Day 20: Leh (Last day, not) 13th Sept, 2014

Since I had slept early, I was wide awake by 6:15 am. Early start called for a visit to Shey Monastery for the morning prayer. So, by 7 am I was on the road with Chitti ( that's what Linda calls my Royal Enfield .Inspired from the movie of one of our favorite actors - RAJNIKANT !!! ), battling the chilling winds of Leh.

It was quite a cold day to ride

I saw two kids hitchhiking to school. I stopped and signalled them to hop on Chitti. I thought it was just the right way of paying back and the least that I could do for the beautiful people of Leh. The two kids climbed on Chitti with much excitement. Every time we crossed one of their friends on the road, they made sure that they were noticed riding on the bike. Joyride in its true sense, more for Chitti and me than it was for them. After about 20 minutes of the ride, I felt a gentle tap on my back. I thought it was a signal for me to stop so I asked them if I needed to stop. All I heard was “Umm”.
I stopped, they got down.
What I saw next had me in splits. The cheeks and the tip of their nose had turned cherry red. I had not realized that the kids were not at all geared up for a bike ride in that icy wind. I asked them if they were ok. Both of them nodded, smiled at me and fixed their runny nose with their sleeves. The merry twinkle in their eyes was a sure indicator that, given a choice, they would love to repeat the ride.

I reached Shey Monastery at 8 am and the morning prayer had just started. Unlike the grand morning prayer of Diskit monastery, there was only one lama performing the morning prayer at the Shey Monastery. I sat listening to the prayer for about an hour and then left to explore the remaining parts of Leh.

Morning Prayer at Shey Monastery

I desperately wanted to have few nans from the bakery which I had seen on my way to Pangong lake. I had tried getting it the previous day but couldn’t get lucky as the entire market was closed. Lord be praised for the bakery was open on my last day at Leh. I ordered three hot baked nans and walked into an adjacent restaurant which had no name. I ordered a cup of tea and one plate of any veg curry to go with nan. The owner had made me delicious aloo palak so I dug into them.

Once the breakfast was taken care of, I headed towards Pathar Sahib Gurudwara. There is a story that Once upon a time one demon used to terrorize the local people. When Guru Nanak came to that place, the demon threw a rock to kill Guru Nanak. When the rock hit the back of Guru, it melted like wax. Seeing this the demon changed and bowed to Guru Govind promising never to terrorize the locals again.

That was the first time I was entering a Gurudwara. One cannot enter a Gurudwara without wearing a headscarf so I tied one of the scarfs with the holy Sikh symbol that was kept outside for the visitors. I offered my prayers and as I was walking out, I was given some halwa as a prasad. The halwa was so rich in taste that I wanted to go back for more, but I didn't.

The first time I walked into a Gurudwara

The rock that hit Guru Nanak

The army lifeline

My next stop was this enigmatic place called "The Magnetic Hill". Many believe that the magnetic currents on this hill are so powerful that it pulls any vehicle uphill if the vehicle is placed in the neutral gear. When I first saw the vehicles moving uphill on their own, I freaked out. Many experienced it, got super excited, clicked some photos and left, but since I had all the time in the world, I spent a good amount of time analyzing it.

If anyone of you is planning a trip to Leh soon then please don't read this paragraph as I don't want to take away your moment of joy when you reach the Magnetic Hill.
I think that the Magnetic Hill is the only fake thing in Leh. I must mention here that the magnetic hill is an innocent lie. By that I mean it's an optical illusion.
What happens is that the stretch of the road is long and there are few depressions on the stretch making it bowl-shaped slope. Since the road is long, it appears that the road is all uphill from the other end (which actually is not). Now when the vehicle is in neutral, it slowly starts moving down the slope, but it appears that it's rather moving uphill on it's own. At least that's what I think the real answer is.
I am really sorry for spoiling the fun, but I did not believe in the Magnetic Hills. I also heard someone saying that it had to do something with the aliens. I doubt that's the case in the Magnetic field. I do believe in aliens though. (By the way, I know a girl who was visited by alien robots and I swear to God that she is not lying)

The slope of the Magnetic Hill as seen from one end. It seems all downhill but notice a depression in between.

From the other end, it looks all uphill. This is the point where vehicles appears to move uphill but it actually moves towards the bottom of the depressed area

After the un-Magnetic hills, I headed towards what locals call Sangam, the confluence of river Indus and Zanskar. It reminded me of Teesta meeting Rangeet back in my hometown. While I was observing the surrounding, someone patted me on my back. I looked back and saw a face smiling at me. He was a local guy, but I could not recognize him. Am sure he must have been one of the many noble men who had spoken to me during my 9 days of stay at Leh. I talked to him as though I had recognized him.

No room for errors. Reminded me of snake and ladder.

While I was returning from Sangam, one old man was waiting for some vehicle to pick him up. I offered him a lift (..."here is the lift for the lame and the slow" - my school anthem)   He told me he was heading towards Leh which was about 30 kms away. I tried talking to him while we were riding but I couldn't understand anything that he said. The only two things that I understood were “Tashi” - his name, and “aacha gaadi”(good bike). I dropped him near Skitpo monastery as I wanted to see Kali Monastery one more time before I left Leh. Just when Tashi was leaving, I told him that I wanted to take his photo. I was stunned when he took out his sunglasses and posed for the picture. After taking his photo I hopped onto Chitti and had one last look at him. He bowed a little in a thanking gesture, gave me a warm smile and waved at me. I was well paid for my act in that cold weather.

Tashi posing for the camera. Not to forget his sunglasses

I reached Spituk monastery at 1:15 am. The main monastery was closed but the Kali Monastery was still open. There is a strange peace in that monastery. I sat there lost in tranquility, again.
I saw one lama brooming the newly laid carpet. The task was a daunting one as the carpet area was large. In my first visit to the same monastery, one of the lamas had offered me some T-momos to eat (Read 13th Day). So, when I saw the lama struggling with the task, I saw an opportunity to pay back. I offered to help but he politely declined. I watched him struggle for good 15 minutes and then I told him again that I could help him by starting from the other end of the hall. This time he accepted my proposal. I started brooming the carpet of the Kali monastery laid on the prayer hall*. After 30 minutes, both lama and I met at the center of the hall. The job was done. Whenever I would broom our house back in Bangalore, Linda would never be satisfied. She should have seen the approving nod for the lama. I had never experienced such a sense of pride doing any work related to broom. The laborious exercise had not only cleaned the carpet of the Kali monastery prayer hall but had a cleansing effect on me as well*.
The lama left, leaving the entire monastery to myself. I was a little hungry after the brooming. I saw halwa lying on the table for prasad, so I took a few bites of them. To be honest, my bite was more than a bite fit for prasad, but I had earned them well.  I spent another two hours in the prayer hall doing nothing but listening to the silence*. I left Spituk monastery at 3:45 pm.

I wanted to have momos from Angchok (the restaurant that I had my lunch on my 2nd day in Leh) as they served the best mutton momos in the town. Alas, the momos were over. I found Amdo restaurant right next to Angchok, so I walked in and ordered a plate of mutton momos. The momos were good but Angchok’s momos were a different league.

After the late lunch, I headed back to the hotel and started packing to leave Leh. I cleared all my payments and also tipped Ali as I had planned to leave Leh early morning.
As destiny would have it, Linda called at the hotel landline to speak with me. I  had to go to the hotel owners' room to take the call. After the call was over, the owner asked me if I had visited all the places in Leh. I told him that I had gone to all, except Lamayuru monastery. When he heard this, he made a strange face. He asked me how many days did I have in Leh. Thankfully, I had as many days as I wanted.
“Itna dur aa-ay ho toh Lamayuru aur Alchi ko dekh kar jawo” (Since you have come so far, don't leave without visiting Lamayuru monastery and Alchi), said the friendly owner. He was a man from a different religion, but he described the beauty of Lamayuru and the beautiful thanka paintings of Alchi in a way no Buddhist could have.
And so it was the call of Lamayuru monastery. I had to stay in Leh for one more day ( & it rhymes too)

I went out for dinner at 8 pm. I had seen a place near Jamia Masjid which served kababs. There I learned about a new kashmiri dish called ristey. It was a mutton keema ball served in the soup along with a roti. I tried one plate of it and the taste was impressive.  After finishing my ristey, I went to call Linda again from the phone booth as I could not speak at length from the hotel owners room. While I was waiting for my turn to call, I  met one Israeli guy named Aliti who was a hardcore trekker. When he learned that I was from Darjeeling he wanted to know more about the trekking routes in Darjeeling. Soon we got engrossed in the conversation and he told me some interesting facts about Israeli life and society. He also wanted to ride with me to Darjeeling, but he didn't have the required document.
After the call with Linda, the lingering taste of ristey fueled my hunger. I went back to the same place and ordered one more plate of ristey. When the man saw me again, he served the ristey smiling to himself. He knew his magic had cast a spell on me. I also ordered one sheek kabab and another boti kabab. I told the man serving that his food was really good, and he accepted my compliments humbly. I asked him if he would open his stall on the following day.
“Allah nay agar zindagi dee toh may aaunga” (if Allah gives me life tomorrow, I will come). His practical way of life served as a dessert after dinner.

The Ristey

At the end of the 20th Day, I had traveled a distance of 114 km.


*All the special moments which I would not get a chance to do otherwise are in bold

(Do read the other days Chronicle listed on the same page)

#Royalenfield  #trip #leh #bikeride #adventure #ladakh #travel