The bus ride to Spiti Valley was bumpy, dusty and amazing. The scenery we saw as we wound our way up, over and down the Himalayas was indescribably beautiful. I must have said ‘wow’ a thousand times! For the first three hours, the bus was packed full and we were crammed in – we were lucky enough to have a window and middle seat (yes, in India some of the buses have middle seats- just like a 747). Our knees touched the seat in front of us. The ride was made much more pleasant by the fact that apparently there were Indian comedians on board…about every 5 minutes or so someone would say something in Hindi pretty loudly and then the entire bus would start laughing. It was hysterical. We had no idea what was being said, but their laughter was contagious. So, we laughed and bounced our way up the Rohtang Pass. More than half the bus got off there, so the remaining 7 hours was much more comfortable!
After three hours with no stop, my bladder was about to burst, so I asked the driver if he could pull over. On this journey, I’ve gotten accustomed to using the bathroom in the great wide open. I jumped off the bus, ran towards the back and dropped my pants just behind the bus, out of view to anyone who might want to peak out the back window as there were no rocks, trees, etc. for me to hide behind! What I didn’t realize is that the entire bus also had to use the restroom. It was kind of embarrassing to spend 4 more hours on a bus full of men who had seen my white ass. Better luck peeing outside next time Jamie!
We finally arrived in Kaza when the real fun began – altitude sickness. I had a slight headache for the majority of the ride as we ascended and descended pretty quickly. Kaza is 3740m high and the fact that my body is used to sea level caught up with me quickly and painfully! I went to bed at 5 PM and didn’t wake up until 10 AM the next morning. It was horrible. Gundula is an angel for taking care of me!
On the 4th, we made our way to Kibber, about 4100m high with a population of less than 350. As we walked around, I noticed that the children all looked malnourished – glassy eyed, poor skin, etc. There seems to also be a lot of inbreeding going on. We saw three girls using down electrical lines as a swing and a lot of boys riding and hitting donkeys. It’s another world up there. Nevertheless, we received the biggest smiles imaginable. We had dinner with a French man, a German man, an Austrian guy, a girl from Uruguay and another girl from the States. To celebrate the 4th of July, we split a Kit Kat bar seven ways.
After dinner, the scariest night of my life began. Gundula and I were the only two staying at our guesthouse. There was no power (they sometimes get power for a few hours every other day, but we hit on an off day) so we sat in the room and read by candlelight before falling asleep. About 1 in the morning, I woke up to someone banging like crazy on the wall next to us. For the next three hours, a very disturbed, probably drunk and/or drugged man banged on the wall and door, stood outside our window and talked through the walls trying to get us to come out and talk to him. It was frightening.
We had planned to do a hike down to the Ki Monastery but the weather had turned miserable – very cold, rainy and foggy. It was almost like a white out – maybe 100’ of visibility. Luckily, we were able to hitch a ride with a South African guy and made it to the monastery. The Ki Monastery is over 1100 years old, built on the side of a mountain. Boys aged 8 or 9 come to the monastery to study Buddhism and stay for a lifetime in most cases. We stayed for about five hours in the prayer hall listening to their chants and music with horns, drums and chimes. It is a great place to meditate. The dedication of the monks fascinates me – for six or more hours a day they sit Indian style in the prayer hall and recite prayers. I got uncomfortable after twenty minutes sitting Indian style on the floor with them!
One of the monks took us around the grounds – first for chai in a kitchen with no lights, then to the small, brightly colored and somewhat kitschy temple, then to a room where the Dalai Lama stays when he visits. Within this room, they keep a prayer book that is over 1,300 years old and a lot of old Buddhist tapestries that were smuggled out of Tibet. We were lucky to see this room, as tourists are not invited in that often. Another hitch hike back to Kaza, where we spent another freezing night in a room with no power. I’m apparently trying to go for a record of days without showering…the water is too bloody cold to even consider it!
We have been stuck now for two days in Kaza due to the unrelenting rain. In either direction, the roads have been washed out. I've been killing time by learning awesome new card games with some Israelis that are staying at the same place and watching World Cup. We have spent a lot of time at the bus station, where I met an adorable girl who wanted her hair braided like mine...so precious!
Hope you had a great 4th! Go Germany!! Please hope for dry, warm, sunny weather, safe roads and no crazy men in our future!
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