India me voila!

Hahahahahahahaha! Yes, laughing is what I did when I landed in my first real destination in India: Leh, Ladakh.

Indeed, after spending a night sleeping on a bench at the Delhi airport, I landed in Leh, way north, close to the China/Tibet border. And when the captain of the plane announced that the outside temperature was 0 degrees Celsius, when in Burma I had had on average about 35 degrees Celsius day and night, I couldn't help but laugh...especially since I didn't have any could weather clothes with me, an everyone in the plane was dressed up as if they were going to climb everest.

And the best part is that when I walked out of the plane and down the stairs leading to the little bus outside, it started snowing. Hahahahahahahaha!

Aside from this very comical situation though, the approach of the plane to the Leh airport, surrounded by peaks of 6,000 to 7,000 meters high, and with military camps just about everywhere on the ground is simply surreal and magical. I was in such awe. It was like I had just landed on the roof of the world. I think that this moment was the most impressive of all my trip and probably my life so far. Never before have I been so amazed by such sights.

The Leh airport is surprising and unique. It reminded me of the Angkor airport 16 years ago. Just one small room where luggage belt, security and customs are sharing the same space. No light. The temperature is the same as outside. Everyone is dressed with coats, hats and gloves, waiting for their bags to appear on the belt...and military everywhere.

I guess I hadn't realized that Ladakh was located at a very politically and militarily sensitive zone: Pakistan, Jamu, Kashmir, China, Tibet.

I got a better sense of the size of the army in the city when I got in the taxi heading to SECMOL. I had never seen that much military presence in one city before!