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Ladakh - Northern India
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I am back up and visiting after spending a day between my bed and the toilet! It took me 12 days to come all the way up here in northern India and it was worth the 13 hours delay on the train and several night buses. The last strech was quite rough. I spend a night sitting on a bus from Delhi to Manali. Around 7am, when I thought we were almost there, we stopped to change a tire and I found out we still had hours to go! 17 hours it took!
I spent the day there and slept from 10pm to 1h30am. Then took a jeep from Manali to Leh. I sat at the back to save Rs 300 ( SIN$ 11, 3 nights accommodation). I thought I could sleep! There is no way I could even doze off for one minute! The road was so bumpy and the driver driving so fast that I had to hold on very tight all the time. I spent the first 2 hours holding on with my eyes closed, taking long breathes like in yoga and trying not to be sick. By 8am we started to see beautiful snow peaks. The scenery reminded me a bit of Xinjiang, where I went in China last summer. Then it changed and became completely desertic as we went from one pass to another. There were lots of sand pinnacles and when tight together they looked like castles! Stunning! Right aligned photo tag:
By 3pm, the altitude started giving me a headache. Then, we had to drive for an hour in a valley. The driver was trying to make up time on this flat road! The guy who was previously sitting at the back with me had moved to the middle because he felt sick. So I felt all the bumps even more! I almost ended up in the opposite window twice. I had no time to think about my headache! Dust was coming in constantly under the door and covering my clothes and entering my mouth and nose! I was using my legs to hold me up. If I didn't touch the seat, I didn't get bumped up to the roof! I was so relieved when we reached the asphalted road and slowed down to climb the world's second highest motorised road! It was much colder there, but the view was fantastic and the headache terrible! We didn't stay long and took a shortcut from the road to lose altitude quickly and save time. The driver stopped to get gas which he put at the back of the jeep under my seat! It kept moving under the seat spreading a very strong smell! I had him stopped the jeep to push it in properly. A few minutes later, we had to stop again for me to throw up next to a dead dog! That finally got me a seat in the middle! I couldn't sleep though! So when everyone went for dinner, I decided to lie down and after that I slept all the way to Leh! It took 19 hours to get there!
But I am so glad to be here! This place is amazing! It's nice, warm and dry. People are walking around in shorts, but after 3 years in Singapore, I am quite happy to enjoy the sun with my long pants and long sleeve tops! I can't get enough of the view! On one side there's the Leh Palace, on the other side the magnificient snow peaks and on the other side the sandy mountains. It's quite busy for the end of the season, but that might be because of the festival. I got here just on time to see the mask dances at the monastery the first day. The monastery is perched on a sandy hill and is stunning! Right aligned photo tag:
I had to slow myslef down on the way up. I could hear the trumpets, but because of the altitude I took my time to go up. So I missed a few dances. The first one I saw was quite funny.
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The 4 dancers were teasing the crowd, sitting on people and taking away their hats and sunglasses. Then more serious dances were performed. I love the sound of the trumpets and their costumes! After the show, I went up to the roof to take pictures of the wonderful mountains around!
I got sick the next day and didn't do much! But there was no way I was gonna miss the mask dances on the third day. So I kicked my but off and made it to the monastery again. I got there early and took even more time going up. It was the same dances again plus the ones I had missed. I love this kind of stuff! In the evening, I went to the music concert after a short nap. I got there just on time to see the Ladakhi women, with the most impressive headdress I have ever seen, do their dance. That woke me up big time and I enjoyed the rest of the show. The costumes were beautiful and so colourful. The people are also beautiful and sing wonderfully! Right aligned photo tag:
Finally, I woke up feeling fine again! So I decided to spend a day walking around here to take pictures of the people. The population is a mix of Ladakhi, Nepali and Tibetan people. Only some of the Tibetans wear their traditionnal clothes. There is a mosque in town, a main bazaar, lots of Tibetan markets, little lanes selling all kinds of stuff. I had some pizza and watery spaghetti to help my poor stomach! I could spend hours just sitting on the patio sipping a mint tea and admiring the view! But, I have to see everything, so in the afternoon I went to my fisrt polo match. Quite interesting game! But poor horses! In the middle of game, a veal manage to cross the field unharmed, but got really scared!
Yesterday I went to another monastery where there is a big festival in the summer. It is the biggest in Ladakh. The location is not as impressive, but it has nice statues and a very big library. I saw people restoring hold prayer books. The way there was beautiful again. In the evening, another music concert, but not as nice as the first one. I liked the yak dance and the Yeti even made an appearance! Right aligned photo tag:
Today was the last day of the festival! I went to the closing ceremony. It started with a parade of all the people from the different regions in their traditional costumes and I got a chance to take lots of pictures as they were lining up waiting to start! Then a man was gathering all the foreigners, telling us to go and sit on the chairs in the shade. We were then offered a juice, snack, chai and cookie! Nice treat! I felt very special! There were more dancing and then the public joined the locals to dance and closed the festival!
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| 5. | Ladakh - Northern India - Leh, India Sep 11, 2007 (  18 ) |
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