SHAM TREK!

First of all I want to send all my best luck around the world to the Heritage IEA team as they compete at regionals. As much as I LOVE it here I still wish I could be there cheering everyone on! Sooo….kick some major butt Heritage girls!

My past week has been even more breath taking and awe inspiring then normal….if that’s even possible! I can officially say that I have completed a six-day, five night trek through the Great Himalayas! SLC or the Snow Leopard Conservancy works with families in villages throughout Ladakh to create home stays, a win-win for both trekkers and villages. As a trekker I received the best care in a traditional home while working along side the family to make meals, look after children and tend to the animals. The families receive an additional form of income but also the support of the Snow Leopard Conservancy in protection of their livestock and changing their perception of the importance of the local wildlife and landscape. Slowly villages are understanding that the snow leopard is an integral part of Ladakh and “revenge killings” are decreasing. To be a part of such a positive cycle is amazing, especially since I know this isn’t my last trek in Ladakh working SLC homestays!

While the East Cost slept Monday I set out with the aim of trekking to Yangtang. Still struggling with the altitude I slowly managed not only to keep up with the rest of the group (they were all struggling too) but also to make it to the village! My first home stay experience was incredible. I cuddled with several beelas (cats) and drank my first cup of chang (traditional barley beer). I practiced the dance of refusal – a true art in Ladakhi culture as hosts love to serve you again and again.

I am finding that hiking so high does not supremely strain my muscles or make me sore but leaves my lungs on fire. Sometimes I feel as if I am sucking in air through a straw and that there will never be enough. Everyone in the group laughs because it is not so much that the passes are that physically challenging – there just isn’t enough air!

I lucked out on day two of the trip by hitching a ride on one of the four ponies to the small town of Ulley. Riding, even on a stocky little pony up an insane hill, never fails to make me smile! I fed the pony a few of my favorite Goodday cookies, missing Bradley a whole lot! L But my host family’s little boy, Tenzen, cheered me up with his “nunba” dancing. Ulley is situated high in the mountains, a small village of only six or seven houses. At night the headlights of a car light up the walls of the mountain. Tenzen was so excited to see a car, a very rare sight, he was dancing and eventually ran outside in the freezing cold to greet the passengers. His excitement made me smile but also question the effects of roads into such remote villages. I also learned how to make chapattis – although I can’t guarantee success if I make them on my own!

Walking from Ulley to Hemis was beautiful! We climbed the second highest pass of the trip and celebrated with a game of Ninja before descending into the village. My host family was an memelay (grandfather) and abelay (grandmother). With their help I learned the best techniques on lighting a dung fire in traditional stoves. It requires a lot of kerosene and a few matches.

Our last hike was paramount to all the other days, albeit the most strenuous with an almost 13,000 pass. Flurries accompanied us the entire way, making most of the trip an absolute white out. At the top of the pass we hung prayer flags and wrote messages on them. Descending was invigorating with a constant stream of snowballs flying overhead. To top of the dayI had the best home stay with a nono (little brother – about 3) and a nomo (little sister – about 5). I hugged a baby lamb for most of the evening, the perfect heating pad while I watched the activities in the busy kitchen. My Memelay sat in the corner, clothed in traditional red wool, constantly spinning a prayer wheel as he chanted “om mani padmi om.” In the morning, after packing, I played with Nomo and Nono drawing nema (sun), khe (dog), khong (house) and Abelay. Before I left I handed Nomo my pencil as a small gift of thanks. Her face lit up like it was Christmas and she rushed to show her Amelay (mom). Something I always took for granted as a child was the seemingly endless supply of art supplies so when my Nomo embraced my small gift with such vigor it made me think twice.

My first home stay family had older children in college. However, when they were at home they had to walk two and half hours to school – on the same route that took us almost two days. While I struggle to breath at this altitude on a trek for pleasure they hiked every day as commitment to their education. To gain education I simply turn the car ignition and drive to school – they physically earned education with a commute of almost five hours a day. I worry that back home I will forget how incredibly lucky I am to access to education with such ease and will slip back into a state of complaint about waking up early or completing home work. I hope that I can at least think twice about my access to education and its quality when I go back to the United States.

Love from Ladakh,

Taylor