Turtuk, India! Continuing where I last left off writing about my trip around Ladakh. The first half of the day, including Nubra Valley and Bactrian camels is HERE.
We arrived in Turtuk late afternoon. We stopped at this cute restaurant for what I called dinner but my driver called lunch.
Then it was time to find a hotel. My driver didn’t really speak English but somehow magically understood me when I said I wanted an attached bathroom.
He brings me to a place I don’t believe is a hotel. It looks like a construction site. It doesn’t look open. He tells me to wait and he goes in and reports back that they have a room with a private bathroom but it is not inside the room. I say no, less because of the unattached bathroom and more because are you sure this place is even open?!
We drive around a bit and find Ashoor Hotel.
The first room I am shown in 10,000 Rupees = $12 USD. It is fine. The hotel guy asks “don’t you want to see another room?” I mean, I guess? I am not used to being shown multiple rooms and choosing. The next room was 13,000 Rupees = $16 and it was nicer so I took it.
My favorite part of this room was that the window opened. I had just spent 3 nights in a hotel in Leh, high altitude, without any fresh air in the room. So opening the window and having a stream rushing outside, smelled and sounded fantastic.
The bed was RIDICULOUSLY comfortable.
My phone was almost dead so I wanted to charge it before I went back out. Uh oh. Where is the electric? Comes on in an hour. Great. I ended up using my laptop as a phone charger and the electric came on soon after so I was able to get my phone up to 60% before going back out.
My guide had pointed out a bridge and steps just past the bridge and told me there was a view point up there so up there I go.
I walk up the steps and there are more steps and then more steps and even more steps and MAKE IT STOP.
I finally get to the top and expect the view point to be there and it most certainly is not. I am on some sort of roof that people are working on, but there is a path so I take the path.
I do not understand at all where I was. Turtuk is WEIRD. I kept walking and walking and walking and I feel like I am so high up that I am walking over the area where my hotel is But that is not possible. Where am I?
I walked past what I think were personal houses, people were doing laundry. I passed guest houses and wondered how on Earth people got their stuff up here. I felt like I was in someone’s backyard quite a few times. I did have one man stop me to ask me what I was looking for before pointing me in the correct direction.
It must be so odd living up here and having people just walk through your yard.
Friends:
And after about an hour, I made it to the view point!
There’s an outdoor cafe up there and I really wanted a coffee. No one came to take my order so I walked up the window where people were cooking behind it. I stood there, they saw me, they ignored me. I grabbed a menu and started looking at it and then became determinded to get a coffee. I never got anyone’s attention. So I left.
I got SO LOST trying to get back to the steps down. I kept walking into dead ends. I was absolutely in people’s backyards. I kept finding these little doors that were only a couple of feet high, kind of like a hobbit house, where am I?
I finally saw the goats I saw earlier and used them as a landmark. I saw some random people and tried gesturing “down” and sometimes it worked and sometimes no. They would point in a direction and I would walk that way and find yet another fork in the path. I am shocked I ever found my way back down.
I ran into my driver when I got back down and we walked to my hotel. I am not sure where he sleeps, possibly in the truck?
I slept like I was dead. When I woke up in the morning, there was no hot water. That’s fine because I came prepared with THESE wash cloths, At around 6:55 AM, someone knocked on my door to tell me the hot water would be on in ten minutes. Perfect, I am leaving in ten minutes.
Pangong Lake next!