Trekking Through the Ladakhi Outback part 2
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Leh,
India
Thursday, July 31, 2008
We entered the Skyu Gompa the next morning and observed the ancient paintings showing the Buddha and his many emanations. That day we knew we had to ford a river that was waist deep so the thought always came up between the beautiful views. Around 6:30 pm we reached the stretch of the Markha River that was to be crossed and while we had expected a calm flow that would require a leisurely walk-through, we encountered a parallel series of violent rapids with nightfall approaching fast. Contemplating the daunting task ahead of us we collectively agreed on a location to cross. Being the tallest one I decided to cross the first of three streams just to test the depth of the muddy water. I made it to a sort of island in the river, dropped my pack down and waded back to help Tom and Macheek. Once all three of us made it to the island Macheek forged ahead on the second stream, nearly losing his balance but making it. Tom and I watched as Macheek then attempted the third stream appearing as vulnerable as before. Just as he was approaching the end he lost his balance falling into the rapids with his pack. A collective "oh shit" echoed out of us as we watched Macheek and his pack float down the stream knowing that we were too far away to do anything helpful. After about 20 feet of drifting the young Pol and his pack washed ashore and we were relieved as he got up obviously unhurt. At this point Tom and I scouted out other locations to cross and forming a human chain we slowly walked across the streams with our packs. By the time we met Macheek on the other side the sun had completely set and happy with the task behind us we found the trail and started walking.
We passed a tea tent that had closed for the night but knowing the campsite was less than a mile away we continued on. We followed the trail until it seemed to dead-end at a point further up the same river that had nearly swallowed us a few minutes prior and we decided that there was no other option than to sleep in the tea tent. Wet, cold, muddy, and exhausted we noticed some stone buildings and Macheek, being soaked, insisted on seeking shelter in them. There wasn't the slightest bit of candlelight coming from them and the only building appearing inhabited had a pad lock across the front door. We found a small room in crude condition with natural earth as floor and wooden poles constituting the partial ceiling. Under the illumination of a flash light we attended to the cuts on Macheek's leg while hanging his completely soaked tent over the open windows to trap in warm air. We slept in the room with our sleeping bags.
The next morning we rose and were packing up when a Ladakhi woman appeared at the doorway of the room with a completely puzzled look on her face. We expected something along these lines to happen. I told Macheek to show her the gauze rapped around his leg and through hand motions combined with her limited knowledge of English we were able to communicate to her what had happened. She asked "milk tea?" to which we enthusiastically responded "Yes! Please!" A few minutes later she returned motioning for us to enter her living area, which was a simple room doubling as kitchen and living room, where the three of us sat on cushions on the floor. She brought each of us a cup of hot milk chai and a piece of steaming wheat bread. As she constantly came back to refill our glasses I was still in a state of disbelief. In my country this kind of situation might have resulted in a confrontation involving a shotgun but here, after invading this woman's space we received hospitality. We payed the woman some money for her troubles and went on our way.
After last night's experience we wanted to rest for the day; and what better place than Markha Village? A beautiful setting with stone houses, trees, small flowing creeks, and bright green wheat fields swaying in the wind like ocean waves. The second we arrived at the campsite the women in the adjoining house started a batch of rice dahl and chapatis for us and as we waited we sat on the floor cushions of their kitchen/living room drinking mint tea, leaning against the wall, resting.
