Ladakh gives you the feeling of being far away from civilization and very close to it at the same time. You could be walking down a street where the only things you are are snow-clad peaks in the horizon, and maybe a few monastaries and yaks here and there. Then take a rught and you enter the main market place where there are cyber cafes and shops like any tourist destination. Ladakh caters to an international clientele, and keyboards in the cybercafe have chinese, japanese and hebrew scripts on them!
 This is my second day in Ladakh and its been a unique experience so far. Flying in, I was convinced that our Boeing 737 was going to lose a wing, or a wingtip at the very least. You could hear the wind howling outside and all you saw around you were white peaks, with no sign of any civilization. Then, magically, there was a calm around us and we were greeted with a view of a valley, unlike anythign I;ve ever seen. The airstrip where we landed was literally a table surrounded on all sides by mountains, gleaming white from a fresh coat of snow.
The Oriental guest-house, where I am staying is comfortable, albiet without electricity or running water. The lack of such amenities is more than made up by the warmth and friendliness of my hosts, the ladakhi family who run the guest house and make it a point to feed you three hot home cooked meals a day, to the point that you are literally bursting on the seams. They also conscientiously provide you with a large bucket of cold water and a small one of hot water early in the morning… their hospitality cannot be substituted by electricity, even though it would help.
I spent most of yesterday sleeping and taking rest, to avoid altitude sickness. This morning spent most of the day in the company of the women who run Namgyal, an institue that helps disabled children.
A few days ago, I was sleeping in a tent on the banks of the ganga, and white-water rafting with a gang of eleven other people I had not met before. Again, no electricity, the toilet was a three-sided box with a hole on top for you to sit on, and one at the bottom to send your business down into a sand pit. Instead of water you uised a mix of sand and lime to “wash down”. Very eco-friendly, and quite easy to use actually. Rafting was a lot of fun, and swimming in the Ganga was just fabulous- all sins washed, and given that we were north of Rishikesh, the water was clean as well. In the afternoon it was great soaking yourself in the icy-cold water of the Ganga while temperatures soared to above 30 degrees celsius around you.
Both being at the campsite in Rishikesh, and being in Ladakh, have got be intrigued about eco-friendly living… it really might be possible to have the same quality of life that u are used to, but using less resources… hmmm, must think about that at some point.
But now its time to head back to the guest house for some good home cooked food and rest. Maybe there will be electricity for me to use my laptop and also read!
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