(Leah and I recently returned from a three week trip to India and Nepal. This is the sixth of about 10 daily posts I will do, sharing photos and journal notes I made as we traveled.)
Leh, Ladakh
July 4, 2014
So if you were me, and you got out of bed in the morning and looked out the window and were greeted by the above scene, you'd:
A: Grab a camera and tripod as quickly as possible; and,
B: You'd have a sense the day had great promise.
After a breakfast of chai tea and roti (a pita-like bread that our guest house owner, Pema, bakes fresh every morning,) Leah and I used said promising day to hike up nearby Namgyal Peak. At an elevation of probably 12,500 or 13,000 feet, Namgyal Peak towers above Leh town and is crowned by an ancient palace and monastery, built in the 17th Century.
We were part of a stream of tourist-pilgrims, of sorts: Buddhist monks and nuns who have come to Leh to attend the Dalai Lama's Kalachakra teaching, as well as Tibetans, young European backpackers, and other world citizens who have apparently felt called to be here.
We stood together in awe at the top of the mountain, watching a dramatic thunder storm off in the distance. It was bright and sunny where we were, and monks and other pilgrims used umbrellas for shade, not for rain.
Everyone greeted one-another with a cheery "Julley," as is the local custom, and I came down from the mountain convinced that, no matter what corner of this planet we call home, we have more in common than we sometimes realize.
