Day 3: Of Himalayas, Humility and Hammocks

We start early today - our day promising some awesome things in tow. The first in line is the Khardung La Pass, which is the highest motor-able peak in the world. The whole wide world, y'all! At *just* 5600 m above sea level (the Everest is around 8800 for your reference), it is expected to be freezing cold and extremely windy. And it is. The flimsy sweaters we have on moan as we brave the winds to jump around like monkeys and take snaps of the snow capped peaks surrounding us. Fine. I jump around like a monkey while everybody else maintains inner poise and sips indescribably soothing masala tea.

Aah the peaks. All those poems and books written about how magnificently the Mighty Himalayas tower over you and make you feel humble and awed - they finally make sense. You realize nothing mankind makes can ever compare to this sight. Nature's splendor, the unparalleled elegance and the raw beauty hit you with great force. Time seems to stand still. And you are left speechless. Of course, that may also be because my lips are frozen shut together but I choose to go with the more poetic reason, thank you very much.

With that life changing experience, and with great envy for the people who chose to Bike around Ladakh (we are definitely revisiting this place for a biking road trip, The Husband and I tell each other), we move on down to the other side of the peak. There are no roads of course. One starts feeling very sorry thinking of all the things they've ever put inside a blender. I'm pretty sure all my internal organs have exchanged places. Lunch comes to us in a very surprising form- a sudden camp set up in a lush green valley in the middle of a very brown, sandy desert between the peaks. This beats any restaurant I've ever been to, I tell myself.
We then drive to a stream- surrounded by sparkling, white sand dunes. With charming little bamboo bridges to cross the stream. We go on double humped camel rides*, where a little girl introduces us to the family of camels as we ride along, finally declaring she has decided to marry a camel. True story.

We then move on to the Nubra Valley- known for being picturesque with its variety of flowers and streams during the right season. We are to stay overnight in a camp. And what a camp it is. The trees, the mountains, the tiny stream running along the middle, the tents standing between them - welcoming us into their carpeted interior (with an attached loo - so we don't spoil nature with Her calls, I suppose). And zero cell phone signal. We feel overwhelmed for the second time that day.

As we sit on the hammock outside our tent, right next to the stream, we feel blissfully calm and relaxed. The real world has melted away from our minds. We hold hands and smile into the distance, partly because of our surroundings, partly because we are thinking about how we pretended, just a few minutes before, that the orb like lamps outside the tents were crystal balls and that we could see the future.

*No camels were harmed from overload during the making of these logs. Really. We checked as soon as we got down.

Day 2: Of Leh, Lamas and Losers

One thing I forget to mention from yesterday is that its sunny here. As in you-will-get-burnt-crisp-if-you-step-out sunny. The cool winds that accompany the sunshine is of little use inside the rooms at night, especially with the lack of fans. You tend to start comparing it to low voltage ridden Chennai rooms.
After a night of 'Oh God, Why?' (Nights here are from 8:30pm to 4:30am) , we get ready to look around Leh. 
We first visit a 15th century monastery, which has a huge statue of Buddha, and shrines of multiple Gods. I have always thought of Buddhism as a simplistic religion, sans rituals and all. So seeing Gods of Love, Anger and Peace and observing different rituals pertaining to them seem very funny. Of course, my knowledge of Buddhism stems from my 8th standard history textbook, so who am I to say anything.
We come out thinking cool place, not sensing the impending whirlwind of monasteries.
There's nothing much to write home about today. There are more monasteries, more stupas, and palaces- not the Disney kinds, of course. They're all built from sand and stones and I could picture in my head how Fred Flintstones must have helped built it with his dino crane. The places themselves are kind of repetitive, but the view of the mountains and the surrounding houses from each is unique and beautiful.
The driver tells us about the whole Lama system. Sounds very much like Harry Potter - the chosen one and all that. This,naturally prompts The Husband to continuously sing 'The Llama Song' (Please do YouTube it if you haven't listened to it already), sending me into a fit of giggles.
We return to our temporary home in the early evening and soon get bored. When we discover a Carrom Board. And so it begins. The name calling (Fraud!), the accusations (Fluke!), the taunting and the singing (We are the championsss, you are the losersss). Brings back memories of the old work place. 
After a couple of hours of calling each other loser, we retire to bed with a smile on our faces, looking forward to lesser monasteries the next day. But this time, with more cold air blowing through the room - thanks to the wide open windows.

Day 1: Of Wonder, Valleys and Vertin*

The rest of the night goes without event, and we board the plane to Leh. Our worries of not being able to climb up mountains, and of rolling downwards to Chennai again are slightly put to ease by the demographic around us.

As Leh nears, we oooh and aaah at the vast and sandy mountains, peppered with greenery and tiny lakes here and there. The vast stretches of sandy, rocky mountains with little, beautiful green valleys are breathtaking. Its a sight one can never really imagine, or think even exists. The Leh airport is a quaint little place, with large army planes looming around. We are greeted by our trip mates- a family of three, who seem quite nice and normal. Plus one of them had a Wodehouse in their hand. I tell The Husband that I'm already liking these people.
Now here is where I stop to tell you - we were not particularly thrilled about going on a group tour. Too much socializing required, we told each other. 
But now, after coming to our beautiful guest house, we realize that we have immense entertainment all around us. 
As is our ritual, we christen everybody with what we think they ought to be named.
And so, Longbottom tells everybody who listens they're anniversary is coming up. Female WeAreOne nods while holding on to t WeAreOne, as if scared he'll get lost within the mountains. The Lolly Lickers Club discusses how awesome the trip is going to be. And us? We're those anti social people from *gasp* Chennai who keep saying something in Tamil and giggling. Aah the joy of no one else knowing your tongue.
We are warned to stay indoors and rest, till our bodies get accustomed to the thin air and the high altitude. You may get dizzy, they say. And puke. So that very evening, while the rest of us have heroically managed to stay alive, Longbottom continuously tells everyone how she is unable to talk. Sense the irony.  The Lolly Lickers are actually victims to the valleys. And the WeAreOnes are still stuck to one another, maybe trying collective breathing.
We go for a walk, realize since we're already filled with air, the thin air does not affect us. Ha! Take that you size zero flaunters!
The hill peaks around us, the tiny town, the birds, the trees, the clear, starry skies (and for real this time, not just in my head) - what a contrast to droll airport. Makes it totally worth the ordeals we faced the previous day.

*Vertin is a tablet one takes for dizziness

Day 0: Of Men, Morons and Machines

Lesson learnt- Never underestimate the Bangalore Traffic. It has a life and purpose of its own- mostly to screw up your life and purpose.
We arrive 5 minutes after the checkin close, and plead with an airline executive, who I guess had the same purpose as our friend, the Traffic.
They finally give in, and send us running to the flight, when we realize many more people are rushing after us. You really are a Bee with an Itch, Madam Airline Executive. 
After two hours of snoozing in the plane, we finally reach a sultry Delhi at midnight, happy the worst of the trip is already behind us.
We park ourselves in the under-furnished waiting room, when the husband decides to get himself stuck outside the security pass, without a copy of the ticket. Nature's calls can be quite demanding, after all.
While debating about what I do with my luggage, my phone decides to take a vacation by itself, and freezes on me.
After rummaging around for an old, barely working phone and deciding to abandon my luggage for like a nanosecond  so I can be The husband's Knight, I get into an elevator. I press the floor number, stand facing the door, do the boogie woogie - you know, standard things you do in an elevator, when the door opens. And I see a wall. And get extremely confused - 2 am can be a difficult time for all of us. I close the elevator, press for another floor, and behold - the elevator doesn't work.
Maybe there is an All Machines Meet going on somewhere and they've all decided to abandon me. I don't know. So I stand there, pressing random buttons, looking for an emergency phone, and staring into the security camera. Who knows, maybe somebody was watching. Apparently not - or maybe the camera was in the meet too, jeering, rubbing its hands together and giving a high pitched, evil laugh.
They say your life flashes before your eyes when you realize you are stranded alone on an island- not knowing if you will survive or not. They are wrong. It happens when you get stuck in an elevator at 2am in an airport - with no cell phone signal. I am not exaggerating. Even Tom Hanks had a football to talk to!
I keep pressing the alarm button, and after an eternity (which essentially was 10 whole minutes), the elevator starts moving. Guess the Machines have had their fun. I can feel bright light again, the birds start chirping, there's triumphant music running in the background. I wonder who will play me in the movie they make based on my story. I see the Husband waiting outside security. I run towards him (ok fine, I walked very slightly faster), get him past security, and smile at him, my new born love for life pouring out with it- when he gruffly asks 'What took you so long?