard to explain the beauty up here, even the sky is the
strongest blue that you've ever seen due to the altitude and when you take this into the night, well....the stars....they are immense! We didnt think they'd get any better than in the desert but we were wrong - up here it's almost as if you've been enveloped in them in outer space! I think it'll be a real shock to return to the madness and heat of the plains!
We've now returned to Vashist to catch our breath and tomorrow will be heading to Mcleod Ganj - Home of the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan government in exile (thinking of you Ray, we'll say Hi to him for you!)
See ya
xxxxx
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colin s
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epic
dam!! yeah feeling that bike dan ur like indiana jones lol be careful man !! i know ur not listening but dam those icey roads are bad!! sea buckthorne is really expensive here and you can only get capsules!! haha looks great u guys r really starting 2 look different now u know!!