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.