Trekking Anthem

Zach has been much more diligent about recording our travels than I have--but I figure I can make myself useful on the blog front by filling in some gaps.

For example, on our trek, we wrote a trekking anthem that we eventually taught to Dorjay (our guide). To acoustically recreate our experience in the Himalaya, try singing the following to the tune of "This Land is Your Land, This Land is My Land":

[Chorus]
This land is your land, this land is my land
From Barai Nala to Lamayuru*
From the Phugtol Gompa to the Singge La La La
This Ladakh was made for you and me

As I was trekking that dusty trailway,
I saw before me, a red Zanskar day
I saw behind me, snowcapped Himalaya
This Ladakh was made for you and me

[repeat chorus]

Then I was climbing that dusty hillside
Following Dorjay, 'cause he's our sensei guide
Is that an ibex? No, it's a rock my friend**
This Ladakh was made for you and me

[repeat chorus]

Next I was crossing that glacial river
Just like a warm bath, no need to shiver
From Hanuma La, the climb is worth the view
This Ladakh was made for you and me

[repeat chorus]

I sat and opened our box lunches
Boiled potato and chocolate Munches(tm)
Hard boiled egg and a mango Frooti(tm)
This Ladakh was made for you and me

[repeat chorus]

*Dorjay claims that the reason we had so much trouble getting into Leh was because the song only takes us to Lamayuru
**Because I insisted on toting binoculars everywhere we go, we often played a game of "find the rare wild animal on the distant mountainside" - which involved spending lots of time staring at tiny patches of the mountain that were slightly darker than the rest of the mountain and seeing if they moved. One person would say, is that an ibex (rare mountain animal related to a goat, but with large, crazy horns)? Then the other would check with the binoculars and always reply, no, it's a rock. We actually did finally see a few real ibex, late in the trek--of course, it was Dorjay that found them and pointed them out to us.