12 Oct
Nubra Valley
Katarina, Prasad and Rupa and a friend of P and R from the Mahobhodi center, Katherine a headhunter/Buddhist instructor from Singapore.
Originally, the plan was for them to pick us up at the house (Katarina stayed over) at 8 which was changed to 8:30 last night and of course they arrived at 9 in a 7seater 2WD mahindra SUV and we headed up into the clouds on Kardung La for what turned into an epic day! Everything was fine for the first 20k and the first military checkpoint at S Pollu (15,900') where we hit the snow and the road was shut. Lots (30 ish) of cars of tourists and locals hanging out waiting to see if we would get through and many putting chains on (not the modern easy mounts we have)- a long process involving raising the wheel on a rock and eventually lacing them tight with webbing.
The groups included a bunch of brand new VWs and test crews ( including the German boss) being driven up to do altitude tests and a convoy of 8 SUVs filled with Chinese tourists. We hung around for almost 2 hrs with all the others and the slew of Army guys.
We heard various stories from, it will open in an hour, to maybe not at all today- it's snowing hard on top and over the other side. Watched three Himalayan Buzzards soaring overhead in the clouds. Suddenly a few cars, including the convoy takes off and we hear they are letting locals go and some tourists are just going to the top. We decided to go for it, hopped in and took off. Very quickly the convoy (no chains) stopped and decided to just play in the 4" of snow. We continued to follow the 2 local vans (no chains either). Soon there was a lot of noise from our left rear and it turned out the rubber on the end of the running board was binding in the chain. I offered to,cut it off but our driver didn't want to be responsible for that. Instead, he took off that chain. I was a bit concerned because I remember something about that imbalance being bad for the differential, but decided it wasn't my car and held my tongue. This is also when I noticed the completely bald left front tire- hell it's rear wheel drive, so off we went again.
Eventually caught up to the 2 locals who were stuck in the snow on the steeper section and backing down. We went around them (this road is mostly one car wide with steep and long drop offs) and continued on until a very narrow steep section where we were spinning out. We all got out and the driver tried a number of times unsuccessfully. We convinced him we needed the other chain and used the pliers on my knife to remove the bolts on the offending piece. Luckily one of the guys from the local car had walked up and the 3 of us got the chain back on. Off we went in the growing snow but with pretty solid traction now.
Suddenly Katarina said, "fox" and sure enough there was a Himalayan fox right next to us on the road! Stopped, got out to take pictures and suddenly a huge golden eagle took off right next to us! The 2 of them had been eating road kill in the snow- it looked 2-3 white vultures of some sort-not sure, maybe they had been eating some other road kill and been hit by a car...... I think I got a good picture of the fox, but missed the eagle.
Continued on with little trouble and were the first vehicle to make it to the top (worlds highest motor-able pass, etc). The worlds highest cafeteria was closed, so we took a few pictures of the pass in snow got very cold and headed down the other side. In the meantime one of the local cars without chains made it up and we could see the long line of cars waiting at Pollu had disappeared and we could see some following us up way below.
The trip down to N Pollu on the other side ( where the snow ended and the pavement began was pretty uneventful (amazing scenery) except that cars and lorries from the other side were also coming up and there wasn't a lot of passing room. Made it. Stopped for lunch I'm a freezing cold restaurant- all they had was chai, one plate of momos to share and Maggi (spicy top ramen). By now it was 2:30 and we were quite hungry!
Headed off on the dry pavement down the twisty mountain road to Diskit, 3 hrs away. Driver suddenly turned into AJ Foyt and it was a bit of a scary ride. A couple of our crew got sick or fought to hold it down and we switched seats around a bit. I ended up in the back and had a few collisions with the roof. He turned out to be very skilled and we made it to Diskit by a little after 5, and even were able to marvel at the incredible views of the confluence of the Shyok and Nubra Rivers and the huge alluvial plains below.
Found a very nice guest house and got 3 nice rooms with own baths for Rs500(total= less than$10)) and dinner for 90each! After some tea with a little rum in it, I am now in my sleeping bag in my room waiting for dinner.
Turns out the mask festival we planned to see at the monastery tomorrow is best on Sunday, so we will head to Turtuk (right ON the Pakistani border) tomorrow and come back for the festival.
13 Oct
Just woke up back at the Sun Rise Guest House in Diskit. I am supposed to be in Turtuk, so what happened?
We did get up, had early breakfast and we're on the road to Turtuk by a little after 8 as planned. Everything was fine and another beautiful ride along the river past the sandy desert near Hundar for about an hour and a half until the first checkpoint. Turns out Katharine (from Singapore) was not on the P&Rs permit (as she was supposed to be- hell if we know how she got past the first 2 checkpoints on Friday.....?). AND, during the 30 min negotiations with the guards it turned out she did not even have a passport with her! If she had her passport there is a chance she might have been let through, but without either- no way. Rupa decided to stay with her at the tent/checkpoint while Prasad, Katarina and I went the rest of the way to Turtuk ( about an hour more) and would visit and come and pick them up on the way back to Hundar. So, off we went.
All this border stuff brought back memories of Ron and me and the black helicopter over San Juan Island as well as the family trek to Pindaric Glacier on the Chinese border in ''66 when Louie forgot the permit at the car (and got sunstroke the first day, so couldn't go on) and I got as the guide's sign after a small bribe and a well placed raspberry/tantrum! 8 entertained Prasad and Katarina with these stories for a while.
More great scenery and winding roads and finally arrived in Turtuk, drove through on the road to the little bridge at the end where we were not aloud past, where P through up again. From here Amed (driver) told us to cross the wooden bridge over the clear mtn stream and walk a few minutes into the village center/market area. We were looking for some lunch and some stone carving of Ibex we had heard about and I wanted to possibly buy one. Off we went, K taking R place as guide and doing an admirable job. We wandered up to a level area with houses and fields and started strolling along a narrow concrete path that wound through the fields and sometimes into narrow tight spaces between typical Himalayan houses. Occasionally P would ask directions to the market or a guesthouse where we could get chai and lunch. We kept getting vague directions to keep going. We did pass a couple of guesthouses with signs on them but they seemed closed for the season (we were the only tourists in the area), so we kept going. The village was beautiful, a Shangri La! Very attractive people in in different clothes (older men I traditional Muslim wear with long beards and the women and girls in head scarves). All the women and small children ( who weren't carrying heavy loads of sand to the new mosque construction site) were working on finishing the harvesting the wheat and barley in the vast fields. We passed many chickens (not common in Ladakhi villages) and the remains of many gardens with some tomatoes, squashes and other wegetables (I am training K to say a proper V) still growing, but the most impressive things were the huge poplar and walnut trees in glorious yellow fall colors interspersed with the seven varieties of apricot trees.
Turtuk is famous for its apricots, walnuts ( which are dried and exported and in the summer amazing harvests of strawberries, cherries and other fresh fruits and veggies.
Finally, we found a large group of people outside a house and P asked if there was a guesthouse nearby (useful having P for the language, except sometimes it was too easy to let him do the talking and wait for the translation). One man took us to a house large where a young (30) man (Hussein) came out to meet us and would serve us some chai and make us a traditional Balti meal for Lu ch if we would wait an hour. OK. Went inside and waited and visited with Hussein and a variety of others (the local census was going on there also) while we waited. Eventually we were served Kisser ( a delicious buckwheat pancake) with a tangy green vegetable sauce, bought a kilo each ofdried apricots and walnuts. Hussein had his 10 yr old son and nephew (Nasir and Nassim) take us on a tour to the old Buddhist Gompa. A beautiful walk through the huge trees along a winding mountain path, past the middle school and polo ground to a small lookout above the cemetery and upper village. As we walked the kids had a sling shot which we played with and they were quite curious about P and why K had to lead him. Their English was pretty decent (the literacy rate I the village is almost 100%, there is k-12 school and besides the unwritten Balti language the kids all learn English, Hindi, Urdu, Bhodi and Arabic). When we returned to the guesthouse (Rangyoul Guesthouse) Hussein took us on a one hour walking tour of the the rest of the village, including the 16th century mosque, "village center" ( a small meeting place where the old men gather in a wide point in the winding path near the mosque), the King's house( yes their still is a king with no power- u fortunately he was not home so we only got to go ( only look) inside and did not get to meet him or see the small museum). Finally we went to the stone carver at his little restaurant and met him. Unfortunately, he only makes them to order ( next time). He also apparently makes stone pressure cookers with Ibex carved into them! But we did not see them either. Then he took us back to the bridge and the Amed patiently waiting at the car and headed back to pick up Rand K patiently waiting at the tent. What we expected to be maybe a couple of hours max turned into a delightful and unexpected five hour trip!
Turtuk: A 3 part village (upper, lower and middle) 10K from the disputed Indo/Pak border of Baltistan. The only Balti village in India and became part of India in the 1971 war. The people in the village are all much happier to be in India (democracy and lots of govt support compared to their relatives in Pakistan). They are almost all Sufi Muslims ( according to Hussein, the most peaceful sect) with a few Wahabi and Sunnis and apparently a very few Buddhists. They have their own unwritten language (Balti) and their own cuisine and everyone was very friendly and quite attractive (also, noticeably just different features from the Ladakhis 15-20km to the east). The village, besides being incredibly green and lovely, is perched above the glacial Shyok R ( which does have some large fish and the Baltis do catch and eat them in the summer) with incredible views of the Himalayan peaks, ridges and glaciers on all sides. Population 2500, almost 100% literacy with K-12 school and almost no poverty. The women work in the fields and the men seem to take care of the livestock in the mountains.
Hussein: 30 yrs old, 5 kids (Yangchan tells me there is no family planning aloud there), married at 16(wife was 14, he told me that now the average age for men getting married is in the 30s, not sure about girls). Educated to 10th class but seems well educated and speaks very good English. Quite successful. Has a large, clean, inexpensive guest house which he is expanding to 9 guest rooms this year, with a huge garden where they raise all their foods. Serves a wide variety of meals including 9 Balti dishes. He owns 2 horses, 2 donkeys, 1 yak, 4 cows, 15 each sheep and goats and chickens. Incredibly friendly and welcoming. Anyone gong to Turtuk ( and definitely a must if in the Nubra Valley) should stay at his guest house!
After picking up R and K at the checkpoint the plan was to head to Hundar, find a guesthouse to eat and sleep and spend the morning seeing/riding the camels and then head back to Diskit for the festival. After driving around in the dark in Hundar, we discovered that there were more tourists there and it is the high end place to stay. A single room everywhere coat more than our 3 rooms at the SunRise. So, back to Diskit and luckily our 3 rooms were waiting for us. After some tea with rum (lots of stories about life in Mumbai from Prasad ), late but delicious meal and off to bed.
Great day!
14 Oct
Lazy start to the day. Breakfast at 9 and then started the climb up to the giant Buddha (Bubba Buddha) 500 meters above our guest house for the masked festival which began at 11. We had a front row seat on the ground around the prayer flag pole in front of the Gompa. Mostly locals (3-400?) and maybe 20-30 foreigners. We watched three hours of the monks dancing in amazing masks of the Buddhist deities and various spirits. They were accompanied mostly by drumming and cymbals and sometimes the large brass horns. It was hard to tell the story, if there really was one, but usually the dancers had knives or swords that I assume we're being used to scare of fight off the evil spirits. The odd thing is that most of the deities are very frightening themselves. We also had fun playing with various kids sitting around us. The ceremony ended up with the monks giving out bags of saffron rice and potatoes, which we ate local style with our hand (most of the time in Ladakh so far I have been given utensils- different than other parts of India).
After the dancing we left (after locating the driver of the car that had blocked us in) for the camel safari in Hundar. Arrived there during lunch and waited in the sand dunes for about 30 min until the camels were brought back and them we all took 15 min rides. I was initially thinking about riding one back to Diskit but decided an hour was too long and 700 Rs not worth it.
These camels are Bactrian (2-hump, thick furred) descendants of the mongolian camels used by the nomads plying the silk trade route between china and Indian until China closed the border and trade route after the revolution in 1949. After the trade route was closed many of the camels became feral. Now there is a camel ranch run by the locals where they raise them for the tourist safaris and butcher 1-2 per year for the Muslims in the community (Rs200/kilo) and also used the wool for making various items.
Returned to the guesthouse around 5 and I walked into the old main market- mostly closed on a Sunday afternoon. Met a man who invited me in for tea and introduced me to his friends including a singer from Delhi who could not speak......?
Another awesome dinner, partly by the guesthouse owners (both the couple are also,nurses in the hospital) and partly by Rupa and Katrina, and lots of fun and laughter. We listened to the music on the iPad and people seemed to enjoy most of it-some classic rock and roll (Grateful Dead, Simon and Garfunkel, Dylan, James Taylor, Neil Young), some new (Jack Johnson) some familiar to the crew and some new.
Tomorrow morning we will leave at 8 to head for home. Hopefully the snow has melted and the roads are clear.
15 Oct
Easy trip back after a brief stop at the Diskit monastery. There was still snow over the top but a lot had melted and we made it over without chains. Did put on one chain at the top for a short time on the descent.
Lots of tracks in the snow, but no mammals, only one very large eagle (golden?).
Made it to town by about 1, had a nice lunch at Gezmo's, negotiated the car price and then home. Luckily the power came on a short time after I got here and got to take a much wished for hot shower!
Total trip cost for 4 days: Rs 3600 ($68!) per person. (3 nights lodging plus board, car and driver plus gas for 260 miles and various other touristy things)
Future Trip: apparently nobody rafts the Shyok R. Not sure if it is because it is not exciting or why? (just found out that the Army will not give permits, but maybe if they actually do allow trekking in the future-see below- they will also open the river). The section we drove along is a beautiful clear, green glacial river. Mostly easy floating with occasional short sections of class 2/3. Nothing challenging but a beautiful float and relaxing way to see the valley. I'd love to float from upriver of Diskit someplace to Turtuk (4-7 days? Depending on where you start). Camp, fish, look for ibex, blue sheep, snow leopards, eagles?...Spend a couple of days enjoying the summer harvest of Turtuk and then (Hussein says he thinks the govt will open the area for trekking in a year) trek over the pass from Turtuk to the village of Da Hanu, about 60 Km (not sure how the pass would be over the mountains). The Da Hanu are another unique people with their own language, religion and culture- they are actually blond, blue-eyed Aryan descendants of Alexander the Great's army and wear strange floral headdresses.
Who is in?
Nubra Valley
Katarina, Prasad and Rupa and a friend of P and R from the Mahobhodi center, Katherine a headhunter/Buddhist instructor from Singapore.
Originally, the plan was for them to pick us up at the house (Katarina stayed over) at 8 which was changed to 8:30 last night and of course they arrived at 9 in a 7seater 2WD mahindra SUV and we headed up into the clouds on Kardung La for what turned into an epic day! Everything was fine for the first 20k and the first military checkpoint at S Pollu (15,900') where we hit the snow and the road was shut. Lots (30 ish) of cars of tourists and locals hanging out waiting to see if we would get through and many putting chains on (not the modern easy mounts we have)- a long process involving raising the wheel on a rock and eventually lacing them tight with webbing.
We heard various stories from, it will open in an hour, to maybe not at all today- it's snowing hard on top and over the other side. Watched three Himalayan Buzzards soaring overhead in the clouds. Suddenly a few cars, including the convoy takes off and we hear they are letting locals go and some tourists are just going to the top. We decided to go for it, hopped in and took off. Very quickly the convoy (no chains) stopped and decided to just play in the 4" of snow. We continued to follow the 2 local vans (no chains either). Soon there was a lot of noise from our left rear and it turned out the rubber on the end of the running board was binding in the chain. I offered to,cut it off but our driver didn't want to be responsible for that. Instead, he took off that chain. I was a bit concerned because I remember something about that imbalance being bad for the differential, but decided it wasn't my car and held my tongue. This is also when I noticed the completely bald left front tire- hell it's rear wheel drive, so off we went again.
Eventually caught up to the 2 locals who were stuck in the snow on the steeper section and backing down. We went around them (this road is mostly one car wide with steep and long drop offs) and continued on until a very narrow steep section where we were spinning out. We all got out and the driver tried a number of times unsuccessfully. We convinced him we needed the other chain and used the pliers on my knife to remove the bolts on the offending piece. Luckily one of the guys from the local car had walked up and the 3 of us got the chain back on. Off we went in the growing snow but with pretty solid traction now.
Suddenly Katarina said, "fox" and sure enough there was a Himalayan fox right next to us on the road! Stopped, got out to take pictures and suddenly a huge golden eagle took off right next to us! The 2 of them had been eating road kill in the snow- it looked 2-3 white vultures of some sort-not sure, maybe they had been eating some other road kill and been hit by a car...... I think I got a good picture of the fox, but missed the eagle.
Continued on with little trouble and were the first vehicle to make it to the top (worlds highest motor-able pass, etc). The worlds highest cafeteria was closed, so we took a few pictures of the pass in snow got very cold and headed down the other side. In the meantime one of the local cars without chains made it up and we could see the long line of cars waiting at Pollu had disappeared and we could see some following us up way below.
The trip down to N Pollu on the other side ( where the snow ended and the pavement began was pretty uneventful (amazing scenery) except that cars and lorries from the other side were also coming up and there wasn't a lot of passing room. Made it. Stopped for lunch I'm a freezing cold restaurant- all they had was chai, one plate of momos to share and Maggi (spicy top ramen). By now it was 2:30 and we were quite hungry!
Headed off on the dry pavement down the twisty mountain road to Diskit, 3 hrs away. Driver suddenly turned into AJ Foyt and it was a bit of a scary ride. A couple of our crew got sick or fought to hold it down and we switched seats around a bit. I ended up in the back and had a few collisions with the roof. He turned out to be very skilled and we made it to Diskit by a little after 5, and even were able to marvel at the incredible views of the confluence of the Shyok and Nubra Rivers and the huge alluvial plains below.
Found a very nice guest house and got 3 nice rooms with own baths for Rs500(total= less than$10)) and dinner for 90each! After some tea with a little rum in it, I am now in my sleeping bag in my room waiting for dinner.
Turns out the mask festival we planned to see at the monastery tomorrow is best on Sunday, so we will head to Turtuk (right ON the Pakistani border) tomorrow and come back for the festival.
13 Oct
Just woke up back at the Sun Rise Guest House in Diskit. I am supposed to be in Turtuk, so what happened?
We did get up, had early breakfast and we're on the road to Turtuk by a little after 8 as planned. Everything was fine and another beautiful ride along the river past the sandy desert near Hundar for about an hour and a half until the first checkpoint. Turns out Katharine (from Singapore) was not on the P&Rs permit (as she was supposed to be- hell if we know how she got past the first 2 checkpoints on Friday.....?). AND, during the 30 min negotiations with the guards it turned out she did not even have a passport with her! If she had her passport there is a chance she might have been let through, but without either- no way. Rupa decided to stay with her at the tent/checkpoint while Prasad, Katarina and I went the rest of the way to Turtuk ( about an hour more) and would visit and come and pick them up on the way back to Hundar. So, off we went.
All this border stuff brought back memories of Ron and me and the black helicopter over San Juan Island as well as the family trek to Pindaric Glacier on the Chinese border in ''66 when Louie forgot the permit at the car (and got sunstroke the first day, so couldn't go on) and I got as the guide's sign after a small bribe and a well placed raspberry/tantrum! 8 entertained Prasad and Katarina with these stories for a while.
More great scenery and winding roads and finally arrived in Turtuk, drove through on the road to the little bridge at the end where we were not aloud past, where P through up again. From here Amed (driver) told us to cross the wooden bridge over the clear mtn stream and walk a few minutes into the village center/market area. We were looking for some lunch and some stone carving of Ibex we had heard about and I wanted to possibly buy one. Off we went, K taking R place as guide and doing an admirable job. We wandered up to a level area with houses and fields and started strolling along a narrow concrete path that wound through the fields and sometimes into narrow tight spaces between typical Himalayan houses. Occasionally P would ask directions to the market or a guesthouse where we could get chai and lunch. We kept getting vague directions to keep going. We did pass a couple of guesthouses with signs on them but they seemed closed for the season (we were the only tourists in the area), so we kept going. The village was beautiful, a Shangri La! Very attractive people in in different clothes (older men I traditional Muslim wear with long beards and the women and girls in head scarves). All the women and small children ( who weren't carrying heavy loads of sand to the new mosque construction site) were working on finishing the harvesting the wheat and barley in the vast fields. We passed many chickens (not common in Ladakhi villages) and the remains of many gardens with some tomatoes, squashes and other wegetables (I am training K to say a proper V) still growing, but the most impressive things were the huge poplar and walnut trees in glorious yellow fall colors interspersed with the seven varieties of apricot trees.
Turtuk is famous for its apricots, walnuts ( which are dried and exported and in the summer amazing harvests of strawberries, cherries and other fresh fruits and veggies.
Finally, we found a large group of people outside a house and P asked if there was a guesthouse nearby (useful having P for the language, except sometimes it was too easy to let him do the talking and wait for the translation). One man took us to a house large where a young (30) man (Hussein) came out to meet us and would serve us some chai and make us a traditional Balti meal for Lu ch if we would wait an hour. OK. Went inside and waited and visited with Hussein and a variety of others (the local census was going on there also) while we waited. Eventually we were served Kisser ( a delicious buckwheat pancake) with a tangy green vegetable sauce, bought a kilo each ofdried apricots and walnuts. Hussein had his 10 yr old son and nephew (Nasir and Nassim) take us on a tour to the old Buddhist Gompa. A beautiful walk through the huge trees along a winding mountain path, past the middle school and polo ground to a small lookout above the cemetery and upper village. As we walked the kids had a sling shot which we played with and they were quite curious about P and why K had to lead him. Their English was pretty decent (the literacy rate I the village is almost 100%, there is k-12 school and besides the unwritten Balti language the kids all learn English, Hindi, Urdu, Bhodi and Arabic). When we returned to the guesthouse (Rangyoul Guesthouse) Hussein took us on a one hour walking tour of the the rest of the village, including the 16th century mosque, "village center" ( a small meeting place where the old men gather in a wide point in the winding path near the mosque), the King's house( yes their still is a king with no power- u fortunately he was not home so we only got to go ( only look) inside and did not get to meet him or see the small museum). Finally we went to the stone carver at his little restaurant and met him. Unfortunately, he only makes them to order ( next time). He also apparently makes stone pressure cookers with Ibex carved into them! But we did not see them either. Then he took us back to the bridge and the Amed patiently waiting at the car and headed back to pick up Rand K patiently waiting at the tent. What we expected to be maybe a couple of hours max turned into a delightful and unexpected five hour trip!
Turtuk: A 3 part village (upper, lower and middle) 10K from the disputed Indo/Pak border of Baltistan. The only Balti village in India and became part of India in the 1971 war. The people in the village are all much happier to be in India (democracy and lots of govt support compared to their relatives in Pakistan). They are almost all Sufi Muslims ( according to Hussein, the most peaceful sect) with a few Wahabi and Sunnis and apparently a very few Buddhists. They have their own unwritten language (Balti) and their own cuisine and everyone was very friendly and quite attractive (also, noticeably just different features from the Ladakhis 15-20km to the east). The village, besides being incredibly green and lovely, is perched above the glacial Shyok R ( which does have some large fish and the Baltis do catch and eat them in the summer) with incredible views of the Himalayan peaks, ridges and glaciers on all sides. Population 2500, almost 100% literacy with K-12 school and almost no poverty. The women work in the fields and the men seem to take care of the livestock in the mountains.
Hussein: 30 yrs old, 5 kids (Yangchan tells me there is no family planning aloud there), married at 16(wife was 14, he told me that now the average age for men getting married is in the 30s, not sure about girls). Educated to 10th class but seems well educated and speaks very good English. Quite successful. Has a large, clean, inexpensive guest house which he is expanding to 9 guest rooms this year, with a huge garden where they raise all their foods. Serves a wide variety of meals including 9 Balti dishes. He owns 2 horses, 2 donkeys, 1 yak, 4 cows, 15 each sheep and goats and chickens. Incredibly friendly and welcoming. Anyone gong to Turtuk ( and definitely a must if in the Nubra Valley) should stay at his guest house!
After picking up R and K at the checkpoint the plan was to head to Hundar, find a guesthouse to eat and sleep and spend the morning seeing/riding the camels and then head back to Diskit for the festival. After driving around in the dark in Hundar, we discovered that there were more tourists there and it is the high end place to stay. A single room everywhere coat more than our 3 rooms at the SunRise. So, back to Diskit and luckily our 3 rooms were waiting for us. After some tea with rum (lots of stories about life in Mumbai from Prasad ), late but delicious meal and off to bed.
Great day!
14 Oct
Lazy start to the day. Breakfast at 9 and then started the climb up to the giant Buddha (Bubba Buddha) 500 meters above our guest house for the masked festival which began at 11. We had a front row seat on the ground around the prayer flag pole in front of the Gompa. Mostly locals (3-400?) and maybe 20-30 foreigners. We watched three hours of the monks dancing in amazing masks of the Buddhist deities and various spirits. They were accompanied mostly by drumming and cymbals and sometimes the large brass horns. It was hard to tell the story, if there really was one, but usually the dancers had knives or swords that I assume we're being used to scare of fight off the evil spirits. The odd thing is that most of the deities are very frightening themselves. We also had fun playing with various kids sitting around us. The ceremony ended up with the monks giving out bags of saffron rice and potatoes, which we ate local style with our hand (most of the time in Ladakh so far I have been given utensils- different than other parts of India).
After the dancing we left (after locating the driver of the car that had blocked us in) for the camel safari in Hundar. Arrived there during lunch and waited in the sand dunes for about 30 min until the camels were brought back and them we all took 15 min rides. I was initially thinking about riding one back to Diskit but decided an hour was too long and 700 Rs not worth it.
These camels are Bactrian (2-hump, thick furred) descendants of the mongolian camels used by the nomads plying the silk trade route between china and Indian until China closed the border and trade route after the revolution in 1949. After the trade route was closed many of the camels became feral. Now there is a camel ranch run by the locals where they raise them for the tourist safaris and butcher 1-2 per year for the Muslims in the community (Rs200/kilo) and also used the wool for making various items.
Returned to the guesthouse around 5 and I walked into the old main market- mostly closed on a Sunday afternoon. Met a man who invited me in for tea and introduced me to his friends including a singer from Delhi who could not speak......?
Another awesome dinner, partly by the guesthouse owners (both the couple are also,nurses in the hospital) and partly by Rupa and Katrina, and lots of fun and laughter. We listened to the music on the iPad and people seemed to enjoy most of it-some classic rock and roll (Grateful Dead, Simon and Garfunkel, Dylan, James Taylor, Neil Young), some new (Jack Johnson) some familiar to the crew and some new.
Tomorrow morning we will leave at 8 to head for home. Hopefully the snow has melted and the roads are clear.
15 Oct
Easy trip back after a brief stop at the Diskit monastery. There was still snow over the top but a lot had melted and we made it over without chains. Did put on one chain at the top for a short time on the descent.
Lots of tracks in the snow, but no mammals, only one very large eagle (golden?).
Made it to town by about 1, had a nice lunch at Gezmo's, negotiated the car price and then home. Luckily the power came on a short time after I got here and got to take a much wished for hot shower!
Total trip cost for 4 days: Rs 3600 ($68!) per person. (3 nights lodging plus board, car and driver plus gas for 260 miles and various other touristy things)
Future Trip: apparently nobody rafts the Shyok R. Not sure if it is because it is not exciting or why? (just found out that the Army will not give permits, but maybe if they actually do allow trekking in the future-see below- they will also open the river). The section we drove along is a beautiful clear, green glacial river. Mostly easy floating with occasional short sections of class 2/3. Nothing challenging but a beautiful float and relaxing way to see the valley. I'd love to float from upriver of Diskit someplace to Turtuk (4-7 days? Depending on where you start). Camp, fish, look for ibex, blue sheep, snow leopards, eagles?...Spend a couple of days enjoying the summer harvest of Turtuk and then (Hussein says he thinks the govt will open the area for trekking in a year) trek over the pass from Turtuk to the village of Da Hanu, about 60 Km (not sure how the pass would be over the mountains). The Da Hanu are another unique people with their own language, religion and culture- they are actually blond, blue-eyed Aryan descendants of Alexander the Great's army and wear strange floral headdresses.
Who is in?
Not sure what happened to the pictures I included, but you should be able to see them on Facebook......
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