The First Two Days in Leh, India

Yesterday, I knew Leh, India was going to be amazing when I saw the following out the airplane window:

The Himalayas.

One of many settled valleys along the snow fed rivers.

A settlement outside of Leh.

After nearly scraping the top of a mountain, the plane banked hard left and started it’s final approach into the airport. This road must go to nowhere.

Leh town is 3505m high, and is the largest of many small towns in the mountainous region of Ladakh in northern India. The region gets 300 days of sunshine a year and as much rain as a desert. It’s full of active old-school Buddhist monasteries. During the winter months, the area is generally inaccessible by road.

Tonight is our second night here, and I’m ill-prepared in the clothes department. Our budget room is spacious but freezing. It has no hot water except that delivered by bucket by the old, leather-faced proprietress named Dolma. But I am in awe of this place. The moment we stepped out of the plane, I could tell this place was special. The air was crisp and clean, the colors more vibrant, a greater sense of austerity and peace. These days, Leh is a tourist town. That is obvious. But that something special hasn’t been crushed under the weight of trekkers, backpackers, and casual place gawkers like me. People here either look like beautiful strong featured Tibetans or more Indian. Most are generally smiling and friendly. Many talk and sing to themselves as they go about their work or walk along the road. It is happy here.

J. and I got here right after the tourist season ended. We missed polo matches and archery, but we avoided the crowds. Room rates have plummeted too. Our simple double is 300Rs($7) a night. When we first landed, Dolma suggested we take a rest to acclimate to the high altitude. This was a good idea anyway as we had only slept 3 hours that night. Just laying in bed we had shortness of breath. After a nap, we took a stroll around town to get our bearings. The main part of town is only 2km across, so it’s very walkable. Many of the paths between buildings are too narrow for cars anyway. Our first stop was a place called Leh View Restaurant to get lunch.

Our lunch: Aloo Gobi, Vegetable Kufka, butter and plain naan, coffee, and lemon water. Cost: 200Rs($4.50)

The view from the rooftop dining area was breathtaking. The weather was perfect, if not a little on the cool side. My view looked up the hill to Leh Palace and Namgyal Tsemo Gompa.

In the other direction was a panoramic view of the valley, including this large mosque.

We also spotted a smaller hill on the edge of town with a crumbling structure on top. We decided to head there after lunch. We weren’t quite ready to climb the main hill.

Chairs outside the bathroom area of the restaurant. The green tint comes from a skylight.

Heading to the mystery structure on the hill, we got our first taste of town. It’s a very old feeling place, full of crumbling earthen brick and timber buildings, shops, and eateries. The homes around town are of the same earthen brick or concrete style. It makes the place feel like a cross between Santa Fe, Tibet, and a farm.

We got some sweets from this shop. Pictured are jalebis. We have yet to try these syrup-dipped fried batter treats that Lonely Planet seems to mention all the time. We did get some good barfi though.

Small produce shop.

Some walls made from sun dried mud bricks held together with mud mortar. Notice drain with water? All of Leh is irrigated with channels like this. Free water from the mountains.

At the base of the hill, we saw this great view of the mountains and a stray cow eating newspaper.

To the left was one of many weathered stupas.

An old cemetery as seen from the hill.

Farmers threshing.

From our vantage on the hill, we scoped out our destination for the next day: Leh Palace.

After the hill, we walked to the guesthouse and took a nap until dinner time. We chose a recommended Tibetan restaurant called Tenzin Dickey Tibetan. It was family run. The husband cooked in the back, often among tall flames. The wife took orders and prepared ingredients. The son and daughter took and delivered orders.

Our meal: momo (dumpling) soup, garlic potatoes, fried cheese and potatoe momos. The last image was our breakfast the following day. The soup had a wonderful ginger flavor, the potatoes were the smoothest texture and full of sharp garlic and saucy flavor. The fried momos were warm and filling. Our meal cost 170Rs($4).

After dinner, we walked home. We had forgotten the flashlight, and Leh doesn’t have streetlights. In the darkness, we went up a street the had a torrent of ice cold water. J. got her socks wet. The dark street leading to the guesthouse was only illuminated by passing cars. There were cows on it that we tried not to bump into in the darkness. During one car passing, we saw that two cows had headed down the very path we needed to take. It was narrow and dark. Luckily, I had brought my iPod. I used the screen as a dim flashlight. It was just enough to light our way and see the ghostly, glowing eyes of the cows as they squeezed passed us in the night. Back in our room, we layered our clothes and climbed under shaggy, synthetic fur blankets. It was a chilly night. I had trouble sleeping because my double-socked feet kept slipping outside the covers.

We woke up early and walked to breakfast at a place nearby called Gesmo Restaurant. We ordered two different egg, potato, and toast combinations. Each dish was 65Rs ($1.50), delicious, and filling. The large wheat rolls were baked on the premises. Well fed, it was time to walk.

Leh has an abundance of hand-painted signs.

They make the place feel a little like Mexico.

It also has numerous stray cows wandering the street. They are hilarious, eating trash, avoiding cars, depositing manure on the road, startling you at night on a footpath.

It seems like everywhere we walked in town had a cow walking around.

A few of Leh’s stray cows.

Tibetan bread and trees.

Narrow street and sheep.

Walking through the crumbling neighborhood on the edge of the hill.

A cow and a dog. There are a lot of stray dogs, but they are almost always sleeping.

There is a limitless amount of cool old doors around town.

Some more doors.

Prayer flags on the roof of a house. Himalayas in the background.

Clockwise: Grass and twig insulation of the roof, door blocked by stones, window frame, drain spout.

J. on the trail and prayer flags billowing in front of Namgyal Tsemo Gompa.

A long strand of flags spanning the gompa and a neighboring peak. So beautiful.

Me, sitting in the shade of prayer flags.

Views.

All of the gates were locked at the top, and there was no monk to be found. We weren’t able to get inside the gompa, so we climbed around it. A pack of donkeys was wandering up the hill. The air was clean and crisp. The sun was bright. It was dusty. We descended.

Chickens and eggs for sale.

Clockwise: the dusty polo grounds, decorated truck, flowers, sleeping dogs.

Lady of Leh. People are either camera shy or annoyed, so it will be harder to take people photos here. Telephoto time!

Men of Leh.

For lunch we had India food again. It was also good. For desert, I found a shed sized storefront with a man sitting inside. He sold individual cigarettes and paan.

Paan Mitha (sweet paan).

Paan is a fragrant mixture of mildly narcotic betel nut, lime paste, spices, and condiments wrapped in an edible paan leaf. There is also a tobacco variety. Paan is responsible for all the red spit stains all over India. We paid the man 17Rs and jammed the large packets into our mouths. We weren’t sure if we were supposed to chew it and swallow the juice, so we just let it sit there. I found the flavor to be minty and delicious. J. was disgusted by the thing. Tomorrow, I will eat it the right way.

Tonight I will go to bed wearing three shirts and a jacket. I need my sleep; tomorrow will be a long day.