Julley Ladakh

When life becomes boring and all the mundane things you to become unbearable, What do you do? Well, I hit off to the paradise on earth, the land of Gods which is Ladakh. For photos visit this album

We started from Pune on 25th May at around 8:30pm. We had to catch a flight from Mumbai to Delhi. We got caught in a traffic jam at 1:00 in the night in Mumbai just near the airport. Santosh went rushing to the airport in a rickshaw to get the boarding passes while a few of us decided to walk. Fortunately one guy amongst us actually cleared the traffic by doing the mama's job. We were at the airport just in time. We flew by Spicejet. BTW since it is a budget airline, all you get there is water and some shrewsbury biscuits.

26th May - We were at Delhi airport by around 3:30 am. We then took the connecting spicejet flight to Srinagar. Srinagar is still not a recommended place to stay. We took a bus and headed straight for Sonmarg. The army patrolling is very high all along. I would also take this opportunity to salute the army because of whom we are living the life the way we do today. Hats off to them. I am admiring them all the more because of the harsh climatic conditions which I saw ahead.We reached Sonmarg at around 1:30 the same day.
Our hotel was just fantastic. It was right in front of the glacier and hence aptly named as Hotel Sonmarg Glacier. In the evening, we went for a walk on to the glacier. We were gheraoed by locals trying to get customers for a pony ride or for a sledge ride. After a long battle we fell prey to
one of the sledge guy. The sledge was a wooden one just good enough to serve the purpose. We had some nice Kashmiri food from their 18 course meal called Wazwan. We had phirni, gushtabo and kawa. I just loved kawa. When in Kashmir, do not miss it.

27th May - We had reserved this day for acclamatization. It is very important that each individual gets acclamatised to higher altitudes especially in Leh and its adjoining areas. Today morning, we went rafting on the river Sindhu. Sindhu is also called the Indus river. This river originates from the Ladakh region and flows towards Pakistan. It is also the bed of the ancient Indus valley civilisation. The river has continuous rapids unlike the Ganga where the rapids appear after small stretches of calm waters. I was not so enthu about the whole thing earlier but
gave in to peer pressure. I have done rafting earlier. Here in Sonmarg they do not let you paddle the raft. I convinced the person to let me paddle and he allowed me. Evening was free for shopping. Believe me...stuff here in Sonmarg is very cheap as compared to Leh or as the locals said compared to Srinagar. Sonmarg is a small village, where the people earn for 4 months and use it for 12.

28th May - Sonmarg - Kargil - We took the road via Zojhi la (pass). Time to explain some terminology. La means a pass in Ladakhi language. Hence la-dakh is the land of passes. We started from Sonmarg at 11:00 am but we had to wait till 2:00 at one point for the army convoy to go. You can refer the map below to know route and the places which we went by.

www.lehladakhindia.com/india/ladakhmaps.html

The Zoji La is full of snow. The pass opens only after mid may. The sight was amazing. The entire place is loaded with few feet of snow. The chill in the air is quite different and harsher as compared to Himachal. The pass is lined by army establishments throughout. We reached Kargil via Drass. Due to the recent war, this place has been much in the news lately but the fact is that this place always had its strategic importance. We heard quite a lot of war stories during dinner from the hotel manager and waiters and unknowingly one is filled with patriotism which is
dormant inside you. The routine in your life never leaves any place for such thoughts and even before I realised I was filled with a feeling hard to describe. What does man gain by doing such wars.

29th May - Kargil Leh - In the morning we stopped in the kargil market for STD calls. Well, when in Ladakh, BSNL wins. Idea does not have a network here, not even a tie up and Airtel fails to give a good service. As we move further you realise the sudden change in terrain. The snow capped mountains and the tall trees are suddenly gone and this is replaced by rocky mountains with small stones and gravel running down from the slopes with no sign of vegetation. You twist and turn on the small road climbing up and down the mountains. If it hadn't been for the group, I would have felt totally lost and scared with a feeling of heading to nowhere. There is no sign of life around and suddenly in the dry barren lands you find a tinge of humour. Himank - the border roads organisation has some very funny safety messages painted. e.g. 'Please be gentle on my curves', 'I'm curvaceous', 'Please be Mr. Late than Late Mr.' No tjust the landscape, even the people (looks and attitude wise), culture everything changes. From the tall, fair Kashmiris with sharp noses, high cheek bones and well defined features the change is small chinky eyes, weather beaten faces with red cheeks you are taken from the Aryan to the Mongolian race. From Islam to Buddhismm, the change is drastic.
On the way to Leh, we saw the Lamayuru monastery. The common things about most monasteries would be the statue of Gautam Buddha and the pictures depicting the circle of life and the teachings of Buddha about life. The monasteries in and around Leh belong to 4 different sects. The Lamayuru monastery has a huge statue of Buddha which is around 2 storied. We also saw a cave where one of the important Lama used to meditate. All monasteries are situated atop hills.

From here we moved ahead to our main destination Leh. We reached Leh at around 6pm. Its so unbelievable that a huge town like Leh is situated in the middle of nowhere. If you see the pics, you will realise that the terrain of Ladakh makes you believe that the road in between the dry, barren mountains leads to nowhere and just when you have settled down with this thought immediately you land up with a contrasting green patch with small houses and stupas. At the start and end of every village (although this is not the rule), you will find innumerable stupas. Most
of them have been made by the kings of ladakh, the Namgyal family.

30th May - We went around for a tour of the Leh city. The place is rich in history which dates back to 400 AD. I'm sure the history is much more old but written references are very few. The greater Ladakh kingdom consisted of 3 provinces - Kargil, Ladakh and Tibet with Shey being the capital. The kings had offered political stability to this place due to which the kingdom flourished as a trade center in between China, Kashmir, Afghanistan to places as
far as the Arab coutries. The chinese were always at war with the ladakhis but Ladakhis never ever allowed the Chinese to step in. The Arabs too attacked the place and it was the king of Kashmir who took advantage of this situation and won Ladakh. The 3 districts were not as they are today. The original inhabitants were called Dards which today are a minority. Most people are of Tibetan origin. So although Ladakh is today in J&K state, geographically, culturally, origin wise and language wise they are totally different to Kashmiris. It was much later that the capital got shifted to Leh.
We saw two monasteries Thiksay and Hemis which houses around 50 and 100 young Lamas respectively. The latter was built by King Shenge Namgyal. Next, we went to the Shey palace and museum. We had sort off expected to see a palace as grand as the Mysore palace and hence this was a bit of a let down. Although it did not match the grandeur it did show off the culture of Ladakh. The museum on the other hand was good, especially women would appreciate the kind of jewellery that Ladakhis wear. It is so very different from the rest of the India. Made mostly in silver, the jewellery has a lot of turquoise and corals used. The head gear is especially interesting. It is
made of turquoise and is passed from one generation to another - mother to the daughter. Every time it is gifted to the daughter during her wedding, some more turquoise get added to the existing set. Hence most pieces are antique and have travelled various places. I was reading a book on the history of this place and realised that Ladakh once had gold mines. I find this strange since gold is not part of the jewellery used here. Later we went for Sindhu darshan. Our guide Jigmed is a hero of sorts. He has worked in Siachen for 6 months as a porter. He told us
about the hardships that the Indian army faces. More than the shelling, the cold here is the cause of many deaths. He also voluntarily helped the army during the Kargil war driving vehicles without light at night supplying provisions.
We went around teh market place in the evening. Even today you will find men and women dressed traditionally selling vegetables and also dry fruits on the pavements. There is lots to buy here, shoppers paradise.

31st May - We had a slight change in plans and instead of heading for Nubra valley, due to a closed pass, we had to go to Pangong lake. We had to cross the Chang La, which is at a height of 17600 feet. For the first time in my life I saw snow fall. This is the highlight of my trip. Wowwwww!!! Snow falling in the most panoramic view and icycles all the way. What more can one ask for.
Pangong is a beautiful salt water lake and is also huge in dimensions. Most important, 35% of the lake is in India while the rest is in China. Let my photos speak of its beauty. You can shop for sovenirs at the army canteen. Ahead of Pangong is a small village called Shishula which is also the last village in India. This is also a small trading point in between the two countries. China border is around one night one day journey by foot. We travelled our road back, icy cold on the passes and hot in the valleys. Thats Ladakh for you.

1st June - Today was the day when I made history. LOL I was travelling on the worlds highest motorable road on earth. Yes... thats Khardung La (pass) sitting atop at 18300 ft. Can you imagine a convoy of 5 scorpios travelling on the highest road in the world and then it starts snowing heavily than yesterday. Yahooooo!!!. Life just cant get any better. We had a ball of a time playing in the snow.
We were heading towards the Nubra valley. We travelled a long distance today in a very dry and stony terrain and suddenly in the middle of what used to be huge river, we saw green patch. A village right inside the river basin. That was Shyok river whose width must have been twice that of Ganga but unfortunately the river is dry. We stayed at a village called Sumur at Silk Route resort which has bamboo cottages and tents to offer. Here I saw hoopoe, a bird which is a symbol of Dalai Lama. The resort had a 90 year old water mill dismantled but still in working condition if need be. In the evening we went to see hot water springs to a village called Panamik. This is
the last spot for tourists. Ahead is the army area goign towards the border and the Siachen glacier.
At this stage in the travelogue, I'm sure at least one friend of mine is excited and has decided to go to Ladakh. Lets see who it is. I would recommend to take the tour with saahas.com, the only people to carry an oxygen cylinder with them in case of eventuality and believe me ... this cylinder saved the lives of two tourists (not from our group). Please take acclamatisation very seriously. Well its time now for a campfire.

2nd Jun - Nubra -> Leh
On our way back, we took a small detour to Hundar to watch Bactrian camels. These are double humped camels. Well how can a desert, hot or cold, be complete without camels and a camel ride. BTW, these camels do not belong in here. Legend goes that years and years ago, Turkish traders who used to frequest this area used to leave behind aging or sick camels. This is how the camels have inhabited this place. There are around 40 today.
Back in Leh, we had arranged for a traditional song and dance program. We also drank, ladakhi tea which is namkeen rather than sweet to taste.

3rd June
A day free to do your own thing, we visited the Kargil museum called Hall of fame - a must see. Let em take this opportunity to salute the defence forces who lay down their lives for our security. Next we went off to Magnetic hill. It says that a car taken here will experience anti gravity. We were not sure what to expect. Finally a driver told us that a car parked in a specific place goes uphill rather than down hill, which it did. We had a divide opinion on whether it was indeed uphill. Well I belong to the group who did not believe this. The road construction was such that it appeared to go uphill but it had a clear cut slope when viewed from a distance from the road. Well upto you guys to decide when you see it. Our last two stops were at Shati Stupa, the most modern stupa here and then shopping.

4th June - was an end of a memorable paisa vasool trip. Julley (namaste) ladakh. I wish to be back here someday for another memorable trip.