Vanwa and the trail of dust.....

10pm - Leh blacked out for the whole of last night. I had thought that only our hotel was suffering from a black out but apparently, much of the capital of Ladakh was affected by it. Nonetheless, we had managed to charge the camera batteries t

Today, we'll be heading out to Lamayuru, a township with the Nimjanpu Monastery as its centre of activities. The monastery will be having 2 days of prayer festivals consisting of long hours of chanting and the display of the various religious artifacts via an hour long dance (also called the Chaam) and chants. The only other monastery to have its prayer festival in summer is the Hemis Monastery. The Hemis festival is very well known for travellers and many descend to Leh to catch the full revelry of the costumes, masks and religious artifacts. Every 12 years, a giant thangka (a painting of a Tibetan god) gets displayed and it adorns the full length of the monastery's walls. However, Isaac and Jocelyne described the festival as a football match with much jostling with the crowd for prime spots in catching the festival. The lesser known Lamayuru festival would be an ideal festival to get acquainted with Tibetan Buddhism festivals in this region, with lesser crowds and possibly closer interaction with the lamas.

The distance to Lamayuru from Leh is about 60km and we plan to stop as and when we wanted to along the way. We intend to watch the festival activities tomorrow and then make our way to Leh to plan for the next trip out.

A short drive of 60km is fraught with road repair teams and landslides

Getting local snacks at a checkpoint. Checkpoints are especially critical in the border regions to monitor traffic flow and more importantly, illegal foreign infiltrators

You never know when the roof comes falling

The Ladakhis mending the roads and tending to their children at the same time

Our first stop is at Likhir Monastery, midway between Leh and Lamayuru. This scenic gompa (monastery) also contains a museum which keeps old thangkas and other artifacts the gompa and come across in its time. The thangkas date back to 500 years old while other artifacts like weighing scales, ancient currencies, weapons (from a 18 century gun to a chain linked armour worn by the king) and religious items (from chanting scrolls to horns) occupy a small but well displayed room. The gompa also boasts a Maitreya Buddha statue sitting out in the harsh Himalayan conditions. It was a pity that there were no guides to explain the murals and paintings on the walls of the gompa as the intricate and detailed murals seem to tell a thousand stories and the philosophy behind their teachings.

Detour to Likhir Gompa

View of the plains below Likhir Gompa

Ancient architecture - wooden pillars and beams across doorways (most certainly reinforced with modern materials like cement)

The biggest Maitreya open air statue in Ladakh until a newer one in Diskit unseated it (no pun intended)

Guest book in Likhir's musuem

Ladakhi dumplings

Ever favorite mint tea

We reached the Nimjanpa gompa at about 3pm and Tundup had ensured us rooms in a guest room in the gompa itself. The gompa seemed to be a hive of activity and we wondered if the festival had just ended. As we unpacked, I heard the familiar sound of Tibetan horns blaring in the air, then Jocelyne rushed into our room announcing that their room has got the best view of the festival which was taking place now! Indeed, the dance was just taking place just in font of their room! I had not noticed it before that we were actually staying at the previous accommodation for the lamas, which had been converted into a guesthouse!

The dance had just started in the courtyard and there were many people (both local and tourists) sitting at its perimeter catching the festival up close. As the lamas, fully adorned with the gods' clothings and masks twirled and jumped, the rest of the crowd was caught in a spell-binding trance.

Even the dancers were in a trance!

The boys with the longhorns and gyalings (trumpets)

Foreigners and locals taking in the Chaam. Novelty Vs Spirituality

A dance that repeated itself for almost 3 hours!

Round and round they go

The gongs, horns, tibetan trumpets and chants reverberate around the courtyard through the highs and lows of the dance. There were times when the trough of a chant had the lamas standing still, before suddenly bursting into life again. Again, there were no explanations about the dance but the spectacle was more than enough for us to absorb.

the temple boys come out again to signal the end of the chaam

And the deities ceremoniously take turns to perform their final dance.....

and spins away.. The spins are high energy movements and seem critical to the chaam. Never an easy thing to do when you're 3000m above sea level

It would be a hour and a half later before the dance and chants end. The lamas then begun a ceremony to lead the sacred masks and the god's artifacts to the main prayer hall. The masks were wrapped in a red cloth Nd each lama carried one as they trudged to the main prayer hall. Ordinary "Tibetan" locals would stand in 2 lines with their heads bowed as each lama, each carrying one mask walk between the lines of devotees touching their heads with the blessed masks.

The deities' masks are brought back to the main gompa

and the worshippers respectfully line up and bow for the masks. A very powerful sight to behold.

The spell-binding dance ended but we were not done yet. After filling up the stomachs, we headed to Lamayuru to explore the town and also hopefully catch the gompa in its full glory, basking in the setting sun. We were hampered by dark clouds obscuring the sun rays but at least we'd done a relaxing walk to acclimatize to the treks that are coming up next week.

the Gompa viewed from Lamayuru

Lamayuru viewed from the Gompa

We spoke briefly to a lama, who had been to Singapore to preach and he told us that there will be a dance in the morning at 630am while the chanting (punja) will take place in the main prayer hall at 10am and that we were welcome to see it.

Looks like another packed day of exploring the gompa and really can't wait to see it again!

But before we could leave for the night, how could miss the chance to check out these bikers parked right outside our hotel entrance!

driving there would be quite a nice experience, to say the least

Can't wait to get our hands on the bikes in a couple of days time!

7am - Woke up several times last night. There was a moment in time when I thought I was going to suffer from a bad bout of fever. Luckily, I felt better after removing my outer layer and my knitted head wear. It was pretty hard to navigate under a thick blanket in such rapidly changing weather (or an overheating body!). As I head outside, we could see the marmots out in full force behind our tents, wrestling each other. Time for breakfast and onwards we go!

Marmots behind our tents!

The marmots were really unperturbed by our presence to wrestle with each other!

Goldrop's luxurious tents - really luxurious!

Another one of those stops

12pm - stopped at Pang for lunch. Before that, we traversed the Gata Loops up to Nakli Pass which was about 4950m high. The Loops were a series of 22 hairpin turns and the ascent was rapid. I sure wouldn't want to be suffering from AMS now! Unfortunately, our driver, Vippin, seems to be suffering badly from it. Jo already had a mild bout of it and so did Racheal last night. The harsh altitudes and huge change in temperature weakens the body but thankfully, not so bad as to affect the mind.

mountain edged roads

A little hard to imagine greenery here but the valleys here can be bustling with life

a bridge that you can't help but be extremely careful with. One at a time!

Gata Loops - as enjoyed by an Enfield

Dear's at the Gata Loops!

leaving our marks at Lachulang La.. :P

Milestone with prayer flags at Lachulang La (~5000m)

But not before passing through Nakeela Pass (~4800m)

Broke-backing at Lachulang La

List of the passes along the Manali-Leh Highway at Tanglang La

Tanglang La - The second highest motorable road in the world! (~5330m)...and I pee-d there!

Vippin suffers from AMS and clearly isn't too amused with the crazy bunch of Singaporeans running about in Tanglang La

the good ladies at the foot of Tanglang La - the second highest motorable road in the world. With lots of vegetables and some medicine for Vippin, I'm sure he must have felt comforted.

After Nakli Pass, we descended for a while but went up to 5065m to Lachulang La. Here the view was breathtaking, figuratively and factually speaking! Climbing down a steep slope would cause one to pant for a verrrrry long time. Along the way to Pang, we also saw the Border Road Organization (BRO) workers working hard to ensure the pass was passable to traffic (see below on what BRO stands for). Imagine using basic tools like a hammer and a pick, they clear the roads of landslide debris and rest by the roadside without shelter from the relentless sun. Looking at their weathered faces and yet wide smiles, we can only admire and salute their selfless efforts in this harsh environment. They had to even ask passing vehicles for water!

A BRO worker resting without shade in the scorching, relentless sun

More BRO workers, this time with a scenic view but with the same intense sun

They work in groups and lie on the fields to rest. With no water supply, they must ration for the day

These thirsty workers asked for water. This is a terrible day job.

Once in a while, a landslide occurs and these guys turn up, making sure the roads are clear for you...and more importantly, the Army. These roads lead to the highest battlefields in the world at Kargil and Pangong Tso (which we'll be riding to in a couple of days)

1pm - we are now at the Moreh Plains, a vast expanse of dust and occasional vegetation at 4723m high according to my GPS. Just one more Pass to cross but also the highest of all in the journey to Leh, at an altitude of 5350m high. To get a sense of perspective, the altitude is at Everest Base Camp level, before climbers attempt their arduous ascent to Everest.

1145pm - the roads to Leh start to get exciting again after the stillness of the Moreh Plains as we began our ascent to Tanglang La, the second highest motorable road in the world. Breathing became obviously more difficult as the sea-level dwelling creatures could get use to the oxygen deficient rarefied air. Needless to say, we spent a short time there before heading back to our car to recover and catch our breath.

A bridge milestone with the name of the bridge and sometimes, warning signs

The journey to Leh continues as we struggle to recover from the high altitude pass. The condition of the roads did not make it any easier. What were roads 2 years ago became rubble as a rare cloudburst last year caused massive erosion. We had to wait for the BRO workers to blow up a landslide before we could even pass. Through this journey, my impression of these workers also changed. While I had thought they only use basic tools earlier, the more complicated road repairs made use of the grouting method to strengthen the rocks beside the roads and heavy machinery to remove debris quickly.

Explosive power used to blow up a landslide - not far from Leh now!

the roads to Leh are crusty, dusty and beautiful. The Silk Road travellers of yonder must have longed to get to Leh after a long, hard journey.

Besides spoilt roads, we had to wait for huge army convoys to pass through a single lane. To make it even more challenging, our rear left tire sprung a puncture while thrashing through one of the numerous water pools left behind by melting glaciers.

the beauty of nature and the insignificance of men. Look closely and you'll see a long line of trucks.

only one way traffic for now!

So we came down to take some pictures

An unfortunate truck with an excavator onboard (probably BRO's) gets stuck along the highway.

and immediately after passing the truck, we get a puncture!

How nice...:)

Not a really bad place to get a puncture.

Another road obstacle to get through

After numerous checkpoints where we had our passports checked, we noticed big army camps in the region, indicating the sensitive border issue with several neighbouring countries. We reached Leh at 640pm and jostled with the evening traffic and the confusion created by one way traffic of the roads. Eventually, Isaac managed to speak to Tundup, our POC in Overland Expeditions, and headed to our lodgings in Leh. Over the next few days, Leh will become our base as we head out to the various sites around the region on both car and Royal Enfields. Boy oh boy, I can't wait!

The Border Roads Organisation is a symbol of Nation Building and National Integration and has become an inescapable component in maintaining the security and integrity of the Nation. Its pivotal role in constructing and maintaining operational road infrastructure for the armed forces in inhospitable, far flung border areas and contribution to the socio-economic development of the region has been legendry. Its ability during war has been repeatedly proven. This is the result of over 50 years of toil, unwavering dedication, unmatched professionalism and sacrifice of the officers, supervisors, subordinates and CPLs, from whom the organisation derives its strength.- www.bro.gov.in

BRO's ongoing project in Ladakh is HIMANK and they are really well-known for their humourous road signs in exceptional scenery.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Himank