The morning was cold and there was no way in hell that either of us were getting out of our sleeping bags until necessary, which for us meant the building being on fire ^.^ lol. After 2 hours of just laughing and talking about stupid shit I finally decided to get up and check on the others. Vinay was dead asleep when I got to their room, but the girls were lively and doing what girls normally do in the morning, which if you didn't already know is locking down the bathroom as if its of the utmost military importance. While they took turns doing that Vinay finally woke up and we talked a little about what today's plans were (which I must admit I couldn't even comprehend) afterwords I decided to go on a walk through Leh, which to my great surprise had shifted from the reality I thought it to be in the night, to a shimmering city of an entirely different sort.As I walked from the hotel down a narrow alley I could barely make out the sounds and smells of what lied ahead, as I drew closer a group of kids passed me playing soccer in the alley giggling and running after one another, it was then that a strange nostalgia came over me, I'm not sure of exactly which part of my life it had taken me back to but I did know that it made me feel connected, like I had only just been watching the river pass by until just at this moment, I had stepped within the water now and was apart of it. Closer and closer I drew to the street ahead and then... the motorcycles zoomed past, the streets were lively, commerce and gossiping men and women could be seen everywhere, as well as kids of all sizes and ages in school uniforms on their way to learn.In the night on our way into Leh I could barely make out the gigantic spires of earth and ice that tower above, and all around, the Valley that Leh resided in, but in the brilliance of the morning light these titans of ancient history stood immortal, nothing could be both as real and unreal as those mountains were at that moment. Awe and respect were all I could feel for them, for not to would be truly foolish. Covering the ground that surrounded Leh was a thick haze, almost like clouds, with shapes and contours and yet static and free like fog, it came right up to the foot of the mountains but never came more than a mile away from the city limits. It seemed to shroud the city from the world and yet after 11 in the morning no trace of it remained. It reminded me of the city in the clouds of Star Wars the Empire Strikes Back, the only thing missing was Lando Calrissian and Chubaca =DLeh is the Capital city of Ladakh the northernmost state of India, it's people are a mixture of Chinese, Tibetan and Indian blood and take cultural aspects from all 3 areas. They are kind and probably the most down to earth and (life realistic) people I've come across, which is to say they know the difference between bs, maybes, yes's and no's when it comes to everyday life, of course they have dreams and aspirations just as everyone else, it just seemed as though they could take one look at you and see what you could and couldn't accomplish with your life.Leh rests at an impressive 3505 meters or 11,499 feet above sea level and is surrounded by mountains and desert on all sides, the terrain is much like that of Afghanistan and the climate cold and unforgiving for nearly the entire year, half of which it spends in total isolation from the outside world due to snow and ice blocking all routes in or out, including the airport.I went back to the hotel and by that time everyone was awake and ready to go. We met up with our driver and headed out to see some of the many temples and monasteries that riddled the region. As we came to our first monastery, which happened to be the oldest one in the region Blake and I sat at the edge of the high walls which rose some 100 feet above the ground and talked like mystics debating the reasoning's of human existence and the future of all things to come. The guy at the temple jacked us for 20 rupees for entering the holy room and we begrudgingly gave him the money.Our next stop was yet another temple, this one much.. much bigger than the last, and this one had a 50 rupee entree fee, which needless to say Blake and I weren't willing to shell out, which is really ridiculous seeing as how its barely a dollar and 7 cents, even so money was tight and we would rather use it for food ^.^ The decision not to go in really was the best one to make though, because while waiting outside we wondered into the cafe area and met a Swiss couple whom had traveled all the way from Europe to India via Turkey Pakistan and Iran with their BMW Motorcycle. They said that Americans were welcomed as heroes and that bush was a saint to the Iranians, which was all good news to me because I had really wanted to to the same thing only back to Europe. They did however warn us against travel to Pakistan, citing feelings of fear and being watched and followed as their reasons.I thanked them for their information and waited excitedly for Vinay and the girls to return. At our next temple destination Blake and I once again decided not to enter, not out of lack of money but of interest, as you might have guessed already, temples and the like aren't exactly our cup of tea. This decision again played out well for me, for while waiting for them to return and while waiting for Blake to finish using the bathroom a Monk escorting a family from Finland gave me his hard boiled eggs and snacks to eat, seeing as how we hadn't eaten breakfast and were practically starving I was happy to accept his offering.When everyone came back they too had food waiting for them (since they had ordered it from the cafe I was at) and we all left satisfied. We came back and Blake instantly passed out when we got to the room, apparently he was more tired than he was letting on, which for Blake is a bit unusual. So the rest of us went out for some Yak cheese Pizza for dinner which had much more flavor and kick than I expected from a plain cheese pizza, I also had a Cappuccino for the first time in my entire life, too be honest I was really let down, I was expecting coffee to be much more than this after all I had heard people say about it, perhaps.. I thought to myself, its an acquired addiction... like smoking or stinky cheese. In any case I wasn't thrilled or energetic I was merely tired and ready to hit the hay, and so I did.