Tabo

Travel Route: Hindustan – Tibet Road – Nako – Tabo

Hindustan – Tibet Road

The famous Hindustan – Tibet Road is an unending sequence of plunging landscapes.  The Lonely Planet called it ‘one of Asia’s great and most challenging road trips.’ Initially constructed in the 19th century by the British to connect India and Tibet.  Yet the road is still unfinished.  It’s a challenge for me to stop my head’s critical voice about the road’s unfinished state.  I am deeply grateful when my observer-self sees my noisy brain criticizing the road’s incomplete conditions and tells it gently to quiet down.  It reminds me to get back into the present moment, which will never happen again.  Besides, the road’s scenery is fantastic!

Our driver’s name is Kuldep, which sounds like Cool-Deep.  He is very protective of us, and I like it.  It takes excellent driving skills and a lot of experience to maneuver a car on these Himalayan roads the way Kuldep does it.  This is a sequence of photos showing how he managed to pass two slow-moving trucks.

Nako

A magical place, Nako is a medieval village situated 3660 meters above sea level.  The houses are made of stone and mud-brick.  But I think that with all the new construction activity, the traditional-style houses may disappear soon.

“Reality as you see it, as most people see it is nothing more than an illusion.  There is another reality behind what we see with our eyes.  You have to feel your way into that reality with your heart.  There is no other way.” From Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts

Tabo

The green, moist lush was beautiful, but the emptiness of the high desert is my calling.

Tabo Monastery was founded in 996 CE.  It’s the oldest continuously functioning Buddhist monument in India and the Himalayas.  The Monastery’s adobe exterior reminds me of New Mexico.