Memory II: Monks and more

The morning after our long drive into Manali we were informed by our mad friends that they had booked bus tickets to Spiti - which was another 14 hour drive through river beds and missing roads on a tattered HP tourism bus! The ride itself was quite something, there were times when the bus bumped around so much that we (who were too urban to fight for our seats and thus got the last one) had our head literally hitting the roof of the bus. Then ofcourse, A had the brilliant idea of sitting on top of the bus with all the sleeping bags and luggage of the passengers to enjoy the winding roads to the fullest. Ya, it was dangerous but totally worth it. Our noses were red in the sub zero temp, hands were frozen but just looking down at the roads, the rocky mountains and the river flashing (or bump) by - ummmmmmmmm nothing in the world can be prettier.

First stop - Tabo. Tabo dates back to 996 A.D. and stands at a dizzying height of 3050 m.



Though I've taken 3 trips to Spiti already, the terrain of that place never ceases to leave me breathless. I've always assumed that green mountain = beautiful mountains till I stepped into the cold and rocky Spiti dessert. The rocky mountains take on such bizarre shapes that sometiems it's difficult to accept that they are natural - some of them really look like forts built by some snow queen long long time ago with their imposing structures and amazing architecture!


Our first stop - Tabo - was a quiet little place in the middle of nowhere and our guest house (the NEW Monastery Guest House) was the best place we could have chosen - right adjacent to the 950AD monastery. All I remeber of the place was the cold mud floor at night with the moon shining down on the gompa and 3 of us lying down counting the zillion stars. For its height Tabo is surprisingly warm and for its back of nowhere-ness it has a very contemporary population! take our "Yo MANN" man at Angel's Italian Cafe, for instance. I mean would you really expect a small place tucked away in teh himalayas to be playing "Buffalo Soldier" and the Keralite waiter-cum-manager to be a Bob Marley look alike slurring yankee "Yo"s at you! And would you expect the peace loving monks to start haggling with you for a couple of Rupees especially since payment is voluntary!