Monica "Cromilla" Dorigatti - Ladakh, a land to be discovered

New Delhi, a riot of colors and smells. And so many people!

This account of this trip to Ladakh begins after saving on my computer the more than 2,000 photos taken during this adventure. I looked at them all again: so many memories!

We enter India in New Delhi, in the megalopolis of over 28 million people.

The impact is incredible! So many colors, smells, and noises that disorient and intrigue you.

In the minibus we go to the Qutub complex, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Walking around in stifling heat we visit the great Quwwat-ul-Islam Mosque and the Qutub Minar, the tallest brick minaret in the world with its 73 meters organized in 5 floors. The weather is scorching: it is 40º degrees, felt 45º. Some coolness comes in the restaurant where we eat.

After the hottest hours pass, we go out to visit the city: we go to the Jama Masjid Mosque. It stands imposingly atop a hill beside the Old Delhi market. To enter we take off our shoes. We all wear a dress or sarong to cover our arms and legs.

The mosque is wonderful, built with stones of 4 different colors: white marble, red sandstone, yellow sandstone, and black marble. It is packed, every Friday 5/6 thousand people gather, and for Ramadan even 25 thousand.

Afterwards we go into the old city, Jolender introduces us to the alleys. We reach the spice market, 500 stores, colors and scents spread everywhere. We get into the rickshaws and the "race" between the drivers begins, and we laugh like kids as we merrily overtake each other among the continuous crush of people and vehicles! Along the way we see many poor people. I returned to the hotel with mixed feelings, on the one hand happy and elated like the whole group, on the other hand a little bit gloom.

The three rules of the road

The next day we woke up very early to catch the train. At the station some porters pick up our duffel bags by loading them on our heads and arms. We sit in first class, it looks like our regional train from many years ago. Already yesterday I had a gloom, today I am really sad to see small children rummaging through the garbage heaps and people living in shacks.

We arrive in Chandigarh and it's chaos again! We stopped for lunch, I started to get used to the spicy smells and flavors, they use chili, turmeric, cumin, cardamom and coriander everywhere here. At 9:30 a.m. the next day, we take Scram 411. Yesterday Jolender explained to us the three rules of the road:

1. Sound

2. Patience

3. And good luck!

Everyone here plays like crazy, it's written on the back of all the trucks: BLOW HORN

So you have to play!

We come to a historic monastery: it was founded in the 17th century by Lama Deva Gyatso, who lived here until his death. On the walls are depicted the 84 Siddhas, the great Tibetan tantric masters.

A new day begins!

The next day I wake up full of energy after a good night's sleep. Then super breakfast and I feel great, charged to the max.

We get to the bikes and find Tibetan flags tied on the handlebars. Another kind gesture from Tashi. He explained to me that there are 5 colors (blue, white, red, green and yellow) like the 5 elements (Sky, Air, Fire, Water and Earth). Printed on them are the sacred words "Om Mani Padme Hum" and the wind that will make them move will scatter the prayer bringing peace and tranquility.

The feeling I get is of great serenity, on our right the Bagh River flows placidly while in front of us the mountains are white with snow. That is where we are headed.

We set off. The road is in bad condition. On the way we take a few breaks. We continue to climb, snow occupying our roadway in places. Lake Suraj Tal appears on the right, it is all frozen and finally here is Baralachala Pass at 4850 meters, our first high-altitude pass!

Shortly afterwards we stopped for lunch. We rest for a while before setting off again for the Sarchu Plateau where we arrive in the early afternoon. We take our places in our tented camp, we have dropped in altitude and are "only" at 4300 meters yet I don't feel great, I have a bit of a headache and feel nauseous. Oxygen is available here but I prefer to wait.

There is no internet here, honestly I don't mind disconnecting for a while and instead devoting myself to journal writing to fix the moments of the day.