Part 189 - Ha: Journey via Chela La and halt with Tobgye, 16–25 August

1 page

SUMMARY:
Travelled to Ha on 16 August via Chela La, noting apple trees from Kashmir and non-flowering saffron, and met Chuni and Mr. Williamson there. From 17–25 August halted in Ha with wet weather, spending days with Tobgye and companions in sports and archery; a small lake had been made above the rest house. An earlier encounter involved someone examining the diarist’s false teeth and inquiring about getting some made.

CONTENT:
false teeth to show him, but he insisted on my taking them out and showing them properly, then seized them and had a good look. Could I eat meat, fruit and so on? - could he have some made, as he had two loose teeth?

16th August. Ha. 16 miles. Fine for a few hours, then rained hard till the evening. Para did not get up very early, I was only able to be off by 9.15. On the way I saw the apple trees sent from Kashmir, and the saffron. The 'apples' are either the common wild ones, or they are not apples at all. The saffron is still alive, and looks healthy enough, but it never flowers according to the locals. But it was not in a very good place. Tobgye met me at the Chela La, where we had lunch. Then we slithered down a very wet path to Ha and met Chuni and Mr. Williamson.

17th - 25th August. Halt in Ha. I spent a very pleasant nine days with Tobgye and Co. in Ha. It was still pretty wet. We always had some rain, usually very heavy in the middle of the day, and fine in the mornings and evenings. Tobgye was determined to give us plenty of exercise, and we played hockey or football or had archery or something every day. He has made a very fine small lake just above the rest house, at Ha.