LEH - Mountains, Lakes, Montasteries and Chilling Out

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Ladakh is a different India altogether. Largely Buddhist, with a big Tibetan refugee population - life is slow and peaceful here. Leh is really a summer place. It's inaccessible by road in winter and, as I was informed by someone on the plane, this is the second coldest habitated region in the world (Siberia wins first place).

I arrived in Leh very early in "the season" as the road from Manali won't open for at least another 10 days. As a result the foreign tourists are very thin on the ground and many of the shops, restaurants and guesthouses are still closed.

When I decided, way back in Australia, to come to Leh I had been planning to either get in some more trekking or to spend some time doing yoga and getting Ayurvedic massages if prior trekking had taken its toll. As it turned out I had a nasty cold when I arrived, so had little interest in trekking and all the yoga and massage places are still closed for the winter.

In the end I had a lovely, restful and remarkably social time holed up in the pretty, but basic, Jigmet Guesthouse. For the ridiculous price of $10 per day I had a clean, double room with private bathroom and windows on either side - looking out on the snow-capped mountains and a cute little courtyard complete with apple and apricot trees on the one side and to Leh Palace perched high on a hill behind the town on the other side. The family that runs the guesthouse are truly delightful and welcoming.

Now, that's the "pretty" part of Jigmet. The "basic" part is the lack of any heating whatsoever, the rock hard bed and the fact that the private bathroom has no hot water. If you want a hot "shower" you need to get a bucket of hot water from the kitchen. When I first arrived I thought I might freeze to death, but it's become noticeably warmer since, to the point where I almost didn't mind a cold shower this morning.

I didn't do much at all for the first couple of days here except wander around town aimlessly and try to sleep off my cold. Most people don't do much when they first get here because of the altitude. I was amazed when I realised that the altitude in Leh is over 3500M. OK for me because of the days at altitude in Bhutan - but a pretty severe shock to the system if you've just flown in from sea level.

Eventually I shook off my lassitude and joined a jeep safari to Pangyong Lake. Other than trekking, jeep safaris are "the thing" here. The only problem is they are expensive to do on your own so you have to either find other people to do what you want to do or go along with trips that someone else has arranged. This trip fell into the latter category - and frankly wasn't the best or most interesting outing. It was a 5 hour drive over very rough roads to get to a pretty (but not exeptional) lake where you stood around for half an hour freezing you buns off before getting back into the jeep for the 5 hour return ride.

However, the trip was not completely without interest. The landscape was unbelievably stark - more like Mars than anything recognisable as our planet. Not a stitch of green - just grey, brown, black rock and white snow everywhere. We drove over the 3rd highest mountain pass - Chang La at 5240M - where (surprise, surprise) there was an Indian Army base (there's a definate big-brother feeling that the army is everywhere here).

My fellow tourists were also of interest. There was an arrogant young man from China, who didn't seem to be aware quite how brave it was for a Chinaman to be travelling in this haven for Tibetan refugees. There were also three young Indian tourists from Delhi - one honeymoon couple and one man who had ducked up to Leh for the weekend. I was really fascinated to hear them talk about India. Their confidence was overwhelming. So aware that world power is shifting to India and China and so eager for their share of the new world order.

By this time I had met Kirsten and Sabine, two oncologists from Germany recently arrived in Leh for a one month trekking holiday. They let me tag along on their two day monastery jeep trip to the west of Leh which departed the day after my sojourn to Pangyong Lake.

This trip was alot of fun - in large part due to the great company. We saw six monasteries - and to be honest they have already blended together in my mind. But the overall impression was grand...purple/black, stark mountainous countryside, interupted with thin strips of green that demarcated the streams and rivers and magnificent Buddhist monasteries crowning the hilltops.

We stayed overnight in a little guesthouse in Alchi. I suspect that "in season" this place is hopping with tourists. But at this time of year it's a tiny, sleepy village with not much open.....including the guesthouse, which wasn't really ready for us. Along with no heat and no hot water, there was no power and most of the toilets didn't work.

The day after we got back from the monastery trip we decided (or I was persuaded) that white water rafting was the go. So off we went to raft the Zanskar and Indus rivers. In fact, the water is still too low and "white water" was almost non-existent. This was probably lucky because the only other people on the raft were an Indian couple on honeymoon who had no intention of paddling (no idea what they thought they were signing on for). Anyway, we enjoyed a peaceful paddle downstream and yet another perspective on the Ladakhi landscape.

That brings me to yesterday when I said goodbye to Kirsten and Sabine who headed out trekking, took a taxi to Thiksey Monastery about 18K from Leh and spent the day walking back to town. Yes....there were still more monasteries to be seen on this walk. I have to admit I didn't go into any of them as I've well and truly seen enough Buddhas for this trip - but I did get some good pictures of the always impressive exteriors. The highlight of the walk was having lunch in a tiny little tea house in the Tibetan refugee village of Choglamsar. The one really good thing about travelling alone is that you are so much more likely to engage with the local people.

When I got back to Leh I ran into Gatso - a lovely local guy who had bought me a cup of tea on my first day in Leh. I offered to return the favour and buy him a coffee and what followed was a truly Indian experience. I ordered two coffees and was told they would be ready in half an hour as the machine needed to heat up. I'm telling you, in this country patience isn't merely a virture, it's an absolute necessity!

This morning I had my last breakfast in Leh in my favourite little breakfast spot, farewelled the Nepalese boys that run the cafe and headed to the airport for another dose of Indian patience testing. I had been advised that it was critical for me to be at the airport two hours ahead of the flight due to tight security requirements. That would have been fine....but they made us wait outside for almost an hour before they'd even let us in for airport security and check in. But, you won't believe it, I honestly didn't really mind (could this be patience???)

However, the main thing is that the plane took off and has brought me back to hot, humid, smelly, dusty, polluted Delhi, where I am now sweltering.

I am clearly a glutton for punishment as I'm back at the "budget" hotel that I reported I was too old for earlier. My problem is that after paying less than $100 for 8 nights in Leh, I struggled to book myself into a hotel in Delhi that would cost more than $100 for one night. So I'm back to budget....but the great news is for a mere $15 I've been able to upgrade to an air conditioned room.

I have really mixed feelings on the eve of my departure from India. This place drives you nuts, but I have really loved being a "traveller" again - it seems to suit my nomadic soul. On the other hand, I'm so excited to be heading into a new adventure in Italy and to seeing Dennis again. I must admit that I'm also pretty excited about the idea of a good cup of coffee! And so, life keeps rolling on.

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Comments

[Em]

Aha!
Hi, Just saying hello really and yay - we have comments. I love reading the blog and it's nice to see everyone's comments too. I can't wait to hear about Italy and hope you can find someting to eat other than coffee in the land of pasta, gelato and bread! Have a lovely time with Dennis...Europe in the springtime *big sigh* ps. we had record month in April, I know you're off work, but you're one of the only ones who cares about such things. I am putting the success down solely to our lovely new printer and Mark's great new chair!! love, Em xxxxxxx