You can imagine what forces created this mountains. Folded like towels – a very nice view.

You would not believe it – i went up the hill behind the house and it looks like a 20 minutes walk. Took me almost 2 hours as it is steep and the air is thin. The reward? Some horses!

The locals leave the horses roam the whole summer on the plains. A few go to the snow leopard each year. They are kind of shy as they do not see to many strangers the whole summer. Later i did see a whole bunch of them.
It is one thing to get up a hill or mountain. The other is to go down. As my horse viewing brought me far away from the site where i came up i decided to go clockwise round the mountain and slow down. First time i could really use the heavy boots i bought for that trip. Guess i had some luck on some parts not to fall down a few hundred meters. But that is the fun part of it (at last when you save down from the mountain again).

We stayed in the house of an Lama – he did also cook for us in the evening. And he had a secret sorce for the local moonshine!
This was the view out of my Window to the right.

And the left. There was one more window and the best – it did not rain in Pin Valley so the mud house was complete dry and did smell really good.

The shopkeeper of the only local shop – strange strange but most shops have no window. Guess that makes it harder to break in?? So if you go shopping better bring a torch with you. Got some candy for our hosts children and beer for my mineral intake.

Every family – if they have cattle or not – of a village has to take care of all the animals for one day. So one or more members of that family bring them to the feeding grounds in the morning. Watch over them for the day and return home with them in the evening.

Part of Dhankar Gompa – this part is not in use anymore as the whole temple is in danger of falling down from the mountain.

Deep down fields of another village.

Dhankar Gompa – the building on the top left. It is one of the 100 most endangered sites in the world.

Childrens toy – same same as in many poor countries.

Very small market.

Morning clouds come up from the valley.

The villages cattle on the way to their feeding ground.

Good Bye Langza!

The monestary above Komic

Komic – our stop for this night

Interesting cloud formation for sunset. BTW the little dot on the left hill is Eric

Part of our friendly host family

Finally trekking in Spiti Valley!

Went with Eric – Iveta please not the cup!!

This is what the Dutch do when they are high up. Guess it is the thin air at 5000 m????

Big Buddha is watching over our village.

The 1st house is ours – for this night.

Grandma – there is some sort of celebration waiting for her.

But 1st food!

Than there was singing and dancing going on till very very late!

1. The Window Attack
Simple – the way the window is build – the water comes into the room even when the window is closed (the small one next to the bathroom door. The big one only when it is open – even there is a roof over it (gotta keep em open when you are in the room…). And the one next to the door? Rain is still working on it.
2. The Ceiling Attack
This seems to be very easy – as i am on the top floor the water simply drips from the ceiling. No way to stop that….
3. The Balcony
I have no clue but the guys that build this one did not think at all. They put a nice drain from the roof to my balcony – why?? I dunno – why not let the pipe go all the way down??
So i get all the water from the roof onto the balcony – which would not be a problem but they have a wall round it and it is as high as the little step to the room. So if this pool is full the water comes into the room. Great!!

My friend leaves tomorrow – guess i change the room than

Everybody that drive over the Kunzum Pass will stop here. The locals to pray and we to take some pictures and a piss. This is where you get the 1st taste of thin mountain air above 4500m. From here on it goes into the Spit Valley. The valley is surrounded by huge peaks and whit an average altitude of 4500m one of the highest and most remote inhabited place on earth.

Rudyard Kipling describes Spiti in Kim: At last they entered a world within a world – a
valley of leagues where the high hills were fashioned of the mere rubble and refuse from
off the knees of the mountains … Surely the gods live here. Beaten down by the silence
and the appalling sweep of dispersal of the cloud-shadows after rain. This is no place for
men.

India is still moving towards china by the speed of 5mm per year. So the mountains still grow!

Finally we did reach Kaza – only a bit more than 16 hours for 240 km.

This is the backbone of the valleys. Rugged trucks and their drivers bring everything what man needs up here. On the way back they transport the goods that are produced in the valleys behind the mountains.

And that was that – nothing moves anymore if it has more than 2 wheels.

Our bus.

Unlucky truck – we saw a few like this one.

Over 4 hours later – we move again!

Lunch break – good food and a nice cup of tea.

Great – nothing can go wrong now!

The friendly driver of the 1st leg of the journey

The 2nd driver – there is no info radio so you simply ask the bus driver that comes your way if there is trouble ahead

My friendly host in Amritsar

My room is the one with the open door. Air condition, fridge, tv, hot shower – and everything free! CS is great!!

The building is 300 years old and was recently converted into a kind of hotel. 2 pools, horse staples and it is in the middle of nowhere 20 minutes away from Amritsar. Very quiet and all the food is organic from the own fields.

A trip to the Indian Pakistan Border for the closing ceremony. Something between a fun fest and a serious event.

Meanwhile on the other side.

Finally the flags go down.

Putting the flag to a save place for the night

Everybody is happy – time for a cold beer!

Tomorrow i try to get a bus back to Manali. I have to wait if the bus shows today – than it should go tomorrow. Will try to reach Gangotri – the beginning of the Ganges. Lets see how the roads are today!