dad

ashu and the buddha head

ashu got me a buddha head from sarnath (or maybe it was gaya)

more landscapes on the way to khardung la

landscapes on the way to khardung la

jawans posted at khardung la

at 18380 ft, khardung la is the highest motorable pass in the world. soldiers are posted there for 3 month stretches. boredom probably makes them invite the passing tourists into their sheds. they gave us tea, juice and lots of advice on how to survive at these heights. seen here are ranjit singh from mandsur, madhya pradesh and mukesh chandra from bageda, uttranchal. they said they had had their photographs taken by tourists many times with promises that they would be sent copies but hadn't recieved a single one yet. i have yet to send them these copies as well. day after tomorrow, i promise.

mad as a hatter

"Mad as a hatter" is a colloquial phrase used in conversation to refer to a crazy person. wiki has this to say...

a little bit of black and white

shopkeeper

labourers from bihar

barber

overlooking leh

early morning latte - 2

silence and stillness

and they rode and they rode. across the desert and into the hills. and from there onto the mountains. they crossed rivers and rivulets, over bridges and underwater. the trees waved past and the light turned from orange to white to yellow and then blue. they rode all day and they rode all night. and in their wake they left quietude, peace and goodwill for that is what they were searching for. as they found these they became quieter and quieter till at last the sound of their movement was hardly a whisper, a wisp in the wind and it seemed like they were flying. the wheels of their motorcycle, now barely touching the ground blurred into shining discs and they flew forward across the lands at the speed of light. and in that there was silence and stillness.

and they rode off

the engine turned over with a nice steady beat.
so they got on the bike and rode off across the desert.

"a girl on a bike has gotta look good"

"a girl on a bike has gotta look good", she said,
doing up her hair and smacking on some lipstick.
biker boy smiled under his helmet and thought he couldn't agree more.
pity about the weather though.
otherwise he would have had her in a really short skirt and tank top.
the engine turned over with a nice steady beat. **

** with apologies to mr. j.h.chase

just what they needed : some more stupas

i forget the name of this place... shey, i think. it was around 10kms from leh.

here's where i get off - 1

kitchen at gotsang gompa

folds

we see these folds because this happened....

India-Eurasia collision 70-0 Ma.
This image comes from an online version of the PhD thesis of Pierre Dèzes
(Ma is a unit of time. it stands for megaanum, 1 million years)

keeper of the lamps

lamp still lifes

hemis gompa

the hemis monastery, around 50km from leh was built in 1630
and has 2 very money laden shrines

photos for mum

intrepid climber chintu at the summit of shanti stupa...

the b-man and smanla

smanla in front of the statue of the buddha he made at shanti stupa
it is yet to be painted

horsing around