While getting our permits checked, another vehicle filled with young Israeli girls was parked next to us having their permits checked. They were on the way from Tabo to see this “special lake” at Nako and then driving back to Tabo as a daytrip. Now folks, you are not talking a 1/2 hour jaunt on the Kennedy Expressway to see a lake. This was a three-hour drive in each direction over these so-called “roads.”

Nako is located at 11,950′ and we visited the Sacred Lake. (A retention pond in our neighborhood had equal charm.) …View image… In other words, save yourself an awful drive and miss the lake. But the village was interesting….View image…very Tibetan in look and feel with everyone busy, bringing in the crops and going about their daily, hard tasks. A friendly village.

Nako fields in India 

more Nako crops in IndiaWhile both Jagdishes stopped for a fast lunch of “mo-mo’s” at this roadside bus stop, ex-Marine and I amused outselves by walking along the road and watching the cows. …View image… (It really takes very little to engross me.) “Mo-Mo’s” are a Tibetan dish and just think – ravioli’s or kreplach – filled with meat or vegetables. That is what a mo-mo is. I love them but wasn’t quite sure what the “meat” in these “meat-filled” mo-mos was. When in doubt, pass…

local mo-mo and bus stop in the Himachal Pradesh, India
The drive from Nako to Rekong Peo was long and difficult. This stretch of road is prone to almost daily landslides, along with the river and rains constantly washing portions of the road away. Again, this road has to be rebuilt every single year after the winter season and patched on a daily basis.

The entire distance consisted of hairpin turns, “s” turns, “u” turns, “L” turns….over stone, gravel, switchbacks and newly cleared slide areas. …View image… There are armies of road workers who live in tent cities alongside the road the entire season. Chopping up boulders with hammers and mallets into smaller rocks…shoveling dirt and mud….brushing dirt off the roads with twig brooms. And you are talking about thousands of feet down into the canyon if there is an accident or misstep! S…C…A…R…E…Y!! Whenever a new chunk of road falls off into the canyon, the workers dig into the remaining side of the mountain and just create a new “S” curve. We saw a few sections where retaining walls were being built into the mountains.

road workers in India 

big drops down while driving through the Himachal Pradesh, India
Prescription Meclizine (generic for Dramamine) is my lifesaver on trips like this. I automatically pop one every morning before the drive. It’s either that or carry barf bags and even ex-Marine started taking them.

But this happy day wasn’t over yet… raining again. A 15-minute wait while another landslide was cleared. Now we had to find someplace to sleep, either in Kalpa (10kms up the road from Rekong Peo) or in Rekong Peo itself. There was no room in the Inn with the exception of a storage room (I am not kidding! They were willing to put us up in a storage room!) so we settled for the “City Hotel” (that’s its name) in Rekong Peo. Do not stay here! Dogs barking all night, cars going by on the road and blankets that probably have never been washed and stunk! This hotel/guesthouse was the absolute pits…stay somewhere else. The food was good in Rekong Peo, though.

do not stay here
And, the next morning, the Kailash mountains (no relation to the famous Mt. Kailash in Tibet) were peeking through the clouds with fresh snow on them. …View image…

Kailash mountains of India
Breakfast and we found out that after our landslide was cleared, there was another huge slide and people were stuck sitting in their cars for hours! On our way to Rampur…