Choices and Consequences

(Many more pictures on Facebook)

Opted out of the tour programme for today and tomorrow, the last two full days in Leh. This means missing oout on the worlds highest motorable road, the Khardungla Pass (5578m) - which would have been a new personal altitude record (though only by 78m); the Samstaling Samemanling Monastery; a ride on a Bactrian camel; camping out overnight; a gala dinner; a market, and Chamba Monatery. Instead, I chose to pay about an extra £150 to pay for a replacement room to the one I am not using on the tour, and to hire a driver for two days, and miscellaneous other expenses; to have to wake at 04:45, and leave the hotel at 05:00 for a (very pleasent) 20 minute drive; spend an hour shivering in all the clothes I had with me in the pre-dawn cold; spend the next six hours in direct, unshaded Himalayan sunshine at altitude; be packed in a space so small that I was touching the person behind, to my left, and to my right, with only my little backpack separating me from the person in front; so tightly packed that change of position was virtually impossible; to walk to the car in the car park at 12:30 and get out of the car park only at 13:45, with the drive to the hotel getting me back at 14:15; all in preparation for doing exactly the same thing tomorrow.

It was SOOOO worthwhile, in order to hear the Dalai Lama teaching. I don't know how many people were there, though I made fairly good guesses that there were two - three thousand foreigners, about a thousand nuns and about two thousand monks. My guess of the total number of people there was between 30 and 80 thousand, with a belief that it was nearer the latter figure than the former. This was a fantastic day, though it was a little disconcerting to hear the translation start (I paraphrase) "As I was saying when I was last here, three years ago....."

Ladakh

Arrived in India on Saturday, and to the hotel in Delhi. Very luxurious hotel - I could have thrown quite a decent party in my bathroom. Following day on to Leh, Ladakh with an excruciatingly early start - 03:45. The airstrip at Leh is short, bumpy, at altitude (3500m), and the approach wends its way down and round valleys. All in all an interesting landing. To the hotel, and then, against the advice of the guides and locals, walked up to the town, and had a look round and orientated myself. Found the temple in the centre of town and there learnt that the Dalai Lama is going to be teaching eight kilometers away on two days just before we are due to fly out. An opportunity.

Preparations for Ladakh

Today was spent travelling down to London to attend a meal (in lieu of a formal briefing) with Master Travel, who are organising the trip I am going on in August. I am going to Ladakh, the very northernmost point of India, and formerly one of the independent Buddhist kingdoms. It is high altitude - most of the trip is about 3400 metres, but we do go over one pass at 5578 metres. I had arranged to pick up my passport with Indian visa at the meal. There were only three of the party (of eight) plus a couple of people from Master Travel. The restaurant they had chosen was a good Italian restaurant near Waterloo. A very pleasant meal and discussion.

After the meal I went down to the South Bank, and found a spot to have a large glass of red wine, while I wrote a few emails. This was not made easier when I found that I had not transferred my address book to the new netbook I was using, so had to find the email addresses of the friends I was writing to by roundabout means.

I then wended my way back to Euston, and back to the boat. A easy going gentle day. The only other thing of note is that I have, at the prompting of one of my friends, joined Facebook, and this blog is now being fed through to that network.