On 08/05/2010 a disaster took place in Leh. A huge amount of rain came down within two hours and huge landeslides buried whole villages. Here the facts:
Furthermore more than 2000 tourist stranded in Leh because all roads round Leh were damanged and unpassable.
The tourist couple Mrs. Panic and Mr. No-Panic were right in the middle of the chaos.
I had the feeling that something horrible would happen this night. Round midnight we were suddenly awake. A horrible thunderstorm rampaged just above our guest house. Of course there was no electricity and I frantically searched for my torch. I couldn't believe it. When I stepped out of the bed I stood in the water. There were torrents coming through the roof and through the closed windows. Our complete gear was wet and my husband and I saved what was possible. Our laptops were completely drenched and could only be disposed.
We were not able to sleep for the rest of the night and we complained about why it is not possible to get a water-proof roof in such an expensive hotel. After that horrible night we should at least have the right to have a real good breakfast. So we went out to our favourite german backery called 'Pumpernickel'. We met a lot of peoples who were panicing, screaming and crying. It took a time until we understood what had happenend. The lower part of the village was just washed away by the rain and mud last night. The whole bus station, including all the houses and the hospital did not exist anymore. We couldn't believe this and went right on to the location.
It was really horrible and slowly the panic was also growing in us. How many people might be buried here. Are we save here. Will there be enough food. The food ... All shops were closed. Were could we have breakfast and what about lunch and dinner. Leh was like paralyzed and we had only one thought: We have to get out of here.
We were glad to meet other tourists in the streets with whom we could share our thoughts. What should we all do?
We learned that the
two roads leading from Leh over the mountains to Delhi were completely destroyed by the thunderstorm. We needed to get a flight!
And it is unbelievable. All the travel agencies and the airline offices were closed. The internet cafes were offline. Telefone did not work and the ATM's didn't spit out any more money. We are completely lost.
All the restaurants closed and there is also no water to buy. Somebody must care about us, the tourists.
It was a load off our mind, the next day some shops opened and we got the number of the german embassy in India. There was also a meeting where we were told the next steps for us germans and how they would deal with the problems. They managed everything and finally we had a flight back.
On our way back to the hotel we saw a lot of calls for help.. They urgently needed volunteers to help rescuing the buried and to clean up th mess. Of course we also did what we could.
We would have helped more but at the end our flight to Delhi was near.
I don't remember how long I had these problems with my stomach. The nightly visits of the bathroom were almost usual. But this night was different. I was able to sleep really well and I needed it. I woke up the next morning and I was happy and also was really hungry. So my first thought in the morning was: breakfast! We went out to the countless restaurants and ... all restaurants and shops were closed. Again such a damned holiday but no problem: Another day of diet.
But we were wrong with another holiday. There must have been a horrible strom the last night in which even a lot of natives were killed. We heard about the bus station should not exist anymore. Crowds of people went there to take pictures: sensationalists.
For us, the day after that night was a very clam day. We just stayed in our guesthouse and read our books instead of running through the streets with tourists and natives. We thought we could not help very much in such a situation.
The next day we analyzed the situation. A lot of shops were closed, but everything you needed as a tourist you could get. We bought water, cookies and stood in the queue for the international phone calls. It cost us some nerves, because the connections brought down periodically and it was horrible to listen the others telling their stories and their sorrow to their families at home. And that in long, long calls while 50 people still waiting in the queue. Their stories were real bullshit. We concentrated on a call to a friend in Germany and asked him to book us a flight via Internet. One day later we had der confirmation. (Thanks a lot to the good friend!!)
Some days later almost all tourists were gone and we remained as some of the last. Different embassies had chartered flights out of Leh
like for example the embassy of Israel which chartered three additional flights. On tuesday, the 10th of August there were 9 additional
flights out of Leh, which more than 2000 tourists which left Leh.
We still had some time to wait for our flight and spent the time in a calm and quite Leh. We read a lot and planned our next stages of our journey.
You must admit, that it is not easy to decide, if Mrs. Panic told the right story or Mr. No-Panic was telling the real truth about the things
which took place the 5th of August and in the following days.
Actually it doesn't really matter. There is her truth and there is his truth. Because the truth is not everytime the truth.
The truth is only whose truth, who claimes the truth which he tells is the only truth. Or so.
