Up To The Mountains!

My second consecutive night in transit involved a one and a half flight to the Ladakh region of India on the borders of Tibet. This was the most incredible plane ride ever - endless snow topped mountains covered in clouds were brought to life by the rising sun. We arrived at a tiny airport in a mountain desert town called Leh. The town is extremely high up and I'd been warned about altitude sickness - I'd felt fine until I arrived at the hotel I'd pre-booked and climbed up two flights of stairs and through two rickety loft hatches to get to my room on the top floor; I've been feeling breathless, weird and really ill all day so I'm having to take things very slowly. Apparently the antidote to altitude sickness is tasty ginger and honey tea which was given to me by the guesthouse owner whilst I used the questionable WI-FI in the courtyard - there I got talking to a German student and we decided to go to the local bazaar and then to a cafe called Penguin Gardens which was nestled under a canopy of trees. It's totally different here from what I've heard about central India - the atmosphere is generally very relaxed. There has been several lengthy power cuts in the town and no one seems phased by it so I'm sitting in the dark writing this eating tiny local apricots that the guesthouse owner just picked for me. In the distance I can hear calls for prayer coming from loud speakers.

View from the plane. 

View from the terrace outside my room. 

Paneer tikka. 

Courtyard of my guesthouse - the only place I can get WIFI but quite handy because the owner keeps giving me free tea and snacks!