Carys Connects with Culture and Climate
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July 21, 2023 - Leh
Although today started off with an unfortunate, abrupt wakeup, it exponentially improved. I woke up at 4am with rainwater dripping on my face. As I regained awareness, I realized that my bed was soaked in a puddle from the rain leaking through the roof. Typically, due to this city’s location being in the rain shadow region of the Himalayas, Leh experiences low rainfall. However, currently, Leh is experiencing flash floods due to a cloudburst near the mountains. Though our hotel is not experiencing flooding, its roofs were likely not built to withstand this heavy rain.
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After breakfast we got into cars to commence our day of sightseeing. Our driver offered his bluetooth to us and throughout the day I played songs our whole car knew and loved. It felt like karaoke, except we were driving past mountains, markets, and farms. After a few pit stops for picture taking of the various views, we reached Thiksey Monastery. This monastery is located atop a hill in Thiksey, so you can imagine the glorious views, including that of the Indus River. The Maitreya Buddha, one of the main points of view, is a 49 foot statue, taking up two stories of the building, and is seated in the lotus position, known for growth towards enlightenment. As we walked around, our tour guide gave us some brief explanations of the Buddhist view. Among all of these ideas, there was one that particularly caught my attention: with a good mind, you can do anything. To concentrate the mind, the statues of buddhas often have their eyes focused on the tip of their noses. It is difficult to clear the mind and stay focused, especially with life happening all around us. However, everything starts with the mind.
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Throughout the few days here in Leh, we have seen the Indus River from afar. However, today was the day we visited the river. This transboundary river plays a hugely important role in the history of India and the world. This river is known to be associated with one of the world’s first urban civilizations, the Indus Valley Civilization. The name “India” is derived from the Indus River. Similarly, the word “Hindu” comes from the Sanskrit word for river, sindu, a word from which the Indus River also received its name. All this history, and I can feel the flowing water through my fingers. The water flowed at a noticeably fast pace. This is because this river receives its water at higher elevations, which have been experiencing more rain than usual.
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On our way back to the hotel, we stopped at the department of animal husbandry to view the two-humped camels. First, we could only see them from a distance and through multiple gates. I have decided not to question how, but our guide got the gates to open. Now there was just one gate between the camels and I. Many camels got up to see what the commotion was, the commotion being us oohing and ahhing over these animals that many of us had never seen before. We fed them straw and admired their humps and way of movement. This was such an unexpected activity and I believe everyone truly enjoyed it.
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