Nako and HHDL

The journey from Kaza to Nako was probably the most exciting, difficult and adventurous trip we have ever taken!! We were desperate to make it to Nako on the 21st of August so we could go to HHDL (His Holiness Dalai Lama) teachings which started the next day.

As Nako and much of the Spiti and Kinnaur valleys are close to the border of Tibet, permits are required to travel through Kaza to Rekong Peo. So on the morning of the 21st we applied for a permit. Whist waiting for the office to open we ran into a couple that we met at Kopan in November last year who wanted to travel to Nako that day. We also met a two English media students who were keen to leave that day (they were meant to travel the day before but didn't know they needed permits. Consequently, the Indian group they traveled with interviewed HHDL that day and they missed it!!!). Getting a permit required us to go to the permit office three times in order to get all the signatures and stamps that Indian bureaucracy requires. We were told to pick up the permit at a specified time that afternoon. It turns out they had told us to come back during their lunch break, which meant that we delayed the taxi departure about an hour (it seemed bad at the time but later that day this saved us.....)

The first obstacle we came up against was a recent landslide. Luckily our jeep was able to make it over the slide but we had to get out and walk. Below is a picture of Rob in front of the slide.

The next obstacle was an equally largish landslide. This time a big truck had tried to cross the slide and had gotten stuck. Walking cross a landslide is like walking over a rock filled waterbed. It consists of mud and shards of rock - like sharp liquid when its on the move. It looked like we would have to head back as we were unable to pass the truck..... until we realised we could swap jeeps with stranded people of the other side of the slide. A few negotiations and we were on the way. Below is a pic of a group of people trying to push the truck out of the slide. For some reason they don't carry shovels in their trucks.......?

The first check point for permits is the town of Sumdo. It was here that we ran into another problem!! The officer wouldn't let us through as our permit was dated as starting on the 22nd!!! No amount of begging and pleading would get us through as the officers on the Kinnaur side liked to get the Spiti officers in trouble when they made a mistake. Lucky for us, the head honcho of the area had just past through the checkpoint (heading in the direction we had just come from) with his convoy. Our driver turned us around a sped off after them. Speeding around these areas is pretty scary considering the roads are narrow and the drop is large!!! We managed to catch up with the car at the next village and the Administrative District Commissioner signed and redated our permits. Phewwww, lucky we were late taking off from Kaza!!

That night we arrived in Nako tired but happy we had made it! This place doesn't usually get so many visitors and consequently accommodation is limited so the only place to rest our weary heads was tents, overpriced tents. The next day we found a nicer tent than the one we were landed with the night before.

Nako is surrounded by beautiful mountains so I had to pinch myself every time I stepped outside.

The last one on the right was our tent.

This is the view from our simple abode.

The inside isn't so simple......



.......but it was comfortable!



This is Robs arty shot of me in the tent.

This is my arty shot of Rob in the tent.

I'm terrible at estimating how many people turned up for these teachings...... lots!

And so dedicated.....

The reason we all came was to receive amazing teachings of the '37 practices of a Bodhisattva' by Tog-me Zong-po and 'Middling Stages of Mediation' by Karmalashila from His Holiness Dalai Lama. We were a little spoilt with the foreigners section being right at the front.

Sometimes rainbows appear in the sky when holy beings are in the area. You probably wouldn't believe me if I told you....... so I took a picture of a straight rainbow that appeared in the sky and it was so hot, not even close to raining.

On the morning of the 22nd their were some welcome speeches, dancing and singing. The local men and women dressed in traditional clothing a performed their hearts out for HHDL.

Typically the hat of choice in this area is green with the sides flipped up as shown below.

The women wear a colourful shawl pinned over their shoulders that is sometime ordately weaved (by hand).

Here she is again spinning a prayer wheel......

But when they dress up to dance they reaaally dress up!

There's alot of silver and turquoise in those headdresses.

There is a really old monastery in Nako. I think its about a 1000 years old. The buildings are made of mud and inside are beautiful fresco's of Buddhas and other holy beings.

That's me standing in front of the entrance of one of the gompas (meditation halls).

I was a little naughty and took a photo of one of the fresco's.... This one is Amitaba Buddha.

Below is a stupa. Stupas represent the Buddhas enlightened mind and sometimes contain relics of great meditators.

The people from this area are so enjoyable to be around. They seem to be smiling and joking around all the time and importantly, not hassling us to buy something! Many times I saw older men and women playfully pushing each other or throwing food at someone sleeping in the teachings.

And the kids are the cutest!! They had larges wobbly heads and can sleep anywhere anytime. I love the way the women carry them wrapped up in a shawl.

These kids wanted me to take a picture of them. When I showed it to them on the screen they giggled and laughed.

Monks and nuns sometimes wear a hat in this region. It's really hot with intense burning rays in the sun and very cool at night.

This tent city is where most of the people from surrounding villages stayed. They were cheaper than our tent but with no floor, beds etc - just a tarp on a recently ploughed field.

We were so happy to met with our D'sala friend Tosh. We really didn't think we would make it!

And to our surprise we also found Venerable Jimpa!! This is Rob and Venerable Jimpa venturing into a 'restaurant'.

Look mum, you can go to the dentist right in the street. No appointment required!



And everything you might need.... dentures, spare teeth....

Traveling to Nako and listening to His Holiness' teachings was one of the most amazing experiences we've had so far!!!