When: 2nd July 2009-8th July 2009
Who: Ashish and Me
The journey started with us leaving for Delhi from Jaipur on 1st July 2009 late in the night. In the wee hours of 2nd we reached Delhi, from where we had our flight to Leh. The journey started with our flight being 2.5 hours late. We were really hungry and thanks to this delay, we got good complimentary snacks and coffee at the airport. (For a change I liked the snacks provided). After about 40-45 minutes of our flight, we noticed the beautiful snowcapped Himalayan peaks.
Pic: snow covered mountains
The flight to Leh was for around 90 minutes. The weather at Delhi when we boarded the flight was humid (it was drizzling) and as soon as the door of the aircraft was opened at Leh, chill ran through our spines… it was reaaaaaallly cold! The strange thing about Leh’s weather is that it is unpredictable. It was supposed to be very stormy in the morning (that was the reason for our flight’s delay: “Non-supportive weather conditions”) but when we landed, it was bright and sunny!
We took the pre paid cab from the Airport to our hotel Omasila. We crossed the local market, tiny lanes (wondering where exactly we were heading to) to reach our Hotel. The first look at the hotel, I wasn’t very happy... but couldn’t say anything. Ashish was also not very happy with the same. But when we checked in the hotel and saw the interiors, we (especially Ashish) heaved a sigh of relief, coz it was really beautiful. Very nicely done interiors, nice garden, good restaurant and the best part was that we could see the snow-peaked mountains from our window!!
We were told by the hotel staff (as well we had read on internet) to take rest on atleast the first day, so as to get acclimatize to the weather and altitude of Leh. So we did exactly that. However, even after this, the next day morning I got up with high fever. When the hotel staff was contacted, to call the doctor, they said that this is due to altitude sickness. What followed was an oxygen cylinder! I was just gaping dumb-stuck that what this was!! After around half an hour, the hotel owner told that they would send the breakfast at room itself. So we had breakfast of toast and fruits, then I slept for some time. At around 130, we had lunch which was khichdi (specially prepared for me and even Ashish had to eat the same which he dislikes to the core!!) At around 2 pm, I felt better, and then we decided to roam around the city. We were walking down the market, when we spotted shops advertising for Bike on Rent. So after bargaining at a couple of places, we took the bike for a rent of Rs. 300 for half a day (petrol to be filled in by us). [All set to vroooom. Pic 172]From here, first we went in search of Spituk. After checking at a couple of places for the route, we reached this place. It was actually a Kali maata ka mandir (of Buddhists which is supposedly different from Hindu). This temple was situated on a hillock from where we could see the Indus flowing. Initially we didn’t realize that this was Indus. It was only when we heard the other tourists talking, we realized that this small river (this is what it seemed) is Indus!
While returning from Spituk, there was this very small bridge. Here our bike stopped. We (I mean Ashish ;-)) tried a lot but in vain. Topping, the situation, fierce wind was blowing… I had put on my sweater as well as jacket, and thanks to that sweater (which had a hood also) I was saved. However, the fierce wind had its impact on Ashish. Finally, the bike decided to start and we headed to Shanti Stupa. When we realized that we had to climb more than 400 stairs, we decided not to go there, and returned back to the city. Here we went to the famous Leh Palace, and trust me, even the most dilapidated ruins of Jaipur, looks better than the Palace. The palace is supposed to be of 7 floors, however, we just went to the first floor and on the second floor visited the temple and came back. And yes, the point which I forgot to mention here was when we reached the palace’s entrance gate, there is this fees collection point (Rs. 5 per person). When we went there to buy the ticket, the person in-charge there told us that the tickets were over… we gave a questioning look and asked, so how do we go in. He said, don’t worry, no one will stop you, you can go!!!
Here in the palace we met a group of 3 people, they told us that there is another way to Shanti Stupa, through which vehicles go, which ends just a few meters from the Stupa. So we decided to go there again.
After a drive of around 15-20 minutes (slashing cold winds) we reached the stupa. A “few meters” seemed to be kilometers together due to harsh winds, steep climb and the tired souls!! The place was beautiful. Since it was on a further higher altitude than the city, the landscape from Stupa was mesmerizing. From here we returned back to our hotel to realize that Ashish had a reaaaly bad headache and even my fever had resumed. Took some medicines and then retired for the day after having dinner. We had decided to go to Pangong lake the next day, but considering our condition wasn’t good, we decided to postpone the plan.
The next day, got up late, had a late breakfast and an early lunch and then started for a visit to the Leh market. Strolled here and there, visited few travel agents for the trip to Pangong. We had to withdraw money. Please note that in Leh you have just 3 ATM’s. one SBI which was on the main road. This ATM was realllly slow- one transaction which generally takes around 2 minutes was taking > 5 minutes to succeed. And there were always a huge queue- Atleast 15-20 people!! (There was another ATM of SBI but that’s outside the city limits). The second ATM was of PNB, which was not working and the third was of J&K Bank which again was not working! We decided not to withdraw money that day. Went to one of the tour operators and fixed the itinerary for the next day which was pangong Lake. The fares here are really high and you need to Bargain a lot. For Pangong Lake and Nubra Valley, you need to have the Inner Line Permit. GOK what that is. However, it is some sort of a permission from the Govt to visit these areas. A fees of Rs. 150 is levied per person for this. the cab’s charges as fixed by the taxi union and approved by Government was some Rs. 5000. We bargained a bit and got the same for Rs. 1500 per head. We had to share the cab with one Japanese girl who had come to Leh for some 3 weeks to explore the place and visit monasteries and do some adventure sports etc. wont lie here, I was actually jealous!!). After dealing with the tour operator, we returned back to the hotel. Had a sumptuous dinner and resolved that the next day we would definitely go to Pangong Lake. We had told the hotel staff in the evening itself to pack our breakfast and lunch. So the next day, sharp at 6 am, the cab was there and so was our meal.
We set off to Pangong Lake [4,250 m (13,900 ft)]. The weather was cool, we started ascending the mountains and the weather became colder. I started getting headache (again due to altitude). [The daring me… severe headache and fever.. but still photo k liye ready. Pic 153] We reached Changla Paas[Pic 146], which is World’s Third Highest Motorable Road [5,425 m (17,800 ft)]. it had snowed the earlier night and the army was still trying to clear the road! We stepped out, so that we could get some photos, but severe cold winds forced us back inside our car.[ Leaving an Impression. Pic 148] There was this special tea which was being prepared by army personnel there and they used to offer the same to the people as complimentary… wow.. hot tea in extremely cold weather tastes yummmmy. This was special Ladhaki tea. After stopping there for some 7-10 minutes we resumed our journey to Pangong. [ On the way to Pangong. Pic 137 and with the Yak 138].The first glimpse of lake was breathtaking. [The first Glimpse. Pic 123]
[ Pics of Pangong. Pic 122]There were mountains all around (note that these mountains didn’t have any vegetation). These were dried barren mountains. And amidst these, was this beautiful lake which was bright blue in color. Please note that the attached pictures are without any special effects/ camera mode. This is just the normal camera. Just check out the color of the water. It is transparent bright blue in color. The specially of this lake is that 2/3rd of the length of the lake lies in China and 1/3rd is in India. This lake also played an important role in the Indo-Chinese war of 1962. The Indian Army still has the captured Chinese submarine, which had come into Indian waters of the lake. Civilians are not allowed to go in the lake, due to security reasons. Only, army boats go in the water of this magnificent lake. The Lake is 134 km long India to China. The lake is 5 km wide at its broadest point. During winter, the lake freezes completely, despite being saline water.
We were at the lake for around an hour. The fierce cold wind didn’t allow us to stay there much. I touched the water of the lake and trust me it was numbing cold! For a couple of minutes, I lost sensation in my hand. Then when I was back to normal, I was still shivering. Overnight stay is allowed at the designated rest houses. However, due to the paucity of time, we returned the same day.
We reached back at around 5 pm. Stopped at one of the shops and brought a woolen cap for Ashish (which even till date he hasn’t worn it once!). when we reached the hotel, we were starving, because of the simple reason that our breakfast and lunch both comprised of sandwiches, biscuits and bananas. We asked, if we could get some Maggie. The response was positive and after some 15-20 minutes we got something, which was supposedly Maggi!! It was actually boiled noodles FLOATING in spicy hot water! We had that… did a tour of the hotel, then Ashish went to the market to confirm the next day’s itinerary with the tour operator, came back, had dinner and then retired for the day.
The next day, around 9 am, we checked out of the hotel. Our cab was waiting and we started on our way to Nubra Valley. We travelled around 15 kms from Leh when the BRDO personnel stopped our vehicle to say that the roads ahead might be closed due to blasting which is done to make roads. We were disappointed. Still we resumed our journey. Around 7-8 kms later, we could see some 8-9 cars waiting for the gate to be opened. As soon as we reached, the gates were opened..why… well there was this CP of Leh who wanted to travel to Nubra, and due to him the program of making the road was postponed…yippie!! We went through world’s highest motorable road i.e. Khardung-La Paas which was at the height of [5682 mn (18,382 ft)]. We had decided to stop there only at the time of returning back to Leh…so we proceeded on our journey to Nubra. [Pic: Nibra at a glance. Pic 33]We first went to Sumur Monastry. This was the first monastery which we visited at Leh. This monastery was build in 1841.
[ Pic: At the entrance. Pic 50]You have to travel the entire breadth of the valley to reach the Sumur Monastery. Frankly speaking the monastery at Coorg was far much better than the monastery at Sumur.. but still, the location and the calm which was here at Sumur, I don’t think we can find anywhere else in the world!
After Sumur, we went to Diskit. This seemed to be the main hub/ town of the region. There was a monatery at the hill top. We went there and the pain in Ashish’s head resumed and was intolerable. He again had some paracetamol and after some time, he was better. There, the priest told us the significance of the Prayer Wheel/ mani. [Pic: trying to understand…hmm pic 32]It has scrolls of mantras inside the wheel and when you rotate it clockwise, it’s like you are reading the mantras. From the top of this monastery at Diskit, we could see a huge statue of Lord Buddha being under construction and also a huge gathering with cultural events being organized. We decided to go there and saw the culture of Laddakh. There was a troop of Tibetans performing on Laddaki music. It was beautiful. The occasion was Dalai Lama’s Birthday.
By the time we moved from there, it was already 3 in the afternoon, and we were hungry. So our driver took us to this very small hotel in Diskit. The food was good. One interesting thing we witnessed that day at the hotel. When we were having our lunch, a group of around 7-8 Israeli youngsters, around the age of 24-28, came in to have lunch. They saw the menu and then after some 5 minutes, told the waiter that they didn’t like the menu and then they left. It made us a bit anxious as to why these people who were really hungry, didn’t have lunch! When Ashish asked the waiter, he said, these people can’t afford this food; it’s too costly for them. We were wondering that how come people who travel to another country altogether couldn’t afford this food, which was actually quite cheap, as compared to the normal standards!
Anyways, with this thought in mind, we left for Hunder, which was again a village and where we were supposed to halt overnight. The hotel, actually a guesthouse, wasn’t great. But the location was awesome. We had some snacks at the hotel, relaxed for some time and then at around 6 went to the sand dunes. It was an amazing sight to see the snow, the river, the mountains and the sand dunes all at the same place. The rocks were naturally carved beautifully. There we took a ride on the two-humped camels aka Central Asian Camels. This was the first time I was sitting on the camel and was really terrified when it got up…sat down…and even when it was walking… well kind of reminded me of the Vaishno Devi horse ride and the after effects. After the 15 minute camel ride, we sat there for some time and had tea. Having hot tea on a chilling evening, just overseeing a river on one side, sand dunes on the other and mountains all around was a wonderful experience. After around half an hour, we headed to our guest house again. Again relaxed for some time, had dinner, and called it a day.
The next day morning, after having breakfast, we left Hunder at around 930. We crossed the same sand dunes and the village of Khalsar. We drove past river Shyok. At one place, we got down our cab, trekked for some 100 meters and went till the river. It was a very nice and exciting experience. Well, you gotta go to this place to get the first hand experience. Words aren’t enough to explain it!
After a couple of hours we halted at Khardung-La pass. it was a beautiful place. There was a small pond which was fully covered with snow. However, it was really disheartening to see, that there was this one patch, which was fully covered in black… black from the soot of charcoal. I don’t know what exactly was being done with the same, but it really smelled bad. The burning of charcoal at such a beautiful site, ruins the beauty of our mountain
From here we headed back to Leh. We reached there around 3 in the afternoon. Checked in again at Hotel Omasila. Had maggie for Lunch. Then in the evening, there was a cultural event being organized by the hotel. For some half an hour we watched the same and then went for a stroll and also hoping that we will get some good souvenirs to carry back home, but alas, nothing worthwhile we could find there. Then on the way back we halted at one of the open air restaurants, which was showing “NewYork” on the Big screen. We had a Chinese dinner there. Since the print was pirated one, we decided not to watch the same. Also, it was reallllllly very cold and we were literally shivering, so we went back to the hotel.
Next day morning, our flight to Srinagar was at 730 in the morning. We checked out from the hotel. We were given a white scarf as a token of thanks from the hotel owner. We reached the airport in 20 minutes. However, our flight was delayed and delayed and further delayed. [pic: dozing off while waiting to take off… Pic 11] Due to some technical snag, the flight couldn’t take off. We had planned to take the flight to Srinagar in the morning and then around 3 in the afternoon, we had our flight to Delhi. We had decided to roam around Srinagar for some 5-6 hours. However, with this delay in the flight take off from Leh, our spirits were dampened. Finally, another flight was called in from Delhi and we managed to take off only at 4 in the evening but directly to Delhi. Reached Delhi at around 5 pm and from the airport, directly went to the railway station to board the train to Nagpur.
Who: Ashish and Me
The journey started with us leaving for Delhi from Jaipur on 1st July 2009 late in the night. In the wee hours of 2nd we reached Delhi, from where we had our flight to Leh. The journey started with our flight being 2.5 hours late. We were really hungry and thanks to this delay, we got good complimentary snacks and coffee at the airport. (For a change I liked the snacks provided). After about 40-45 minutes of our flight, we noticed the beautiful snowcapped Himalayan peaks.
Pic: snow covered mountains
The flight to Leh was for around 90 minutes. The weather at Delhi when we boarded the flight was humid (it was drizzling) and as soon as the door of the aircraft was opened at Leh, chill ran through our spines… it was reaaaaaallly cold! The strange thing about Leh’s weather is that it is unpredictable. It was supposed to be very stormy in the morning (that was the reason for our flight’s delay: “Non-supportive weather conditions”) but when we landed, it was bright and sunny!
We took the pre paid cab from the Airport to our hotel Omasila. We crossed the local market, tiny lanes (wondering where exactly we were heading to) to reach our Hotel. The first look at the hotel, I wasn’t very happy... but couldn’t say anything. Ashish was also not very happy with the same. But when we checked in the hotel and saw the interiors, we (especially Ashish) heaved a sigh of relief, coz it was really beautiful. Very nicely done interiors, nice garden, good restaurant and the best part was that we could see the snow-peaked mountains from our window!!
We were told by the hotel staff (as well we had read on internet) to take rest on atleast the first day, so as to get acclimatize to the weather and altitude of Leh. So we did exactly that. However, even after this, the next day morning I got up with high fever. When the hotel staff was contacted, to call the doctor, they said that this is due to altitude sickness. What followed was an oxygen cylinder! I was just gaping dumb-stuck that what this was!! After around half an hour, the hotel owner told that they would send the breakfast at room itself. So we had breakfast of toast and fruits, then I slept for some time. At around 130, we had lunch which was khichdi (specially prepared for me and even Ashish had to eat the same which he dislikes to the core!!) At around 2 pm, I felt better, and then we decided to roam around the city. We were walking down the market, when we spotted shops advertising for Bike on Rent. So after bargaining at a couple of places, we took the bike for a rent of Rs. 300 for half a day (petrol to be filled in by us). [All set to vroooom. Pic 172]From here, first we went in search of Spituk. After checking at a couple of places for the route, we reached this place. It was actually a Kali maata ka mandir (of Buddhists which is supposedly different from Hindu). This temple was situated on a hillock from where we could see the Indus flowing. Initially we didn’t realize that this was Indus. It was only when we heard the other tourists talking, we realized that this small river (this is what it seemed) is Indus!
While returning from Spituk, there was this very small bridge. Here our bike stopped. We (I mean Ashish ;-)) tried a lot but in vain. Topping, the situation, fierce wind was blowing… I had put on my sweater as well as jacket, and thanks to that sweater (which had a hood also) I was saved. However, the fierce wind had its impact on Ashish. Finally, the bike decided to start and we headed to Shanti Stupa. When we realized that we had to climb more than 400 stairs, we decided not to go there, and returned back to the city. Here we went to the famous Leh Palace, and trust me, even the most dilapidated ruins of Jaipur, looks better than the Palace. The palace is supposed to be of 7 floors, however, we just went to the first floor and on the second floor visited the temple and came back. And yes, the point which I forgot to mention here was when we reached the palace’s entrance gate, there is this fees collection point (Rs. 5 per person). When we went there to buy the ticket, the person in-charge there told us that the tickets were over… we gave a questioning look and asked, so how do we go in. He said, don’t worry, no one will stop you, you can go!!!
Here in the palace we met a group of 3 people, they told us that there is another way to Shanti Stupa, through which vehicles go, which ends just a few meters from the Stupa. So we decided to go there again.
After a drive of around 15-20 minutes (slashing cold winds) we reached the stupa. A “few meters” seemed to be kilometers together due to harsh winds, steep climb and the tired souls!! The place was beautiful. Since it was on a further higher altitude than the city, the landscape from Stupa was mesmerizing. From here we returned back to our hotel to realize that Ashish had a reaaaly bad headache and even my fever had resumed. Took some medicines and then retired for the day after having dinner. We had decided to go to Pangong lake the next day, but considering our condition wasn’t good, we decided to postpone the plan.
The next day, got up late, had a late breakfast and an early lunch and then started for a visit to the Leh market. Strolled here and there, visited few travel agents for the trip to Pangong. We had to withdraw money. Please note that in Leh you have just 3 ATM’s. one SBI which was on the main road. This ATM was realllly slow- one transaction which generally takes around 2 minutes was taking > 5 minutes to succeed. And there were always a huge queue- Atleast 15-20 people!! (There was another ATM of SBI but that’s outside the city limits). The second ATM was of PNB, which was not working and the third was of J&K Bank which again was not working! We decided not to withdraw money that day. Went to one of the tour operators and fixed the itinerary for the next day which was pangong Lake. The fares here are really high and you need to Bargain a lot. For Pangong Lake and Nubra Valley, you need to have the Inner Line Permit. GOK what that is. However, it is some sort of a permission from the Govt to visit these areas. A fees of Rs. 150 is levied per person for this. the cab’s charges as fixed by the taxi union and approved by Government was some Rs. 5000. We bargained a bit and got the same for Rs. 1500 per head. We had to share the cab with one Japanese girl who had come to Leh for some 3 weeks to explore the place and visit monasteries and do some adventure sports etc. wont lie here, I was actually jealous!!). After dealing with the tour operator, we returned back to the hotel. Had a sumptuous dinner and resolved that the next day we would definitely go to Pangong Lake. We had told the hotel staff in the evening itself to pack our breakfast and lunch. So the next day, sharp at 6 am, the cab was there and so was our meal.
We set off to Pangong Lake [4,250 m (13,900 ft)]. The weather was cool, we started ascending the mountains and the weather became colder. I started getting headache (again due to altitude). [The daring me… severe headache and fever.. but still photo k liye ready. Pic 153] We reached Changla Paas[Pic 146], which is World’s Third Highest Motorable Road [5,425 m (17,800 ft)]. it had snowed the earlier night and the army was still trying to clear the road! We stepped out, so that we could get some photos, but severe cold winds forced us back inside our car.[ Leaving an Impression. Pic 148] There was this special tea which was being prepared by army personnel there and they used to offer the same to the people as complimentary… wow.. hot tea in extremely cold weather tastes yummmmy. This was special Ladhaki tea. After stopping there for some 7-10 minutes we resumed our journey to Pangong. [ On the way to Pangong. Pic 137 and with the Yak 138].The first glimpse of lake was breathtaking. [The first Glimpse. Pic 123]
[ Pics of Pangong. Pic 122]There were mountains all around (note that these mountains didn’t have any vegetation). These were dried barren mountains. And amidst these, was this beautiful lake which was bright blue in color. Please note that the attached pictures are without any special effects/ camera mode. This is just the normal camera. Just check out the color of the water. It is transparent bright blue in color. The specially of this lake is that 2/3rd of the length of the lake lies in China and 1/3rd is in India. This lake also played an important role in the Indo-Chinese war of 1962. The Indian Army still has the captured Chinese submarine, which had come into Indian waters of the lake. Civilians are not allowed to go in the lake, due to security reasons. Only, army boats go in the water of this magnificent lake. The Lake is 134 km long India to China. The lake is 5 km wide at its broadest point. During winter, the lake freezes completely, despite being saline water.
We were at the lake for around an hour. The fierce cold wind didn’t allow us to stay there much. I touched the water of the lake and trust me it was numbing cold! For a couple of minutes, I lost sensation in my hand. Then when I was back to normal, I was still shivering. Overnight stay is allowed at the designated rest houses. However, due to the paucity of time, we returned the same day.
We reached back at around 5 pm. Stopped at one of the shops and brought a woolen cap for Ashish (which even till date he hasn’t worn it once!). when we reached the hotel, we were starving, because of the simple reason that our breakfast and lunch both comprised of sandwiches, biscuits and bananas. We asked, if we could get some Maggie. The response was positive and after some 15-20 minutes we got something, which was supposedly Maggi!! It was actually boiled noodles FLOATING in spicy hot water! We had that… did a tour of the hotel, then Ashish went to the market to confirm the next day’s itinerary with the tour operator, came back, had dinner and then retired for the day.
The next day, around 9 am, we checked out of the hotel. Our cab was waiting and we started on our way to Nubra Valley. We travelled around 15 kms from Leh when the BRDO personnel stopped our vehicle to say that the roads ahead might be closed due to blasting which is done to make roads. We were disappointed. Still we resumed our journey. Around 7-8 kms later, we could see some 8-9 cars waiting for the gate to be opened. As soon as we reached, the gates were opened..why… well there was this CP of Leh who wanted to travel to Nubra, and due to him the program of making the road was postponed…yippie!! We went through world’s highest motorable road i.e. Khardung-La Paas which was at the height of [5682 mn (18,382 ft)]. We had decided to stop there only at the time of returning back to Leh…so we proceeded on our journey to Nubra. [Pic: Nibra at a glance. Pic 33]We first went to Sumur Monastry. This was the first monastery which we visited at Leh. This monastery was build in 1841.
[ Pic: At the entrance. Pic 50]You have to travel the entire breadth of the valley to reach the Sumur Monastery. Frankly speaking the monastery at Coorg was far much better than the monastery at Sumur.. but still, the location and the calm which was here at Sumur, I don’t think we can find anywhere else in the world!
After Sumur, we went to Diskit. This seemed to be the main hub/ town of the region. There was a monatery at the hill top. We went there and the pain in Ashish’s head resumed and was intolerable. He again had some paracetamol and after some time, he was better. There, the priest told us the significance of the Prayer Wheel/ mani. [Pic: trying to understand…hmm pic 32]It has scrolls of mantras inside the wheel and when you rotate it clockwise, it’s like you are reading the mantras. From the top of this monastery at Diskit, we could see a huge statue of Lord Buddha being under construction and also a huge gathering with cultural events being organized. We decided to go there and saw the culture of Laddakh. There was a troop of Tibetans performing on Laddaki music. It was beautiful. The occasion was Dalai Lama’s Birthday.
By the time we moved from there, it was already 3 in the afternoon, and we were hungry. So our driver took us to this very small hotel in Diskit. The food was good. One interesting thing we witnessed that day at the hotel. When we were having our lunch, a group of around 7-8 Israeli youngsters, around the age of 24-28, came in to have lunch. They saw the menu and then after some 5 minutes, told the waiter that they didn’t like the menu and then they left. It made us a bit anxious as to why these people who were really hungry, didn’t have lunch! When Ashish asked the waiter, he said, these people can’t afford this food; it’s too costly for them. We were wondering that how come people who travel to another country altogether couldn’t afford this food, which was actually quite cheap, as compared to the normal standards!
Anyways, with this thought in mind, we left for Hunder, which was again a village and where we were supposed to halt overnight. The hotel, actually a guesthouse, wasn’t great. But the location was awesome. We had some snacks at the hotel, relaxed for some time and then at around 6 went to the sand dunes. It was an amazing sight to see the snow, the river, the mountains and the sand dunes all at the same place. The rocks were naturally carved beautifully. There we took a ride on the two-humped camels aka Central Asian Camels. This was the first time I was sitting on the camel and was really terrified when it got up…sat down…and even when it was walking… well kind of reminded me of the Vaishno Devi horse ride and the after effects. After the 15 minute camel ride, we sat there for some time and had tea. Having hot tea on a chilling evening, just overseeing a river on one side, sand dunes on the other and mountains all around was a wonderful experience. After around half an hour, we headed to our guest house again. Again relaxed for some time, had dinner, and called it a day.
The next day morning, after having breakfast, we left Hunder at around 930. We crossed the same sand dunes and the village of Khalsar. We drove past river Shyok. At one place, we got down our cab, trekked for some 100 meters and went till the river. It was a very nice and exciting experience. Well, you gotta go to this place to get the first hand experience. Words aren’t enough to explain it!
After a couple of hours we halted at Khardung-La pass. it was a beautiful place. There was a small pond which was fully covered with snow. However, it was really disheartening to see, that there was this one patch, which was fully covered in black… black from the soot of charcoal. I don’t know what exactly was being done with the same, but it really smelled bad. The burning of charcoal at such a beautiful site, ruins the beauty of our mountain
From here we headed back to Leh. We reached there around 3 in the afternoon. Checked in again at Hotel Omasila. Had maggie for Lunch. Then in the evening, there was a cultural event being organized by the hotel. For some half an hour we watched the same and then went for a stroll and also hoping that we will get some good souvenirs to carry back home, but alas, nothing worthwhile we could find there. Then on the way back we halted at one of the open air restaurants, which was showing “NewYork” on the Big screen. We had a Chinese dinner there. Since the print was pirated one, we decided not to watch the same. Also, it was reallllllly very cold and we were literally shivering, so we went back to the hotel.
Next day morning, our flight to Srinagar was at 730 in the morning. We checked out from the hotel. We were given a white scarf as a token of thanks from the hotel owner. We reached the airport in 20 minutes. However, our flight was delayed and delayed and further delayed. [pic: dozing off while waiting to take off… Pic 11] Due to some technical snag, the flight couldn’t take off. We had planned to take the flight to Srinagar in the morning and then around 3 in the afternoon, we had our flight to Delhi. We had decided to roam around Srinagar for some 5-6 hours. However, with this delay in the flight take off from Leh, our spirits were dampened. Finally, another flight was called in from Delhi and we managed to take off only at 4 in the evening but directly to Delhi. Reached Delhi at around 5 pm and from the airport, directly went to the railway station to board the train to Nagpur.
3 comments:
Amazing place....Im really inspired to go now. Leh had always been in my list of - Must see places. Now after reading your post, it has become all the more exciting to see its beauty.
really enchanting....when we went to manali we thought of going to leh too but lack of time....
but now after reading your write up and luking at the pics.....i really feeling like visiting the place and feel the experience...
kya switzerland kya scotland....india rocks!!!
EAST OR WEST INDIA IS THE BEST
WoW............!!!
This looks mesmerizing!!
I am tempted to see all the pics! Sure would be a life time experience for you Arps!
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