Leh,
India
Monday, July 28, 2008
We spent a couple of days in Leh adjusting to the altitude and planning the trek we were to take through the Ladakhi outback. We decided on the eight-day Markha Valley trek and being as frugal as we were decided to rough it alone without the amenities most Westerners use (guides/cooks and donkeys to carry all the tents and gear). The trek started at the Spitok Gompa and circumnavigated the Markha Valley. The trek started with a walk across a bridge over the Indus River and immediately entered a sparse area resembling a desert. As the distance between us and Leh widened there were fewer hikers to be seen. After the first day Tom and I set up a small campfire to cook some rice and vegetables and at nearly 12,000 ft elevation it made sense why the rice wouldn't cook thoroughly in the time we were willing to wait so we just downed it as it was, unfurled our sleeping bags under the nearby tea tent, and slept the best we could on the hard ground. Each night we would decide on the sleeping arrangement based on how cold we could expect the night to become. The views were amazing and largely consisted of parallel mountain ridges containing rivers fed by the melting snow of the Himalayan peaks. There were occasionally small villages with houses constructed of stone and mud decorated with prayer flags displaying Buddhist mantras and symbols, communities untouched by many elements of modern society, only accessible by foot or horseback.
On the third day we came across a high strung Polish student, Macheek, who like us was attempting the walk on his own and we decided to lay our sleeping bags under the stars near the 1,000 year old Skyu Gompa. That night the view of the stars was the most complete I had in my life and I spotted more shooting stars than I could count. I was reminded of one of Carl Sagan's brilliant quotes: "We are the way the cosmos sees itself"....
