Ladakh

Last Himalayan trek and walking through the fearsome canyon, the monastery with the 1000 years old wall writings and the mummy nobody knew about

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Parang River

26.08

Last day of rest before the final seven days of the trek. We spend the whole day at the beach, enjoying the sand, reading books, bathing in the nearby lagoon where the water is warmer. I know bathing is supposed to be something mundane, but we couldn’t take a normal bath in the last ten days. The only thing we could do was to wash one selves rapidly here and there. It is known that Tibetans don’t bathe for months, but now I totally understand them. It is just impossible – even in August, which is the warmest month here, it is still tricky to do it. Continue reading →

Venice of India, Kashmiri eccentricities, the lucky coincidence with the White Mosque and witnessing the climate changes in Ladakh firsthand

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Boat trip

07.08

We take off early with the same truck and we still have to cross the last pass Zonji La. The road is terrible and on one side of it there is a dangerous looking abyss. It takes us a lot of time to reach the pass. After it is the Kashmir Valley. The scenery here changes dramatically. There are pine trees everywhere around us now and all is green with many fruit tree gardens. We stop at a small snack bar for the truck drivers. There are many people bathing at the backyard. We eat omelet with Kashmiri bread and tea. Continue reading →

Mystic rituals at amazing monasteries, golden Buddha statues, secret magical temples and sleeping on the swampy wet ground before Sisir La Pass

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Views from Kashmir

14.07

After some intense cooking and a freezing bath in the river (it is absolutely necessary to wash oneself even in the cold water – 4-5 degrees Celsius (39-40 Fahrenheit) where I almost got hypothermic) we are ready to start hitchhiking. We go to see the monastery for one last time and we find a room with some very old writings on the wall which up to now was always closed. Continue reading →

The hitchhiker’s luck, mysterious caves for meditation surrounded by wild roses and visiting the incredible Hemis Monastery

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Kanda La Pass – 5000 m. (16 405 feet)

04.07

We get up at six in the morning, boil 15 eggs, have breakfast and pack our things. The people from the guest house turn out to be really nice and don’t want to take our money for the yesterday’s breakfast. In addition we used their bathroom, took a hot shower everyday and laundered some clothes. The guesthouse is called Zal Guest House and if you pass by Leh and want to stay in authentic home-like atmosphere this is your place. Continue reading →

Passing the highest road for cars in the world, birthday party at the top of the world, first symptoms of altitude sickness and walking around Leh

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

View from the peak

25.06

Today we wake up at 5 a.m. again. This time it is because some people tell us that they will take us to Keylong – the capital city of Lahaul region. We get up and start packing. The people told us they will wait for 5 min. more to gather our tent but when we were almost ready they ran off. We decide not to go to bed but instead have a breakfast. Outside is raining and is quite cold so we decide to hitchhike in a new way. We sit on the couch and when we hear that a car is coming Mr. Shushtari runs out and tries to stop the car. We wait till 9 o’clock when a small truck full of rice takes us to Keylong.

Continue reading →

Living in Manali, visiting all kinds of sanctuaries and temples, passing Rohtang Pass and hitchhiking with a Gypsy King

 

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Temple in Bajora

18.06

We get up in the morning, start hitchhiking and a milk delivery truck takes us to Bajora. We go to see an old Shiva temple (8-th century) and finally we sit to eat normal food – it is called parantha (fried pancake) with yoghurt and eggs.

Continue reading →

Strange rituals next to a Sadhu temple and hitchhiking towards National Park Great Himalaya

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Sadhu

09.06

We walked around the streets all day long until we saw everything we wanted to see. In the morning we had breakfast near the swimming pool at the Bhagsu temple. The pool was full of tourists mainly coming from Punjab. In the morning we visited the museum of the monastery which was not so pleasant because it showed what the Chinese did to Tibet and its culture. There are 160 000 refugees at Dharamsala who try to keep their culture alive but the situation is not looking good – if you are interested you can find more information in Internet. Continue reading →