The Moon is Not Made of Swiss Cheese

At least not in Ladakh..Rocks and boulders abound.

Although we tried to convince our guide, Scarpa to continue on our journey, he was adamant about his return and truthfully did not have curiosity to journey into unknown territory. He had never ventured farther than the place he left us and was content not doing so. We thanked him, paid him for his guidance and sadly bid Scarpa adieu.

He left us near a small village which featured a fairly large size monastery. It seem to be one where there were many young students (children). Therefore lots of activity. The was a small lodge that served very basic food and had a floor we could camp out on for the evening. The menu touted eggs but the outcome was sort of a light blue sort of scrambled matter. It did not matter. It had been a week of Yak butter and Black tea, barley, Cadbury chocolate and glucose biscuits from a cylindrical package from a shop in Srinigar. I would pretend I was eating eggs. There were a few other people besides the monks passing through as well. One young man in particular caught our eye. He looked about 19 , strong and sturdy and had a donkey. He wore rubber rain boots and had a sincere demeanor. Steve immediately approached him. Again he spoke no English but in a mishmash of Hindi/Urdu/Bengali and now with a new smattering of Ladakhi words learned from Scarpa he somehow convinced him to join our entourage. His name was Renjin. We were to continue our journey to Zanskar via the Monk photo monastery tomorow. It was time to refuel on the blue egg concoction. It would be more days of hard trekking and a pass or 2 to go.
We set off the next morning with renewed vigor and excited about our new young guide/friend. He certainly did not have the presence nor confidence that Scarpa had but certainly had a youthful sense of adventure that gave him his own personality. We had a large pass to climb that day and came across a Yak herdsman and his Yaks. Julay, Julay we said as we passed each other.
The walk was long and it became late in the day. where would be camp? We were up about 15,000ft or so and it as starting to get late in the day. Just then we saw some activity. It was a group of roaming Yak hearders and they were spending the night in a small stone hovel. As we approached they greeted us warmly. We asked them if we could spend the night with them and they graciously agreed. They cooked up a pot of some sort of Thukpa (Tibetan soup with tsampa noodles) which we happily ate. Steve took turns with the men churning butter from Yak milk and I sat quietly taking in the whole scenario. As darkness set in, we took to our sleeping bags. I keep my pack close to me and forgot that there were a few uneaten Cadbury bars inside. all throughout the night I was awaked by a curious Yak trying to get into my pack. "Shoo" I would say only to find 15 minutes later his return to my pack.. Between that and the loud snoring sounds from out herdsmen and Steve, I did not sleep too well. Next morning we arose, thanked our hosts and head out for another long day.

This day was again longish as we were climbing up towards another pass. After some time the weather became unfavorable. It started raining. We were not prepared for rain. I had a basic poncho and one plastic tarp. What were we to do? If this kept up it would certainly be snowing the higher we went. Just as panic mode was starting to set in, we spotted an abandoned stone hovel the size of a large closet. It must have served as temporary shelter for many a shepherd caught in similar circumstances. We quickly threw our tarp and my poncho over the top to create a roof. The 3 of us squeezed in that's where we spent the next 12 hours. Rain started to pour. Renjin lit a small smokey fire so we could make some tea. None of us knew what was going to happen. We sang songs and drank tea until we were to tired to care. I remember curling up on a small 3 foot rock slab to sleep. It was a hard night but at least we kept warm. The rain stopped and by morning we were ready to forge ahead. As we set out, we had to traverse a small glacier. "wow" I thought, what if we never stumbled across that hut? I guess it was all meant to be.

We walked and walked, stopped for our usual tea and water until we came across another green fertile area that once had a small shack that was a barley mill. It was now abandoned but since a small river ran threw it is was a perfect site for out camp. Just then we saw a large group of 20 or so trekkers come near. They had numerous guides and workers which rode horses with large metal boxes containing dining supplies, all sorts of food and tents. How civilized! Here we were with nothing but 2 sleeping bags, a small tarp and a few basic rations. We immediately felt out of place. Turns out they were a trekking agency from Britain and although they were "roughing it", it seemed super luxurious to us. As they set up camp, we chatted. They were also going to Zanskar. "Great we thought. We can't get lost ". Just then a couple of the trekkers invited us to have tea with them. Of course we accepted. We were really hoping they would invite us for dinner because the thought of tea and champa was getting a wee bit old. Unfortunately they did not. However out of nowhere, a small tent sprouted up near the edge of the encampment. There were 2 Ladakhi men offering to sell us a chicken dinner. We looked at each other and within a split second, said yes. It took an hour or so to cook and truthfully I'm sure it was some sort of vulture we ate as it was sinewy with very little meat, but it was protein!!!! It was better than the alternative. Meanwhile the British folks told us they too were going to the village where the monastery was and afterward their guide promised them a meal of freshly slaughtered lamb. Oh man, the thought of of red meat sounded way to alluring. Perhaps we can tag along Steve and I thought. Hmm. we shall see.

The next morning we set off for what was to be a very very long day. We were low on rations and somehow managed only to consume sugar. We finally made it to the Monastery. It was hot and there was very little shade. We did see the British group butdidn't stop to ask them their itinerary. We wanted to drop off the photographs and hopefully get a chance to sit with the monks. We proceeded towards the monastery and wound our way to a doorway. We were greeted by an elderly man and we gestered to him the purpose of our visit. He then took us to another room where we waited for another elderly monk. The eldest in th photo was also there and he said nothing. The younger of the two then took the box of 8x10's and disappeared. That was it!!! Ha Ha ! No big thank you. No nothing. No invite for tea. Just take em and run...Meanwhile our over imaginative minds had made up all sorts of fun stories. We thought we'd be invited in for tea and perhaps get a tour of this famous monastery. NOPE. Just a lesson in humbleness. Detachment. Time to move on....

Now we were ready for that lamb fest, but the British folks were nowhere to be found. what to do??? Just set off towards Padum, Zanskar out final destination. Well I don't know if it was the lack of nutruition or the let down of the photo delivery episode, but we grew tired. somehow we lost the trail. We were now walking over huge rocks and boulders getting more tired as time went on. We were out of water. The direct sun pounded hard upon our skin. All I wanted to do was lay down and take a nap. No, Steve would not let me. We must walk...It started to get dark, we had no idea where we were but somehow managed to find a trail. I was getting delirious. all I wanted to do was rest but Steve was not going to let me. At one point, a couple of monks walked past us. I cried out but they ignored us. Then a beautiful young Ladakhi woman with full attire including the traditional headdress with chunks of turquoise stones rode past us on a horse. did I hallucinate that? Even Renjin was tired. He too, was lost. we had no choice to walk on as a village was bound to be somehere ahead. Then Steve spotted a man. Renjin spoke to him and told him we were lost and could we take shelter at his home. He was a saint. He gladly took us to his place where he served us tea and I immediately passed out. a couple hours later he brought as dal and rice which seemed like a plate of gold. We ate heartily and fell asleep with full bellies.
We woke the next day but I was still tired. I had enough. I was spent and needed nourishment. Steve and I talked and decided that since we made it to Zanskar we had 2 choices. Continue a bit farther to Padum (our original destination) or find the first transport out and head back to Srinagar. I was a wreck. I wanted to go back to Srinagar, drink tea and see our friends. I was tired. So, the next day we headed out towards the biggest dirt trail/road and waited for a sikh driving truck. sure enough one drove up and we inquired if we could a hitch a ride to Kargil. Sure they said and this was the beginning of a wild 2 days..........