Chronicles of Spiti - Tabo

Last Day In Paradise

On an empty road of the Himalayas, loud music, singing, laughing, passing the snacks, taking photos, and BOOM! The rear tire of the tempo blows out. The vehicle started to pull strongly to the right and was moving like a fishtail.

“SCREEEEEECH!”
Pulling the brakes hard, the driver stopped in the middle of the road. Thanks to the power steering. With no fuss, no drama, our driver smiled and said, “Tire Change Karna Padega!” His expression was like it happens every day. Let me introduce you to our driver “Lama”. Don’t go by his name, he’s not that spiritual person, but a true Himalayan. Even in a condition like this, he was undisturbed and determined to handle the situation. He took the spare wheel and started fixing it. “Can I give you a hand up?” when I asked, he said “No problem! You guys can take a walk. I’ll fix it in 20 minutes.”

As our captain Lama said, we started exploring around. After a short walk, we found our way makers, I mean to say, road builders. They were sitting around the fire and trying to keep themselves warm. When they saw us, they made a place for us to draw up closer to the fire. We squatted down for a while, without speaking anything. An elderly person in the group asked, “Are you guys stuck?” because we appeared there from nowhere. Then, we told him the full story.  He laughed and said “This is very common in this region. That’s why we are building roads for you.” After some chit-chat, a honk from behind drew our attention. We left saying thank you to our way makers.

Covering mountain after mountain, valley after valley, at long last we reached the land of spirituality and peace, Tabo. It was hard to believe a village with such a ravishing and artistic existence cloud exists on the planet. Every side of the streets was covered with apple trees looking like a royal welcome to the king. The snow was thawing in the sunshine when we entered the homestay. It was almost 3 o'clock in the afternoon and the homestay operator told me that the monastery is going to close soon. So, quickly we wrapped up warmly and left for the monastery.

Looking at the entrance of the monastery gave me a heritage feel. I was shaken up when I read a board saying that it's a 1000-year-old Buddhist pilgrimage. I had a perception that a monastery means very colorful and decorative constructions. But, I was totally wrong. When I first saw it, I thought it was made of stone. But, when I looked at it up close, it was actually made of mud and still standing for thousands of years. Next, we went inside the monastery. It was pitch dark. In the monk's chamber, there were a few monks praying in the lamplight. Left side, there was a closed door. Without disturbing the monks, we opened the door and went inside. The first 2 things came to my mind:

Is it a secret room?
Are we allowed to enter?

Anyhow, we were inside. It looked like a huge assembly hall where it was hard to see anything, the room was only lit with candles. I can say that the room was scary and it felt like we had entered the great pyramid of Giza. When my eyes got clear, I saw murals and stucco sculptures carved on the wall, a unique collection of Buddhist paintings and statues that illustrated history. Suddenly a monk came inside and told us that we are not allowed in this room. With a big SORRY, we all were out.

It’s okay. Sometimes you do crazy things!

From outside, half the monastery was in shadow, the other half brightly lit by the sun. It has a muddy plain look with several Stupas and Gompas all over the place. It's still functional and the history it holds is spellbinding. Moreover, it’s preserving Tabo as a piece of unique cultural heritage, but also keeping the tradition alive.

It was near dusk, with the sky growing dark in the distance. We celebrated the evening by finishing the Spiti trip successfully. At this moment, thousands of new thoughts and memories shuffled through my brain like a deck of cards.

We have had a good time - now farewell, Himalayas!