For a place that I have been dreaming about visiting for over five years, Leh doesn’t seem to like me very much.

Yesterday, I got completely lost and sun burned.  I gave up and only went out for dinner and water.

Today I got up early to go get a sim card so I would have Google Maps.  I read online to get there by 9.  I was so worried about finding it but I did!  And they were closed.  Tried a second place, they told me to come back at 11:30.

I found the place where I need to pick up my certificate to stay in a hotel on a tour in a couple of days. Why do I need one?  I don’t know.  I cannot figure out how to get upstairs to the office.  I asked a man working in an art gallery and he brought me to the tour guide next door to see if he knew if they were open up there.  He tells me to call them, I cannot.  I don’t have a fucking phone.  He gives me his phone, nicest guy.  They are not open.

Later on I walked by again and art gallery guy asked me if I got in touch with the woman.  Yes, thank you.

About that hotel I got the voucher for – When I booked the hotel, which isn’t a hotel, it is a homestay, I noticed that the bathroom was outside the room.  No big deal.

The owner then emailed me and messaged me to tell me the bathroom is outside the room.  Yes.  Then he asked if he could call me.  WHY.  So he calls me on the telephone from the middle of nowhere India to tell me that the bathroom is not inside the room.  Yes, this could not be any clearer.  He said that when foreigners visit, they get upset and leave bad reviews.  Then he sent me their brochure and I suddenly want to fight every person who ever gave these adorable people a bad review because they cannot read descriptions.

When I picked up my certificate today, the woman told me the bathroom is outside the room.  YES I KNOW.  She also told me foreigners get mad at this.  I do believe this.  But I am still baffled by this as who the fuck travels to this part of the world and overreacts when the private bathroom is outside the room?!  You are lucky to get any bathroom.

I walked around, starving and craving coffee.  Stumbled on a restaurant I had read about that is supposed to be really good.  They had no tables.  Went across the street to a coffee place and could not communicate that I wanted milk in my coffee so I drank it black.

Passed this sign:

Then I got some breakfast here:

It was so good.

After I made my way back to Airtel and got my sim card.  It took about 90 minutes and would not work.  He told me to leave and it would work in ten minutes.  I did what he said because I needed to get the fuck out of there.

It worked half an hour later.

Now I need to get a permit to go on the tour.  The permit office is closed today.  WHY.  Google says it opens at 7:30, my tour is at 8:30.  My tour company doesn’t seem to have a storefront in Leh and advised me to go to any tour office and see if they can get it for me.   I tried revisiting the nice guy who helped me call the certificate lady.  He is out to lunch, which I know because nice art guy told me.  I swear if I needed art, that would be the place I would go.  He was so helpful and never tried to sell me anything.

I went to another place and am slapped in the face with the knowledge that the permit place opens at TEN.  NO no no no no no nooooooooooo.  Mother fucker.

I had to redo my tour, which is okay.   It was an all day tour but I picked it to see ONE monastery on the tour so my tour company said it would be fine to go to just that once.  Actually they said we could go to 2 or 3, but just that one is fine.

Now I am back in my room knowing I need to go outside and maybe revisit that nice guy about my permit and finally see Shanti Stupa.

I typed up the above and started reading a book.  Looks like I may finish it.  It feels kind of weird to have leisure time.  I know it is because I am not working and living 2 days inside 1 but having this free time to relax also seems like wasted time.

I went to leave my hotel and stopped to ask about getting a permit tomorrow.  What are you serious?  The earliest I can have the permit in my hand is 4:00?  WHAT.

So I send my driver a message and am very surprised when he responds and says that is fine.  My tour was supposed to start at 8:30 AM and he is still willing to get me to see Likir Monastery.  I love him.

Now that I have a free morning, I can also go see Stok Palace.  I wanted to go here but just didn’t have enough time.  Now I do.  So this kind of worked out for the best.

I had a taxi take me to Shanti Stupa.  It was very windy and my shirt kept blowing up, which sucked.  There was also sand smashing into my body at high speed and it felt like a pellet gun.  But she is beautiful, isn’t she?

I had the driver drop me off at Leh Market and for reasons I definitely do not understand, I went to the ATM again even though I have too much money on me.  I am telling you, demonetization is traumatizing.

I got some snacks for the room, including these cheese crackers, which are for some reason, coated in sugar?
I passed my angelic art store guy again who told me again that the woman I was looking for (and already found) was upstairs if I wanted to go up.  I window shopped his store.  I need nothing.  Why can’t he own a clothing store?  I’d love to buy something to reward him for his kindness.  I only have 2 shirts suitable to wear for the Bangladesh leg of this trip.  While I am a slob and content to have only 2 shirts for 2 weeks, I’d be down to buy a third if it meant rewarding him.  But he sells art.

Came back to my room to finish this stupid book.  I will only have one left after this!  And fuck me because in the Delhi airport I found myself browsing books. I have no idea when the last time I bought a physical book is.  Many years ago, thank you Kindle App.

Although it is freezing outside, it is stuffy in my room.  Except in my bathroom where the window opens.  In there it is very cool.  But for some reason the air will not trickle out into the room.  Probably because the bathroom is too huge.  One good thing about it, stuff I sink washed dried in a couple of hours.  This is good since the next time I can do sink washing after leaving this hotel won’t be for another week.  But that’s another story for the future.

And just as I was about to hit “publish” my electric went out.  I swear to god if I lose this post, I am going to flip out.

Okay it is back.  Holy shit as I typed that, it went out again.  The second the wifi comes back up, I am going to publish this without proofreading it.

Good night!