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.....

A day in Leh monasteries

As I woke up looking for tea as usual Ria was ready and having tea. It was 5.45 am. One could set his watch with her timetable, I thought. I told her to give me fifteen minutes to get ready. I got my tea only in another fifteen minutes as services in the hotel were for Tourists who were slow, and on pleasure trip, so there was no such urgency of service so early. I got ready finally by 6.15am and we started off from the hotel as remaining group was sleeping. As we went slightly further from the hotel, we held each others hand and set out on the trail towards the highway. Now she was in a mood to talk about her a bit.

Her father is a strict disciplinarian as he has retired from a Indian army as a engineer, she said. That was the reason she had developed the habit of waking so early. I suddenly remembered my dad who wakes up at 4 am and thinks anybody in bed till 6 am is a bit too lazy. 

I always find it so crazy.If I have to wake up at 6 am than I can hardly have a nice night’s sleep. My dad sleeps at 8 pm also which is a very strange proposal for anybody now-a-days especially for me as I only sleep by midnight, that too after reading some novel or doing some neumerological study.

After walking for almost a km Ria decided we should sit for a while. We had in front of us a lonely piece of land where big rocks were scattered. I sat on one rock and Ria came and sat near me with the rock’s base barely keeping both our bases just about on the rock. I had no reason to move for some time. She told me how lucky she felt for choosing this trip, especially because she had never ventured out from her city even for a couple of days with her friends. Her father always thought she was dad's little girl.

She narrated a failed relationship she had with a guy. The boy never showed love, instead he was only interested in lust.She kept the affair for some time but after realizing that it was only about lust, she broke up with him. I immediately told her it was a right decision. Though for all I know love and lust have a thin line in between but no relationship can last long only on lust. I told her that in mine as well as Jerry's life, we had seen a lot of ups and downs. We also craved for true love,  all the while, struggling with our destiny. Her eyes became moist as she spoke. 

I told her about my strong relationship with Neeru and how we had spent years together. I had never been so close to anybody as I have been to Neeru in my life. I have always let her know all my secrets, successes, failures, all good and bad experiences. My emotions were also giving way as we sat and talked. Perhaps as things turned out I had also become weaker in emotions which were started by her. We lost track of time.

Suddenly as we looked at our watches it was 8.45am. We as a group had decided to go for sightseeing at 9 am sharp.We started back hurriedly for the hotel and reached there only to find Sally having just woken up and brushing her teeth. Neeru was in the bed still,sound asleep.Sally came up with her expert commentary by speculating that a fresh morning air and a walk must have been very enriching for both me and Ria. As she said all this a smile full of mischief played on her face and I really did not know how much more was playing in her mind.

We hurried towards our room to avoid some more saucy remarks from Sally.Reaching the room, I literally dragged out Neeru from the bed and carefully opened her eyes to show her the watch and reminded her of the schedule.She felt it was too early to wake up as we had slept after 2 am. She thought, after all, these monasteries where we are to go are in the town only and hence we could start late. Her definition of late was only known to her. Maybe another blissful 15 minutes in the bed with eyes closed, is what she wanted. I let her have that and went back to the hotel lobby, looking around the place.

The passage from main gate of the hotel to the lobby was full of colourful flowers on both sides. Here I had a new learning, the manager of the hotel told me that every year, as the snow cleared, all these beautiful flowers were gone and they had to replant them every year when the snow cleared. A really daunting task, I thought.

As we came out finally for the Leh local seeing, we met our main guide, Amit, who flew into Leh from Srinagar to be with us in our journey to various places around Leh. Finally we started at 11 am after breakfast with Amit. man of 30, with sound knowledge of Leh, its history, he was waiting in a track suit since early morning. He expected the group to be ready by 9 am to leave, but he smilingly told us that it was alright even at 11am. What else could he say.

The only thing he added was that as you climb the monastery the sun will come down heavily on you and that is the reason for starting early. He had an athletic body the reason for which we discovered later in the day while climbing the first monastery which was a mixture of old rubble and recently renovated interiors. He was a cheerful man with a good knowledge of these areas.After all he had done studies in tourism and had gone to all these places around Ladakh and J & K many times. Only thing, I thought, was, that he may not have come across a group like us. He may soon find that, I smiled inside, as we moved on

We did make a round of monasteries but the best pick was the Sheh palace monastery.The paintings and objects that we saw at sheh monastery were priceless and timeless in nature.The verandah in the middle was so large that it could accommodate almost twenty thousand people on the day when dancing festivals happened in Leh. There were priceless thanka paintings all over the sheh monastery.In fact thanka painting were features of all monastery but sheh monastery had more of them. In Hemis monastery,another large monastery in Leh, we came across a thanka painting, 120 mtrs in height. Any thanks painting which is 1 ft by 1 ft in size, costs around 5 crores. We could not calculate the price of this one which was rolled up, and was only opened once in 12 years, we were told. When this painting is opened, Tourist from all over the world throng Leh, and in Sheh monastery, nobody gets to sit, when the painting is unveiled, such is the rush.

After completing our visit at Sheh monastery, me, preeti and Ria were waiting outside eagerly as we were getting late for seeing the sunset point.

We had to travel ten kms to reach the sunset point. Preeti was grumbling something to herself which I could not clearly make out. It was already 5.45 pm and by 6.30 pm it will all be over. Neeru and sally came out of the monastery a good fifteen minutes behind schedule as they were on a photo shoot somewhere inside. Preeti started talking as the vehicle started for sunset point. She was a bit upset about delay caused everywhere in reaching the next point. The reference was towards Neeru and Sally, which I could sense but to keep things under control, I pretended to have listened nothing, though from rear view mirror I could sense that she was a bit pissed off about what was going on.

We reached the sunset point by 6.25 pm and literally ran towards the tower, just in time the sun had started setting. The mountains on the opposite side showed sunshine and shadow turn by turn and whole scene was awesome. We were sitting on the opposite side only so we could see the whole transformation though for very less time. The girls were very keen to do a lot of shopping for everybody and more so for themselves. We decided to assemble back after a good two and half hours of shopping at 9 pm near the vehicle.

I was just wandering around aimlessly, took a few T-shirts for myself and two tops for my daughter. I could not find anything which was meaningful and reasonable in rates. I was back at 8.30pm and Ria and Preeti came at 9 pm. We were waiting for Neeru and Sally in the vehicle, and were a bit worried as the hotel had suggested that we would get dinner upto 10 pm only.

That was also late by their standards, as the waiters had to travel on foot to their homes in nearby villages, after dinner. Preeti started getting upset again and this time a bit more than what she was near sheh monastery.I was sensing something to happen.I tried to pacify her but to no avail. Neeru and Sally came back at 9.30 pm and we were already waiting inside the car.

As Neeru and sally entered the car, they started talking about what they had bought but suddenly Preeti cut it short by telling Neeru that she was squarely responsible for the delay and that one must be reasonably disciplined as otherwise the other people have to wait endlessly without any meaning. Sally wanted to respond but Preeti cut her out by saying that it was between her and Neeru and Sally wasn’t anybody to butt in.

All hell went loose with Neeru telling it very depressingly that because of such a rude comment by preeti her shopping experience got all screwed up. Too much went on as we made our journey back for the hotel. A quiet dinner with no one talking much and we started for our rooms and got ready to sleep as next morning we had to start at 7 am sharp for a journey to Pyongyang Lake which was the single biggest attraction in the whole journey.

Long journey to Leh

Our worthy pilot was cleaning his Qualis and as he saw me, he started by saying that today’s journey would be the longest and the toughest almost a 225 kms stretch to be covered in a single day. We would, therefore need to quickly wrap up and start by 6 am. He was about to talk of stones and water when I took leave from him with the excuse that I would call everybody fast. Karan looked disappointed to have been interrupted on the verge of using his favourite line. But for the sake of leaving early he did not mind this time.

Neeru called us all to take a group photograph with Sundarji and his team, who had been so nice in extending hospitality to all of us in a middle of nowhere place like Sarchu. Even those guys were very touched with this stance and were so very cheerful as they stood with us for a group photo.

 It was a rare quality which I saw in Neeru, which I admired always but could never emamulate in myself. She thought of these little things which make so much difference to your lives and more so to the others around you. She is what she is, I thought. Lovely & understanding.

As we started our journey towards Leh, Neeru insisted that I sit next to her as She was feeling a bit uneasy about what was happening between me and Ria (this she thought), probably also a bit unhappy because she was so possessive about her brother.

For so many years when we were together, whenever Neeru or I felt uncomfortable, we spent long hours together, sometimes the whole night, discussing, agreeing, disagreeing but in the end making finger chips and tea before we slept in the wee hours. She told me very sarcastically that she had seen me eager to board the front seat to share it with Ria, but sometimes I must also care about her.

I looked around quickly to see if Ria had heard that but was relieved to see her talking to Karan. Must be something to do with rocks and water only. One could be very secure leaving his girlfriend with Karan because he would spend the night telling her about different types of rocks and water he had seen in his lifetime. He   could not do anything better than that. For him anything hard was rock and liquid was water, I thought.

As we went through the journey towards Leh, we passed 2 mountain passes. I can remember one Tangla-la (la means mountain pass in ladakhi), As Karan was explaining us that there were many such passes, he was naming some like Tangla-la, khardung-la, etc, I asked him if there was something called tak-la(a bald man in hindi). Initially he gave me a very disapproving look but than he laughed, without still understanding, as he saw the whole group laughing. Karan was sweet in most of his habits except when he started talking about hurrying to reach another destination followed up with paani and patthar, his lifetime companions.

The mountains along our way were so beautiful in colour that it seemed somebody had coloured them only yesterday. We had never seen mountains of different colours in our lives. Karan told us that all thanka paintings in Tibet were made with colours made by crushing rocks from these mountains only.

The rocks from the mountains were carried by people on order from the king and different colour rocks were taken and crushed to make the colours to be applied to the paintings. Most of the paintings in all Monastries across the world are thanka paintings made of the colour derived by crushing the rocks. That is the reason after almost 1000 years or more they still retain their colour. It was completely a new thing to know, though all of us were silent when he was talking about crushing process of stones as nobody wanted to risk a patthar and paani coming into his logic suddenly from nowhere. Afterall it was a long and tiring drive into numerous landscapes changing every hour as we moved on.

Suddenly in the next few kilometers hills were gone as we descended into a plain road which led us to vast barren desert. Karan told us that this region had wild horses and as he told us we could spot two of them. The girls jumped around in the vehicle and asked Karan to stop immediately. Another photo session went on for the next 20 minutes with the horses. Every horse has its day, I thought.

As we started again in another hour or so we reached a Gypsy village. Karan told us that these Gypsies earned their livelihood by barter trade from other places. We thought of them as Banjaras (Gypsies in Rajasthan). But as Karan stopped near a house we could see these gypsies were different. They wore shabby clothes but every house had a Maruti Gypsy in front of the house. Some even had a Tata 407 along with Gypsy too.

The kind of gold the women wore only in their ears and hands was more than what women in our geography wore from head to toe. Rich gypsies, these guys, I thought. They also had a few yaks in each home. We went inside their house and were chatting with them as Sally got a weird idea of sitting on the Yak and get photographed. Neeru went with her for the ritual as I and Ria sat near the gypsy lady. Sometime later both came back disappointed as the smell of the Yak was unbearable, told Sally.

After an hour spent with the gypsies, we boarded our quails to move on as the way was long and we needed to reach the nearest town situated on the Leh-srinagar highway. From there it was a smooth ride to Leh.

In only 40 kilometers we were again on the top of mountains and snow next to the road and such a change in landscape in such short distance was an amazing experience for all of us. We came across a high pass once again leading us downwards towards the town where we would meet the highway.

As we approached the first town around 45 kms from Leh, it Was such a relief after being through empty hills and desert during the drive. We had some snacks at the town before starting our journey on a well laid out road by the army. Neeru and sally had to relieve themselves but fortunately there was toilet near the hotel where we stopped. After returning from the toilet Neeru vomited as the toilet was very dirty.

In the mean time I and Preeti ordered snacks as Ria was again planning to have a photo shoot with her jacket off and small top moved up to the extent to give good view of her navel. I reminded her that the other group was not in sight and oxygen cylinder may be difficuilt to fetch. She then agreed to cancel the session, though she was a bit disappointed.

Karan on his part, was also cool now as he knew he was bang on time to hit the highway and from here the route would be smooth and he would land us at Leh on time. He did not even once knock us regarding getting late or his favourite two objects for a pleasant change.

It was such a relief to be on the highway, even if it was 45 kms. The 180 kms or more with bumps almost like humps gave way to a smooth and silky drive along Indus river. Indus with its dark black water (water mixed with silt and mud) was flowing all along with us as we moved towards our destination. We reached Leh by early evening despite starting late only because Karan did allow us the luxury of stopping more then 30 minutes at any place.

We had booking in a hotel at a place near called Sheh. It was around 10 kms before Leh on the highway. The place was around seven kms ahead of Leh and the hotel was Sheh palace. The road which we were trudging went all the way to Srinagar via Kargil and Drass, another route to Leh from the other side, which we thought, we will take up sometime in future. The hotel as decent and beautifully lighted and looked gorgeous from the outside.

We went to our rooms straight away. All along I did get chance to talk to Ria, but under watchful eyes of Neeru and Sally following us everywhere. A snap or two were also being taken at an opportune moment when we were together, hand in hand, by Sally who was carrying her camera and continuously capturing all the moments with her great photography skills.

In the evening there was a cultural programme of the Ladakhis. It was such a mesmerising local cultural programme by local ladakhi men and women. The dancers danced with such a rhythm supported by local instruments and singers and their steps falling on the grass so smoothly as if they were dancing on the clouds.

I and Ria shared a couple of drinks to bring down our tiredness. We were huddled closely while the programme was on as lights were dim and that gave us opportunity to be together and cosy. It was a natural desire setting in and this was the only time,in the evening,when we could be closer as we had different rooms to stay. Neeru was enjoying the dance the most, and one point of time,as she was invited,danced with the group also.

We went for dinner after the programme and got into our respective rooms.Sally got asleep fast but I and Neeru despite being so tired talked for almost 2 hrs before the sleep got the better of us. Neeru was naughty that night after drinks and even Preeti could have sensed something fishy about me and Ria. Only I was the one who know that there was nothing of this sort and we were having a good time because of the chemistry only.There was nothing like lust in our relationship.

Neeru asked me not to give too much gyaan. She told me that all along the way she was observing both of us and the chemistry between us. I told her that my chemistry with her was the best and everybody else was second to her. She looked at me, smiled, and told me maybe lately things had changed a bit. I again re-emphasise the relation we shared and thereafter we talked about many other things and this topic of my new  found closeness with Ria, was put back for the moment.

My eyes were now giving way, I wanted to sleep finally as it was already 2 am and Ria would wake up at 5 am. I did not want to miss the morning walk with her the next day as suggested by her. The next day rather morning held a special place in my programme. After all we would be alone on a trail. How exciting could it be. I thought about it as I fell sleep instantly.

The Sarchu camp

In the morning after waking up  first thing which I, Ria and preeti did was to go to the riverside  once again as we were among the early risers. Preeti gave me some solid tips about how to meditate and then also reach a stage where you could hear all sounds.Even the slightest chirp of a bird or sound of a leaf falling does not miss your ears.We tried it once in all honesty and I can tell you that it was an amazing experience.Meditation as I had learnt was to make everything blank and this was a completely new concept and learning.

Preeti now was coming out with her inherent talent as she got timed out from talking on her cell phone. I hoped that in our further journey if there is no network we may certainly know her more and more. We did a photo shoot with  each one of us standing on rocks next to the river and going into the river and standing on the rocks.The morning sun-rays struck the waves of water striking harshly on the rocks,giving mirror like reflection the the clear water of the river.

Sally & Neeru joined a bit later and had their photo session separately as we were through and returned to the hotel. Outside our friend cum philosopher cum guide Karma was looking at his watch and muttering something to himself.

As we got ready, had breakfast, and were about to board the vehicle, I came to know there was some confusion related to something between Ria and preeti. Something to do with punctuality. Preeti was very punctual with time. Perhaps she was the one on Karan’s side when it came to maintaining timelines.But Ria was also never late,perhaps a last minute trip to the loo delayed her a bit and Preeti’s sermons did rub her the wrong way for the moment.

After a bit of chit chat we settled down. Ria told me specifically to again sit with her on the front seat.I told the group that finally all was well that ended well. Neeru was immediate to ask whether the context of the comment was about the front seat sharing.I could not appreciate her sixth sense more.I looked at her smiled and let the smile tell everything.

Karan got off to a start all the time grumbling about the time and I could make out the words paani and pathar somewhere in his grumbling. An obsession can cross limits with some people,I thought.But that was our dear Karan, who could not resist his favourite line on any available occasion.

During our journey from jespa to Sherchu we reached a small lake where we saw a monk looking in to the water. The water was very shallow so I ruled out chances of the gentleman diving into the lake for the purpose of a suicide. Maybe he was looking at his reflection in the water. Probably they do not have good mirrors or any mirrors in this place, I thought. Later Karan told me he was trying to meditate and concentrate to see his guru’s image in the water.

I found it very strange and confusing. A completely new concept of finding one’s guru’s image, of all places in the waters of a shallow lake. I thought Karan has very bad sense of humour. But then I thought maybe it has something to do with Buddhist mysticism. I felt like telling Karan that if the monk fell in the water than with his big gown on the up everything worth seeing would be visible to the world except his face or of his guru.

But I stopped myself because I did not want to hurt his religious sentiments. Also I had no plans to spend the night near the lake, freezing, as girls would park themselves inside the vehicle,just in case Karan refused to go ahead because of my comment.Outside in the chilly night without anything to save from the harsh cold would not at all be a funny proposal.

As we crossed midway between Jespa and sarchu, we were approaching something which we had never seen in our lives. Something so breathtaking and majestic that one could stand there awestruck for hours. It was a lake called Chandra Taal (Taal means lake).On a surface filled with snow,there were patches where there was no snow but water.The water in those gaps in the snow was deep green. From the top it looked like a large necklace studded with green sapphires.

We all stood outside the vehicle our eyes and mouth wide open at the view. The lake was so much below the road that it would take a couple of hours to actually reach there. Any thought by us of going to the lake and coming back and then proceed to Sarchu would have prompted Karan to dive in the lake and commit suicide, I thought.

It was so divine that we could feel god next to us. We cherished the moment, mesmerized by the beauty of the lake and stood awe struck for some time. Later we danced and sang songs on the road and were in complete masti(fun).

Sally and Preeti sat on the edge of the rock near the lake view and Neeru was taking snaps. One small slide the next photo shoot for Sally will happen inside Chandra Taal only, I thought.

Karan wanted us to hurry up as it had started getting dark. Day ends early in the hills so we needed to reach sherchu on time. But Ria was emphatic that she would open her jacket and have some hot photographic session. Sally added fuel to fire by encouraging her to open her jacket and argued everybody had a right to show his/her body to a limit.

I was wondering what she was up to, in a weather which could chill and kill. But even I was also excited and looked forward to the show coming up. All of us cheered Ria as she threw her jacket around and Sally was quick to capture her reactions and some of mine in the same moment. It was so naughty of her to share those during our next break at an eatery.

The reason for the unscheduled stop was because after the hot photoshoot Ria was gasping for breath in minutes and inside the vehicle she started feeling cold and was shivering badly. I had to hand hold her to get seated in the vehicle earlier as she started feeling uneasy.

By the time we reached the eatery she was unconscious and we all were so nervous. Karan was grumbling all along the way because Ria did not give a damn to his warning that the cold winds can chill and kill in no time, as she threw her jacket around.

In the eatery we came across the other group of foreigners whom we had met at Jespa last night. They had oxygen cylinder which was than put on Kavita’s nose as she slept like a cute & obedient baby for an hour. After an hour or so she woke up and than was feeling a bit better. I told her she looked great when she threw her jacket near Chandra taal. Inside me I was also shaken by the sudden illness but tried to cool her down before Neeru could give her a piece of mind.

Neeru and sally were having hot maggy sitting on the other side of the eatery. Suddenly girls wanted to go to the loo after snacks and there was no bathroom in that place. What a timing again.So they decided to go behind the rocks for the loo with myself trying to cover most of the view for the traffic coming in as I relieved myself on the other side.

I joined Karan who was sitting alone sipping tea. We chatted about the weather, time left to reach sarchu and as he was about to start talking about water and stones when I excused my self to have a look at the photo session the girls were having next to the rocks where they had gone for the loo. As if it had become a tourist spot in a few minutes. I wondered how much girls like being photographed and with each photo they start feeling more and more beautiful and sexy.

Karan got into the vehicle and started the engine to signal us that we were terribly behind time and anymore act of bravery from Ria or others was least desired now, to reach Sarchu before sundown. After a while we were on the road to Sherchu.It had started getting dark by then and Karma looked like a worried man carrying a bunch of naughty youngsters so unpredictable in their ways.

On the way as we were approaching Sarchu,Karan told us in short a tale of a tantrik(one who practices occult) who came from India to Ladakh and he was insulted by the local people.As a curse he gave to them whole of a mountain fell on the village and everybody perished.

The tale seemed so unbelievable but we did not comment because Karan looked quite helpless with what all that happened at Chandra Taal.Ria was holding me tight on the shoulder and nudging slowly so that I should not utter something in the name of humour which may piss off Karan completely.

Yes, I was about to, but held myself back. Karan showed us a big ruin near Sherchu. Rocks all over, suggesting at some point in time the mountain fell off unabated, may be a few hundred years back and shattered everything underneath. Something real enough to support his tale which he would also have heard from someone.

Or maybe he was instructed by Amit,our main guide based at Leh, had made it mandatory to tell us this tale.Because as he finished his tale and with no immediate comments from us he was concentrating on the road as it was dark and road was barely visible.

In a few moments we started descending into a valley, where, from far off we could see tents suggesting some settlement on a plain between the two hills. We guessed it to be out night halt destination of Sarchu. As we descended in to the valley a flat road led us to the tents. Sherchu was a small open area surrounded all over by high mountains. The beauty of the place and the tall mountains surrounding it gave a very serene view as we reached the tents.

In charge of the place, Mr Sundarji was a tall,medium built person, around 45 years age, gracious in his looks & with a bit of western aura around him, was standing near the place to welcome us. As we met him, he told us about the place and showed us our tents. After my NCC days this was the first time in many years that I had seen and now was to spend a night in the tents. Sundarji told us that a lot of western tourists come to this place during this season. I thought probably that could be the reason for the western aura around him. Not only that he spoke good English too.

Sally and Preeti were very nauseated by the time we reached Sarchu. But it was Ria who after having developed so much complication en route Sherchu, was chirping like a bird. It had been a long and hard journey in the mountains and the girls had gone overboard at Chandrataal also. Ria was showing no sign of tiredness during the journey was looking fresh like a daisy.

Nobody could have said that an hour ago she was sprawled in an eatery with a cylinder to her nose gasping for breath. She knocked me on my elbow as if to show how fit she was. I told her to quietly acclimatise with the place otherwise this time it would be even more nasty with so many people around.

Neeru was on the verge of breaking down also but after a bit of acclimatisation she looked fine. We went about resting for 15 mins in the tents. Sally and preeti were fast asleep after vomiting and taking some tranquilizers provided by Sundar and his team.

After around 15 minutes I came out of my tent while Sally and Neeru were sleeping (I, sally & Neeru were as usual sharing a tent with 3 beds while Ria & Preeti were sharing another with 2 beds).

I and Ria took a small walk on the road around 200 meters from the camp, hand in hand, as Sally and Preeti were resting and Neeru was talking to Sundarji about the arrangements.

Later on, I could spot sundarji standing and looking towards the mountains behind our tents as if it was going to fall soon. His face showed the hardship he would have gone through all these years. I went to Ria and told her about sundarji and told her if we could join him and know more about the place.

This man looked mysterious to me for various reasons. All my doubts were cleared once we reached near sundarji. He politely welcomed us again. He was too humble for people like me and Ria. I am especially mentioning our names because we were occasionally or say more often soaked in dark humour and cross the line though all for a hearty laughter. Neeru also could not stop herself but laugh but would thereafter disapprove of the joke as being over the line as if to appease Preeti.

I asked sundarji very inquisitively as to what was he looking at in the mountains so keenly. He told us about the mountain goats who would come towards the edges on the mountain to eat a very small patch of grass growing on the edges.

The edges looked very steep in the twilight and I wondered how these goats climb such heights only to eat a small patch of grass somewhere. Sundarji told us that in this region there was no grass and except for the patches the hills were barren. These mountain goats survive on these small patches of grass only. This is the reason why they come here once in a while.

The goats would teach their younger ones to move on these edges at an early age so that they should not feel the fear of falling. It was amazing to hear this thing as we thought how difficuilt it was, surviving in such a tough scenario.

Sundarji told us that sometimes in the process of moving around these edges these goats slip and the stones fall on the next edge triggering a serial falling of stones and the sound is more deafening than a military firing exercise.

I looked towards Ria as both of us felt sundarji was now going overboard with his tales and going too far. Ria seemed to agree completely so we politely took leave from sundarji and turned around to move away for a stroll and suddenly, sound of a falling stone triggered cascading effect as many more stones fell with a sound, which was so frightening that we stood silent in our tracks as if frozen like a statue. The scene was so frightening and sound so deafening as if the whole mountain was coming off on our tents.

We felt a fear and chill inside our body as we had never felt before. The sound carried on for almost 3 minutes and those 3 minutes were so very scary. Sundarji was calm and composed after the whole thing receded but both me and ria were completely shaken and  . A cut on our hand would not have fetched even a drop of blood also. Both of us stood there speechless looking at the mountain as Neeru came out of the tent thinking a big boulder had fallen of from one of the mountains.

Sundarji was quick to break the jinx and smiled at us, the victory of his theory shown in practical, so quickly, clearly reflecting on his long face. But we were scared, no two ways about it. But it was also true about sundarji that his observation power was very good. Another of his good quality which I liked was his patience in terms of listening completely to each one of us when we had a query about anything. It was really great to meet and know this gentleman.

After spending a couple of hours at sherchu and were feeling quite acclimatised with the place. Neeru went with the foreigners to a nearby place and I and Ria went walking on the road towards Leh. Tommorrow we would trudge along this road and it would be the longest and most difficult journey to Leh,  Karan had told us.

I was constantly tripping on Ria which irked her somewhat. Before I forget to tell you,there is a very strange quality,or should I say rare quality about Ria,which I must tell you as it would help you to understand a few things about her. Ria by the way has three different moods during 3 times of the day(hopefully we have 3 recognised time of the day and not more).

In the morning she is full of energy and ready to go ahead and put a flag on the top of Mt everest. She would talk of planning a bang bang evening of party and continuous dancing at the next destination.

By afternoon she would have done something to exhaust herself and would be requiring oxygen sometimes to breathe properly. And by evening she would be only in a position to have food,booze,sulk and slump to bed early(Not to mention again that she is also an early riser,much unlike me, Neeru and sally who would sleep till they can every morning during the trip).

So coming back to the walk and my constant tripping over her, Ria nudged me hard to tell me that I was almost pushing her into the pit next to the road. I told her probably it was her attraction that was pulling me towards her. The magnetic theory we read in physics. We hated it so much then, but now,  when it comes to practical attraction you somehow start liking the same as if it was the most interesting theory you have come across.

After walking for some time and constantly looking at Ria, her face now quite a bit covered with hairs making her more beautiful and desirable. The wind in these parts was very strong and constantly played with your hair. Of course only if they are long enough. I would not risk my hairs as they were few and very precious.

As we came back from the walk we sat at a central tent which was also the makeshift dining room for that night for all. We quietly had tea and biscuits while sally and Preeti were fast asleep and recovering from the nauseated feeling. Neeru suudenly came and saw us sitting there. Before I could open my mouth there were these usual accusations which started coming thick and fast.

She told me that she was looking for both of us and had guessed that we would be together some where. Girls feel so proud when their ideas match with reality.Anyway after pulling our legs for sometime,she settled down and all three of us started chatting about various strange but enlightening experiences we were having.

Later others also joined along with our firang friends who helped us with the oxygen cylinder at the eatery when Ria got ill. We had a nice session of Hindi songs before dinner. Though the songs were initiated by a south Indian person who was traveling with the firangs, Neeru also contributed a lot with her sweet voice.

I must tell about this gentleman and the lady accompanying him also as More We looked at them, We got a feeling of something fishy about them. He was traveling with this lady in the firang group. He told us she was his sister. From their actions we could guess of any other relationship also. It was possible they had come together conveniently to dupe the foreigners on whose money probably they were travelling too. The Man was staring at Neeru in a way which made her uncomfortable.

Neeru was interested in Tarot cards which this so called sisy of this gentleman said she was very good at. She started very sincerely and placed card after card, and in the end concluded that Neeru would get married soon. Neeru immediately got closer to me and told the woman that she was already married to me.

The man suddenly looked up for a while and thereafter he was no more staring at Neeru and was much sober towards her. I could sense Neeru had deliberately done this to serve two purposes, the prediction of the lady went for a six and her partner was also alerted.

When Neeru was busy in the tarot business with the lady, the gentleman asked me if I knew how to play teen patti(flash), a game of cards. I nodded and brought a pack of playing cards which we had with us. In the half hour, as the prediction of the lady was washed off by Neeru, I had made her partner poorer by 500 bucks. He looked sad about loosing the money but he was more perplexed about the continuous winning cards which I pulled out.

As if I was some tantrik. After all he thought His sisy was the only one good at it, because of her tarot knowledge.

When we called off for the night he told Neeru, that her husband has robbed him of 500 bucks in the game of flash. Neeru gave me a smile and we had a hearty laugh on our way back to our tents. Neeru was walking gracefully with me, hand in hand till the duo were staring from the tent gate. Both ending up as unexpected loosers. But then we thought they would make up these in dollars with the firangs.

As I was lying down on the bed in the tent, wind literally filled up every part of my body despite being wrapped in a blanket. The wind was making a ferocious sound and entering the tent from all loose ends. The place was almost open with many gaping holes which practically cannot be plugged easily. Neeru and slept on one side to keep Sally at one extreme end to protect her from the winds as she was still so ill.

As I lay there my thoughts started making me think about Ria. She was so lively, although a bit moody too but the chemistry between us was not bad. Equally as I thought of Neeru, the time we spent together and the ups and downs of life we saw in our respective lives. The wind was making a whistling sound all the time as it entered our tent through the gaps. The sound of the wind was so much audible because of the force.

Last time I experienced something like this was at Jomsom in Nepal when I was on a trip to Muktinath. At night one could here the whistling sound of the wind at night. It was impossible to be wind proof in the tent, I thought. We were both worried for Sally who was sick and had not eaten much. Whatever she ate, she vomited in the evening. We pressed two blankets tightly to her body to save her from the harsh wind. Thereafter Neeru went to sleep also, or I thought so.

After lying down for some time and not a wink of sleep coming I just thought of coming out of the tent and have a look at sleeping beauty called sherchu. Whichever hill town I visit it is my habit that I like to move out in the night, when everything is silent and so divine. Its an experience I like to take to have in all hill towns mainly. As I came out of the tent I got mesmerised by the starlit sky. Stars seemed to be so near as if a big beautiful umbrella studded with diamonds was over my head. Could be because we were at a height, I thought.

But they seemed so near, as if I could raise my hands to catch some of them. The place seemed to so quite and divine in the lonely silence that even a small sound could be heard. But I was immersed in my thoughts about comparing the life we were leading at our workplaces and the aura of this place. Back at work our bosses would be shouting at their aggressive best and colleagues would be bitching around with baseless gossips. It was so meaningless and this was so meaningful.

Suddenly somebody tapped on my shoulder and stepped back as if he/she has seen a ghost. Even I was woken out of my dreams. Yes, it was Ria. She had come out in such a windy night all wrapped up and covered only revealing her face which had few trade mark but really lovely curls of hair. The night was almost full moon and the moon shone upon her as if the focus of moon had also shifted from me to her. I was thinking of a very romantic line to utter to her but before I could do that she laughed and told me she wanted to go to the loo! What a damn timing? I thought for the third time in the trip.

I told her to sit next to the tent as everybody was asleep, otherwise the winds will be harsh enough to freeze her ass. How unromantic was this.In a starlit night all two individuals were doing were searching  for a place for loo. She laughed but agreed readily. She came back in a minute, relieved. 

I held her hand, as she bent on my shoulder for support, as we gazed at the stars which were shining so bright with the almost full moon, lighting the otherwise dark and silent night. I could not utter anything beyond how Ria was feeling in such a moment. I never had that courage in me since college days, otherwise my life could have been another story altogether.

As we both sat on the wooden benches kept there, I had only one feeling. I did not want to sleep but just sit here with Ria sitting next to me all night, slowly talking and sharing each other’s feeling. She started feeling cold winds rushing and huddled nearer to me. My heart started pounding very hard as if I was a schoolboy being touched by a girl for the first time. Why can’t the damn wind blow even faster, I was thinking. As if I was only dependent on wind to bring us closer. Actually, I was.

She spoke first only to tell me that my beard was not looking good now, and I needed a shave, and beard was looking rough. I told her the earliest I would cut it after reaching Leh as I wasn’t carrying a shaving kit. Her hand quietly moved over my shoulder. My heart skipped a few beats, in fact it was beating very fast now. She pointed towards the moon and told me in a very sleepy voice how good it was looking in the starry night.

I thought we could sit there whole night looking at each other, talking, but the wind could again choke her, and we would end up creating a scene at midnight.

She had experienced it during the day. She told me about the incident when she had got sick after taking off her jacket. I had held her for some time in my arms and then in the vehicle she had slept on my shoulder completely leaving her body on me. I had also dosed off for 5-10 minutes piling my body on Karan for a few seconds. He mumbled something and asked me to at least stay awake as the route was very treacherous.

He then made some remark about madam (all along he used to call her only madam, while he used to address Neeru, Preeti, Sally by names, followed by madam.So that everybody could make out who was his biggest pain in his ass till this part of the journey.

 Ria told me that Sally had taken a dozen pictures of both of us in various different poses with a director’s precision to make them look more spicy and interesting. And poor me, I had no clue as to what was going on.

After some time of togetherness winds started becoming more and more harsh so we decided to go back to our respective tents. I immediately got asleep all the while savouring that moment, but suddenly a fear also crossed my mind. 

My heart and mind kept on fighting like mad  but by than I was fast asleep as it was already 3 in the morning and little did I realise that Neeru was still awake as I came back after spending so much time in the open. Probably because Sally was really ill and groaning all night with little fever, cough and cold.

In the morning when I had woken up in the tent (Most of the night the cold wind had been kissing my ass and getting into all ventilated areas to keep me chilled enough) only to find Neeru playfully smiling at me. I also looked at her as if nothing had happened. She started by asking me what was something happening outside the tent in the night. She could hear both of us speaking and laughing and rest of it she was trying to presume.

She asked me how far did it go, and I was quick to remind her that from college days she knew how good I was with girls.

Then she told me that actually in the night with icy winds blowing from all directions it was hardly a sound sleep and hence she could sense our get together from the tent. Even Sally was waking up every now and then. I sheepishly said we just met, nothing more, she gave me a romantic look and went out to arrange tea. Neeru had known me from my college days, I thought, that should be reason enough for her to believe that nothing more could have happened.

But probably she thought I had become smarter with time and there was more in my story than what met her eyes. As She brought steaming tea for me I could see the shady gentleman and his partner looking at us again as they stood near the toilet tent for their turn. 

Constipated individuals, I thought. I smiled and waved at them as I thought of the game last night.

Preeti came out of her tent and before Neeru could start the tale about our last night outing, i cut her short by talking about how none of us could sleep last night because of the cold and holes in the tents. That probably saved me from a long description and repetition from Neeru.

The toilet tent did not have a place to hang clothes so, as each one of us went to the toilet, one person had to be there, standing with the clothes. The person inside the toilet had to keep on singing all the time as there was no latch also. Because if the person standing outside with clothes moved from the spot, somebody may barge into the toilet. We completed the exercise one by one and assembled for breakfast.