Thunderbirds and Oracles

22 August 2010 Thunderbirds

Feeling more confident with the Enfields now Paola and I decide to hire one each and go drive about. Yeeeeehaaaa. As Paola's sister has arrived from Italy she goes on the back of her's - we hire a mechanic to come with us - just in case..

9am get to the shop and choose two bikes and get ready to go (the Oracle starts at 10am in Choglamsa - about 30 mins away) - but the mechanic is not here - in fact we're not getting the mechanic - he needs to be in the shop - we 're getting - yeah - a 15 year old - just out of bed -

We drive to the petrol station - and cant get the petrol cap off Paoloa's bike so drive back to the office - Paola is screaming at the man in the shop, we're late - cant get to the Oracle today - 5 people tried to get the petrol cap off - the man in the bike shop opened it in one minute. But the whole point (well one point) of hiring the bikes was to get to the Oracle ... He'll have to give us the bikes tomorrow am free so we can go then. ok ok - I think he just wanted to get rid of us.

We're riding Thunderbirds - newer than the previous bikes I've been on and it feels very big and very heavy. Luckily my man on the bike is very small.

We have to drive through Choglamsar - the worst of the villages hit by the flood - road is covered in mud hard dried now, there's a new river running through the village (with a new bridge) but huge bumps to get over to get on the bridge - but we both do it. Gushing water over the road, sewage pipes to ride over, narrow bends with dusty mud to go round - this was the hardest - going slowly and sliding in the sand ... but then we get to the smooth tarmac and not much traffic and driving is pure pleasure. Stop at Shey palace - huge Buddah. Drive to Thiksey Monastry - get lunch - rest - its super hot - dirt road up a small hill past 15 cyclists - its quite narrow and we're on the edge.... make it. Off to Hemis. Jesus Lived in india is the title of a book - and apparently Jesus came to Hemis. We Pass trucks, caravan of ponies, wild dogs, kids playing by the side of the road, buses and lots of long straight fast open road - i'm slow but loving it. Paola has zoomed off but we meet in the village before turning off to Hemis. I try to put the bike on the main stand (side stand easy) but main stand its too hard or i've not mastered the technique and the bike falls towards me - its way too heavy for me to lift up so finally the young boy has something to do. He tells us he's 18 but when we ask at lunch where he studies he's in 10th class still - 16 !!! probably getting 100 rupees a day and we're paying 5x for him.

Oracle

Next am. the man at the bike shop doesnt want us to take the bikes as he can hire them out for the whole day so he's offered to drive us there. 3 up me, him and Paola on one and the mechanic and Anna-Rosa on the other. He very happily drops us 10 min walk from where we need to go and I think he's very relieved to get rid of us. We wander through the Tibetan settlement asking for the way to the Oracle's house - a young Tibetan girl shows us in the end but tells us that we need a translator - she can't do it because she ate eggs this morning and its strict veggie only allowed in. ok for me. Luckily Paola and her sister didn't get any eggs. We meet other Tibetans at the gate and are asked to wait - lots of discussion - what are our ailments - maybe they can just explain them - but then we'll not know what to do or how to answer if she asks a question. The Oracle's son speaks English but says he'll be too busy helping. The boy asks if the Oracle (his mum) will let the egg eating young Tibetan in to translate - she agrees so we can go in. In a tiny mud room off a courtyard - the wall has lots of pictures of deities and a small altar. Maybe 10 of us - all Tibetans - men, women, old and young and us sit on the floor on mats. The Oracle starts chanting, singing and dressing up in headress, muff (collar thing) no photos sadly - she looked quite high priestess ish. When she's ready the first man lifts his shirt up and she starts sucking or blowing with a tiny trumpet and then spits out Black stuff from her mouth into a bucket - euh... for real.. then she rubs him with a wooden stick. throws some rice into the air which lands on a tiny drum and gives him his prescription. Next a woman lifts her top and she does the same. She blows into some water bottles - giving a vibration to the water I guess. For me - i offer her my throat and the Tibetan girl says Thyroid - I'm not sure they have any idea what this means and after some sucking and blowing she says - nothing there. Then I say what about sugar allergy - she gives me a tiny worm like stick and says put it in water and drink it. Anna Rosa - gets a nothing there and Paola gets sucked and blown with the trumpet and told her back pain will go.

We walk to the Tibetan girl's, mother's restaurant and have yucky chowmein and the worst soup and i hitch back to Leh and sit in a cafe and fall asleep. Luckily no one else was there - til I wake up and find all the tables full...


Now having to say good byes as one by one the last few friends of mine fly home. I start to look for a way back to Manali - one road has been made available - just a very long way round - and now twice as expensive. mmmmmm Really wanted to ride a bike back but think it maybe too challlenging and too tiring - have been offered a seat 28 August with some Nepali workers so think i'll take it. So long Ladakh - a very special place with beautiful mountains, valleys and people. Julley Julley.

Lamayuru, Alchi, Likir, Enfields

Mid August 2010 Leh, Ladakh, Himalaya India

I don't think i've been surrounded by so many Buddist practioners. Here they seem to be very loose about practice, they may sit, they may chant and move their beads and go to teachings but other than that there is nothing different in their lives to anyone else in 'normal beer drinking, meat eating, egoic life'. Integration my friend Paola tells me.

I have also (well me, the ladaki's, tibetans who live here and most tourists) have been stuck in Leh because of the Floods and landslides which blocked the roads East and West for a while now (all the Israeli's fled by plane) and the embassies full of fear freaked many other tourists out who also flew out - flying out is no use to me cos I left my bag in Manali so i have to wait until the road opens.

18 August Leh - Lamayuru (by bike 5hrs)

In the meantime Paola and I decided to hire two Enfields with drivers and go to Lamayuru - on the Srinagar road and on the way back visit other villages with monastries and practice driving ourselves.

9am we get to the bike shop. Two Bikes, two drivers and two of us. My driver looks about 13 years old and he's India - we drive around the first corner and I ask him to drive me back to the shop - there's no way a 14 yr old Indian is driving me 100 km - I ask to swap him. I get the mechanic - doesn't look much older but he's Ladaki and feels stronger and safer. We drive around the first corner again and he says he has to go back to the shop - doesn't like the way the bike is driving - He probably knows that its not been checked and the back wheel is dodgy as hell. We swap bikes. I'm hoping Paola has got petrol and is at the airport (its on the way and she has to change her air ticket). I get to the petrol station and she's there waiting. Off we go in convoy to the Airport (just 5 mins). 1/2 hr to change her ticket - no charge. Come out and get on the bikes and Paola's bike has a flat back tyre. Oh. She's Italian and shouts at the driver asking why he didnt check the bike while we were in the airport... They say they'll call the office and get another bike - We go and sit in the shade and leave them to it. Two 16 yr old BOYS with no logical minds. I tell them not to come back with a plastic Pulsar bike - we hired Enfields and only Enfields will we travel on !..

About an hour goes by and we decide to walk up to the road and see what's going on. 3 bikes and 3 boys. One Enfield ok. One Enfield with only one wheel, and one Avenger crap 200 cc scooter bike - Paola goes mad - screaming at them... THey didnt think to bring a wheel off another bike and change the wheel. I suggest they drive us back to the shop and we see the owner and discuss either going tomorrow or only paying half day today and getting another Enfield - Not possible. No more Enfields.

At the shop - the owner is not there - he is now at his office Government job... of course. Doh! We suggest they change the tyre we'll wait half an hour - until 1pm and if its ready we'll go (after a discussion with the boss on the phone to only pay for half a day). But the whole point to go at 9am was that we wanted to reach LamaYuru in the day because we want to walk 7km to a monastery in the middle of no where - Paola who doesnt like walking 1/2 km up the road to her guest house amazes me that she really wants to walk this but i'm looking forward to the hike so good for me. Decide we'll have to go in the morning as we'll not get to LamaY til 6pm.

I have to ask the boy driving my bike to slow down - i'm in no hurry and hes driving the Enfield like its a sport bike. Paola's driver has zoomed off and my driver says we have to catch them up as have to tell her driver to slow down over the rough ground to avoid another puncture or damage to the bike. Some of the road is smooth and tarmaced. A lot of the road is now covered in hard mud and large stones, wet muddy puddles, no road, bridges have disapeared, so much mud is everywhere. We take the short cut new road to save time - its the low road by the river although it does climb and its just huge pieces of broken rocks. We head straight for the monastry in LamaY. but find we cannot stay there - instead we take the very nice hotel (which belongs to the Monastry) and get really cool rooms - the most comfortable bed i've slept in all year and soft pillow - wish I could stay for a few days. At dinner in the hotel the TV was blaring out WWF (funny large men in pink tight pants wrestling - I took control as didnt think it was appropriate TV for the 6 year old monk child - found Narnia - but by the time our dinner arrive WWF was back on )...

In the morning we drove the 7km to the monastry in middle of no where - owned or looked after by an Italian lama or monk - who lives in Italy - surprise surprise. Its quite high up a mountain - just avoided the mud flood and there's no food, you have to cook for yourself - so I guess the universe worked the puncture in our favour. We'd have been pretty hungry after a 7km walk to no food. We drove the high road back - having to pass about 40 army trucks and then having to pass them all again when we stopped to chat to a fellow biker on the road. ugh.

At Alchi bridge Paola and I took over and drove into the village, then back to the bridge. As it was getting late the boys drove us to Likir and we took over from here. Driving down the middle of the valley between the mountains - one long straight road (for a few km's at least) with not much other traffic was FANTASTIC - no helmets as they were too big so even better. Wind in our hair, no sound other than the bikes. We navigated the mud, some water, the main road and huge bumps in the dirt road and mud flood in Phyang. By this time my bum was hurting sooooooo much - the back of a Bullet is seriously uncomfortable (or it needs a few weeks to get used to it. But, then we broke down . So at least I got a chance to stand up for a while. Smoke was pouring out from under the seat - oopse. errr.. Fixed. Blimey - how he did that i have no idea.

pics to come