It’s India!

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Sept 9, 2013        Spiti adventure continues…on to Lahaul, India

After a jaunty jiggly jeep ride of over 10 hours from Kaza back through the magnificent giant boulder rubble of Spiti Valley, Kunzum-la Pass (this time populated by yaks grazing and loafing!) and getting stuck fording a glacial melt waterfall that flooded the rocky road, we arrived in Keylong, Lahaul.

Keylong will be home base as I travel to visit Kardang, Guru Ghantal, Shashur, and Tayul Monasteries, as well as Phakba/Triloknath and Markula Devi temples.

View of farms in early morning Spiti Valley, en route to Keylong, Lahaul
View of farmland in early morning Spiti Valley, en route to Keylong, Lahaul
Spiti Valley in the marbleized lighting of morning sun, India
Spiti Valley in the marbled early morning sun. As dry and desolate as Spiti may seem, there is always the play of light and colorful vistas
Approaching the stupas of Kunzum la pass, where this time there was a herd of yak grazing and resting. Glaciers can be seen at above left.
Approaching the stupas of Kunzum la pass, the high point of the road at about 15000 ft altitude. This time there was a herd of yak grazing and resting. Glaciers can be seen within relatively close range.
Approaching the stupas of Kunzum la pass, where this time there was a herd of yak grazing and resting. Glaciers can be seen at above left.
Kunzum la pass, where I circumambulated the stupas and got a close look at yaks gathered there. Glaciers can be seen at above left.
Herd of yaks at Kunzum la pass, at about 15000 feet altitude, Spiti Valley
Herd of yaks dotting Kunzum la pass, at about 15000 feet altitude, the highest point of the road through Spiti Valley
Yak grazing at Kunzum la pass, Spiti Valley
Yak grazing, this one looks like he’s molting or has been shaved
Yaks grazing and resting at Kunzum la pass, Spiti, India
Yaks grazing and resting at Kunzum la pass, seen en route from Spiti to Lahaul
Stupas at Kunzum la pass, at about 15000 feet altitude, Spiti Valley, India
Tibetan Buddhist stupas at Kunzum la pass, monuments in honor of this high point of the road through Spiti Valley
Glacial melt streams on the roadside, Spiti, India
At this time of year in September, there are streams of glacial melt such as this one which frequently cross the road. They can be as small as trickles or as large as river flows, and it’s wise to travel as much as possible in the morning before the hot afternoon sun increases the flow of these waters that you have to cross with your vehicle.
Huge boulder piles along the road from Kaza, Spiti, to Keylong, Lahaul
Huge boulder piles along the road from Kaza, Spiti, to Keylong, Lahaul. It’s difficult to judge the monumental scale from just a photo, but to give you an idea, this foreground rock is as tall as a person.
Huge boulder piles along the road from Kaza, Spiti, to Keylong, Lahaul
Huge boulder piles along the road from Kaza, Spiti, to Keylong, Lahaul

Magnificent and desolate…

Our jeep on the road through the dry desert terrain of Spiti Valley, India
Our jeep on the road through the dry desert terrain of Spiti Valley, India

Once you experience the vast scale of the Himalayas, you can readily understand why the environment induces existential concerns and spiritual development. There’s nothing like realizing our small duration as human beings in the context of gigantic geological time and space, and beyond this, the grand cosmos to put human desires and expectations into a completely different focus.

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A large Tibetan Buddhist stupa is dwarfed by the magnificent scale of the Himalayan mountains
A large Tibetan Buddhist stupa is dwarfed by the magnificent scale of the Himalayan mountains

Here is our jeep stuck on rocks while attempting to ford the rapidly flowing waterfall that flooded the road in the afternoon. We had patiently waited while the vehicle before us was stuck and finally managed to get out. In that 45 minutes or so, unfortunately, the water flow started increasing as the hot afternoon sun melted more glaciers! We got out eventually though with the help of others waiting to pass, including military men and a monk who moved earth and rubble, pushed and rocked the car, as our driver revved forward.

Jeep stuck on rocks while attempting to ford rapidly flowing waterfall, Spiti Valley, India
Our jeep stuck on rocks while attempting to ford the rapidly flowing waterfall that floods the road in the afternoon in Spiti Valley.
Rapidly flowing waterfall in the afternoon glacial melt, which creates a river across the road, Spiti Valley, India
The said rapidly flowing waterfall which created a river across the road, Spiti Valley, India

In contrast, as you approach and enter Lahaul Valley, high waterfalls are plenty but do not flood the roads. Lahaul is also a welcoming green landscape with grass, shrubbery, trees, and evergreens. The region is also well known for its delicious potatoes, as well as crops of barley, peas, cabbage, apple and other fruit orchards. Even here in high altitude, it is a heartland for growing food to be transported throughout India.

High waterfall, Lahaul Valley
One sees many high waterfalls throughout the more verdant Lahaul Valley

With arrival in Keylong, Lahaul, in late afternoon we spent the rest of the day trying to get some logistics done.  For my part, it was to get (yet another) SIM card that will get a cell signal here in the high Himalayas, and hopefully maintain a signal when I later travel to Ladakh further north.  After the last week in Kaza, Spiti, without any cell phone coverage by my existing SIM card to communicate with family or arrange meetings or call for travel, etc., I decided to get another with a different carrier. Here in India, there is no single carrier that can provide national coverage, so one gets used to swapping out SIM cards and switching providers as the need arises when you travel from area to area. I have three SIMs now. The last one took so long to do—don’t ask the maddening details about how it took well over two hours to buy the SIM in one place and take it to another place to cut down. Around here you get used to relatively simple things taking an inordinate amount of time to accomplish, in this case, out of lack of coordination and know-how on merchants’ part. I’ve learned to smile a lot, shake my head, and say to myself, “It’s India…” Trust me, even Indians say this!

I never got to treat my very dry leather shoes as I had promised myself. They look like they’re going to crack from the dust-pounding they get in this high desert climate and unpaved roads.  Nor did I get to download from the internet café the software plug-in I desperately need to manage my photographs. I couldn’t do it in Spiti because my download was too big for the internet café’s monthly ration of data permitted. Who knew an internet cafe would be rationed for data?! But, ok, lack of resources…I shook my head and smiled, it’s India.

But what India lacks, it definitely makes up for in its sublime experiences!

View of Keylong nestled in the Bhagha River Valley, Lahaul
View of Keylong nestled in the Bhagha River Valley, Lahaul

Which brings me to Lahaul, also known by Buddhists as Garsha Khandroling, a region with a deep history of highly realized yogis.  These are the practitioners who spend many years or decades in seclusion meditating in caves.  You may have heard about adepts who can demonstrate astounding practices of mind over matter, such as levitate or dry wet sheets in the snow with heat generated from their bodies, confounding the scientists who studied this phenomena.  Or you may have heard of Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo, the American Tibetan Buddhist nun and her Cave in the Snow. In any case, more on Garsha in the next post…

All photos © 2013, Eva Lee.

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