Mission Leh!

The Japanese connection: Eri and Aya
I'd wondered into their guesthouse looking for an electrician to fix my laptop cable and stumbled upon Japanese duo, Eri and Aya. Eri is a cheeky monkey, a naughty chauti (*shorty), a funky little chica; while Aya, is a beautiful girl with a talent for writing and a dry sense of humour. Both girls had been traveling together since the last year and had been on some crazy road trips around Australia. As a result, they speak exceptionally good English The girls were on their way out of Padum and looking for a lift to Leh. David and I had also decided that it was time to move out of the wilderness and connect with the rest of the world again. We found a lift and this time, I took David with me back to the guesthouse where the girls were staying so that we could all plan the trip together. David, being a good, well-behaved, highly disciplined and responsible adult, left me in a bubble of smoke with the girls. We'd decided on leaving the next day. It was a full power connection and the girls ended up braiding my hair with colourful threads.

Onwards and upwards – Leh here we come!
I felt relieved at leaving Padum. It was time to connect with the world again, speak to my family and friends, indulge in swapping stories with other travelers and generally chill out.

It was a 19 hour jeep ride from Padum to Leh and it was a Saturday. To break up the journey, the driver had initially planned to stop the night in Kargil. However, as we discovered, an army convoy would be taking over the road to Leh the following day so we had no choice but to continue the arduous journey. We arrived in Leh happy, tired and relieved, entering a Buddhist family-run guesthouse where the girls had previously stayed. Didhi (meaning sister in Hindi), was quick off the mark. Welcoming us warmly, she prepared soup, salad and momos and let us choose the rooms we wanted.

Leh
We spent a week in Leh and did absolutely... Nothing. Following almost three months of isolation and insane journeys in the Jammu and Kashmir region, it was time to chill. So we chilled. There are many things to see in Leh, including the Shanti stupa and the Palace, but I just couldn't be bothered to move. We saw Leh, but only from the rooftop terrace of Didhi's guesthouse.

Nubra Valley
It was about the only thing we did during the time we spent in Leh. David and I joined forces with Eri and Andre, sorted out our permits and made for what is apparently, the world's highest motorable pass, Nubra Valley. Eri and I scouted around town and hustled a jeep for 500 rupees each and the following day, at 6am, we were off. As we reached the highest point, the altitude began to hit me. We were at 5,800 metres, the highest point that I'd ever been. It goes without saying that the view was incredible. Like I said before, I'm crap at describing landcapes.

Diskit
We landed in the town of Diskit, Andre and his Golden Retriever, Jason took one room, Eri, David and I, another. It was bliss, heaven, sweetness and light. The rooms were beautiful, didhi (everyone is didhi), was hilarious with her high-pitched, yodelling voice and naughty-girl like twinkle in her eyes. An association within the town had been responsible for building the 90 ft-tall Buddha, facing West towards Pakistan. David, Eri and I explored the monastery first, diving in and out of every nook and cranny we could find, climbing higher and higher and jumping over barbed wire to enter its most dilapidated section. We discovered one of the highest points and climbed up into the crumbling chimney-like house, sitting at its tiny, goblin door, feet dangling down and looking out across the valley. David, as usual, wanted to push things to the limit, so we entered through the door, crouching down before discovering a small light and making our way through the ceiling to sit right at the top. It was a wild and wonderful sight. We could see the Buddha, which is now almost constructed, standing bold across the valley. The school for monks that spread below the structure, was newly built and we could see young boys running around in its yard. We smoked a celebratory cigarette and made our way down so that we could get across to Buddha.

Buddha
The construction of the Buddha was initiated by a local organisation about 15 years ago and headed by Norway, its Ladakhi leader. Norway is just his nickname by the way. It was getting dark, but we crossed the valley and wound through the mountain road anyway. We were not quite sure of the way we should go, however a small black dog appeared out of the blue and took us to Buddha. It was completely dark by now, but we felt the imposing presence of the towering structure as it loomed high up above us. Nepali and Bengali workmen were still milling about the place. They were staying in tents nearby, while the engineers and architects took their place in the building on which the Buddha had been built. We met Norway just as we were about to leave. David had rightfully noted that the structure was facing West towards Pakistan. I asked Norway the reason behind this. His response was simple, “Pakistan is not a good man. We need protection, so we have Buddha facing that way.” Not a very Buddhist way of looking at things.

With Pakistan to the West, China to the East and the Central Asian countries above, Nubra Valley, like Kashmir, is yet another region of India that sits in a rather precarious position. Police and armed forces are discreetly positioned in various parts of the valley, particularly Honda with its bridge guarded by Indian military.

Honda
We took on the 12 to 14 km trek from Diskit to Honda, simply to experience the sand dunes and camels that were said to exist here. Neither of us had never heard of sand dunes or camels in mountain terrain, so it was something that we were excited to experience. Walking in the heat for endless kilometres can take its toll, but this was soon replaced by the vision that lay before us: voluptuous sand dunes. We immediately ran into the dunes, David taking the opportunity to capture some insane photos of both the landscape and of Eri and I running riot like two naughty little school girls. It was a photo-shoot opportunity and he was not going to let it go. He put us in position, lying in the sand, head to head. He captured us running crazily up the dunes, managed to get us jumping as high as we could. Lots of action shots!

Panamik
David fell suddenly ill so he spent the day in bed. He'd been trekking around quite a lot, running up and down mountains, taking photographs at every given opportunity, so I guess he was a little run down. The bus arrived and it was packed. It meant Andre could not get on the bus with Monster (his dog, otherwise known as Jason). That left Eri and I. We jumped on, or rather squeezed onto the bus and waited patiently for an hour and a half until we arrived in Panamik – place of the hotsprings.

Better than I imagined, the hotsprings of Panamik are amazing. We're not talking aesthetics here, but of the volcanic geyser that tumbles down the mountain into a mini man-made dam to irrigate the fat tubes planted into concrete cubicles – a bit like a Roman or Arabic bath. Pure bliss. The water is perfect, if you like it hot, and it's an indulgent feeling as you coerce yourself into embracing the temperature of the powerful gush. Mmmm. So nice!

Israelis again...
I couldn't understand the bullshit that a group of Israelis had tried to feed us earlier on: that it was dirty, the water not nice, the scenery no big deal, that someone is building a house nearby... Israelis love to complain. About absolutely everything. “I don't like this cup, give me a glass.”, “Where is my food?”, “I don't like the people here”, “the sky is not blue enough...” blah. Meeting that group made me realise at an even deeper level why Israelis are so annoying. The fact was confirmed by Tenzin (yes, another one named Tenzin!), our host at the Hotsprings Guesthouse, where Eri and I had been staying.

Tenzin, is the nephew of Didhi, who runs the guesthouse we'd stayed at in Diskit the night before. He's a clued-up, “with-it”, non-judgemental, funky, intelligent kinda guy, and good naturedly charmed Eri and I. He had a love marriage and is open to Buddhist philosophical discussion. Apparently, he was a monk in his last life, however, as he happens to be the only son in his family, his fate in this one is confined to marriage and parents. He too confirms the opinion that I seem to have heard about Israelis everywhere that I have been in India. “They are rude, ignorant, arrogant, disrespectful and noisy. I had a few of them here recently. You have to remember this is a respectable family-run guesthouse. And what were they doing? Sticking their tongues down each others mouths in front of the elders! Are they on this planet?” No, they're not Tenzin. I reckon they're Israe-alians.

Israelies, in other words, are constantly on the defence. I am sorry to go on about Israelis, but it is a subject that cannot be avoided when traveling in India because not are they just everywhere, but everyone, and I mean everyone, complains about them. The effect of a country can be seen upon its nation and the world is able to see clearly from the outside, exactly how the character of that nation has been disturbed.