Leh, Ladakh

My friend, Jo, and I are in a Tibetan town called Leh in Ladakh which is in the eastern part of Jammu and Kashmir province, very near the Tibetan border. It's incredible how different the scenery and culture are to the Kashmir valley. It's very dry and barren here apart from the area around the Indus river and it's tributaries, where there are some poplar trees and fields of barley and vegetables. Whenever you look up, there are vast mountains of brown earth, some in the distance covered in snow. It's a harsh environment and I'm finding it hard to get used to after the lush green of the Kashmir valley. I'm certainly not in love with the scenery or the town, which I'm finding is giving me flashbacks of some of the worst things from China (the stench of really horrible toilets for example). I'm sure it's very un-pc to mention this but Jo and I have both noticed huge similarities between the Tibetan culture and the Chinese one. It's very difficult to believe that you are in India here.
I miss the warmth amd hospitality of the people in Kashmir. I will always big up that aspect of muslim culture- I truly felt like a member of the family at Himalaya House. I think Kashmir might be my spirtual home!
My camera finally stopped working just before I left Pahalgam which was sad. Simon gave it to me for Christmas a few years ago and it's been everywhere with me since and given me some great photos and memories. I will give it a proper send-off when I can face it. I'm also inspired now to buy a new one and maybe something more advanced than a point and shoot, so if anyone has any recommendations, please share. Until I get a new one, I'll be nicking Jo's and putting them on the blog and, you'll all be overjoyed to hear, that I'm planning to paint a picture of Ladakh in words in the form of a poem!!
We're returning to Delhi on Friday for some heat, decent beer and partying.

3 day trek with Nat and Ari

These are some of my favourite photos of a 3 day trek I did with a couple of lovely Canadian kids I met in Pahalgam, Nat and Ari.
Nat and Ari go forth.

A gypsy summer house.

Ramzan saves Nat's life again.

Shepherd woman.

Survivor!

Gypsy men bringing home the horses.

Crazy village game- advanced see-saw.

In the morning we woke up to an inch of snow- it was COLD!

One day trek- near Pahalgam, Kashmir

These pictures are from a one day trek I did near Pahalgam in Kashmir. The photos are not mine but borrowed from one of the guys I went up the mountain with, Tomer, who took some really nice ones. The view from the top (about 4000 m) was amazing, one of the most beautiful I've ever seen. 180 degrees of snow capped mountains, blue sky and wild flowers everywhere.

5 day Trek in Himachal Pradesh

Dad and I and our guide and porters, Mr Tapa, Ashok and Pippen on the last day of a 5 day/ 4 night trek. It was hard going in places and the altitude affected us both but it was great fun.

Me at the snowline trying to look cool while thinking, 'How the hell am I going to get back down again?!'

These photos are for my friend Mary, who loves irises. They were growing wild all over the mountainside.

Mr Tapa cooks up another storm.

Pippen spots a flying roti!

Spitting cobra rock.

Mr Tapa carried this chicken, alive, for at least 6 hours of trekking, up hill and down dale!!

Shiva temple at our first campsite.

Flour mill

Pahalgam, Kashmir and surrounds

Check out the sadhu shed (sadhus are the Hindu holy men with little or no clothing and who smoke a lot of grass)

Gypsy caravan

Dad with Gulam and Ballee.

Chai stall on the road to Kashmir