Leh

I feel like I'm near the top of the world. Flying into Leh (altitude 11,500 ft), I had a great view of the Himalayas. We spent the day getting acclimatized, planning a side trip and trek, and buying a long sleeved shirt and headlamp.

Tomorrow at 6 am, we set out for Lamaruyu, which happens to have a monastic festival tomorrow. ( http://www.ladakh-leh.com/ladakh-travel/lamayuru.html ) We will spend the night at a home stay in Hemis Shukpachant.  The next day, we hike for two hours or so to Yangtang for another home stay. There's a good hike to a nearby monastery. The next day, we have a longer hike to Likir.  Again, monastery and home stay. Then back to Leh.

When I say "we", I mean my friend, me, and two girls from Switzerland who responded to our "travel partners wanted" ad in the window of a travel agency.  Our ad had been up for five minutes.

We have a guide and all our food and housing is taken care of. We have extra snacks.  The water purifiers that I got for Christmas will come in handy.

I'm pretty excited about this part of the trip. The views should be pretty amazing.  This is definitely a different part of India.