From peaks to Sikhs

---

With a short flight over the Himalayas, I landed in India’s most northerly city of Leh. Leh is situated at an altitude of 3600m in the Karakorum mountain range and is the capital of the Ladakh region. Ladakh is renowned for its remote mountain beauty and Buddhist culture. It is sometimes called "Little Tibet" as it has been strongly influenced by the culture of its many Tibetan refugees.

After visiting a few of the gompas (Tibetan Buddhist monasteries) in the surrounding area, I ventured further north to the Nubra Valley. To get to the Nubra valley I took a bus over a pass called Kardung La. at an altitude of 5600m, the road over the pass is said to be the highest in the world.

On my first day in Nubra I hiked up to Diskit gompa which is perched on the cliffs above the valley. After having a look around the gompa I walked further up the mountains where I saw some novice monks who were beckoning me to follow them. When I caught up with them they took me down into a deep, steep sided gorge where they were fixing the gompa’s water lines. The monks lit a fire and put on a pot of tea. After letting the tea brew for a while, in went some salt, then some butter! This is Tibetan tea. I’d heard about it, but never tried it, nor wanted to. They offered me a large mug of the tea and a chapatti to eat with it. Not wanting to offend them and their hospitality, I accepted it, but had to pass on the refill. The brew left a greasy lining from mouth to stomach for the two hour walk back to town where I attempted to wash it away with a bottle of coke.

With its wide 3000m high valley floor, 6000m peaks towering above, sand dunes, clear-blue river and wild camels, (proper two humped camels) the Nubra valley has some of the most spectacular scenery I have seen.

After returning to Leh and chilling out for a while, it was time to move on. On the way to Kashmir I took a brief stop at Lamayaru to catch a festival at its gompa (I can’t remember what it was for).

Srinigar is the capital of the disputed territories of Indian Kashmir. The focal point of Srinigar for tourists is Dal Lake, famous for its houseboats. The hundreds of Victorian-era wooden houseboats were originally built as vacation homes for landless British administrators during the Raj. The British who vacationed in Kashmir were not permitted to build permanent homes because of the then Maharaja's suspicion of a British presence in Srinagar. So they chose to live in houseboats. These days the houseboats are mainly used by tourists. I stayed on a small houseboat on a quiet, secluded part of the lake.

I then took my last Indian train journey to the city of Amritsar. It is home to the Harimandir Sahib, also known as the Golden Temple, and is the spiritual and cultural centre of the Sikh Religion. The temple is gilded with gold and surrounded by a small lake of water, known as the Sarovar which consists of Amrit (Holy Water). There are four entrances to the temple, signifying the importance of acceptance and openness. Anyone who wants to enter the Harimandir may do so, irrespective of religion, colour, creed or sex. The only restrictions are that the person must not drink alcohol, eat meat or smoke cigarettes or other drugs while in the shrine. The Golden Temple offers free transport from the train station to the temple, free dormitory accommodation for 25000 pilgrims, with a separate small dormitory for foreigners, and free meals for all. Volunteers serve the Approximate 50000 meals a day that are consumed around the clock in huge dining halls that seat around 800 people. The dining process embodies the Sikh teaching that we are all equal and we must learn to serve each other. All of this is funded by donations from people who pass through the temple and by followers of the religion who are expected to donate one tenth of their income to good works.

I found the whole Golden Temple experience quit humbling. It was a perfect note to leave India on.

ps. You may have some troubles viewing the photos, the travelblog site has been having some troubles lately. If they don't work, try again later.

---

Comments

[Assa]

Awesome photos once again geez. Looks like you need a good feed. Assa