Someone was knocking at the door for some time with half-open eyes I opened the door. Avinash was there dressed asking “Why are you guys not ready?”. I tried to open my eyes and walked towards the washroom to get ready. I was not feeling well and I could feel something running inside my stomach. My mind was telling me to vomit it out, Somehow I got ready and went downstairs to have breakfast. Some part of me knew that I would be okay if I eat something. I tried to take a bite of sandwich and started to chew it. But my mind was keep telling me to vomit it out. At last I stopped trying to eat and went back to my room.
Karthik and Krishan came asking me what happened and I told them that I’m not feeling well. Karthick made me energy drink and asked me to stay hydrated. I took the energy drink with me and got into the Traveler. Krishan came with lemons and asked me to suck on it till I feel better. I did that for sometime and in between I fell asleep (I’m thankful for having this caring people on my trip).
I woke up when the traveler stopped and got to know that we have reached Nako Monastery our first stop towards Kaza. I was better compared to morning, I was not able walk around. Krishan and Kirti went ahead to explore the monastery and others roamed in front of the monastery. I walked outside the monastery and stared at the mountains. Juhi came and asked “Do you feel like a ant, when you see the mountains?” I said “yes” and we stood there admiring the view.
We all got back to the traveler when Krishan came back from the monastery. Apparently there was a Lake inside the monastery and he spend some time over there. He told it was peaceful sitting there alone. We continued our journey towards Kaza and I dozed off again.
When I woke up next, we were reaching Gue Monastery and I could see the monastery ahead. When we reached it seemed like the monastery was under renovation. Niharika got down and asked around and got to know that the mummy is transferred to a temporary building nearby and we can visit that.
Gue Monastery is located near a small village around 35 Kms from Tabo Monastery and is famous for 500 year old mummy of Sangha Tenzin, a Buddhist monk who is believed to have started his mummification process while he was still alive. The monastery is located very near the Indo Tibetan border and is surrounded on all side by mountains. This is a very rare example of natural mummification as most mummies we read about are mummified by embalming and then being wrapped in linen cloth. The natural process of mummification is used by monks by slow process of starvation in a seated position. The dead body is then placed in underground chamber for 3 years to continue the drying process. Only 30 such mummies have been found till date and most on them in Japan. The mummy of Sangha Tenzin is remarkably well preserved with skin and hair intact.
We stopped nearby a restaurant in Gue village and had lunch and then resumed our journey towards Tabo Monastery. Tabo monastery had a different vibe, Above the monastery there are a number of caves carved into the cliff face and used by monks for meditation. There were young monks who were playing around football and kabadi. I bought Spiti Shawl, Tibetan flags from a local shop. We played with the young monks and talked to them. Some of them wanted to see the oustside world and play games on mobile phones.
We continoued our journey towards Kaza and reached by 7 or 8pm. After Dinner some of us went for a walk and ended up visiting the nearby Zostel. They allowed us to use the common area. Myself and Karthick had a round of carroms and he won. Then we all played Bluff. I ordered Sea buckthorn tea (Must try) as it was famous and it is very refreshing.
We went back to our hotel and played bluff and Dumb Charades. Most of the movie names were in hindi. I got to act the move “Sanam teri Kasam”. Luckily on my second act, Kirti guessed the name correctly and we won the match.