A vision arises

The last two walking days, to much traffic on the road. Season is getting high…. to much honking…. no clue where Sunil is, he must have passed….

One afternoon in Pank, I told the both ladys Sonem and Tshimet, who helped me with my special food wishes, I have to go to my room (dormitory) to think….. I had no clue what that would mean. I set down on my bed and put my palms together, suddenly a flow starts coming through me… it is less thinking, than recieving information, sorting it in the open mind…. ok. I reached Pank and the upcoming plains…. Sunils intention to see me on the way brought me until here. Now I can leave the street. I can go to Sangtha (away from the street) to cut the way to Dehbrink (45km on the road) in two parts. Looking on the map I slowly understand I can continue from Sangtha further northnorthwest towards a village Lungmoche and Dat, then to Tsokra to finally reach after KarpoLa Pass a more common hiking trail towards Leh. All the villages are marked on my map with a red square, which means, people are living there permanently. A local shows up, looking at my plan, realize what I want to do, says ‚yes‘, to the same time leaving the room, telling ‚I come back’…. what he did not, also the following day. So I ask Sonem and Tshimet, to look over my plan…. There are not so super locals, but after a while, they agree, that there are people in the villages. Tshimet even has a brother in Kharnak, which is on my maps.me online map just a km away from Sangtha. I can stay there for a night. She has another adress from Tsokar (my map says Tsokra) where I can stay on a camp ground renting a tent.

I waited all the time to find someone to go together on hiking trails, but all the people who promised to come, did not come, wether other people came insted. So it’s time to go alone. And I am confident. I found a nice route, which I can manage,  even though it has five around 5000m passes. There are enough villages on the way, where I can get potatoes or eggs to fill up my food storage. Mainly nuts and some other snacks I bought at the Dhabas. Raisins for 3 or 4 days are left. And a bit honey and chick peas.

The map I have is a hiking map, showing all the structures of the mountains and rivers. The trails are not marked in any way.

From Pang I leave through a short cut from the valley towards the plains. And its just great to be up there, looking around to all the mountains and down into the river valley. Going north it’s just beauty, here are wild and stay horses to witness. They live from the little grass here. After 12 or 14km I stop looking back at that fabulous mountain, which makes coming from north a illusion. It seems, that everyone has to turn in a 90 degrees angle, but in fact the cars can go nearly straight towards Pang. After I turned to my trail the mountain turns with the sun light kind of violett /blue, on the north side he has a kind of turquoise valley formation and beside a kind of huge bowl, best for a nice ceremony. I have to climp up and down the 4.950m SparmurLa Pass. From far I can see Sangtha and it seem, that there are nice Tibetian/Ladakh houses. Beautiful. After all the Dhabas a nice Tibetan village. At 5.30pm I reach the village. The illusion was perfect. 11 stupas are lined up at the small Zara river, combined with a huge altar of ‚Om mani padme hum‘-stones…… the stupas made a image of Tibetan houses, but…. on the other side, where the houses are, simple stone houses and …. they are all empty. Not a single being there, not a single animal to find… lots of footprints, only from animals….. What happened? …. A second village ‚Kharnak‘ is not to see. What to do? …. Lungmoche is 11km away….. I decide to go there. But I have to hurry up…. I maid arrive there when it’s dark….. Through a dry river valley I follow the trail north. Some Jeep was driving here earlier. Both sides steep rocks with caves, ideal to use them as meditation caves…. I hurry up
…. But after maybe 20 min I change my mind and I walk back to Sangtha. If there is no-one in Luchmoche, I have a real problem. I would arrive in the dark, no chance of orientation,  and I did not take any water from the Zara river in Sangtha….
Immediately I start picking up little dry wood pieces from the ground. In Sanghta the people left some of the animal stalls (sheep or goat) open. I find a small stall with a broken roof at one corner, so I can make the fire on that side. The villagers also put ‚flags‘ on big sticks, to keep wild animals away. Some of them I collect, bags for sitting and laying on it, a old broken but wide shepard jacket I use to keep me warm. I find more wood in the village, carry it to my night place, big concrete wooden pieces I don’t use, it maid be needed for other ‚construction‘ purposes.  I don’t sleep a lot, because I have to feed the fire all the time…. with all, what I found I survive warm. At the morning I have a wonderful body wash at the river….. what did happen, that no-one is in the village?…..

From here I could turn east to Dehbring, but this I will do only, if there is also no-one in Lungmoche. That would be a long walk, 11km to Lungmoche and another 28 or so from Lungmoche to Dehbring. I see so many animals, more wild horses, some wolf’s,  and so many holes of marmots…. The way is again rest to find, from Dehbring Lungmoche is also connected by a small diet road – but not a single car on it. …. The river is totally dry in Lungmoche, so in this case I completely understand, why this village is abandoned. Clearly it’s to see they have cows here. The dry shit is piled ….. I’m the moment I have to decide to go to Dehbring or continue towards Dat a car drives trough the village towards Dat. I can’t see the driver, it happens to quick, I am just not prepared for this happening… the only car I will see that day….. But I conclude….. ok, the car goes in direction Dat, that means, there must be people in Dat. It’s about 25km to Dat. And I have to cross another 4.950m ‚YarLa Pass‘. So my direction is north north west. Along all the walking way up, people build a wall,  2km up, 2km down, obviously to fill them up later with ‚mani-stones‘. What an effort…. and what an effort to get up that pass…. (from Lungmoche there is also a road connection to Dat, which end there – and not a single car, truck or human on it) The quality of that road is quite good, so I guess the Gompa monks from Dat have quite a influence on that. Beside the road again blocks of ‚mani-stones‘ at least every km. Coming down from the pass, there is a stone sorting mashine and I can’t see from the far, if this mashine is working or the belts just move by the wind. I don’t see a single human all the way. The mountains shine in different colours, from black to brown and gold,  green and yellow, partly changing by the sun light….. just beautiful….

Dat has three village parts, Datgo (Dango) and Dat (Shenen) and Dat Gompa and again, by my big surprise,  not a single human here. I just can’t believe it. The third village, and not a single human, only this one car, which I saw.  Again villagers had prepared there ’not being there‘ by decorating there animal wall shelters and houses by putting black sheep fjell on top, to keep other animals away. And they left there dogs… maybe 6 or so…. they tried to defend there territories. … at the Gompa I thought to find some or at least one monk…. no….. only two dogs making really trouble to come closer to the temple, which was anyway closed. They had a solar power station, which maid do it for all the people… everything looked very much care taken….
At the Gompa a area, where tree sticks are planted. Obviously a experiment field, what could grow here on 4.300m. Here grows only grass, if water is available. … rest is rocks and sand. ….

who feeds the dogs?…. where is the car I saw going here?…. and not driving back….. the river flows good here and I see a lot of grass in the river bed and beside….. how can it be, that really no-one is here?…. mostly someone does not agree with a solution, that everyone has to leave…….???? Anyway, there is no-one. … some buildings are open
But after one night no sleep I don’t want to do repeat the fire…. aria. …in a stall…. The prayer wheel building is also open….. and a house with a glass front towards the sun. Perfect. That is my house for the night. Warm and wooden from inside. A after fire smoke stinking tent I use as a blanket this night. Variations are needed. And I do sleep well and deep. At the next morning the dogs lay peacefully in front of my door…. empty stomachs?… accepting me as the new owner….
But I do not have enough food anymore, and what I have, the dogs would not like….
May food storage shrinked down to 100ml honey. Raisins are gone. Some peanuts are left, about 120 or 160g. Also 1 1/2 package chick peas and two packages of each 40g moong dal. Hmmmm. Continue walking? Next village is Tsokra, about 10km away, no clue if there are also no people? After Tsokra it’s about 25 to 30km to a better known hiking trail. Trikes is 4.200m high, after it comes the 5.190m Zalung KarpoLa Pass. Can I get up the pass, about 1000 m elevation meters up, with the rest of the food I would have after Tsokra? I am just not sure….
I decide to go back to Lungmoche, then to Dehbrink, getting maybe more food there,  maybe coming back….. getting to know if someone is in Tsokra. I wish myself a help to get a car over the YarLa Pass, but after Lungmoche I would walk again, because there is a trail, I haven’t walked…. so a help for 10km would be nice….

And another question is still not solved, where is this Kharnak, where I have the adress from….. a little sign I got in the evening by arranging me ‚bed’…. on one of the kartons I put underneath my body as a matress I saw written ‚Kharnak’……?….

Just in the moment when I was sitting down for a shit, a truck comes along. The driver, Saman stops.  He has 3 guys with him and a 2000l water tank in the back. They are going to Dat to get water. They can take me over the pass, when they come back. Great. So I continue my way. After 2h that come back. I have to jump on the back of the truck, companion of the water tank, which moves by going to raff threw some street holes towards me….
The three workers are from the stone mine I saw the day earlier. A adventurous unloading of the water tank followed. The three workers have only one water tank. Every time they need water, that have to get a transporter to there working place. The tank has to be filled up by buckets and men and only half full, because of the unloading process. So the truck driver lifted up the loading part to an angle, where the water tank nearly started to move down by itself. With a rope we tried hold him not to move to quick or slide over…. the whole tank was moved to a pile of stones on which he ended up on a 45 degree angle, fixed by stones. The three workers where shining of light through there eyes and smiling from ear to ear. A joy to see. The whole transfer did cost them 200 Rupies, about 3$…. They earn 500 Rupies each person each day…..
Ok. Back in the truck, this time in the front, over the pass. Saman is in his element. At the pass someone had lined up a line of prayer flags over the street, at bit to low. So Saman jumps on the gas pedal driving through the line. One of the flags, a red piece sticks at the morrow on his side. Quickly it got removed and with a gesture ‚have you seen anything?‘ and a big smile on his face the action is history….. For this little traffic the street is really good build, so good, that Saman needs to take instead of the loops, a bumpy short cut…. the truck flies down the mountain and I have to use my both hands to hold myself more or less in position…..
Arriving in Lungmoche there is obviously a dead black (not wild) horse lying on front of one of the stalls. If it would have been there yesterday, I would have recognized it. Saman and me are looking surprised to each other. Before I can say anything he moves up his shoulders and the truck went on…. some 100 m later I have to go. Saman thinks I will go tomorrow to Dehbrink, but no, I will reach today….. a lot of crazy people on this road…..
(Saman also had no idea, why no-one is in the villages, shoulders up…)

The vision
Greatful, after a ride over the pass, finally being back to walking….
I saw the track yesterday already, and I though, I really would love to go every way here…. how is that possible…. (it’s still 28 more km to go today, and I don’t know it’s so far) The track is again a old walking way of the locals, every some time I find the ‚mani-stone-altars‘ at the track side.
Suddenly I put my palms together, which I have done while walking super rarely and now it becomes a deep deep prayer. It becomes so intence and I enter another level of consciousness. I feel how every step becomes so precious, how every step is so holy…. as all the time, but now it’s so obvious to feel and to realize. Every step I do on this holy journey is so important, every single one, and every single one is so holy. … a gift to feel it so intence…..
I have to keep my palms together and to move on….. now, as the people are gone, we can start a new chapter, we can bring the water back by planting trees here, the plants and trees will hold the water and the rivers will start flowing again. Then we do not want to get the animals (sheep, goats, cows) back here, but we want to do this for the wild animals here…. for the horses, foxes,  wolfs, snow leopards and some rabbits, marmots, wild goats and so on. We want to rebuild the nature in a bit triangle from Pang to Dat to Dehbrink. Inside this triangle, maybe in Dat, shall be a silent retreat center, where people experience deep silence and learn from it. These people and other volunteers will reconstruct nature here, bring water back to this land by planting trees and other plants…. these people will walk around this triangle and pray for this land in silence and palms together in front of there chest. Every 15km will be a rest station for this praying people, a solar headed house, where they can rest and sleep. All the triangle has to be surrounded one by one and often as they can.
There need to be a huge light temple for the nature, for the elements be constructed, close to where I turned away from the street. The people who live in this area need to get other source of income than rising animals, they need to get other food than animal food. They can host for example the visitors, who all, including the people here have only access to renewable energy transportation. Everything has to be done, to protect nature in this area for the forsake of all. The effort and result shall shine further out from this triangle in all directions.
I promise to walk the next day the missing part of the triangle.

I am told to keep the hands in this way together and continue walk, but my arms were hurting with the backpack on my shoulders, I just had to rest. I set down….. diguesting what I realized…..

I walked the way to Dehbrink, reached there a little later than sunset.
Next day, exhausted as I was, I got early in the morning to the place where I turned left 3 days before (by another truck) to walk the last side of the triangle.

I stopped at Mangzul/Dehbrink at the nomads camp, to rest for a couple of days. Tilles, one of the Nomads could explain, where the villagers are. All went to Zara,  close to Dehbrink, because in there villages they had a ‚problem with the grass‘. They will be back in there villages in 10 days.
Kharnak is called the reagion around Dat and Datgo, also Tsokra.  In Tsokra the people from Dat and Datgo stay at winter. In summer, there is no-one in Tsokra…..

The locals say, no tree grows on the plains…..  In Rumtse,  on the way to Leh, on 4.190m are growing trees. Tsokra is on elevation level 4.200m. Dat and Datgo are on elevation level 4.300m. Sangtha is on 4.400m. Lungmoche a little bit higher.

Greenhouses, partly mud green houses are a big success in the area a bit lower. Some years earlier people in the Leh/Ladakh area thought, nearly nothings grows on 3500m or up. I tested last year delicious tomatoes from 3.600m.  So good.

From Mangzul/Dehbrink to Dehbrink I completed the triangle at the 22.6.2018, only 3km, and maid my km 18.000 of the peace walk full.

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