The Silk Road - Return to Ladakh

Inauspicious starts to our trip to Ladakh

Chinese and Indian troops had a stone throwing altercation on the shores of Pangong Tso, the lake that is partly in India and partly in disputed Chinese control after the border war in the 1960's.

This is the region we intend to visit in a couple of weeks. Then I badly stubbed my little toe, broken or bruised the treatment is the same: painkillers and elevated leg position, not ideal for a couple of weeks trekking.

I'm hoping for bruised only, currently it's a blackish colour. Thirdly, our guide Stanzin has emailed that there is trouble again with the Kargil taxi drivers union which could mean we have to reverse our trek route and face high passes at the start, which is more problematic for acclimatisation. Hopefully it will get resolved before next week when we start the trek.

Unexpectedly I'm acting as postman to take some gold and maroon wool cloth to Delhi where eventually it will get picked up and delivered to the Tibetan Karmapa Lama to be used for the seat of his throne. It's from Lama Rigzen, our Tibetan friend who lives in Sheffield, following a meeting they had when the Karmapa was in the U.K. earlier this year.

The Karmapa lives in Dharamsala, northern India, and his representative will come from there to Delhi, in the meantime we'll keep it with Tsering our Ladakhi friend who's currently studying at Delhi university.

The next day we're up at 2.45 for the early morning flight over the greater Himalayas to land at Leh Ladakh where we're greeted by Stanzin, our guide. Landing is always dramatic as the plane descends steeply through the mountains that surround the Leh valley and passes within a few hundred feet of the Spituk monastery perched on top of a rocky outcrop.

A short drive into town then ginger tea with Stanzin under the shade of apricots trees in the garden of the Kang Lha Chen hotel. Stanzin has updates, we can go to the lake so we'll go there first to give my toe time to recover, and the taxi dispute is resolved so our trek itinerary is intact. The Kang Lha Chen is one of the oldest hotels in Leh and just uptown from the shops around Market Street with some ironic shop signs. More Junk Upstairs.

Where exactly are we? Ladakh is at the very top of India sandwiched between Kashmir and Tibet. It's a high altitude desert, sort of an extension of the Tibetan plateau. It has an ancient Tibetan Buddhist culture which is a big part of the attraction.

The first signs of Buddhism in Ladakh go back to the fifth century, the first great wave of monasteries began a thousand years ago when Buddhism was resurgent in nearby Western Tibet. Leh is at an altitude of 3500 metres, almost 12,000 feet, so there's less oxygen and a lightheaded feeling when you move quickly. So you don't. You also drink a lot of water to flush out the carbon dioxide, otherwise it's bad headaches and nausea. The next two days are for taking it slowly.

Read more about Buddhist monasteries and trekking in Ladakh and Zanskar.