Yo Yo YO! I am back in the city, head still in the mountains...

Howdy and hello.  My four day trek turned into a ten day trek with a short stint (5 days) volunteering in a remote school, I am back in the city.  Just had some riata and pizza and will shortly have a delicious piece of chocolate, coconut cake.  But first...the trek, day one, a synopsis. 

A friend and I set out on our trek with an interesting group of Europeans; two Frech cousins, one German, one Italian.  Interesting dynamic in our taxi with the close quarters, not a lot of ventilation, etc.  We found these folks with short ads posted about town for a taxi share to Lamayuru.  Worked out fine, got to the gorgeous monastery after a crazy drive; the roads are questionable and the drivers...well, the drivers are questionable too.  I am pretty sure our first guy didn't look at the road at all and the second guy got his driver's license yesterday.  Luckily the landscape is more breathtaking than the driving.

And Lamayuru is gorgeous.  I witnessed amazing chanting there.  A fifteen day period fo Buddhist worship had just begun, so cool to see this spirituality eminating from every pore of this religious space. I also sat with a very old monk and watched a little cricket played by the little kid monks.  I do not know how to play cricket or even what it is, really, and this was of great pleasure to the little robed guys.  The old man monk I sat with had been there for 50 years. Fifty!  Thats before tourism began in this area; he must've thought the first of us there were nuts. 

Pictured to the right is the meditation hill above the main monastery.  The prayer wheel in the cylindrical structure is wind powered to spin clockwise.  Genius. All Buddhist mani (or spritual assitants is what I like to think of them as) are spun or walked around in a clockwise direction.

An amazing start to the trek. We left the monastery for Hinju, our first homestay and where we would begin the walk.  Our plan would soon change however so that we could trek the Markha Valley.  And on our way, we will see a multitude of flags.  I even flew some of my own. 

These flags fly at the very top of the monastery's land. 

I have ten more days to write about.  Stay tuned.