My last ten days have been spent completing a journey of well over a thousand kilometres, standing on ground over 5000 metres and combining the smooth and efficient delights of India's rail, air and road system (giving me an aching spine and comprehensive exhaustion.)
Eleven days ago I left
Bangalore and flew to
Delhi with five others, we were set to embark on a trip that would take us as far as Leh, Northest Indian in Ladahk, a region of mountains, snow, patchwork roads and traveller hippies. The first few days were spent getting accustomed to the dubious driving conditions, the shock that India's lorries can be found even here, and that over taking them on single lane cliff hanging roads is possible, though only just. Sitting in the back of a land rover I spent most of the day looking out in awe at the mountains all around us, and frequently screwing my eyes shut at the sight of what appeared the end of the world at the edge of the road.
The first four days passed this way, thankfully, successfully, and we reached our first destination, Manali. Here we all acclimatised and enjoyed a natural hot bath in the rain at one of the local temples, free of charge! Brilliant. From here, we progressed in our travels although the roads didn't, and we made it to an over night camp on a freezing plane somewhere in between Manali, and our final destination, Leh. Having barely slept at all, I admitted defeat and got out of our tent at five am and watched the Sun rise over the mountains, something I'll never forget. Despite finding the rest of the day a real challenge, and feeling exceptionally cold, the sight was amazing as the view slowly changed from black to grey, yellow, orange and finally red, the day began well.
That day featured our longest journey, 220 kilometres, passing a sign reading: "Taglangla, altitude: 17582 feet, you are passing through the second highest pass of the world, unbelievable is not it?" Amusing, bitterly cold but humbling to stand so high up. I climbed a hill with a housemate and we stared at hundreds of mountains trying to catch our breath before heading back down, vicious circle.
Reaching Leh, we met up with our second guide, a Buddhist legend who took us to the local palaces, monasteries and castles each set in tiny mountain villages throughout the area. Leh was a great place to end our trip, and our journey home featured a flight over the mountains from an interesting airport, (being a military base, our group of ten made up about half of the non uniformed passengers waiting to fly over the mountains. We chuckled.)
Unfortunately, arriving back in
Delhi I had to say goodbye to not only those I spent the trip with, but also friends from
Bangalore, those I've spent the last two months living with and whose company I have greatly enjoyed. I'm now back and set to finish the rest of my time working as a Kid's Activity Leader, and looking forward to the next few weeks in a place I feel at home.