Tibetan singing bowls

Leh was our destination for today. We were leaving Nubra Valley for good. We left at 9 am, and on the way to the mountain ranges (that we would have to cross to get to Leh Valley), we saw a lot of children in school uniforms. Karma told us that people in Nurba Valley were extremely concerned with education, more so than in Leh Valley. In fact, in the winter, Karma and many other college students would come to this valley to tutor the kids. According to Karma, these families were very cooperative, often giving the tutors food, oil (for heating) and other things needed to survive the cold, harsh winters of the valley.

My parents and I at Khardung-La

Getting to Khardung-la Pass was uneventful. The roads were still bumpy, with some places being less road, more rock and water. It was warmer today than it was two days ago, so we were able to spend more time on the peak. In fact, my brother and I had a mini snowball fight. In July. It was a lot of fun, although we got a lot of weird looks from other people on the peak.
 The journey down to Leh was the same, and I ended up sleeping for most of the ride. According to my mom, when I was really little, my grandfather would rock me to sleep on his rocking chair (which my grandmother still has). From that time onwards, I wouldn’t go to sleep unless I was rocked to sleep every night. The habit has stuck. I can sleep in a car anytime, anywhere, but in a plane, not so much.
Once we got to Leh, we ate lunch (which was pizza and pasta because a group of Westerners-Russians I believe- had arrived), and then began shopping in the bazaar. Actually, we first went to the local monastery. In that monastery, there was a quote from Albert Einstein, which said that in the future, religion will transcend all rituals, and the religion most suited to this change is Buddhism. In a way its true, for Buddhists believe in the idea of a personalized God, which is exactly what Albert Einstein predicts will happen in the future.
Shopping in the bazaar was a long, tiring process, but fruitful. I bought a turquoise pendant from one shop, and getting a lapis lazuli never-ending knot pendant from the Tibetan refugee market. In Leh, there are about 11 camps for Tibetan refugees, and each camp holds about 80 families, which are mostly extended families, so the Tibetan presence in Leh is quite noticeable.

 But possibly my most favorite item that we purchased was the Tibetan singing bowl. The concept behind the bowl is similar to when a wine glass is filled with water, and then someone dips their finger into the water and runs it around the rim of the glass to make a sound. Except with a Tibetan singing bowl, there’s no water, and a wooden stick is used instead of your finger. The lady who was selling us the bowl could strike the bowl softly and increase the sound a significant amount. Once, she didn’t even strike the bowl, just ran the stick around the rim, and produced a growing sound. I wasn’t able to produce the same sound in the store, but as soon as we got to the hotel, I sat down with the bowl and attempted to reproduce the sound I had heard. I eventually got it, and was able to do it without striking the bowl as well. I don’t think there are words to describe the sense of pleasure and achievement I attained when I first produced the sound. Such a simple concept, but the pleasure received was ineffable.