Juley!
We are back at SECMOL after a wonderful week of exploring. Our five-day trek took us east to the villages of Relay, Durbik, Tangtse, Shackukul, and finally Pangong Lake, a huge and beautiful saltwater lake that's one-third in India and two-thirds in Tibet! On our first day we climbed to a pass that was near 17,000 feet high and got caught in a quick snowstorm on our way to Relay, a tiny village that isn't accesible by road.
The leaders, students, and our Ladakhi guides and friends split up between three houses in the village and had a riot getting to know the host families, who did not speak English, through all sorts of nonverbal communication.
The hike to Durbik the next day was beautifully sunny and breezy; that night we all stayed together in a large Ladakhi home. A few students who still had energy after the morning trek went on a second hike with Andrew that afternoon. Other students helped make tea momos for our dinner.
In Tangtse we stayed in a simple guesthouse and took our first "showers"--with buckets of cold water--in a few days. The following morning we drove a short distance to our guide Kunzes's family's home in Shachukul and then embarked on a five-hour hike during which we climbed over 2,000 feet and saw some incredible, 360-degree views of snow-capped Himalayan peaks. We spent the afternoon lounging around together, playing cards, eating biscuits and drinking tea; before dinner, three groups left for other nearby houses while six of us stayed put at Kunzes's house.
The following morning we set out at 9 for Pangong Lake. We spent a few hours at the lake, eating lunch and taking lots of pictures. On the way back we stopped at two Buddhist temples and a solar power plant that generates all the power for seven surrounding villages. We then spent a second night with our homestay families in Shackukul.
The leaders, students, and our Ladakhi guides and friends split up between three houses in the village and had a riot getting to know the host families, who did not speak English, through all sorts of nonverbal communication.
The hike to Durbik the next day was beautifully sunny and breezy; that night we all stayed together in a large Ladakhi home. A few students who still had energy after the morning trek went on a second hike with Andrew that afternoon. Other students helped make tea momos for our dinner.
In Tangtse we stayed in a simple guesthouse and took our first "showers"--with buckets of cold water--in a few days. The following morning we drove a short distance to our guide Kunzes's family's home in Shachukul and then embarked on a five-hour hike during which we climbed over 2,000 feet and saw some incredible, 360-degree views of snow-capped Himalayan peaks. We spent the afternoon lounging around together, playing cards, eating biscuits and drinking tea; before dinner, three groups left for other nearby houses while six of us stayed put at Kunzes's house.
The following morning we set out at 9 for Pangong Lake. We spent a few hours at the lake, eating lunch and taking lots of pictures. On the way back we stopped at two Buddhist temples and a solar power plant that generates all the power for seven surrounding villages. We then spent a second night with our homestay families in Shackukul.
On Sunday morning we slowly wound our way down to a mere 11,500 feet to spend a night at the Maha Bodi International Meditation Center just outside Leh. The center has a large, attractive campus with a monastery and nunnery as well as accommodations for guests. Some of us visited the young nuns (ages six to 16) who study and live at the center before dinner. The nuns, who spoke impressive English, had all sorts questions for us! We read and colored with them, and learned a bit about their lives.
After our first dinner together as a group in a few days, we had a group meeting and we leaders were delighted to hear that everyone had enjoyed the trek and the homestays as much as we'd hoped they would. We shared some stories about our homestay families and went over plans for the next few days before heading to bed early.
Monday morning we woke up at 5 to watch the young nuns and monks perform their morning pujas (rituals), hear the abbot of the monastery give a dharma talk, and give meditation a try! The abbot did a fantastic job at explaining the basics of Buddhist practice to our crew. After breakfast we left the center to visit Shey, Ladakh's old capital, and then headed back to SECMOL so that the students could spend the afternoon working on their independent projects, which they'll present to each other and the Ladakhi students on Friday night.
After our first dinner together as a group in a few days, we had a group meeting and we leaders were delighted to hear that everyone had enjoyed the trek and the homestays as much as we'd hoped they would. We shared some stories about our homestay families and went over plans for the next few days before heading to bed early.
Monday morning we woke up at 5 to watch the young nuns and monks perform their morning pujas (rituals), hear the abbot of the monastery give a dharma talk, and give meditation a try! The abbot did a fantastic job at explaining the basics of Buddhist practice to our crew. After breakfast we left the center to visit Shey, Ladakh's old capital, and then headed back to SECMOL so that the students could spend the afternoon working on their independent projects, which they'll present to each other and the Ladakhi students on Friday night.
Everyone is very excited about our upcoming trip to the Nubra Valley. We'll leave Wednesday morning and spend Wednesday and Thursday visiting monasteries and hot springs, checking out Nubra's dramatically different landscape, and with any luck, riding a camel or two! We'll return Friday and have two days back at SECMOL before we head to Delhi Sunday morning. Whew! The trip seems to be going faster every day, and Yale is just around the corner!
Cheers,
Andrew and Joanna
