The Silence of Zanskar

The car engine stopped. Everything was quiet.
​I got out of the car. The air was very cold. My legs were tired from the long drive up the big mountains, but I was happy to finally be in Zanskar.
​Around me, my eight friends were laughing and shouting. They were stretching their arms and pulling heavy bags out of the car trunks.We knew each other for a long time.
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​I walked away from the cars and the noisy camp. I walked until it was dark and quiet. I stood alone on the cold ground and looked up at the sky.
​My breath stopped.
​In the city, you cannot see the stars. But here, high in the mountains, the sky was beautiful. The Milky Way looked like a river of silver light. Millions of stars were shining so bright and clear. The tall, dark mountains stood all around us under the starlight.
​Suddenly, I felt a lot of happiness and joy inside me.
​I am so lucky, I thought.

​We all have busy lives and stress. It is hard to get eight friends to go anywhere together. But we did it. We drove two cars all the way to the top of the world.
​I looked back at my friends. They were drinking hot tea, telling jokes, and laughing.
​I felt so grateful. I was thankful for the cars that brought us up the steep roads safely. I was thankful for this beautiful nature. Most of all, I was thankful for my great friends. Life moves very fast, but this moment was perfect.

​We stood together in the cold night, looking at the stars, feeling lucky to be there together.