To Leh and Back...

Hello all! 

I am now back in Delhi and have safely finished my trek through the mountians of Ladak. I have been trying to write a bit most days so you will start to see several postings come up over the next day or so. Seems I am having issues trying to post more photos here, so please bear with me while I try to work that out!

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Shortly after posting my last entry I left Meera's house (the bnb) with Meera, and the father daughter pair and headed to a local market. I was fortunate enough to be invited to join their shopping excursion. Meera left her family behind to spend the afternoon showing us the market. This was very helpful as she took us to the places where she shops for herself and her family. She gave us a really good feel for what we should be paying for things as to not be taken advantage of by the vendors. I did not end up purchasing much... Only a Indian top. This cost me 365 Rupee which works out to less that $6.50 Canadian! Rose and her father are only here for ten days so they were on a mission when it came to spending! It was great fun to watch them buy up the market and be in such awe of the prices compared to their prices back in the UK. 

Once the shopping was done for the day we found my hotel and bid the Brits goodbye. Meera said she would arrange for a SIM card and will have it waiting for me when I return at the end of my trek.

I found my room and met my new roommate for the next two weeks, Izzy. She is 22 and from the UK as well. It turns out the majority of the group are from England, one Aussie lady, and a Mother daughter (around my age) from Scotland. The ladies by far out number the gents on this trip, they are only three of the ten of us! 

After a short rest and clean up, the group of us walked to a local restaurant and had a great meal of Indian food. A complete meal including naan and soda water was less than $4!

We all hit the sac upon ur return from dinner due to our 01:30 hrs wake up call to make our 05:00 hrs flight to Leh. I was dreading this but actually awoke before the alarm and felt quite rested. It is a short flight, less then two hours, to Leh. The views from the plain were nothing short of spectacular!!!! Mountains as far as you could see, many looking like flowing streams of color from all the different exposed layers of earth. I did snap some shots from the plane, but I was in a middle seat so they are not great. The highlight of the flight had to be the approach into Leh. As the plane aligned it's self in the relatively narrow valley it seems like you could reach out the window and grab a handful of pebbles from the mountain side! The mountains here are very different from what we are accustom to in BC. They are pretty much completely without vegetation. I guess due to the altitude and climate here.  Leh is at approximately 3500 m.