Over the Khardung La to Nubra Valley

September 14 and 15 Luke is going to blog about the 2 days and 1 night that we had in Nubra Valley. This is good because I laid down for the entire 5 hours home, except when we stopped; then I would fall out of the jeep and drink a few sips of tea, sometimes pose for photos and smile, and then look for a bathroom. Bathroom, it is such a nice word and it conjures up the image of an actual toilet, but ahhh, here is where you are so wrong my dear friends and readers. I was immensely gratefully to have 3 walls and door on my bathroom during this trip. A clean to cleanish floor around the hole in the center of the room was a like going it alone in a game of Euchre and earning your 4 points. On second thought, it is better than even this example. Since we are going to be making this trip together, we may have to toughen you up a little, either that or you may want to bow out now. No hard feelings on our end (giggle). Besides, I have to imagine that these situations must be burning through years of karma for us, and the good Lord knows, when you gotta go, you gotta go. I guess that just about covers it, so moving on then...

Luke adds:
Ever since we started planing this trip, I was facinated by the high passes in this region.  Outside of Tibet, the highest motorable passes in the world are getting into and out of Ladakh.  Our chance to go over the Khardung La to the Nubra Valley to the north wasn't to be missed.  You can see the road from town zig-zaging it's way up the mountains above until it dissapears into the snowcapped peaks.
We started out by jeep early in the morning since the pass is only open to north-bound traffic from dawn to 1pm as many parts of the road are only a car-width wide.  Our travel companions were Tindle (a Tibetan living in Dharmasala, India) and Sung-Mi (from Korea).  We had a beautiful sunny day, and I burned through a couple hundered photos before we even hit the top of the pass!  After passing the Army checkpoint to show our passports and permits (you need permits since this is a sensitive border region between Pakistan & China) we zigged and zagged our way to 5359 meters (17,582 ft).  The pass itself is cold, muddy and covered in prayer flags.  After a stop to take photos, have some chai and make use of the frozen toilets, we headed off the other side towards the Nubra Valley.
In the town of Diskit we stopped to visit the Gompa there.  They are building a massive Buddha statue on the hilltop next to the Gompa which is several stories tall.  Since it was still under construction, we got to climb up inside and see the rooms in which all the prayers are stored.  Tindle was great to have along since he could chat with the monks and translate for us.  We also got to visit the house that is used by the Dalai Lama and Karmapa then they come to visit - which it turns out was soon.  The Karmapa was going to be there the next day!  Everything was being cleaned and decorated in preparation for his visit, and all the local people had come out to help.  It was beautiful to see a whole crowd of villagers sweeping and putting a fresh coat of whitewash on the stones that line the road.
After some dinner, we found a sweet guesthouse in the village of Hunder which was clean and comfortable.  Since Nichole wasn't feeling well the next morning, she stayed back with the kind old Ladaki lady who ran the guesthouse and got a hot shower (just with bucket hot water) and some extra rest.  Tindle, Sung-Mi & I headed out to the sand dunes to see if we could find some camels to ride.  Indeed there are some 2-humped camels left over from the days of the silk road and we got to take a short safari into the dunes surrounded by the high snow-capped peaks of the Himalaya.  After about 30 minutes, I can safely say, I wouldn't want to cross a continent on the back of a camel.

Leaving Leh behind

traffic jam?

oncoming Goods Carrier

somehow we always manage

a last view of the road behind us and the Indus valley below

Prayer flags on the summit of Khardung La

high altitude smiles

Glaciers for Giff

The Border Roads Organization has signs like this all over the place

looking back up the north side of Khardung La

typical flow of traffic

Three eras of energy - yak dung pats, wood & solar

The Nubra Valley comes into view

Nubra river

Looking north down the Nubra Valley

Sand dunes between Diskit & Hunder

The royal residence at Diskit

new Buddha

bundles of prayers inside the Buddha

workers grinding difference spices and incense to go inside the Buddha

Luke spinning prayer wheels at Diskit Monastery

monks raising a prayer pole in Diskit Monastery

Nichole looking so beautiful even though she wasn't feeling so great

inside the kitchen at diskit monastery

tasty homemade bread for breakfast

Camels!

Aren't we handsome? The camels I mean.