Keylong

I felt that after leaving Kinnaur I will come to something completely different, and I was right. After getting a permit in Reckong Peo to go along the Inner Line, which is in fact the Tibetan border, I took off with a bus to Nako. And man, it all changed as we came down to the river. The green was all gone, there were just huge piles of rocks and then it was a great desert, which reminded me of Dead Sea and Arava. We arrived at Nako, and as I came out of the bus I just said 'Wow' because that is all I could say. It was a desert all right, but in incredible scales, with mountains stuck everywhere with no order as like God went wild with his imagination and just threw them over like some toys. Not only the landscape changed, the villages also. The houses were in Tibetan style - made of mud, painted in white, with flags and piles of straws on the roof.














There was also a small lake by the village. I felt really strange in Spiti, it was sad and happy, empty and full at the same time. The weather was weird also, cold wind blowing and the sun hitting hard, the air was dry. I stayed there 3 days, wandering around. Then I made my way to Tabo, which had an old monastery, 1000 years old, which was built during one night as the legend says. It had some locked rooms, which one of the monks has opened, and there were beatiful wall paintings of boddhisatvas, animals, deities, earth, heaven and hell and so on.



















The people in Spiti are Buddhist, they're modest and friendly, although their life isn't simple. One of the villagers told me that his religion was kindness, and I was really amazed by this. They put white rocks on slopes of the mountains, so one can see from far away the 'Om Mani Padme Hum' (May all beings be happy). From Tabo, I made a small trek to Dhankar monastery, empty of tourists and enjoyed a Tibetan village homestay. Then, to Kaza, the administrative center of Spiti, packed with tourists, hotels and restaurants. There was a festival when I arrived, the Dhalai Lama's birthday, so the monks and the villagers went on procession from the monastery to the village and then made a dance show.














I was really tired of the noise. There wasn't much to do in Kaza, I had a ride to the Ki monastery, and then walked to Kibber, a quiet village, where I spent 3 days.














There I met a Spanish guy, Florean, and we made a little trek together, through the remote villages of Gete, Tashidang, Langza and Komic and then back to Kaza. He was really into all the shamanic stuff, so travelling with him was like being in one of Castaneda's stories. He was a great guy and we had a good time together. The people in the villages were beatiful, kind and helpful, the food was delicious and gave us great energy for the walk. We came down to Kaza after 2 days, I rested for another day and then took the 4:30 am bus, which dropped me at Kunzum Pass, from where I walked 9 km to Chandra Tal, 'Moon Lake'. The weather was cold and foggy, rain started as I was walking. There were tents by the lake, I stayed for 2 nights, happily wrapped in 3 blankets.














Today morning I left, made my way down to Batal, cold wind blowing full power in my face. I was very lucky to catch the Manali bus that was about to leave, so I jumped for 3 hours on the back seat, and got off at Gramhoo, on the road to Leh. Then I hitchhiked and had a great ride in a truck driven by a Sikh guy, wearing a turban and uniform. The road became better, the truck was flying all the way to Keylong and I watched the green trees on the mountains. It was nice seeing them again. Leh is 2 days away, I'll do my best to enjoy this long ride.