Leh...
Hi from Leh, the capital of Ledakh in the north west of India. Leh is a little oasis set against
the back drop of the himalaya. It has a large Tibetan population and has a long history of
Buddhism. Yesterday some travelers I meet a long the way hired a minibus and visited a few
impressive monasteries , one dating back to the 7th century, in the area. There is also some
impressive hiking options in the area that I def want to explore next time I come back. NB I did
the inevitable and changed my ticket to the 18th of July to give me some time to explore this
area..I'm sure i'll get out of India one day!
There are two ways to get here, one from Kashmir and the other from Manali, both are epic
mountain journeys to say the least! We came from Kashmir way and the road passed through some dramatic moon-like mountain scenery. More about the trip later...First Dharamasala..
After some dodgy stomach action and a really bad cold i was able to get out of my sick bed and
make it to 2 sessions of the Dalai-Lamas reading at the main Tibetan temple. It was a great
experience to see the spiritual leader of Tibet and he really does not stop smiling and cracking
jokes. He passed within 5m of where i was sitting when his entourage left the temple after the
reading. The place was packed and foreigners had their own special area. His speech was
translated and broadcast on FM radio.
I really enjoyed Dharamasla mainly due to the really friendly and laid back Tibtetans. Not that
Indians aren't friendly, it's just a bit more hectic and manic in Indian towns. The monastery we
stayed at was also really friendly and would have been perfect if I hadn't had my camera pinched!
Someone else had the same thing happen to them too..Actually picked up a nice little sony number in Srinigar so more photos coming!
Ok so from Dharamasala it was a long bus ride to Jammu then a over night trip up to Srinigar in
Kashmir. Spent a couple of hours in Jammu and was glad to get out as not a lot to do and a very
strong military presence in the streets gave it a 'unsafe feel'.
The overnight bus to Kashmir didn't actually drive all night (which is a good thing in India) and
we stopped at a Dhaba (kind of like a Indian fast food cafe) where I was able to unfurl my
sleeping mat and grab a couple of hours sleep on the floor..Something different! The thermarest
has been one of the best things i've brough to India as some beds a no more than a blanket on a
wooden base!
In Srinigar I stayed on a two houseboats on the huge lake in the town. This is truly a water
world with 1000s of permanently moored houseboats from huge floating palaces to crusty pirate boats! There are even floating shops that u can buy almost everything from. Unfortunately the owner of the first houseboat was very snakey and kept telling little lies that eventually started to add up. I moved off the next day and stayed with friend Natalie on a really nice houseboat run by a really hospitable and honest family! Apart from just chilling out on the boat also went to a floating market, checked out some mosques and gardens and as mentioned bought a new digital camera!!...Srinigar has great shopping!
Of course i should mention there was a pretty messy war in Kashmir not that long ago and there is the occasional insurgency. Needless to say there was a super heavy military and police presence that gives the place a 'city under seige' feel. At first it's a bit unsettling to see heavily armed soldiers and armored trucks driving around but after a few days u tend not to notice it so much...
From Kashmir a group of us took a bus to Kargil on the way to Leh. It's a two day trip to Leh (actually we made it 3 day as we wanted to stop at a little town on the way called Lamayuru) unless u have a death wish and take a 'rally' jeep to race through the windy mountain roads in one day. Kargil was nice enough, meet some photogenic kids and spent a couple of hours checking out the city. This town also is super close to the Pakistan border and unfortunately gets shelled when relations between India and Pakistan aren't so great. Luckily things were good the day we were there!
After a night in kargil and recruiting another group member to come to Lamayuru, we ended up taking a more 'interesting' transport option - we hitched a ride in a truck! It was definitely the more scenic way to go as we made a dozen stops on the way and it took 12 hours to go 100ks! This was not helped by the fact that we had to wait over 2 hours for two tow trucks to pull up a truck that had gone down a cliff! Luckily enough the truck didn't appear to be that badly damaged and i don't think the driver was seriously injured.
Laymayuru was a great little town in a valley with a really nice monastery. Apart from the
monastery there wasn't much else to do so next day we caught a much faster travel mode, a jeep to Leh.
Phew and here we are. Planning to spend a couple of days staying in a monastery just out of town. There is a traditional Tibetan festival happening over the next couple of days. Should be great!
the back drop of the himalaya. It has a large Tibetan population and has a long history of
Buddhism. Yesterday some travelers I meet a long the way hired a minibus and visited a few
impressive monasteries , one dating back to the 7th century, in the area. There is also some
impressive hiking options in the area that I def want to explore next time I come back. NB I did
the inevitable and changed my ticket to the 18th of July to give me some time to explore this
area..I'm sure i'll get out of India one day!
There are two ways to get here, one from Kashmir and the other from Manali, both are epic
mountain journeys to say the least! We came from Kashmir way and the road passed through some dramatic moon-like mountain scenery. More about the trip later...First Dharamasala..
After some dodgy stomach action and a really bad cold i was able to get out of my sick bed and
make it to 2 sessions of the Dalai-Lamas reading at the main Tibetan temple. It was a great
experience to see the spiritual leader of Tibet and he really does not stop smiling and cracking
jokes. He passed within 5m of where i was sitting when his entourage left the temple after the
reading. The place was packed and foreigners had their own special area. His speech was
translated and broadcast on FM radio.
I really enjoyed Dharamasla mainly due to the really friendly and laid back Tibtetans. Not that
Indians aren't friendly, it's just a bit more hectic and manic in Indian towns. The monastery we
stayed at was also really friendly and would have been perfect if I hadn't had my camera pinched!
Someone else had the same thing happen to them too..Actually picked up a nice little sony number in Srinigar so more photos coming!
Ok so from Dharamasala it was a long bus ride to Jammu then a over night trip up to Srinigar in
Kashmir. Spent a couple of hours in Jammu and was glad to get out as not a lot to do and a very
strong military presence in the streets gave it a 'unsafe feel'.
The overnight bus to Kashmir didn't actually drive all night (which is a good thing in India) and
we stopped at a Dhaba (kind of like a Indian fast food cafe) where I was able to unfurl my
sleeping mat and grab a couple of hours sleep on the floor..Something different! The thermarest
has been one of the best things i've brough to India as some beds a no more than a blanket on a
wooden base!
In Srinigar I stayed on a two houseboats on the huge lake in the town. This is truly a water
world with 1000s of permanently moored houseboats from huge floating palaces to crusty pirate boats! There are even floating shops that u can buy almost everything from. Unfortunately the owner of the first houseboat was very snakey and kept telling little lies that eventually started to add up. I moved off the next day and stayed with friend Natalie on a really nice houseboat run by a really hospitable and honest family! Apart from just chilling out on the boat also went to a floating market, checked out some mosques and gardens and as mentioned bought a new digital camera!!...Srinigar has great shopping!
Of course i should mention there was a pretty messy war in Kashmir not that long ago and there is the occasional insurgency. Needless to say there was a super heavy military and police presence that gives the place a 'city under seige' feel. At first it's a bit unsettling to see heavily armed soldiers and armored trucks driving around but after a few days u tend not to notice it so much...
From Kashmir a group of us took a bus to Kargil on the way to Leh. It's a two day trip to Leh (actually we made it 3 day as we wanted to stop at a little town on the way called Lamayuru) unless u have a death wish and take a 'rally' jeep to race through the windy mountain roads in one day. Kargil was nice enough, meet some photogenic kids and spent a couple of hours checking out the city. This town also is super close to the Pakistan border and unfortunately gets shelled when relations between India and Pakistan aren't so great. Luckily things were good the day we were there!
After a night in kargil and recruiting another group member to come to Lamayuru, we ended up taking a more 'interesting' transport option - we hitched a ride in a truck! It was definitely the more scenic way to go as we made a dozen stops on the way and it took 12 hours to go 100ks! This was not helped by the fact that we had to wait over 2 hours for two tow trucks to pull up a truck that had gone down a cliff! Luckily enough the truck didn't appear to be that badly damaged and i don't think the driver was seriously injured.
Laymayuru was a great little town in a valley with a really nice monastery. Apart from themonastery there wasn't much else to do so next day we caught a much faster travel mode, a jeep to Leh.
Phew and here we are. Planning to spend a couple of days staying in a monastery just out of town. There is a traditional Tibetan festival happening over the next couple of days. Should be great!
posted by Damon at 11:15 PM
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