Kharu – Gompa, Cat and Cooking

18. June 2026

 

 

We had quite a few things planned in Karu—specifically, having a whole bunch of experiences and filming them. Because of that, there are actually fewer pictures from here. People usually only know Karu as a pit stop with lots of small (trucker) eateries and shops at the junction heading toward Pangong or Upshi, with one of the largest army camps situated right behind it. It doesn’t sound very inviting. But if you take the road toward Pangong and branch off shortly afterward, you enter a valley area with plenty of village life and no travelers. And from here, there is quite a lot you can do and experience.

 

First, we drove to the local monastery. It’s actually within walking distance, but since there are aggressive dogs looming along the route and both of us have experience being bitten, we preferred to go by car. The monastery is run by just a single monk, but he was away performing rituals for the villagers. Our plan was to light butter lamps. I had done this in Zanskar for a few friends who are dealing with surgeries and things like that. And then I thought that almost everyone has some kind of problem right now and could use some good wishes. So, we lit a few butter lamps for them. These are kept in a sort of cabinet where you can help yourself. There is even a canister of water and soap provided for cleaning, because you have to get the butter lamps completely clean. Downside is, everything is actually on video. There was also an old man who circumambulated the monastery a few times and turned the prayer wheels. Other than that, there was hardly anyone around.

 

 

 

 

Next door, on a slightly elevated spot, there was another sacred place with a small room where a monk can perform puja.

 

 

 

 

From there, you could see across to some old abandoned houses, and a kind of old monastery building right above them. These abandoned old houses—and many new builds—seem to be popping up more and more to me. Well, new builds definitely, but it feels like there used to be fewer ruins in the past. Although even back then, people tended to build houses from scratch rather than trying to preserve them for centuries. So, let’s go!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It really is a shame that these can’t somehow be preserved. Nowadays, after all, there are better restoration methods available. Unfortunately, the main room of the little old monastery was locked, but we were able to peer through the window a bit and look into a room downstairs that had an old stove.

 

 

 

 

 

I suppose the pictures aren’t really that exciting to look at, but poking around in abandoned ruins actually brings me quite a lot of joy. I always hope to discover something—even if it’s just an old stove like that. And I like to imagine what it must have looked like here when it was full of life.

 

At lunchtime, we fired up our own stove and made momos with a very delicious filling of onions, white cabbage, soy granules, and paneer. So tasty! I managed the dough-kneading perfectly fine, but my fingers just fail at those elegant folds. I think I’m going to give up on that and just assemble them my own way. In fact, that’s exactly why I’ve never made them at home. But as long as they taste good, maybe the shape doesn’t really matter? To make up for it, Tsering Dolma produced plenty of fancy shapes.

 

 

 

Then we just took a look at the garden. A lot of vegetables are growing there, and there is a large field of mustard. Unfortunately, the flowers aren’t cooperating quite like they did last year, for example, when they were already blooming wildly by this time. Various trees aren’t growing quite as hoped either. It seems to me that this whole cultivation business is quite a science in itself. And especially so when you try your hand at something new.

 

Often right there with us, and generally never far away: Candy, a male cat who constantly meows his head off. I have never heard a feline make so many crazy noises. You constantly think he wants something, but you can’t figure out what. Because no matter what you do, he won’t stop yowling. He even makes noises while he’s eating. And when you pet him, you can get him to purr—and yet, the yowling just continues right alongside it.

 

 

 

Oddly enough, my description of the day doesn’t sound as lovely as it actually felt to me. But I suppose that’s just how it is sometimes. Throughout all these activities and everything, we talked a lot. Tsering Dolma’s life and family history is incredibly fascinating. And she has so many relatives! But I actually suggest you travel there to visit her yourself instead.

 

What is really bothering me, though, is the persistent overcast weather. I’ve been in Ladakh for almost three weeks now, and the beautiful sunny days I was used to from the past are so incredibly rare! Sometimes it starts out quite nice in the morning or clears up in the evening, but as for consistency: non-existent. Because of that, I’m not at all ungrateful that I have to push back the trekking.

 

And for those wondering about my back: this day was still quite arduous, but by the next day, the pain was almost completely gone! I think Madam Physio worked absolute miracles!