We woke up a bit late as we had slept quite late because of what had happened the previous night. Also this day was more of a sight-seeing day and we could afford to get up a bit late.
After getting up, we had a very heavy breakfast & then we booked a private taxi for sight-seeing in Padum (Zanskar Valley).
We had to see Stongdey & Karsha Monastery today and after booking a taxi for the same we came back to our room to take some rest.
At 2.00pm we left for the sight seeing. We had to book a private taxi for the same as our driver-cum-tourist guides were not allowed to do sight-seeing in Zanskar as they came from a different place.
Our way to Stongdey was extremely scenic & picturesque. There were many small towns spread across the way and these towns had homes and houses mostly made of stones and bricks. The people here as well were very warm and loving & so were the kids very cute & adorable.
The locations were absolutely gorgeous and breath taking. We simply couldn’t stop clicking. Before reaching Stongdey Monastery, we were not having a clue as to what was in store for us. But to say the least, the road to stongdey was stunning & the Stongdey Gompa was even more stunning.
Stongdey Gompa is situated at a moderate height where cars cannot reach. Our taxi driver came with us & guided us to Stongdey Gompa. What lied in front of us was simple Divine, Serene & Beautiful.
Stongdey Gompa is an extremely beautiful monastery. The monk we met there was very caring & helpful. He took us to all the rooms inside the monastery. We took lots of pictures inside but more importantly we took a lifetime of memories with us.
The Buddhist monk was very camera friendly and was also keen to see the photos we had clicked of him or with him.
Stongdey Gompa was an unforgettable experience but this time in a good way!
After Stongdey, we headed for Karsha Monastery. On our way we met a local who had a very unique and novel way of grinding wheat flour. He used the power of hydro-energy to grind the flour. The force of the natural water coming down from the top created a lot of power to grind the wheat into wheat flour. This was something we had never seen before!
Karsha is also a very beautiful monastery and is situated at an ultra-extreme height. There are an innumerable steps leading to the top most part of Karsha Gompa.
Sachin after walking down a little started feeling a bit uneasy and hence didn’t decide on going further. I however wanted to see the beautiful monastery & decided to go further.
The walk on top was never ending and ever tiring. After climbing a thousand steps, there were more thousand steps to be climbed. Many a times I felt like taking a back turn and going back, but one part of my mind kept telling me that if I have climbed up this far, then it is very foolish of me to go back now.
Finally my resilience paid of and after a huge climb on top, I reached the top-most area of the monastery. I then rotated the big bell & felt a great sense of relief & achievement that I had finally climbed the monastery.
Then I spent a few minutes on top clicking pictures & then took a back turn. Getting down was not going to be much of a problem but since the climb was so tiring, coming down wasn’t as easy as it seemed to look.
Finally after coming down, I met Sachin & then we both headed back to our hotel. We reached at 7.00pm and were very tired and exhausted. We immediately went into our room, got fresh and went to the restaurant to have dinner.
After dinner, we came back in our room…being so tired, we spoke for a while & then immediately went off to sleep…
Day 7: 23rd August – Padum – Kargil:
We got up very early to leave for Kargil as it was a 12 hour journey. To make matters worse, the road conditions were very bad and our car was very uncomfortable to say the least – With very minimal legroom (in fact no leg room to move our feet!!!) & no head rest to take a nap if required!
Since it was a very long journey, we carried a lot of eatables & a few sandwiches to keep ourselves full. We also had to halt at Rangdum for having lunch (Maggi Noodles!). Finally after 12 long hours of travelling, we reached Kargil.
We came to know that Ali & Mushtaq were not going to be with us from the next day onwards. We felt a bit emotional as we had developed good rapport & friendship with them. We took a few photos with them and bid them good bye.
Today was also the Big Night of Ramzan. This time we were prepared without any stupid fears! The Big Night was supposed to start at 11.00pm till early morning 4.00am. We were tired by the long trip, so quickly had dinner, watched T.V for a while.
We were surprised to see many Pakistani News & Entertainment Channels being aired on Television. We slept early by 10.30pm.
Here is a Slideshow version of the above pics.
