Leh Trip - Day 6

Agenda for the day: To drive to Lamayuru Monastery, visit Alchi, visit the village (Which was not planned initially), Have a borne fire, great dinner and stay the night at a motel at Alchi village. Sounds like a lot but we added a few more things to our plan as the day went by.

We drove around 140 kms to visit the Lamayuru. Most places en-route, like the magnetic hill, the Sangam and the gurudwara, we had visited on an earlier day. So i caught up a long argument with my driver regarding Buddhism, as taught today and to what would have actually been taught by the Buddha himself. Although our thoughts were similar in the matter of fact that todays teachings are more orderly, which is not right, we still argued on the true reasons of re-birth, purpose of being born and many trivial things that we really dont think about in our daily being. It was a great experience to have chatted with him as time flew and we reached moonland. Apparently, many travelers visit this place to admire this view. Their is no other place in the world that looks like this and some say, it looks like a piece of the moon on earth, hence the name.

Next stop, Lamayuru monastery. A nice place with hardly any monks around. when asked, we were informed that most monks were visiting villages and spreading the teachings. Nice place with a beatiful view of the Indus below. We left taking a route that was under construction and it was an amazing road. A good 30 kms stretch ride beside the Indus with the mighty Himalayas giving us a very intimidating feeling.

Lunch bu the Indus and after travelling another few kilometers, we reached Alchi village and we were just in time for evening tea. An amazing masala chai awaited us and sipping it with a smoke was a bliss. We heard some local music playing close by and decided to scan the village. It was a wedding and we walking in. We were greeted by some very friendly people and were offered some local brew called "Chaang". I decided to pass that and opted for some Ladakhi Butter tea. I enjoyed every bit of it and left with some good memories of attending a wedding here.

A few photos from the top of the motel and the wind was getting chill. We hit the comfort of our room and decided to have a fire. A fire place at any altitude just brings out the best of the trip. One hour in sub zero temperatures by the fire and my gloves were out, shoes were off a smoke to bring things back to life. Early dinner and the sack was all that was visible. Slept better then most days. She was much better than the previous day. Maybe thats why...