The "adventure" continues. Actually, there isn't much that is adventurous about my travels. At least not in the traditional sense. No cliff jumping, white water rafting, motorcycle riding. I've been especially unadventurous lately with all of the sitting on my ass with my eyes closed I've been doing. But, I'm doing things my way and enjoying it. I don't feel like any of my days are wasted. It's hard to believe I've been in India for over a month when I look at my schedule of past events. I don't need to see everything I'm realizing. If I did that, I would miss out on many things trying to keep to an itinerary.
So I took off last Thursday on a bus that took me back to the village of Shang. You may remember me mentioning Shang. I stayed there for a while at the end of my trek. Thomas the german meditator, Wangyel the local guide and Mr. Hospitality. I returned there specifically to tell Thomas about the upcoming arrival of the Dalai Lama. I wasn't sure if the information would reach him out where he was staying.
The bus ride was nice. Packed but really friendly. It stopped about 1 km. before Shang, and I had to walk the rest. I stopped at a small man named Gompo's house for tea. He initially didn't like me staying around last time I was here, but has grown to tolerate and even be friendly to me. His children are beautiful and full of little person charm.
After tea, Gompo and I went to the Gompa where Thomas is staying. We sat around drinking more tea and catching up a bit. It's only been a couple of weeks, so there wasn't much to catch up on. Gompo left around 8 and Thomas and I stayed up talking like we usually do. We talk about normal stuff, you know... developing compassion for all beings, realizing emptiness, the importance of offerings to the Buddha, enlightenment. I don't do much talking during these conversations. He knows a lot and I find it nice to just listen and contemplate what he says.
I didn't bring a tent or anything. Just a small bag with a few extra pieces of clothes. I spent the night in one of the small rooms inside the Gompa.
After waking up and taking a cold bath in the nearby stream, I meditated then joined Thomas for tea. Around noon I went for a walk down the valley and had lunch at a parachute tent. Ramen noodles and barley flour. Yum! I came back to the Gompa around 4 and Thomas demonstrated a traditional light offering. We both performed it. I'm not quite clear about the necesity of such practices, but he says they are vital to a good meditation practice. I'll keep an open mind, but remain skeptical. To me, meditation is such a personal thing. No gods, or worshipping. Just learning about myself and trying to train my mind to not be negative.
Thomas is a great cook. I think I said that before. We had dinner, then sat around talking for a few hours. I spent another night inside the Gompa.
In the morning I went to Wangyel's for tea after saying goodbye to Thomas. I watched his son sing and dance to some Ladakhi music. After, I walked down to where the bus stops and had some more tea while waiting. I rode the bus for about an hour then got off and walked a few kilometers to the village of Stakna to visit the monastery there. It was a hot day. The few kilometers took about an hour to walk. The monks in the monastery were doing a large amount of repainting the murals inside the main Gompa. Really beautiful. Really colorful. Visiting Gompas is kind of strange sometimes. In the more popular stops for tourists, I'm just ushered through, look here, look there. I almost feel like I'm being a bit obtrusive. Tourism makes everything so impersonal.
I hitched a ride from a passing cargo truck to the village of Thiksey. The two guys were friendly. Didn't speak any english. We just smiled at eachother in place of any sort of speech. I offered them 10 rupees for the short ride, but they refused. I was surprised at such kindness. I don't know why. I need to stop developing any sort of predjudices and just deal with things as they occur.
I found a place to stay in Thiksey then had some lunch. In the morning I took a walk around the village streets and surrounding buddhist monuments. Most tourists come here to see the enormous monastery that overlooks the village. During the day it's very busy, but as the night closes in the people leave and it gets very quiet. Except for the locals blaring Hindi or Ladakhi pop music on their home stereos. I'm fortunate to not have a time schedule to adhere to. I see many tourists that look so tired.
I had a decent meal for dinner. Paneer Yakhni. I've been eating quite a bit of paneer lately. Delicious stuff. There were only a few other people staying the night in the guest house. The less people there are, the kinder the staff becomes. This isn't a general rule of course, just something I've noticed during my travels.
The next day I attended the morning prayers at the monastery then walked the short distance from Thiksey to Shey. Another small village with a big monastery towering above. There are so many monasteries in Ladakh. In comparison, not nearly as many churches as you can find in the states. They serve a different purpose than churches. More symbolic. Other than a few days per year, most people don't go to the monastery. Only monks and nuns.
There's only one place to stay in Shey. It was nice, and I was the only guest there. Not only that, but almost all of the staff were from Nepal so I got to freshen up on my Nepali. Something, I've had many chances to do in India since my arrival two months ago. A large amount of Nepali people come to India for work.
I spent a few hours walking around the monastery. Above the monastery are the remains of the Royal Families old palace. It's nothing much anymore, but still interested to roam about. Not many other tourists. Very peaceful. In the Gompa was a huge statue of the buddha made of gold and copper. His head was bigger than a van.
For dinner I ate some fried rice at the only restaurant around. Fried rice or chow mein are the only dishes prepared. In the evening, I spent a little time with the guest house staff then went to bed early.
In the morning I was treated to fresh apricots and some chapati and curd. The owner and I talked for a while about buddhist beliefs and the upcoming arrival of the Dalai Lama. I found out that the presence of the Dalai Lama makes many locals uncomfortable. Like Dad is coming to town and knows about all of the wrong things they've been doing in his absence.
Nima, the guest house owner was very kind and gave me a ride back to Leh. I went back to the family house I was staying at before this 5 day excursion. They are so nice, and it's much more pleasant staying with a family as opposed to a normal guest house. The other day I offered them some extra money for tea, but they refused saying that I was part of the family.
Now, it's been a few days since my return to Leh and I'm not sure what I'll be doing next. I have just been spending the days walking the streets and getting to know people around here. It's a great place to settle. The Dalai Lama arrived this morning. Hundreds of locals and tourists crowded the streets to welcome him. The Ladakhis got very dressed up for the occasion and brought all sorts of offerings. It was fun to be in the mix of things. When His Holiness came, everyone forgot about being compassionate for one another and rushed the street. Everyone fighting for a glimpse. It was quite the spectacle. I saw him for about 2 seconds as he drove by in his car. The whole thing lasted only 30 seconds. He's supposed to stick around for about 15 days and give some talks or teachings. I'll probably stick around for whatever happens. I have no problem spending more time around here.
Sorry for the extreme dryness of this journal entry. Not much substance I know. I think my style is much like Hemmingway. Maybe better. Joking of course.
Thanks for reading.
|
