Hotel Singge Palace Leh

... young monks, of course) serve hot drinks and some food in the intermissions. The young monks are released after the first part of the pray. It seems like they are the only working force in the monastery - later I saw them cleaning the yard - it looked like child labor, actually. 
Well, the pray is over and I can continue my journey in Nubra valley. That's what I thought, but first thing (after I got fueled up at the Tibetan Food) I wanted to fill up the Vespa. Getting to the ...

Taking a ride to Diskit. Initially wanted to take off at 7, but of course with all the fueling, etc I was on the road only at 10. On the way I made a small accident - hit a female donkey which was running away like there is no tomorrow from a mating male. Of course I have also mistaken with the road, and had to take a shortcut to the proper way. At the beginning it all looked very nice - the road was in a very good condition, the riding was pleasant. 
But as I went higher and ...

... see me on the road, and it will not be cold (I'm riding with a fleece, but still). Unfortunately it takes me really long to get to Hemis, and when I leave form here, after taking some pictures of young monks and walking through the gompa's museum I understand that I'm really cold. And now I need to drive... I drink some masala chai, put the backpack in front of me, and hope for the best. 
It wasn't the best, wasn't at all. The 35 km take me years to get ...

... this amazing meadow of yellow grass, cut by stream where the water is sparkling clear and the rocks are orange.<br><br>The campsite at Hundar Dok (4400m) is beautiful and this time temperatures are not freezing.<br><br>Evening dinner of Parai Mou Mou, a sort of dumpling, which I MUST find out the recipe.

... are attached. The shoes are hand weaved from wool or leather. Women never cut their hair, instead they wear long braids and plaits in them and often weave jewelry, stones, and precious gems into the braids. Some of the men wear a funky hat with fur and silk brocade. One of the most distinctive traits of the Tibetans is their affinity for beautiful jewellry. Jewellry is handed down amongst Tibetans for generations. Turquoise and coral are two ...

... around looking for everyone after they'd all been found.<br>The two helpers who bring us lunch each day, Chiring and Tachi, are absolutely mental and keep running up and down mountains singing and generally being insensitive ***** to us mortals.<br>We had the highest beer ever - a Kingfisher on top of a 5000m+ pass. Total first pint refreshment.<br>We have survived mainly on biscuits, even though the food is amazing. Amie and I bought about 30 ...

... plagisema. Ehk olen ma nüüd teinud midagi jumalatele meelepärast. Fotoka aku otsustab tühjaks saada, aga pigistan siiski välja veel mõned pildid. Tagavaraaku on all kotis, mis paistab siit vaadates miniatuursena. Kogu rahvas on kurult kadunud, ainult ameerika kamp istub poolel teel rajal nagu värvilised helmed nööril.<br>Allaminek läheb tunduvalt kiiremini. Tunni aja pärast olen Angis. Jään õnge sildile, mis reklaamib teed, nuudleid ja külmi jooke. Teed paraku ...

... blazing above us and then eventually directly in our faces. Finally, when we thought we might have to live in this hell forever, Lisa saw the flags up above... it was slow going, but when we got to the top and Krista saw the green valley of YangTang off in the distance she busrt into tears (she was feeling bad for subjecting her sister to this). The pass took us 3 hours to climb. The tears passed ...

19 hours in a share-jeep driven by a guy who bore an uncanny resemblance to Rufio from 'Hook'. Good choice to sit in position 1 [front window-side] since sitting in 2 [next to the driver] means he grabs for your ****** every time he changes gear. Mountains = many gear changes. Dude in seat 2, a nice man from Leh who's name I didn't catch and didn't ...

... budda statue. So that's it for my first 2 weeks here, tomorrow (July 5th) I set out on an 8 day trek of the Markha Valley. This will quite challenging for me as I've never done a trek this long before and it goes well above altitude I've done before, with one pass been over 5000m. I've told the guide to have the rescue pony on stand by at all times. The trek will give me a chance to try out the GPS system that was given to me as a ...