Advance Party reaches Leh

Reaching Delhi, stepping outdoors from the air conditioned airport, the heat and humidity hit us like a brick wall. The advance party of the expedition had now arrived in country, but whilst dogs and people ran around us, the city's dense smog hung overhead like a thick barrier to the calm of nature and the beauty of India. Staying a few short hours in the city before our flight to Leh was more than enough for us - we craved clean mountain air and beautiful views.

Leh, the old capital of the Himalayan kingdom of Ladakh, is nestled high in the Himalayas, a green oasis in the harsh rocky mountains. We were to be staying a week at the Ladakh Ecological Development Group hostel in Leh; LEDeG for short. Food and equipment needed to be bought, stores loaded up onto trucks, and things generally organised before the rest of the expedition arrived and the drive to base camp began. We didn't have much time to feel sorry for ourselves and nurse our Acute Mountain Sickness headaches after arriving at high altitude - a quick morning nap and a cup of masala chai later we wandered down into Leh to get our bearings and prepare ourselves for the days of shopping ahead.

A beautifully shaped and painted wall in a back street in Leh

Small teams of TLs set out into Leh in the following few days to source random items such as eggs, watermelons, sponges, jerrycans and planks of wood. Our team of four was in charge of hardware, which involved searching the town for some very specific items, armed with a questionable Ladakhi phrasebook and lots of rupees. What an amazing way to interact with locals and get to know a town. Next time I'm travelling maybe I should search for 16 metal jerrycans again - I could repeat the surreal experience of ending up in a tiny, dark, windowless store room with a Ladakhi man showing me his 'new' (i.e. really old but apparently didn't leak) jerry cans and arguing over the price. Or I could search for four planks of wood, and end up being driven to the outskirts of town and wandering around a wood yard, chatting to workmen and clambering over hundreds of planks of wood to find the perfect one.

We tried out our Ladakhi on most people, but not much of it has stuck in my head. Shouts of "jullay!" could be heard constantly, everywhere we went - it means "hello", "yes" and "goodbye", and is said all the time, to and by people of all backgrounds, ages and religions. 'Balang' means cow, which you also see everywhere, wandering the streets and looking like they belong there, even on the main bazaar, eating the vegetables the women had travelled for miles from Leh's surrounding small villages to sell. "Kamzang le?" means "how are you?", and is replied to with "kamzang", meaning "yes, good". Our phrasebook also contained "where can one find a horse?" which was sadly too complex to remember, but could have come in handy at some point!

The main bazaar in Leh - prayer flags flying everywhere,
vegetable sellers all around, mountains in the background

Most of us probably pushed ourselves too hard in that week, and also in the weeks to follow if I'm honest. Splitting headaches and nausea were daily occurrences, but we forced litres of water down our throats to try to combat it. The alcohol ban on expedition led to a drinking game: drinking from Nalgenes whilst whizzing down a bumpy road - I love being a child. Our ascent profile for the trip was quite steep; Leh, at 3524m, was a high place to start from, so we had to be careful on our way up to base camp. When the YEs arrived we'd have to watch out for and monitor cases of AMS, and our ascent up to the Pensi La was deliberately broken down into three days to minimise risk from our 1km height gain.

We could feel the altitude as soon as we reached the airport - our lungs felt as though they weren't working quite as well, carrying rucksacks felt harder than before, and walking uphill felt like sprinting uphill. We walked up to a cafe just below the palace in Leh on our first afternoon, and really felt like we deserved the masala chai by the time we got there. We had beautiful views over Leh from the tiny windows, and enjoyed sitting on cushions on the floor, chatting about our expectations for the trip. Our hostel was just below Shanti Stupa, a white domed stupa on a hilltop, built to promote world peace and prosperity and holding the relics of the Buddha. It's a steep walk uphill, and felt like climbing a mountain the first few times we went up before we'd acclimatised - I'm sure I'm not the only one who was slightly worried about the real mountains to come after getting completely puffed out on the way up.

A surprisingly stunning view over Leh
from the toilet at the palace cafe

The food in Ladkh is incredible, and not what I'd expected from India. Because of Tibetan influences, the food is beautifully fragrant and fresh. Vegetarian stews such as thukpa, served with khambir, a soft flatbread, were exactly what we needed after a long day. In town we bought momos, beautifully comforting steamed dumplings served with spicy dipping sauce, and drank mango lassis from a rooftop restaurant overlooking a busy street and a monastery. Monks are everywhere in Ladakh - both obviously important wizened old men, ushered through crowds into monasteries, and young boys wearing trainers, jumpers and beanie hats, carrying iPhones. They welcomed us into their monasteries many times throughout the expedition, greeting us and helping us, spreading their kindness and generosity.

Dogs also run rife in Leh, as they do in Delhi (except these were much fluffier, hardier mountain dogs than those in the city). They're a real nuisance, and their population is getting out of control, but no solution has been reached by the governing authority. They bark and fight until 3am, making sleeping very difficult - and that's on top of the scary periodic breathing due to the altitude from whoever you're sharing a room with - and occasionally get vicious and attack people. Whilst shopping in town we began to be followed by Fluffy, who obviously didn't have any doggy friends; he'd be barked at and chased as we walked around the town, but he just wouldn't leave us alone. He was welcomed into our team at first, but when the other dogs wouldn't let us go up a path to a monastery because of him we decided we should probably try to lose him. About twenty corners and a few quick jogs later we were four again (and also slightly lost..).

Shanti Stupa in Leh - LEDeG hostel was just below this

Leh is a paradise for westerners attempting to 'find themselves' - the number of people wearing floppy hippy trousers with dreadlocks told us that - so there are a lot of yoga retreats held there. We attempted quite a few yoga sessions throughout the expedition, which at times felt pretty special. In Leh, we held some early morning sessions, involving lots of sun salutations and pose holding, but out at base camp and even on some of our long treks we managed to fit some in. Stretching out our backs after a long day of carrying our rucksacks, watching the sun go down and listening to the flow of the river beside us towards the end of the expedition will always stay with me, especially the comedic value of not being able to breathe and trying to hold poses in a down jacket and mountain boots.

Sitting outside in my garden with a cup of coffee and the dog at my feet, it's hard to comprehend how far from Ladakh I am right now. Fighting the post-expedition blues is harder than I'd expected. Time to pack for California!