Quoted from my travel journal (the tenses are weird to figure out on a blog).
"Yesterday at 2:30 am or so I was just starting to fall asleep at the Eurostar in Delhi with Nan. Her train was late because a huge tree had fallen on the tracks and they had to clear it in the middle of a storm before they could continue. We only had one hour before needing to get up for our flight to Leh. At 4:00 am we met Chris and Nicole Farley, two staff members at Woodstock, and Nicole's sister, Amy. We are all going on the trek together. We piled into a hired taxi and started driving to the domestic airport in Delhi. It was crowded even at that hour of the morning, and people were sleeping on the circular benches that surrounded pillars. We took a bus to the tarmac, boarded the plane, and took our respective window seats (from Laura and Jed Bunkowski's recommendation). The flight was 50 minutes, and after being served our natural lime soda and getting through the thick pink smog over Delhi, we waited in anticipation for the Himilayas. They came out of the clouds eventually as razor sharp points, and the clouds gave way so we could see the lakes, ice and snow, and valleys of these huge mountains. I was amazed the first time we saw a little green in the valleys , and more surprised to see villages that seemed to grow bigger as we approached Leh. We landed and stepped off the steps of the plane to breathe in the noticeably thinner mountain air. The sun felt a bit harsher, but the weather was lovely and a good break from Delhi's (haha I just typed Helhi and it kind of works) 100 degree nights. We were greeted by a Ladakhi woman at the airport and began to fill out immigration forms.
775, 787, 788
A cab was waiting for us and we began the dusty grind up the hill to the Padma Guest House. People filled up the streets and tiny cars squeezed barely by. I was in wide-eyed observation and wonder, and with the impression that the world was so very big at that moment. Mountains hugged the landscape in every direction, all brown on one side and snow-capped on the other. A lorry brought our suitcases inside the gates of what seemed to be guesthouse-central. We walked through our gate and saw white buildings with cherry-trimmed windows, balconies with chairs, an orchard and garden, and our friend Kate waving to us from the veranda cafe and lounge. We had milk tea as we got over our shock and awe of the beauty and filled out more immigration forms. It didn't feel Westernized, but the simple beauties felt local and honest.
792, 793
We were checked into our room- one window had a view of the mountains, 2 chairs, an ornately carved Tibetan table, and two twin mattresses pushed together to form a firm queen-sized bed. Our room is padlocked from the outside and is attached to a bathroom with standing shower, sink, and toilet. After unpaking a little bit, we feel asleep until 2:30 pm or so and then got dressed for tea and soup on the veranda.
our room pic
We walked into town later to Il Forno (The Oven) that promised to serve the best Indian, Italian, Israeli, and Chinese food. The specialty was the large brick oven for woodfired pizza. All but 2 of us had pizza; I had Dum Aloo: potatoes in a cooked chunky sauce with Garlic Nan (bread). SO GOOD. The sun set over out roof-top perch and the changing colors in the city below us were so beautiful. We could see Leh palace from where we sat. With the sun gone came the cold, and we walked home and went to bed early."
800, 802, 804, 806
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