India Part 4 - Ladakh - Pangong Lake Trip

Our next jeep-trip in Ladakh was an overnight stay Pangong Lake and we shared the jeep with 2 Italian Ladies.  The condition of the road was shocking in places and it was a much scarier experience.  We also had rain and low cloud just to add to the fun!  The landscape was quite different to that on the Nubra Valley trip and we saw lots of beautiful wild flowers and more animals, including horses, yaks and marmots.

Road repairs - Ladakh style

Our basic home stay

Stunning Pangong Lake

Very cute marmot

India Part 3 - Ladakh - Nubra Valley Trip

During our trip to Ladakh we went on a 2 night jeep-trip to the Nubra Valley with Craig from London and Barbara from Switzerland.  The road was pretty terrible in places and it took all day to raech our destination but we had a great driver and glorious weather.  On the way there and back we went to the highest driveable pass in the world at over 5000 metres.  The scenery on this trip was unbelievable and we couldn't believe that people live in such remote places that are completely cut off for most of the year because of the snow.

Highest driveable pass (allegedly!)

At the top of the pass

At the top of the pass - surprisingly warm

All along the roads in Ladakh they have funny road signs - this one was the most sexist!

One the first night we stayed the night in Tur Tuk, a Muslim village only 7km from the Pakistan border.  The village was in Pakistan until 1971.  The road here was only opened to tourists 2 years ago and the villagers were still quite shy but really friendly.  The village was fascinating and surrounding landscape was amazing.  I wish we could have stayed longer.  We also saw a few people here with very fair skin, freckles and brown hair, which is very unusual in India.

On the second night we slept in a very posh tent, which even had a flushing toilet, in Hundar.  The village and surrounding landscape was beautiful and once again we wished we could have stayed longer.

India Part 2 - Ladakh

After leaving Agra we got the train to Delhi and then we flew to the very north east of India to Leh, the capital of Ladakh.  In August and September most of India is experiencing the monsoon, so we decided to focus on areas that weren't too hot and/or wet.  Ladakh is next to turbulent Kashmir but it's a safe and stunning place to visit.  Leh is above 3000 metres and surrounded by huge mountains so the flight was pretty spectacular.  Due to the high altitude it took us a few days to get used to the lack of oxygen and we suffered from all sorts of side effects including loss of appetite, headaches and lethargy, however it was all worth it as the landscape in Ladakh is mind blowing.  The air is also so crisp and clean (i.e. unpolluted) that the sky looks very different and much bluer than anywhere else that we've every been

Ladakh is a Buddhist area and there are many Tibetan people here who fled from Tibet in 1959.  There are numerous ancient fortified monasteries clinging onto the sides of mountains, which adds to the beauty of the landscape.

Likir Gompa

Likir Gompa

Ancient Basgo Gompa

We went to a Gompa in a nearby village and watched part of an all-day Buddhist festival with masked dancers.  The monks play the music and perform the dances in elaborate and colourful costumes.

Striking hat

Traditional shoes

During our stay here the Dalai Lama was also visiting the area and we were lucky enough to see him.

Crowds gathered to see and hear the Dalai Lama

Happy Dalai Lama pilgrim

The Holiest of Holies

India Part 1 - Varanasi and Agra

We walked into India from Nepal on 18th August.  The border crossing at Sunauli was very laid back and we had to seek-out the immigration offices on both sides of the border in order to get our passports stamped.   We then got a crowded local bus to Gorakpur train station and were met by thousands of people that looked like refugees sitting and sleeping on the fly infested platforms.  Welcome to India we both thought!!!  We got on our train, lay down on our comfy beds and were blasted with lovely aircon and then at 10pm we arrived in Varanasi.  We got a tuk tuk to the hotel and the tuk tuk driver led us down a maze of  unlit, ancient, narrow, cobbled streets full of sleeping people, cows and cow pats.  We were totally lost and worried about where the driver was taking us but he finally led us to the hotel and we both felt relieved.

Varanasi is a very holy place that's full of history.  It's wonderful, colourful, crazy, filthy, at times heartbreaking.  It's a great place to just sit and let your senses be overwhelmed.  The place has a party atmosphere due to all the happy pilgrims that visit here to bathe in the holy Ganges river.  They also have the famous burning Ghats to cremate the dead and it was fascinating to learn how they do this and observe the goings on.    It was like being transported back to the dark ages.

A man attending a cremation having all his hair removed

An actual snake-charmer

The nightly light and dance performance on the bank of the Ganges

Some of the thousands of joyous orange-clad pilgrims

Next we got the overnight train to Agra to visit the Taj Mahal.  We loved it and thought it was truly beautiful.

A romantic sunset boat ride