I was a little intimidated when I found out that I would be teaching here in India for a year on a 5 1/2 day schedule. Especially with only a 2-week vacation in the summer. But, I have since found out why. The long break is actually in the winter when it is too cold to hold school, as the school is not heated. And the 5 1/2 days is to make up for all the breaks from school and holidays that we have. Besides having a short school day, we don't have school on the second Saturday of the month, and have only a half day on the last day of the month. We have off on national holidays like Independence Day and Ghandi's birthday (of which I've heard a rumor that it is coming up within a week), and each religious group at our school can declare two holidays a year. This includes Christians, of course, as this is a Christian school, but also Buddhists, Muslims, Hindus, and probably Sikhs. So, it seems like every other week we have a change in the school schedule.

We also had today off from school, as they declared a teachers' picnic. WE were told to be at the school at 7:30, as the bus would leave at 8:00. So, my friend Shiva had me wake him up at 7:00, which I did. By the time we were both ready, it was after 7:30. But, being in India, we were still about the first ones at the school. Both buses were there, as were a few of the school workers. Little by little, people strolled in. We finally left at about 8:15.

There were two buses there at the school grounds. One was the Moravian school bus. The other was a bus from the private bus company. There are three sets of buses in Ladakh. One is the company run by the state of Jammu and Kashmir. These J + K public buses are full-sized for here, which does not necessarily mean that they are the same size as in America. There are a total of 39 seats on these buses. This is consisting of 6 rows with 2 seats left of the aisle and 3 to the right, as well as 3 seats on the right opposite the back side door to the bus, and 6 seats across the back. There are also a couple short benches up by the driver. So, there is actually seating for about 43. But, on crowded village buses or special events like when the Dalai Lama was here, these buses can crowd in 100. Besides those seated, there are kids on laps of parents, maybe 20 people standing in the aisles, and more than 30 sitting on TOP of the bus. On short trips, you can also see 3 or 4 people hanging onto ladders on the back of the bus leading to the top.

The 2nd bus type is the mini bus. These are my least favorite, as they try to crowd as many people on these 3/4 size buses as ride the full sized buses.

The 3rd type was the type I went on today. And that is the private bus. It is the same size as the public bus, but the seats are more padded. These buses are not just white and green like the public buses, either. They are colorfully painted and it looks like it belongs in a carnival. Outside the buse are colorful designs. The front of the bus sometimes has eyes, but more often a shoe tied below the front center dangling for good luck. Inside the bus it is similar to the public bus, except for the padded seats and a TV that I've never seen work on any bus. Up front by the driver is usually a picture of the Dalai Lama with small Christmas-style lights blinking in a circle around that picture.

Bus rides in Ladakh should not be missed. Yes, I had the padded seat, but of course I was over a back tire again, so my comfort was relative. Roads in Ladakh are about 1 1/2 lanes wide at most, with wide spots many places for vehicles to pass. Of course, if you see an oncoming vehicle while riding in a bus, that does not mean the bus or oncoming truck will use them. These trucks can be private ones or military. The private trucks are huge, chunky brightly painted orange ones with signs on them saying "Owner is God." These often are carrying very heavy items. The military trucks look like relics from the U.S. army in WWII. But, both kinds of trucks don't give way, nor do buses. So, often there are only inches to spare between vehicles as they pass. And, this means the inside vehicle is also many times inches from a rock wall and the outside vehicle inches from a cliff. But, the drivers here are ALL very good and know exactly the dimensions of their vehicle and what it can do. I've NEVER heard of an accident here.

We left the school grounds and went down through Leh to the lower end of town, and headed west. We stopped at a couple military places and picked up some of the teachers who are army wives. The other bus did the same. From Leh, we went west past Phey and Phyang village areas and over a saddle before dropping down to Nimo. From above, we could see where the Zanskar River hits the Indus. They were two distinct colors mixing. Below the confluence, the Indus River was a bright green color, unlike the brown I am used to seeing. Before the descent, we stopped at one army place where there was a Sikh Temple, and a few people went inside to look at it. I thought they were going to the toilet, or I would have gone along.

There was a bottleneck on the descent to Nimo, as there were road workers working at putting new tar or asphault on the road. They had these 4 foot by 4 foot bins that were about a foot high that they were shovelling sand into. Then, they would empty a drum of flammable liquid under about 3 of these bins and light it. Somehow, the result were charred bits of asphault which they wheelbarrowed to the place there were working on. About a kilometer of road had sections like this that were being worked on. Of course, traffic in both directions was backed up, and it took a half hour to clear up things.

We went through Nimo to Basgo. Nge, our objective, was somewhere upvalley from Basgo. So, the bus drivers headed up that valley. We found out later that we should have gone up the ridge west of Basgo and then cut in on another road, as ours didn't go all the way up. The road we took went upvalley a ways, then curved right across the stream and went up a slope. We then had to go up a tight switchback. This was hair-raising, as the bus in front of ours had trouble and took about 4 tries to get around that corner with the tires spinning and a small cliff below. When it was our turn, we got most of the way around, backed up to the edge and gunned the engine making it on the first try.

We couldn't find the picnic spot. The first places the buses parked was a barren place by the road. The drivers were looking for the jeep with Elijah and the people who knew where the area was. Instead of just hanging around, a couple teachers headed up a small hill to get a better look upvalley, so I followed. When I was up there, the buses headed up valley again, so I followed the ridge north.

I was glad I did that walk, as I got to see something I'd never have seen otherwise. It is harvest season now, and for the past couple of weeks, I've been seeing the wheat being cut and stacked out to dry. Well, today I got to see the old fashioned threshing being done. On the roof of a building, they put a wooden pole. They then connect 5 or 6 cows or yaks closely together and drive them in a circle around that pole. The resulot is that it separates the grain from the stalk and chaff. I took pictures of this. Later in the day, I saw the ladies (they do all the work here) winnowing the grain. They use a pitchfork and toss it up in the air when there is wind. The wind blows away the useless parts of the plant, and the grain, being heavier, falls back down.

I walked to where the buses parked on this 2nd spot, and climbed on top my buse, as they were going to take off again. Salim and Kima also rode up there. AFter a kilometer, we parked for a final time, and we all carried food, and other items down to our picnic spot (not Nge, but another place that was nice.) We ate breakfast at 11:30, which consisted of curried vegetables and chapatis. To eat Indian style you break off bits of bread or chapati and pinch the other food with that and pop it into your mouth. No silverware, so it takes some getting used to.

By this time, the sound system was set up across the stream. I helped dig a channel around the boulders so rock-hopping would be easier for the ladies and children that came along with their mothers. It was like any picnic in America. They played some Hindi music, but most of it was rock from the west including the macarena (yes, they knew those motions.) Being a music teacher, I was obligated to make a fool of myself. But, that makes the other teachers feel closer to me, and it will make it easier next week when I ask these same teachers for an extra period for makeup for classes missed on Ghandi's birthday. I taught them the limbo, as well.

About 1:00 in the afternoon, the vice principal David invited me and a few others to go and look at the ancient palace ruins above Basgo, which I never knew existed. It was only a little over a kilometer away, and was very impressive. In the year 2000, it was on the top 10 list of endangered historic sites in the world, as the ground below was being eaten away. So, the U.S. government and other entities donated money for restoration and reinforcement. I am glad they did. This palace is actually 3 palaces, that were in use around the year 1600. A king Stanzin Namgyal reigned during this time. I saw 2 of the palace areas, and inside both were Buddhist temples with Buddha statues that had to be 50 feet high. The father of the man who built the huge statue I had seen at the Shey Palace near Leh had built this one. Some of the most impressive sites I have seen while here! The walls and ceilings were also painted, although it was hard to see in the dimly lit room. David explained what some of the paintings meant. Locked in display cases in glass on one part of the wall were old scripts that were written on black paper in pure gold.

Back by the buses, David took us to a spring that was the first time since August I've drank straight from a water source. While taking a break there, Elijah, the principal, came by with some edelweiss. He used to be a botany teacher, and told us about the edelweiss, the watercress, the sall flowers from the rose family, and several other plants, and how they grow in this harsh climate close to the ground. He explained how they are pollinated by wind, so are not as brightly colored as others pollinated by bees or butterflies. Caterpillers also pollinate some of these plants.

We got back to the party to find lunch was ready (3:30). They made 5 kilos of rice in a pot that had to be 3 feet wide and a foot and a half tall. Smaller huge pots had fruit salad, vegetables, curd (yogurt) and other items like meat, paneer and vegetables. It was a feast for 70 people. My only mishap was eating a chili that was in the vegetables. My mouth was in pain for 15 minutes.

After lunch, I went back across the stream where 3 of the other guys were doing some dance moves. I tried them, but they kept changing them. So, I then went over to the apricot trees which were changing color. These leaves were red and yellow mixed, and often as orange as the fruit. I got several leaves to send people, like I do in Colorado with aspen leaves.

We loaded up the bus and headed back to Leh at 5:00. On the way back, the road work was done and passage was easier. But, the ladies in the front of the bus and the men in the back started getting into a singing/shouting contest with each other that was remeniscent of my symphony band tours in college. ONe group would sing a Hindi song at the top of their lungs, and challenge the other group to top that. The bus driver must have excellent concentration, because at one point I was hearing the men shouting a Hindi song while I was looking straight down a cliff 500 feet to the Indus River. There were no guardrails, and I was seeing signs by Himank (the border roads builders) that said "Take heed, don't speed" and "Be Mr. Late, not Late Mr."