Tibetan Butter Tea

Here in Leh, it is known as the gur-gur chai, and is by far one of the most unique things you will ever taste, especially if you are used to drinking the sweetened milk tea. The salted tea is made by boiling tea with baking soda and salt, in a samovar (tea urn used in Russia); afterwards, a large lump of butter is added. This butter is specially churned in wooden apparatus, and the milk is usually yak’s. It is the perfect answer for fighting against the bitter cold of the high Himalayas, and could prove to be therapeutic. In fact the butter helps your lips from getting chapped in the cold and dry weather. On a usual cold day, wrap yourself in a blanket and sit with a cup of Tibetan butter tea, you will realise you do not need anything else in the world. The word around Ladakh is that the best butter tea is found at the Hemis Gompa (monastery), so take a hike to taste (possibly) the best Tibetan salted tea you will ever have.