Okay. I was off the grid in Ladakh for a few days but I'm back to the land of cell phone reception and electricity.
I flew directly from Delhi to Leh, in the Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir, at 3,500m elevation. I don't know what Delhi is at, but Leh is high and flying there direct is a shock to the system. I was dizzy just waiting at the baggage carousel. And then my body did what it usually does when over-stressed and I caught a cold.
Ladakh is a mountainous desert region (not the picture of the Himalayas that you might have in mind, though it is part of the Himalayas, I guess). More eroded mountains reminiscent sometimes of Death Valley. If the Himalayas are being formed by the Indian subcontinent crashing into the Asian plate then erosion must be happening here a lot faster than the mountain building process because it looks more like mountains dying away than being born.
Here's why it is easy to forget you are in India: signs of Buddhist religion everywhere (monastaries, gompas, stupas, prayer flags etc.), Ladakhi dialect spoken by Tibetan looking people, not much sign of Hindi and, of course, the very un-Indian landscape described above.
If you remember the guide I that took me around the slums and such in Mumbai, he recommended me indirectly to a trekking company in Leh, Ecological Footprint, who took really good care of me. Stanzen, the owner, picked me up from the airport, put me up in a guest house, organized a trek for me, lent me sweater and sleeping bag and put me on the bus at the end of my stay. So, after a completely inadequate 2 days to acclimatise to the altitude, I headed off with a group on a 4 day trek to the Markha valley. Trekking, Ladakh-style, involves a group of hikers, a guide, a cook, a helper and a pony man for the ponies and donkeys that carry all the tents, pots, pans and other gear so that all you have to do is carry a day pack. It also involves being woken each morning with hot chai served at the door of your tent. Can't complain about that and really well-cooked breakfast and dinner. Typical breakfast: porridge, more tea, eggs, fresh made chapattis etc. One morning I had peanut butter and honey on chapattis, which made me think that camp food can be the same just about anywhere. Typical dinner: soup, chicken if anyone can bring it in fresh, rice, daal, two kinds of paneer dishes and salad veg like cuc, toms and carrots carved into butterflies and flowers and such.
Parachute cafes: I'd read about these ahead of time, but didn't really understand what they were. Since Ladakh is on the border with both China and Pakistan, there has been a big military presence and the military drops supplies to troops stationed on glaciers and other inaccessible places by parachutes, which they then leave behind (being the military). So the locals collect the white parachutes and use them for tents at cafes and rest stops that you find along the roads and along the trekking routes. Trust me, after an hour or two of hiking across sometimes pretty barren landscape, when you come across a parachute cafe and can get a hot chai, coke, chips, noodles, beer, rum, safe drinking water, whatever, it is a treat.
Day one of hike: 4 hours pretty much uphill for 800m to a camp at 4,150m elevation. At that elevation, climbing was really hard and sleeping was even difficult. I had a cold, which didn't help. But I wasn't the worst off. Others had nose bleeds and massive headaches. Made me pretty apprehensive about the next day's climb: 750m straight up for 2 hours to reach Gandala Pass at 4,960m elevation. But next morning, we set off slowly and made it to the pass. You should have seen us though: picture zombies slowly dragging their feet 120-year-olds trudging along with stooped shoulders and heads down. That's what we must have looked like slowly taking baby steps up the mountain. Once up, we celebrated a bit and then headed downhill for 4 hours through amazing desert mountain landscapes. What a day!! To hell with the fact that my cold was getting worse.
Two more days of relatively level hiking in the Markha Valley, which was beautiful. At the last camping spot, there were about 4 sets of ponies and donkeys who overnighted by the river. Our tents were not so far away, so I fell asleep and woke up to the sound of the river combined with the bells around the ponies' and donkeys' necks gently and randomly ringing as they moved about and nodded their heads. All night long, a gentle concerto of bells. It was so beautiful. Sadly, I had to leave the group after 4 days and they went on ahead. Actually, 2 other people had to leave the group after 3 days, so I guess that's just the way it goes. The last day was a rude awakening for me as I had to carry my own pack all day (7 1/2 hours) in the heat because the ponies went ahead with the remainder of the group. Needless to say, by the end I was wiped out and my cold was worse. Still, it was beautiful.
Drive back to Leh. I couldn't believe how awful the air was in Leh. I know, I had a cold, but it wasn't just that. I felt like I could hardly breath for all the dust and diesel in the air. Other people talked about it on the trek, saying it had something to do with the air currents created by the Himalayas that pulls in pollution from China etc. I don't know if that is true or conspiracy theory, but I hadn't noticed it myself coming from Delhi because the air is so shitty there, but I sure noticed it coming back from the Ladakh countryside. Kind of say, if you think about it, for the air to be so bad in that kind of location. Boy, that is something I won't miss when I leave this country: the dust and the diesel.
Stanzen picked me up at the end of the hike (which, by the way, involves pulling yourself across a wide river valley in a wooden box suspended from a steel cable) and took me back to his place to shower and rest up before getting on the bus to Manali, which will have to wait for the next blog post. I passed on dinner and just slept.
Manali, in contrast to Ladakh is lush and green and has the sort of mountain shapes that you would expect in the Himalayas. Tall pine trees, trout for dinner, snowmobiles (parked, not in use) etc. also makes it easy to forget you are in India, that is after, you forget the auto-rickshaw drivers who all try to rip you off. The temperature is pleasant, so in other words, cold by Indian standards. Doesn't explain the highway worker I saw yesterday in a snowmobile suit though. Today, I'm pretty much taking a rest day before getting a night bus to Chandigarh. The guest house I'm staying at is a relic from the english colonial era and has beautiful balconies that overlook Manali valley. I could sit there all day. (So why am I in the internet cafe instead?) Pot grows like weeds along the roads here. When I arrived, I felt very bullish and energetic, which I put down to the relatively oxygen-rich air.
One week of travelling down, 4 to go. I see I have 9 followers. Let's make it double-digits.
I flew directly from Delhi to Leh, in the Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir, at 3,500m elevation. I don't know what Delhi is at, but Leh is high and flying there direct is a shock to the system. I was dizzy just waiting at the baggage carousel. And then my body did what it usually does when over-stressed and I caught a cold.
Ladakh is a mountainous desert region (not the picture of the Himalayas that you might have in mind, though it is part of the Himalayas, I guess). More eroded mountains reminiscent sometimes of Death Valley. If the Himalayas are being formed by the Indian subcontinent crashing into the Asian plate then erosion must be happening here a lot faster than the mountain building process because it looks more like mountains dying away than being born.
Here's why it is easy to forget you are in India: signs of Buddhist religion everywhere (monastaries, gompas, stupas, prayer flags etc.), Ladakhi dialect spoken by Tibetan looking people, not much sign of Hindi and, of course, the very un-Indian landscape described above.
If you remember the guide I that took me around the slums and such in Mumbai, he recommended me indirectly to a trekking company in Leh, Ecological Footprint, who took really good care of me. Stanzen, the owner, picked me up from the airport, put me up in a guest house, organized a trek for me, lent me sweater and sleeping bag and put me on the bus at the end of my stay. So, after a completely inadequate 2 days to acclimatise to the altitude, I headed off with a group on a 4 day trek to the Markha valley. Trekking, Ladakh-style, involves a group of hikers, a guide, a cook, a helper and a pony man for the ponies and donkeys that carry all the tents, pots, pans and other gear so that all you have to do is carry a day pack. It also involves being woken each morning with hot chai served at the door of your tent. Can't complain about that and really well-cooked breakfast and dinner. Typical breakfast: porridge, more tea, eggs, fresh made chapattis etc. One morning I had peanut butter and honey on chapattis, which made me think that camp food can be the same just about anywhere. Typical dinner: soup, chicken if anyone can bring it in fresh, rice, daal, two kinds of paneer dishes and salad veg like cuc, toms and carrots carved into butterflies and flowers and such.
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| 6am chai served at your tent door |
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| Typical parachute cafe |
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| Buddhist stuppas along the trek |
Two more days of relatively level hiking in the Markha Valley, which was beautiful. At the last camping spot, there were about 4 sets of ponies and donkeys who overnighted by the river. Our tents were not so far away, so I fell asleep and woke up to the sound of the river combined with the bells around the ponies' and donkeys' necks gently and randomly ringing as they moved about and nodded their heads. All night long, a gentle concerto of bells. It was so beautiful. Sadly, I had to leave the group after 4 days and they went on ahead. Actually, 2 other people had to leave the group after 3 days, so I guess that's just the way it goes. The last day was a rude awakening for me as I had to carry my own pack all day (7 1/2 hours) in the heat because the ponies went ahead with the remainder of the group. Needless to say, by the end I was wiped out and my cold was worse. Still, it was beautiful.
Drive back to Leh. I couldn't believe how awful the air was in Leh. I know, I had a cold, but it wasn't just that. I felt like I could hardly breath for all the dust and diesel in the air. Other people talked about it on the trek, saying it had something to do with the air currents created by the Himalayas that pulls in pollution from China etc. I don't know if that is true or conspiracy theory, but I hadn't noticed it myself coming from Delhi because the air is so shitty there, but I sure noticed it coming back from the Ladakh countryside. Kind of say, if you think about it, for the air to be so bad in that kind of location. Boy, that is something I won't miss when I leave this country: the dust and the diesel.
Stanzen picked me up at the end of the hike (which, by the way, involves pulling yourself across a wide river valley in a wooden box suspended from a steel cable) and took me back to his place to shower and rest up before getting on the bus to Manali, which will have to wait for the next blog post. I passed on dinner and just slept.
Manali, in contrast to Ladakh is lush and green and has the sort of mountain shapes that you would expect in the Himalayas. Tall pine trees, trout for dinner, snowmobiles (parked, not in use) etc. also makes it easy to forget you are in India, that is after, you forget the auto-rickshaw drivers who all try to rip you off. The temperature is pleasant, so in other words, cold by Indian standards. Doesn't explain the highway worker I saw yesterday in a snowmobile suit though. Today, I'm pretty much taking a rest day before getting a night bus to Chandigarh. The guest house I'm staying at is a relic from the english colonial era and has beautiful balconies that overlook Manali valley. I could sit there all day. (So why am I in the internet cafe instead?) Pot grows like weeds along the roads here. When I arrived, I felt very bullish and energetic, which I put down to the relatively oxygen-rich air.
One week of travelling down, 4 to go. I see I have 9 followers. Let's make it double-digits.
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