Ladakh: Off on the trail X 2

We decided to take a five day home-stay trek after our fabulous experience the week before. The scenery was absolutely spectacular. Most of the hiking was through an incredibly arid high-desert landscape.

From Ladakh X 2

Amongst all of the arid landscape were beautiful little patches of color, like these amazingly fragrant wild roses.

From Ladakh X 2

Similar to our last homestay trek, the incredibly stark landscape was punctuated by these green oases, which were where the villages were established.

From Ladakh X 2

From Ladakh X 2

Jon on the trail towards Rumbak village


We would also come across these "parachute cafes", which were actually just parachutes that served as a tent under which people would sell various dry goods, or very very simple meals, such as the Indian Ramen equivalent.

From Ladakh X 2

Parachute cafe in the middle of nowhere




Hiking through this landscape was just simply amazing. We would come across these amazing cultural artifacts, such as the common presence of "Blue horned sheep" horns on walls and houses, which were meant to ward off snow leopards and other wild beasts.

From Ladakh X 2

In addition, the many religious monuments at every turn...

From Ladakh X 2

One thing that I found really magical were the Buddhist prayer flags that we would find hung between rocks at the top of these high passes.

From Ladakh X 2

From Ladakh X 2

The sound of these prayer flags blowing was really amazing. On one hike, Jon and I heard the sounds of the flags flapping from kilometers away....unbelievable. The prayer flags are left in the elements, and just diaphanous, made thread-bare by the elements.

From Ladakh X 2

From Ladakh X 2

In addition to the amazing experiences we had at the homestays, the hiking was phenomenal.

From Ladakh X 2

One thing that was so unique about being in this area was the light. With the changes in light during the day the colors of the rock would change completely. In the photo below, the mountain that Jon is looking at was bright red before sunset, and green in the morning.

From Ladakh X 2

Unfortunately, I caught Dad's whooping cough, and so the hiking, which was between 12,00-15,000 feet, was really difficult for me. The trails that looked like this sure didn't help!

From Ladakh X 2

Super steep hiking abounds, notice Jon's position above me


Every hike felt like a marathon, and I could only walk for a short period before having to gather my breath.


Adding to the whooping cough, I had a really "special" encounter with a friendly plant that looked like mint. Reaching down to grab a leaf to smell, I yelped in pain! My ring finger proceeded to swell up, so I removed my wedding ring (having learned from Mom's experience!). The pain didn't abate (for three days!) and the only thing that seemed to help was spitting on my hand, continuously...

From Ladakh X 2

Yum....


Other amazing natural scenery was less stinging, such as these crazy mushroom rock formations...

From Ladakh X 2

and the amazing landscape vistas that made me feel like Ansel Adams....

From Ladakh X 2

From Ladakh X 2

From Ladakh X 2

Perhaps the most exciting part of the trip, however, was when Jon got really really sick on our penultimate day. Faced with a 5 hour hike, I pulled out my learning Ladakhi book and began using my "Do you know where I may hire a horse phrase) (thatobe- tobado). Turns out there were no horses to be had, so we had to walk until we came to a roaring river, for which the only way across was in a basket that you had to pull hand over hand across!






Crossing the River (basket is in bottom right)

From Ladakh X 2

From Ladakh X 2

Jon in basket crossing the river




A really bad quality video of the river crossing




After all this excitement, we were all ready to close the book on our incredibly interesting Ladakh experience and move onto the last leg of our trip----Benares!