Sunday July 24th 2022 - Down the Indus River - Lamayuru, Ladakh and Some Flying Monks

 

An Abandoned Palace - Alchi

We left Alchi after our morning walk where we enjoyed seeing the harvest. It was a lovely place, so I thought you might like a retrospective glance. The abandoned palace was the summer palace for royals of the past. Our plan was to follow the valley of the Indus River to a town called Lamayuru - much bigger than Alchi. 

Line Painting Machine, Ladakh

But first, I will share some of the treasures discovered along the way of that journey. The first one was a demonstration of how many jobs are lost when big machines can do the work of many. This is an Indian road painting machine. There was a nice rope laid along the road for the crew to use as  guide to paint the yellow line. The paint machine is being pulled by the man on the left, with a rope. The next man is stirring a handle - one presumes to keep the paint flowing. Then there appear to be two or three pushing the machine, while the head of a fourth man to the right can be seen off the road. Perhaps he's the supervisor? It was one of few the times that we saw a well co-ordinated road-work crew operating purposely and vigorously.

A Typical Truck

The roads so far have been pretty good. Mostly paved and many have lines, such as the ones we saw being painted. There are many trucks, each of which is a colorful work of art. On the back they all say 'Blow Horn', which encourages more of that horn honking that seems to drive Indian cars. I expect it helps them to notice that someone is behind them and they are accommodating to allow people to pass.

Rock Layering Easily Seen

Many of you may not know that I majored in Geology for my original degree from the Australian National University in Canberra. There, in order to see rocks and figure out formations, you had to drag through the woods ('bush' we called it) and hope to find an identifiable outcrop to crack open with one's hammer. Not so here. I was giving geology lessons from the backseat of the car! I enjoyed that - maybe my car-mates didn't REALLY enjoy that as much as I did!

The Indus River Valley

As we got closer to Lamayuru, we started entering some strange, rather formless rocks.

Moonland, Lamayuru

It is given the name Moonland, which seems to fit pretty well - it does look as if it could be the surface of the moon - absent craters. The explanation I found online said it was a 'paleolake', meaning it was once a lake - which is why it is so different from the surrounding rocks - they suggested the lake existed about 40,000 years ago, and the 300 ft of clay-like mud was washed in from the surrounding rocks that were about 200 million years old. In geological time, it is a very recent feature. Its different character was quite noticeable. My car-mate, Diana and I enjoyed finding faces and other shapes in the rocks - here I see a slightly macabre looking face with a couple of fists, peering out from the middle of the photo.

Lamayuru Monastery

Our destination for the day, was the monastery in the town. A somewhat hairy scramble up a crumbly shale rock (not the moon rock), rewarded us with this idyllic view of the valley and the monastery perched on the hill. It was a scramble that persuaded me I still have a little 'mountain goat' in me, but without the helping hand of the guides and drivers, it might have been a different story! My knees really don't have the 'spring' that they used to have!

Moonland Hotel, Lamayuru

It was quite a treat to arrive at our hotel, walk out on the balcony and see this lovely view. There is a risk in these parts of the world, or getting 'monastery fatigue - the unique characteristics of each  'gompa', can become blurred from every other one.

Our Three Little Monks of Lamayuru

Well, for this monastery, there was no such risk, as our goal was to create photographs with the help of these three young monks. If you recall, the adventure I chose was a photography tour, and here's where I first learned that not all great photos are a result of random luck - sometimes a little staging makes all the difference! Our local guide had set up this experience with the monastery, so our creative leader Nathan Horton and his local crew, helped create interesting set ups for us to try our photographic wings. (Do note the footwear of these young boys! Nothing traditional about that.)

A 'Flying' Monk

This pose was our favorite - there was a steady wind through the breezeway and when the boys held up their wraps, they picked up in the wind and became like sails. The boys looked as if they thought it was fun, too, when they succeeded in getting their wraps to fly. I particularly liked the ones where the monks were looking out into the vast landscape they inhabit - as if inviting their spirits to soar into the emptiness before them. A core tenet of Buddhism, after all, is the notion of emptiness - losing expectation, accepting what 'is' without labelling and projecting one's own thoughts into it.

The Running Monks

We had them doing all sorts of things - turning prayer wheels, pointing out into the wilderness, flying their robes all three at once - and these efforts were repeated numerous times. I liked this one of them running down the stairs - they did look as if they were having fun!

The Oldest Monk

We didn't find out their names, so I can't tell you who he is, but I was struck by the composure of the older boy. I would place him around 12 or 13. He followed all our instructions with a serenity and an air of distant assuredness in himself. He appeared to be having fun, but there was no silliness or awkwardness in him. He was caring with the two younger boys and didn't get irritated or show attitude at their more immature reactions.

Very often, parents decide to have one of their sons become a monk. Sometimes it's for economic reasons - the monastery ensures the boys are fed and raised well and it eliminates some of the problems with property inheritance reducing family wealth over time. There may also be an element of status in having a child be a monk. I have no idea how these boys might have felt about their family's decisions for them, but they seemed happy and emotionally healthy.

Just in case you want to read a research paper about it, here's a link.

https://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/2022/jun/tibetan-parents-send-sons-be-monks-help-family-thrive

The Middle and Youngest Monks

The youngest monk started to get worn out and began to get very giggly and silly. Very age appropriate for him. I loved the way he drew support from his friend who of course, also became more giggly - and the two of them had a bit of a silliness melt-down. There were no adult monks there to show support, it was just us and them.

Uh, Oh - Attitude?

The littlest one got out of the giggles, then conveyed quite clearly how he was feeling. His friend looked more distant and detached. He did not seem to have a hostile edge, but was clearly telling us he was running out of steam.

Back in Happy Action Again

But he was a resilient boy - within minutes he was back in action and looked as if he was having great fun - with both flying and running!

Lamayuru

But we too, finally ran out of steam and it was time to come down from the heights. It was a fascinating little village - the way some of the homes were built into the rock made me think of Cappadocia in Turkey. I certainly could envisage that lone monks at some time had used the caves to live and meditate in.

Getting Back to the Ground

The monastery was at the top of the hill, but beneath it was a layer of old structures that had clearly been ruined, as the roofs were caved in. Below that was the village.

Prayer Wheels

I found prayer wheels......

Wonderful Old Door

.......some wonderful old doors.....

Old Stupa and New Satellite Dish

......and  lots of other delights, a cow, prayer stones, tsa tsas, bundles of sticks.... but we can only digest so much at a time.

A Family Enjoys Their Porch

So I leave you with this nice photo of women enjoying time on their stoop in the evening. They were rather amused at my enthusiasm over photographing a nearby door. When I asked, they invited me to photograph them. The green bottles contain their drinking water, which they probably got from a nearby well. The older ladies looked a little stern but the young woman spoke some English and was very inviting. It was a wonderful way to end this day.