The Summer of 2006

From the Top; Wolf print in the Jumlam, fields around Yelchung, Lingshed Monk ees, trail to Snertse, camp at Zangla, distant Ladakh chorten, dancers at Leh festival.

Full circle, ends and beginnings

A few days ago I sat outside the Dragon guest house in Lamayuru catching the last of the September sun; our trek that started in summer was finishing in Autumn, with a chill in the air and frost on our morning flysheets.

Kim and I have one more trek to go before parting ways and the summer could not be a better one to end on, with a wonderful mix of trekkers from around the world coping with extreme weather conditions and the challenges both physical and spiritual that we met every day.

The Leh and Ladakh I cycled into nearly two decades ago has not changed that much, and the evening air as I take my ritual stroll still smells of fresh harvested barley and woodsmoke and the sound of running water that has provided life for this wonderful place for centuries is still all around.

The last five years up here on the roof of the world has been amazingly beautiful, and amazingly hard, and I am looking forward immensely to many more summers here, and watching the seasons change in this special place.

Joel