Alchi - The town with the oldest monastery

In the morning I woke up late at around 9 to find Neeru and sally already gone. As I came out of my room, I met Preeti who informed me that the group finally left at 7. With Neeru I thought even 7 am was a pretty decent time to have left for the trek. I could see Ria standing near the restaurant,     to have breakfast. I asked for thirty minutes time from both Ria and Preeti so that we could have breakfast together. At 9.30 we had breakfast and were ready to move out to tour the Local Alchi town which also housed the oldest monastery in Ladakh around 1100 years old.

I was amazed at the very idea that how could a structure stand for that long. Ria happened to have full idea of the place, probably she woke up at 5, and did some research of the place, so she took both of us around the monastery where we met a monk who could remember and repeat 10 lines spoken by us in english.

He said he had practised silence for thirty years before he got this power wherein he could hear at least thirty different birds chirping while we could not sense even five. At an age when most of us are troubled by a fading memory, at sixty he had memory which would leave even an elephant amazed.

Inside the monastery, we cold see some really priceless thanka paintings in a hall which was so large that one has to stretch his neck fully upwards to spot the top. No camera with flash was allowed with camera when we were taking photos as the continuous use of flash discolours the paintings some of which were more than 5000 years old. Ria reminded me of the coloured mountains we saw on our way from Sarchu to Leh and Karan had told us about the colours extracted from the rocks.

Once the monastery visit was over Ria took us to the banks of river Indus, where we sat for the next half hour looking at Indus river from a spot so near that we could see the river in full glory carrying with it loads of black mud and silt. Ria also took us to a garden where we could see ripe olives on the tree. She told us that we were not supposed to take them ripe as they would be of no use. She told us it belonged to a person who stayed nearby and who is a retired soldier of the Indian army.

I asked Ria what they do with so much of olive oil which they produce at home from these olives at a certain time of the year. She told us that they use it to cook all dishes, put it on their body which made them look much younger then their actual age, and most surprising was the fact that everyday they light one large lamp of olive oil at the old monastery. The consumption for massage or in cooking only done after they apportioned the oil for the lamp for 365 days without even one day’s absence. It was their way of showing devotion to Lord Buddha.

Rich people, I thought, or maybe honest and simple, because I had only seen lamps lighted by mustard oil and at best ghee in our temples. I asked Ria if we could also get the oil from them for personal use and Ria told me that we may have to meet the man or locate his home to find out, if they could give us some.

 Preeti was sitting on the rock near Indus river bank. Watching the river flowing in full glory, and with a roar as the water hit the rocks. I wanted to see the small Alchi market so all three of us went to the local market, which was located near the Alchi monastery. Half way to the market we met Neeru and Sally along with Amit returning back. I asked Neeru what took them so long to trek 25 kms (they went to the point in the vehicle),and she told me they had come back earlier but did not come to the hotel straightaway and instead visited the monastery and local market on their way. I told them about the Indus river bank as another place to see.

I told Neeru about the olive trees and the chance to get olive oil as well. Neeru immediately agreed to go with us, and Sally wanted to go to the hotel, tired by the trek. I asked them about the trek and they said it was awesome. Although looking at their faces I could realise that they looked sun burnt and dog-tired.

Neeru, me and Ria asked the local people about the the ex-indian army personnel to locate his house, as Preeti stayed back on the banks of Indus talking all the while to her fiancée. Probably talking to him as she sat on the banks of the river gave a more romantic feeling to both.

We went through a narrow lane and reached the army man’s house and found the family very warm and welcoming types. The man had just arrived after cutting some wood for fire and the woman was doing household chores. She asked us to sit down and said she would first make tea for us. We were eager to go ahead with our agenda but Ria stopped us. Probably she wanted us to have tea, wait for some time and then ask about it. Then the deal could come through smoothly.

Both Ria and Neeru talked to the woman about various things as we finished our tea. Once we were through with the tea, we asked her if she could part with some olive oil for us. She told us that she had to check how much oil would remain after their requirement for the daily lamp, skin massage, and cooking oil requirement. The woman then went inside the house and came out after around 15 minutes and told us to get 5 empty bottles, cleaned, to be filled with oil. She asked for fifteen hundred bucks as her husband filled around 750 ml in each bottle. We paid her and thanked her.

As Neeru went to my room to freshen up for lunch.  In the afternoon post lunch we started for Leh and reached there in three hours. All of us in general and me and Ria in particular were in a pensive mood as we reached Leh because such a nice trip was coming to an end. We had been in a completely different world bereft of the difficulties which we faced in our individual roles. In the evening we went to the local market for one last bout of shopping and Ria took me to a few jewellery shops to choose ear ring for her.

After a quite dinner we came back and stayed in one room till 2 am talking about so many experiences, which the trip brought to us. All of us were equally tired and drained out but still had so much energy to talk about the trip which went by. Finally Neeru reminded everybody that next morning we were to get ready to leave for airport. With a vow to keep the trip inside our heart for a life time, we all went to sleep.

Journey to Alchi

Early in the morning as the group was asleep, I and Ria were the only early risers. Preeti was also asleep probably tired because of yesterday evening’s outing at Nubra valley dunes. Karan was as usual ready, cleaning the vehicle. Karan had told us of a monastery which was quite old and on the top of a hill nearby, not very far away. Both of us decided that we will walk to the monastery and ask Karan to reach there later to pick us up while returning. After all it gave us another opportunity to be together, as we started hand in hand towards the monastery.

This one was located at the top of the hill and from the view it looked as if a structure has been hanging on a sharp cliff. It too us around 30 minutes to reach the monastery as we walked leisurely watching the flora and fauna around.

Once inside the monastery we found a completely different view. Because it was time for early morning prayer and all the monks were sitting inside the monastery hall with books written in Tibetan language. They were not chanting any mantras but mumbling in a tone which was barely audible to us. We asked a young monk standing outside if we could enter the hall, and he told us to go inside and sit in a corner till the prayers were over. Once the prayers were over,the monks ate something which looked like a bread and drank liquid from a bowl.

As all the monks stood up after eating and drinking, we went around the monastery looking at the rich collection of thanka paintings, each one worth a fortune. The monastery appeared quite old and had collection of many small objects used long back, neatly put in a glass enclosure.

Once through with visiting the monastery, Ria suggested we walk some more distance back and Karan can trail us. We told Karan, and his looks suggested that he was thinking of us as a crazy duo, because probably he did not understand the whole idea of calling him there, and then instead of boarding the vehicle, we decided to walk down again. He quickly recovered from his thoughts and told us that he would start 15 minutes later and wherever we felt the strain, we should wait there.

We started back and after around 200 meters, Ria wanted to go off the road, slightly lower to look at the scenic beauty of Nubra. We went down and stood on a cliff, a look at Ria, her flock of hair as unruly as ever, were covering her face giving a sexy look. She took off her jacket, as the sun was up and it became slightly warm, and I instantly told her that we did not carry a camera, hence a photo shoot was ruled out. I told her that if it was for other reasons, then I was quite fine with it.

She gave a solid pat on my shoulder, suggesting I should not expect too much. We stood there watching the beautiful small hamlet of Nubra nestled in the forest. It has been a beautiful journey together, I thought, as I put my hand on her shoulder. Almost 10 minutes passed as we talked about the journey till now and how much relishing it had been. With all the differences we made a dynamic group in general, with a good chemistry between two of us, as a pleasant exception.

Karan came after good 20 minutes, knowing fully the two individuals with whom he was dealing. We quickly reached the road as we heard the sound of the vehicle. We were back in time for the breakfast and the group was ready and engaged in another photo shoot.

After having breakfast, which was even better then the dinner last night, we started for our journey to our last destination in this journey, a small town called Alchi. It was not far off, and the road was good so we started at ease and reached Alchi by late evening. We had some booze and then after a quite dinner, came to our rooms.

We chatted for a couple of hours, wherein Neeru brought up the topic of me and Ria going early morning to the monastery and the whole group started taking out different meaning of the morning walk. Both of us were cool, as we thought it was of some entertainment value for the group to discuss us. Amit told us over dinner that next morning we had to go for a trek to local village. As we discussed after dinner, Ria’s energy being at all day low, and Preeti not seeing much value in rising early for a trek, We three decided that we will not go for the trek in the morning. This left Neeru and Sally for the village trek with Amit.

Pics around Leh

The dark Nubra Valley and Camel with two humps

We started for Nubra valley by 10.30 and it was the first time that Karan was not grumbling at all. In fact for the first time I saw him smiling while we boarded the vechile. Probably he  was confident that despite our laziness he would be able to reach Nubra valley by 6 pm.

I started the discussion by reminding everybody that after we reached Nubra, we have to quickly freshen up and move to see the sand dunes and the so-called Camels with two humps, on the dunes of Nubra valley, in the evening.

Neeru was quite surprised when she saw me, probably first time, announcing the future programme, but then she quickly realised it could be because of the camels and their two humps. As I told about the camels, I looked at sally to invite expert comment from her. She responded immediately by saying that it would give her a chance to also see if she will sit between the two humps.

I told sally she ought to sit between two humps as otherwise it will leave her worked up. Neeru tried to stop the argument in a jiffy, and started giving moral gyaan that early in the morning, we must not start this kind of discussion.

Preeti as usual was red in face and was desperately thinking if her fiancee could call at that very moment, so that she can be busy talking to him, so as to reduce her embarrassment. Ria was sitting comfortably with me in the front seat, quelling all my fears that yesterday night’s events had not had much disturbing effects. Ria broke into a laughter and told sally to get 2 camels so that she could get 4 humps. Neeru could not say anything but her gesture suggested to me that she knew it was difficult to stop us from going on and on with our dark humour.

Karan was obviously concentrating on driving, not knowing, or bothered, why we were laughing the way we were. Anyway, by now he would have thought of us as the craziest group he ever handled in his life so far.The break journey happened at a food joint almost midway at around 1.45 pm and that gave us the idea that we could reach our destination by 5pm easily.As we started again after sometime we reached a bridge built by the Army and what was flowing below gave us a scare.We saw River Indus for the second time.

The first time we saw Indus outside Leh and there it was very wide and scattered and looked more lika a Nallah with lots of mud.Here it was narrow,filled with black soil,flowing with a roar.We got down on the bridge and a look downwards gave a chill in the spine.It seemed as if the river was pulling us towards her.It was more or less sure that if somebody fell from this bridge, was bound to be carried to god knows where, in a few minutes.One would only know where he/she would reach only if he was alive by that time.

Karan told us that while going back to sand dunes and camels,we would again cross this bridge as if it was a very vital news for us.I thanked him for the information to make him happy and he reciprocated with a smile as his six loose hairs of the classic moustache he was carrying on his lips started flowing with the wind.These tentacles of his always titillated me whenever he smiled.

We actually reached by 4.30 pm at Nubra valley and Karan gave us the bad news with a big grin on his face. I sometimes thought Karan probably could not realise what to do, and when. Or maybe he was getting ready to enjoy the frowns on our faces or even concern as the news was supposed to generate. He told us that this place Nubra has power only for 2 hours from 6-8 pm as electricity was scarce. After 8 the generator was run for an hour. The proprietor of the hotel had ensured there was only enough diesel to ensure the generator ran an hour or less. The biggest frustration was that all the while when power was there we will be off to dunes and to see camels. And with two humps on that.

Once we came back we would have to have dinner quickly and survive on Candle light there after. God,we never ever imagined that there was a town like this still in our country.At six as the town received power,we started for the dunes.It was not far away and we reached in half an hour. Surprisingly the place had no power whatsoever. But with the moonlight the dunes appeared very sexy and the absence of electricity was not a constraint, I thought.

Straightaway we first went to see the camels as Sally was most curious and all along the way, off and on, she was talking about the humps, and I and Ria were taking it forward. Now of course Neeru was also laughing and sporting as it was evening and she had become less resistant because of the journey also. Preeti was talking to her hubby for longer period to keep out of the humpy discussion. She couldn’t do anything else also.

We went to see the camels and once we saw them,it seemed,the animals looked too humped,underfed ,ugly and dirty.It was a complete anticlimax of the sorts for us.Still I and neeru took the courage of going to the persons who were the owners of these poor animals.The persons looked wicked and they were looking all the while towards Neeru with a hint of lust gleaming in their eyes, distinctly visible to me in the big bonfire they had created.

I discussed the rates and they told Rs 500 for 1 km trip or one hour whichever was earlier.That was too steep and as we neared the animals we could sense an odour emanating from them which suggested they were not cleaned for days,may be months.The poor animals really looked bad.We came back and broke the news first to sally that she could not sit between humps as the whole bunch of animals and their owners looked humped, and badly humped at that.

And the idea of sitting between the humps, was cancelled and instead we went towards the dunes. These were actually not sand dunes as claimed. They were actually remains of a river, which had probably seen flood, and than dried up in subsequent years. The contours suggested this, and a local person loitering around confirmed this, to us. Neeru, Preeti and sally felt they would take a walk on the dunes while I and Ria felt we will sit on the dunes.

After the trio were slightly away, Ria took off her jacket and lied down on the dunes. She was yawning as she lay down on the dunes.  Her eyes looking at me as if inviting me to lie beside her. We were lying there bathing in the pure moonlight for an hour. We sort of dozed off for some time. It was Neeru shouting to us that they were changing the route, and going directly from the last point, towards the vehicle directly. The voice of Neeru was enough for us to stage a climbdown.

We reached back to Nubra by around 9.30 pm and obviously it was a candlelight dinner for us. But the staff and hotel were very courteous and patient and the Chinese food which they prepared was one of the finest Chinese food I ever had.We were full of praises for them and their hospitality as they went about arranging 2 candles for each of our rooms.

After 15 minutes the candles also went out and we sneaked into the bed as the place was becoming colder by the minutes. For a change we all slept together in one room that night. After a while Ria told me, she wanted to go to the loo. I asked her to sit on the window and do it. In such cold it was impossible to move out with a candle to facilitate her. And there was hardly anyone inside or outside the room to interrupt her performance from the window. We slept tightly wrapped in our blankets and dreams.

The One and only Pyongyang tso (mountain lake) pics

The lake called Pyongyang tso

For a change and because of previous night’s exchange on punctuality in the group, all of us were ready at 7.30 am for a change. Karan was looking at us with an awe, as till now he had religiously seen us behind schedule,every day of the trip.he could not believe his eyes and was constantly rubbing them,maybe for this reason.It could not be because of less sleep because he used to sleep early And was ready before time everyday.

Neeru wanted me to sit between her and Preeti, and Sally for the first time sat on the front seat with Ria. Probably by now Neeru was sensing my closeness to Ria with a magnifying glass, I thought. I sat in between like Kashmir is situated between POK and India.Not giving too much air to the controversy, which probably was doing rounds in the group, about me and Ria. Ria held on to the seat next to Karan and I warned her not to lean too much on Karan’s shoulder while he was driving. Ria looked at me as if she had never felt asleep in the whole journey and had never rested on my shoulder at all.

We had only two stops in between Leh and our next destination Pyongyang tso (mening mountain lake in ladakhi). Now this was the most talked about destination in the whole trip. Neeru probably had researched and saw a few photographs also, so she was gung-ho about the place. I on my part had never even opened to see the itinerary so the question of searchin photos did not arise at all. We crossed the first stop eventlessly but as we reached the second stop, Sally got too nauseated to sit in front and hence preeti moved on the front seat.

I was all the while looking at Ria. In the whole revised situation, too volatile to handle,I was missing out on the front seat and the incentives attached to it. Although I must appreciate that Preeti was very calm and composed in the morning as if nothing had happened the previous night. Probably it was her morning pranayam and meditation which kept her so calm. Her outburst the other evening also lasted for a short time only. Neeru was sleeping with her head on my lap, mostly taking out the less sleep she had in the morning in order to maintain the scheduled departure. Also, I though she might be very tired as she was the one looking at every single small detail at all places. Meeting all the concerned and ensuring everything was in place for us. My cute sister was an awesome organiser, I felt,and I thought the group might also be feeling.

As we crossed the last hill and turned round the corner, our mouth were left  wide open with awe and eyes were full of amazement at the sight. It did not looking like a   mountain lake at all. It seemed as if somebody had brought a sea of blue water between the mountain from nowhere. As we crossed the steep bend, we were all spell bound at the sight. God has created something magical, is what we were all thinking. As we neared the lake it looked vast and well spread between mountains. We could not visualise the other end of the lake at all as it lost somewhere in the far mountains in a territory which belonged to China.

Karan told us it was seventy two kms long out of which twenty seven kms were in Indian territory and the rest was in China.The tourists can go up to seven kms only, the rest 22 kms were only accessible to indian army,he told us.

As the vehicle was parked near the lake,Neeru and Ria were the first ones to take off shoes and run towards the lake.By the time we reached they had got their feets into the water which was so chilling that when I put my hand in,I thought it had frozen inside.With the sun rays on the lake the lake looked green from some places and blue from other side.We were singing and dancing next to the lake and it seemed to be the ultimate destination in our long journey.I had never seen such a big water body ever before in my life,which was not sea.

The person who lost 500 bucks in the game of flash, with me at Sarchu was also there with his firang group and his sisy. The gentleman took off his clothes and in a spur of a moment dived into the chilled water, wearing only his undergarments. We all were taken aback, and instantly started feeling chilled only by this sight. This man kept on chanting some religious mantras all the time as he immersed himself fully into the lake and we could sense the power of believing in god, as he came out, not shivering a bit also, in the cold winds, all around.

After spending almost three hours, Karan wanted to start back as we had to cross two big streams on our way back. We argued with him that we crossed the streams in the morning also but there could not spot a grave situation wrt patthar and paani then. How could it become so critical while returning to Leh. Karan was back with his lifelong theory of the two elements and told us, in this terrain as the sun comes up, snow melts in the higher mountains, and thereafter the flow of water in the two strams is such that it can be a big risk for the vehicle, as also for us. Once more the group thought Karan was going overboard with his comical theory but Neeru asked all of us to believe him this one time.

Neeru pacified us by saying that if we ever come again we must have tent arranged next to Pyonyong lake and we must spend a night with bonfire in this place. The idea excited everybody but this time we were stuck with a schedule so we could not change it in between.

As we reached the stream which we had crossed with considerable ease in the morning, we found to our utter surprise, that the stream was now flowing violently with more silt and stones coming out with water and covering the entire road. It seemed nearly impossible for the vehicle to cross this stream any which way. It was Karan, who was now smiling,as he told us that we may have to put up in vehicle tonight.None of us spoke, as we were now only dependent on his wisdom to take us through to Leh.

Finally with the help of local people and some of his local driver friends, Karan made a small pass to take the vehicle to the other hand, as we all helped each other to cross the stream, which now looked frightening mass of water and stones. Finally Karan’s theory came to life once again in the journey. He gave us patthar and paani gyaan for the rest of the journey. And for a change none of us interrupted him this time.

As we neared Leh, Neeru and Preeti gave the suggestion that we can again go for shopping again in the evening as we could not visit all shops in the market. Two extreme individuals coming closer and having a joint opinion. What a group this was turning to be, one day you fight over one issue, and the very next day come up with a joint resolution in favour of it. Girls could never be understood fully, I thought. After we reached near Leh, I declared I was too tired for any shopping and the others can decide what they wanted to do. But the group was adamant that all will go together.

I was directed to remain seated in the car till they did shopping. Off to the market we went without going to the hotel and this time Neeru maintained time everywhere. Preeti wasn’t complaining as her out pour last evening had changed the game and rules of the game albeit for some time. Back at the hotel, Amit was waiting to brief us over dinner about our journey to Nubra valley next day. When we asked what was there to see, He started by telling us about the famous Mangolian Camels with two humps. You don’t find them in India as camels in rajasthan have only one hump. Amit told us these were exclusively exclusively brought from Mangolia.

Suddenly Sally asked Amit if one could sit between the humps. I could not stop myself at this and told her that it depends on the hump, that you have to decide how long you want to sit in between. Sally added spice by agreeing that one had to sit in between two humps to be relaxed, especially if the humps are big. Everybody in the group started laughing loudly and Amit was completely embarrassed with this development coming suddenly. The waiters could not get the essence of the joke obviously and were perplexed audience as we burst into loud laughter.  Amit could not fathom how naughty this group was.

Even Preeti, so conservative about dirty jokes went into a full smile with her dimple growing bigger and better. Amit left quickly thereafter to avoid any further comments and subsequent sheepish smile which he would be forced to give.We had our dinner all the while talking about the humps in various ways as it evoked more and more laughter. Ria and I spearheaded the hump joke right from Sally’s comment and kept on relating it to many other situations, till Neeru stared at me, as if to tell, enough had happened and things were going out of hand. As all were returning back to rooms, I nudged Ria and invited her through gestures, to come back after some time. We all returned to the Room and as Neeru and Sally slept quickly as all were dog tired after the trip. A Journey for whole day had drained out everybody but more so Neeru and sally. Sally was not feeling fully fit also.

I quietly moved out of the room. Outside it was a bit chilly at that hour. I sat on the steps leading to our rooms and could realize that the whole hotel was looking so romantic in dim lights and a complete silence. Slight sound of door opening partially drew my attention to the back. Ria was slowly moving out of her room as Preeti must have also slept quickly. Ria came and sat near me, straightaway putting her head on my shoulder. I could make out that she knew why I had called her, as whole day we had not had much conversation and not got much chance to sit side by side during the journey.

We sat quietly for some time as I ran my hand through her hairs. A few strands on her face were making her so desirable in the quietness of the night. Ria broke her silence by asking me if I called her out because of not getting much moments of nearness in the day. I was about to say also.

None of us spoke for a few moments and than I took the courage to ask her whether whatever was being said about us in the group will not make a difference in our friendship for the rest of the Journey. Ria nodded her head, didn’t probably want to say much about it. After whiling out our time moving around the hotel for sometime, we quietly moved towards our respective room.As I entered my room I could see there was the same quietness as I had left the room with. Neeru and Sally were fast asleep as real fatigue had taken the better of them because of a long and tiring day. Next day was the day where the travel was not so much so we could wake up by 8 am,have a good,heavy breakfast at the hotel and start by 10 am. 

relish some photos as we move on.....