Exploring the city I've been meaning to visit since 4 years.
I woke up with
a feeling of accomplishment! Everyone back home doubted. Everyone thought it's
stupid and suicidal. People told me that though maiden solo voyage can be
done, it shouldn't be attempted. But I went ahead, leaving all the detractors
behind. And finally achieved what I had set out to do.
 |
| Ladakh |
I got ready
and stepped out of the hotel, making my way through the small garden. Right
opposite my six-room hotel was a cafe – owned by the same owner. In order to
enjoy the weather, instead of sitting at the ground floor, I decided go to the
first floor terrace and cherish the outdoors. It's a quiet place mostly
frequented by foreigners. The upper floor also has a library with more than a
hundred books on topics ranging from travel to food and from fictional novels
to India. The cafe wants you to sit for a while, read a book or two, sip on their
lemon-honey tea and slow down time.
If that's what
they want, so be it. I took out my diary and started writing about my trip so
far. At the same time, I was studying the maps about places to visit in and
around Leh. I had earlier taken help, pertaining to stay and places of interest,
from a friend who started his ride just a week ahead of me. He had given me the
contact detail of this travel agent, Mr. Ismail, who would help me get
permissions for travelling to places around Leh. Apparently, if you need to
visit Pangong Lake, Tso Moriri Lake, Nubra Valley and other ecologically
sensitive places, you need to take a permit from the government.
One can go to
the Superintendent's office (I guess) and get it done but I'm not sure how many
hours you would waste. Some were saying that it's a 20mins job while others
said that it would take half a day. I thought it would be a lot more convenient
if I got it done via an agent. And that truly worked in my favour.
For 500 bucks, not only did he managed to get permits for me but he also helped
me chart out my itinerary and helped me quite a bit throughout my stay. He got
me permits for four places: Pangong, Tso Moriri, Nubra Valley and Turtuk. I had
no idea that a place like Turtuk even existed, it was him who informed me that
it's worth going. More on that later.
After having
clarity about my travels in and around Leh, for the first time on this trip, I,
sort of, had a plan. Post lunch, I went looking for a bike mechanic; my search
ended at Amarjit's garage. This guy was really friendly and looked genuine. He
might've overcharged a bit, but he did his work properly.
 |
| Prayer flags |
I went there
thinking that I only needed a new rear brake foot rest but as it turned out, a
lot more things were in need of repairs. One of the seals on front shock
absorbers were broken and it was leaking the hydraulic fuild. Must've been due
to the infinite bumps that I encountered on the way. Since the rear brake foot
rest was broken, my left foot kept slipping and foot kept on applying pressure
on the brake till the Thane group's mechanic changed it at Pang. Due to this
constant contact, the rear brake wore out.
Something
weird happened at Sarabjit's garage. He had this dumb mechanic who also
happened to be his brother-in-law. He had employed him because he was good for
nothing and back home in Punjab, he couldn't find any employment. It had
already been an hour or so since reached the garage; I was getting a bit
restless since I wanted to go out and explore the city. The foot peg that he
got from the market in the city took a while to arrive. Then I saw his
brother-in-law, leaving my bike and fitting that foot peg to someone else's
bike. I asked Sarbjit "Why did he leave my bike and started working on
someone else's? How long before my bike gets sorted?" That dumb
fellow, by mistake, was fitting the part that was meant for my bike onto
someone else's.
Seeing that, Sarabjit got pissed, walked up to him and slapped him and started
kicking. I intervened and stopped. I told him that that was no way to treat
someone. I told him that I was feeling guilty that I it pointed out. Sarbjit
replied angrily, "No, it ain't your fault. He makes these stupid mistakes
daily just to bug me." I replied, "Why would he make mistakes on
purpose? Right now he has to do 2X work of unfitting the foot peg from that
bike and fit it on mine. Why would he want to increase his work load?
Irrespective of how bad he is, you shouldn't beat him." He calmed down a
bit but he still kept abusing him from the other end of the garage. I felt
terrible for the poor fellow. I told Sarabjit that I wouldn’t pay for his services
if he hit him again.
While they
finished mending my bike, I kept looking out of the garage admiring the view.
For people living in the cities, we have a much skewed notion about garages. We
mostly think that it's a tiny place next to a dusty road, and one wouldn't want
to spend more than few minutes there. But this place was different. Sure, it
was a typical garage from inside with grease and oil smeared across the floor.
But where it differed was in the views department. It's on this straight road
that lead in/out of Leh. On the other side of the road, is the army cantonment.
In the background you can see the giant mountains. If you look closely, you'll
realize that one-third bottom of these mountains is not rocky, it's smoothened
out. It's used as a military training ground.
Once the bike
was mended, I left for Thiksay Monastery. I reached the place at 4.30.
 |
| Thiksay Monastery |
 |
| Thiksay Monastery |
 |
| Thiksay Monastery |
The
steps leading up to the monastery works up your hamstring real good. You don’t
take a step, you lunge. Just few steps short of the center courtyard, you’ll be
greeted by a friendly Lama who’ll accept your Rs. 30 fee entry fee. Last few
meters leading up to the center court are lined by prayer wheels to your right.
The prayer wheels are typical of Buddhist monasteries. The custom is that you
try to ensure that by the time you turn the last wheel, in the series of these
wheels, the first prayer wheel (and all others in between) should still be
moving. Frankly, a lot of this depends upon the rusted/free-flowing bearings of
the wheels, more than the strength of your forearms but still, it’s an
interesting thing to attempt.
 |
| Prayer wheels |
Few steps
above the courtyard, opposite to this series of prayer wheels lies this single,
giant prayer wheel, the size of an industrial boiler. Surprising, it’s not too
difficult to move.
 |
| Prayer wheel |
The courtyard is
dominated by the 20 ft. tall prayer flag at the center while the outer wall
features few century old paintings.
 |
| Center courtyard of the Thiksay Monastery |
 |
| Century old paintings |
There are several temples inside the
monastery, each one dedicated to a different god/avatar.
 |
| Various chambers of the Thiksay Monastery |
 |
| Thiksay Monastery and the Himalayan wilderness |
One of the highlights
of the monastery is the 49 ft statue of Maitreya Buddha. Since it is indoors
and covers two stories, it’s difficult to see the entire statue in one frame.
You’re permitted visit to the top tier where the face and torso of Buddha is
visible. Buddha’s colourful crown is its most interesting feature.
 |
| A monk at the Thiksay Monastery |
 |
| Giant Buddha statue at the Thiksay Monastery with the courtyard in the background |
 |
| The calmness on Buddha's face is infectious |
 |
| Bowls used in daily prayers |
 |
| The holy bell |
I also got a
chance to catch up with couple of lamas both of whom were at the two ends of
the spectrum. Lama Nhavang Thupthang is the main priest of the protector
temple, and this 70-something lama is one of the most respected person at
Thiksay from age as well as stature point of view. The 25-year-old Lama Chamba
Slealzang belongs to the younger generation and has a long way to go. I had a
bit of chat with Lama Chamba and just like any other 20-something, he too loves
sports and is fascinated by cities like Mumbai. I clicked some of his portraits
and he wrote down his name and monastery’s address in English in my diary so
that I can mail him the pictures (I haven’t sent them yet, but I wish to hand
deliver them to him, someday). I also managed to click few portraits of Lama
Nhavang. The wise man is a picture of peace and love. Always bearing a smile on
his wrinkled face, you instantly feel a certain warmth talking to him. He
wasn’t fluent in Hindi but we understood each other. I left him to let him
enjoy his evening tea in peace in company of couple of pigeons while snacking
on the vast expanse of the Ladakh valley hoping to see him once again and have
a longer conversation.
 |
| Lama Nhavang sipping his evening tea and spending time with a couple of pigeons while overlooking the Ladakh valley |
By that time it was 6 PM – time for the monastery's
temples to close their doors. Since these are peace loving monks, they don't
ask you to leave like a security guard would at a museum, but they start closing
the windows dropping subtle hints and wait for you to leave the sanctum so that
they can close it too.
 |
| A lama waiting for me to step out so that he can close the temple's doors |
 |
| Windows mirroring the giant Himalayas |
Since I spent
time talking to the monks, I couldn't visit the temples on the second floor. I
started walking down those big steps still in awe of the entire place. Half way
down the staircase, I stopped to admire the view of the valley. I saw an Asian
girl sitting in peace, reading her novel. If you're a bookworm, awesomeness of
all the cafes you've visited pales in front of the beauty of this
place. At first, I thought she was just another foreign tourists but I was
mistaken. Upon asking where she's put up, she pointed out a bunch of houses at
the foothills and told me "there." Apparently, it was a hostel. Upon
enquiring further, she told me that she was a teacher at the local school, next
door to the monastery. This 20-year-old had come all the way from Singapore
under teacher-exchange programme to teach the poor kids of Thiksay
village.
She'd walk up
the steep driveway every evening after the visiting hours and watch the sun go
down while shuffling through the pages of her novels. It seems, she's
rightfully rewarded by the nature for being a part of the noble profession of
teaching. Reading a book while sitting at the steps of a monastery, overlooking
the expanse of Ladakh valley, under the blue sky - even though I'm not a
reader, I can tell you that there can't be a better way to spend your evenings.
 |
| Half-way between heaven and heaven |
I asked her
name, half expecting to get an unpronounceable Chinese name in
answer. Much to my surprise, she said her name was Priyanka. I thought she
adopted that name for her Indian students who couldn't pronounce her name
correctly but she insisted that her real name, indeed, was Priyanka and that
her parents are 100% Singaporean. Her mother liked this Indian name and hence,
named her Priyanka. It's amazing the kind of stories you get to hear from
people when you travel.
 |
| Imagine spending your every evening with a book and this view |
Descended the
monastery's steps and reached the souvenir shop and the canteen next to
it. Thiksay is one of the most famous monastery in Ladakh and several movies
have been shot here (you might remember it from Ducklips Sharma’s movie Jab Tak
Hai Jaan). For this reason, a dedicated souvenir shop makes sense. I had
skipped my dinner and I was starving by then. I ordered a Thukpa and sat down
in peace observing the young 5-year-old lamas play around in the compound. On
the next table was an American lady. The young lamas came and had food from her
plate. Which was a bit odd since you don’t expect lamas to eat from a
stranger’s plate. I started talking to the old lady and realized that she’s a
teacher at the monastery’s school. She teaches them English and Mathematics.
She’s an American and she came to India to teach young kids of the monastery.
She’d leave by the end of the year (2013). What are the chances that in a span
of 1 hour, you’d meet two foreigners who’re in India to teach the poor Ladakhi
kids? Makes one wonder about the state of teaching, as a profession, in India.
In India, teaching barely make your ends meet.
 |
| A part of the monastery sizing up the mountains |
After
finishing my Thukpa, I made my way back to Leh – 15 km. from Thiksay. Leh has a
very weird weather. During the day time, it’s bright and hot. But post 8 PM, as
soon as it gets dark, the temperature suddenly false and it gets cold. If it
gets dark by the time you return from your daily excursion and if you’ve made the
mistake of not carrying a jacket, you’ll be in for trouble. Thankfully, I was
wearing my riding jacket and hence made my way back safely.
Next day, I
had planned to head out of the city and visit Tso Moriri.
