Bardan Gompa.
Bardan (also spelled Bardon it seems) Gompa is one of the first fairy-tale places we came across after starting trekking from Padum, on the very first day. We took the dusty jeep track from Padum to Raru village. The sun was intense, giving us a taste of the extreme Zanskar weather. And halfway through the day, away in the distance, stands Bardan Gompa, atop a cliff that leans against Tsarap Chu.
We ate lunch and rested under the shade of the grove near the gompa. The gompa was deserted, other than for the few labourers working to build an annexe. A young lama materialised out of nowhere with the keys to the gompa, to show us the inside.
(The Lama's shirt declares "Free Tibet", in case it goes unnoticed.)
I love places with a history, places with stories. I spent a little time searching the web about Bardon, but nothing, other than standard tourist blurb, appears to have made into the Internet. The only information I could find is that "This kagyupa monastery is famous for its giant wheel (1.8 metre high)" and that "Bardan gompa was founded by Shabdru, who also founded Hemis gompa in Ladakh and later went to Bhutan."
If anyone coming across this journal has interesting bits, please do share.
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We spent the night in this guest house in Raru after a tiresome day in the sun. One memorable thing about the stay was the detailed map Hitesh prepared for Chati Uncle, to show him way to the toilet. (The Guru always shows the way!) It was so detailed that it contained indicators for the three holes without partitions between them and three piles of shit under the holes in the toilet. Maybe I should have taken a picture of the map.
Nothing laughable, actually. Motorable roads (and hence vehicle transport) is nearly nonexistent in Zanskar, so building material has to be what is locally available. You can't have the kind of toilets seen back in "civilisation."
Raru is where the jeep track ends for us. Our luggage, camping and cooking material, and supplies for the next ten days, would be carried by the eighteen horses joined us at Padum. Five horsemen with them, including another non-lama boy named Tenzin. Yet another Tenzin.
