Bijoo Hotel Leh

... tables in front of the monks who are sitting closer to the center. A very specific cymbals are placed onto these tables. In the corner there are two horns (these are very long - some 3+meters) placed on a special stands. These alone produce terrible sounds, but when accompanied with the cymbals the cacophony reaches it's zenith. The situation is rescued by the monks singing. It is relatively enjoyable. 
I didn't know that the morning pray could take 3 hours, but at least they ...

... it became colder, but in a pretty severe way. When I reached the check post - South Pullu - some Indian tourist was very surprised with me having no hat, and was very kind to give me one - called Monkey Hat (it just took it off the head of the the ladies in the car, which made her surprised as well :). So now equipped with the Monkey Hat, gloves, full helmet, thermic underwear, boots I was going to pass the Khardung La @5.6 km. This would be the highest point for me to visit ...

... water" - it kept me from vomiting for quite a while. But at the end I had to use the window, it's all on the go, through the Tibet. :) We arrived around 8, I gave some Rs100 tips to the driver - the guy was driving all the way virtually without stopping - I don't know which dugs he used!<br>Half-dead I arrived to Leh. There was some French guy coming with us, who stuck with no money, so I asked him if he'd like to cooperate and gave him some Rs1000 ...

... de raison de s&#8217;exciter, nous l&#8217;achetons plus tard. Du coup, les gens sur le bus commencent à sortir leurs billets avec des numéros de siège notés dessus&#8230;.Vous devinez ? Il nous aurait fallu acheter ces billet à l&#8217;avance&#8230;L&#8217;ironie de cette petite épisode est que Nicolas s&#8217;est rendu sur place pour acheter les billets la veille, mais il ne pouvait en acheter car le vendeur lui disait que ça s&#8217;achète sur le bus ...

... we climb to... up * steep climb sits * building th*t looks intriguing, together we decide we'll t*k e our time *nd get to the top! After stopping *bout five time sfor some w*ter *nd to c*tch our bre*th we eventu*lly re*ch the N*mgy*l Tsem*o G*\omp* *t the top of this hill. *g*in it's full of hoels *nd l*dders *nd steep climbs to re*ch the top. we w*lk *nd climb *round *nd t*ke some wonderful pics *nd cl*p e*chother on the b*ck for sticking with it!<br> We w*lk then *roudn leh *nd ...

... ja hindu-ameeriklastest. Ülevalt (3750 m) on muidugi vinge vaade. Prantslased kukuvad kohe filmima. Märkan eemal tipul palvelippe ja otsustan sinna ronida. Ilma kottideta on see imelihtne. Tipust paistab kogu tuldud tee ja isegi Hemis-Shukpachu küla. Ja järgmine kõrgem tipp, kus oleks nagu ka palvelipud. Asja uurima minnes on sealt vaade võimsam, aga palvelipu toigas ümber kukkunud. Ehitan kividest aluse uuesti ja sean toika püsti. Lipud hakkavad kohe r ...

... rgid jäävad seljataha, ümberringi värvilised mäed nagu kreemikook, mida mööda rada järjest kõrgemale tõuseb. Vaatan aegajalt ka ameeriklaste järele ringi, aga kedagi pole näha. Vahepeal oli hargnemine, loodan, et nad pole eksinud. Või et mina pole eksinud. Mida edasi, seda kõrgemale tõusen ja seda tugevamaks muutuvad tuuleiilid. Otse küünarnuki alt möödub väike tuulepööris. Paaritunnise turnimise järel olen kurul. Kunu La, 3910 meetrit. Vaated igas suunas on vapustavad ...

... therefore cutting our trek down to staying only one night. We had breakfast at our now usual place (The Penguin Resaurant and German Bakery) at our usual table (near the back, under the apple trees). After breakfast we shopped our way through town, back in the swing of things after so many days resting. We went through every Tibetan refugee bazaar and down the main shopping streets in town. It was quite fun. We like being healthy. Tomorrow we head out on our trek...

... I'm back in Leh after my trek in the Markha Valley and am basking in the afterglow of sheer pleasure that was my first shower and hairwash in over a week...and, God, it feels good!!<br><br><br><br> It was a truly spectacular route to trek but it took a couple of days for me to really appreciate it. Not, as I had feared, because of altitude sickness or lack of leg muscle but ...

... to Leh Airport. Leh does not have a civilian airport, and passenger planes land on the<br>Defence civilian enclave. I took out my camera to capture the scenery &#8211;<br>the airport too was framed with snow laden peaks &#8211; but an airport guard<br>asked me to put it away. The outside temperature was around 2 degree<br>celcius, and though it did not seem cold at first, my jeans started<br>clinging to my legs and the metal handle of the trolley stung. As<br>Johnny, Lalit and I admired ...