Trip to Ladakh (4th - 11th July09)

I had always wanted to visit Ladakh & when me n my hubby had to plan a vacation this time we went ahead n booked our tickets for Leh. We left for Mumbai airport on 2nd July evening. The drive from Pune to Mumbai on express highway was quite good, weather being very plesant. On reaching airport we came to know that our flight had got delayed by 2-3 hours, so we just whiled away our time in the airport & I was half dozing by the time we boarded the flight. On reaching Delhi airport there was again sometime before the next flight, so we ate something n waited more. At around 6 am we boarded the next flight, I again half dozing. Only after the breakfast was served in the flight I was fully awake. Once we started flying over the Himalayas we just couldnt contain our happiness, it was a clear day & it was so exciting seeing those picturesque snow covered mountain tops. I had never seen such a sight before in my life. All the tourists in the plane were so excited n nearly everyone was clicking away snaps, & the pilot with his commentary was adding to all the fun.

Picture1: View from flight

Finally after such an eventful flight we reached Leh airport. It was a sight in itself. Barren land surrounded with raw mountains with a runway in between. wow. We took it easy after alighting the flight as we could feel the thinness of the air due to the altitude [approx 10K ft compared to zero of Delhi]. Besides we had already got loads of advice on acclimatization through parents n internet. So we just gave the whole day to acclimatisation. We ate n slept n watched tv in our room. Our only outing in the entire day was outside our room in the evening clicking some arbit snaps.

Picture2: Thiksey Gompa

Next day, after a whole day of rest I was literally aching to go out. We booked a scorpio for our entire sight seeing program. Having done so, at around 10 we left for the visit to the Gompas. It was a bright n sunny morning & the drive took us through the barren lands, oasis around Indus, some small establishments by local people. Our first stop was at Hemis Gompa. Every gompa we saw, was a collection of small stone houses, the top most being the temple, housing the Buddha statue & the remaining others being the abode of lamas. The temple was cool n dark, lighted only by lamps, decorated by flags & having seating arrangements for prayers, very calm if u minus the tourists there. Also every Gompa is lined by prayer wheels. So after having seen the Hemis Gompa we headed for Thiksay Gompa.

Picture3: Buddha Statue at Thiksay

In this monastery, there was a huge 2 storeyed Buddha statue which was quite nicely decorated also. Also in one section they had some weird pictures n statues of dunno what, but they looked very weird demon like. I was surprised to find something like that in a Buddhist monastery. Next we went to Shey Palace, which was hardly a palace I must say, just rocks & a temple at the top. By this time we were beginning to get tired. We had to walk considerably as all temples were at a height & the sun was merciless. Actually the air being so thin there, makes the sun even more hot.

Picture4: Indus River

Next we went to "Sindhu Darshan", basically at the banks of Indus river. It was quite beautiful & calm here n we would have sat there for hours, had we not started to get hungry by this time. So we called it a day, went back to our room, ate n slept having planned for the next day.

Picture5: Leaving Leh for K-top

Next day Route : Leh - South Pullu - Khardungla top - North Pullu - Nubra Valley - Khalser - Diskit - Hunder. Approx 120 kms one way.

We left in the morning after breakfast & our first stop was at South Pullu [height approx 15 K ft]. Over here we were told that since some drilling n all is going on somewhere near K-top, so we will have to wait for few hours before going ahead. We had tea in the 'VIP' room & fortunately in the mean time District collector and his entourage passed by & stopped the drilling for the time being. So we could go ahead without any further wait.

Picture6: VIP room of S Pullu [Ht 15K ft approx]

Picture7: Snow near K-top

Picture8: Nubra Valley

The drive was simply awesome, such rugged mountains, as we went further high up, there was snow & that was another such beautiful sight. Nubra Valley was also very beautiful, here Shylok river meets the Nubra river & even though its a desert, one can find patches of greenery along the river banks. Moving ahead we crossed Khalser & Diskit villages n reached Hunder by lunch time. Hunder is an army establishment, and the closest civillian establishment is Diskit. We had our lunch n rested for sometime.

Picture9: Diskit Gompa

In the evening we went n visited Diskit village followed by the visit to Sand dunes near Hunder. Its a rare sight to find sand dunes in mountains & even though we didnt ride the double humped camels there, we enjoyed the evening.

Picture10: Sand Dunes in Hunder

Next Day we had to travel the same route back to Leh. While having breakfast in our room, which was surrounded by desert mountains, I was admiring the view & wondering how it must be like living there. As a tourist I am enjoying every moment of it, but for a person living there, it must be so difficult, specially during the winters. During winters everything is covered by thick layers of snow, roads get blocked n commuting gets very difficult, many a times supplies have to be air-dropped. Our return drive was equally good and this time we stopped at the Khardungla top [height approx 18 K ft], the highest motorable road in the world. It was a nice experience being there.

Once back to Leh we rested & in the evening strolled to the Leh market. Tourism is an important means of income in Leh & it was quite evident by the numerous shops catering to tourist needs lined up there. Infact there is this Changspa road in Leh, which has just restaurants, travel agents, rental stores, souvenier shops, money exchange & internet cafes. But mostly the tourists here are foreigners, and Indian tourists are very less comparitively.

Next day was little dull, as we both were suffering from headaches n dizzyness & we ended up resting the whole day.

Picture11: Changla Baba at the pass

Next day route: Leh - Karu - Changla Pass - Tangtse - Pangong Tso Lake. n back. Distance approx 160kms one way.

We were up by 4am n ready to go by 5am, thanks to our driver who was insistent that we should leave early as there is a pagal nala enroute, which might get difficult to cross if water level increases as the day progressed. The drive again was awesome, this time the mountains being more of rocks n stones, a different view to take in. Even though its just mountains around, the terrain differed so much here n there that I never took my eyes off the surroundings. At many places, roads were quite bad & we had a bumpy ride. Our first stop was at Changla pass [approx height 17,800 ft], third highest pass. It was snowing there n quite cold, but the feeling to be there was so good. There is no habitation except for few army posts. Those few people have to live there for years together with nothing to do except gaurd those posts. There is also a temple dedicated to Changla baba there. We had complementary tea, which is kept for visitors n moved ahead. By this time we were growing hungry & eagerly waiting to reach Tangste, where we had our breakfast.

Picture12: Mountains or just a heap of stones & rocks?

Finally we crossed the pagal nala, which is stones n water & no road & reached the Pangong Tso lake. Height is approx 14K , length of the lake is around 135kms, 45 kms being in India & remaining 90kms in China. Water is saline & has no life forms. During winter this lake freezes completely.

Picture 13: Pangong Tso Lake

It was pretty cold and windy there. We did boating for sometime & then just sat beside the lake admiring the grandeur around us. It was so splendid, I can never forget the wonderous feeling I had sitting there. On our way back we had lunch at Tangste again & were back in Leh by 5 in the evening. 11 hours on road, for one hour near the lake, totally worth it!

Next day was our last day in Leh & we decided to rent a bike to visit the near by places. We rented a thunderbird, being our personnal favourite, but it was in quite a precarious condition. Nevertheless after breakfast, we drove till the Pathir sahib gurudwara. Drive, as always was quite good, scenery breathtaking. After visiting the gurudwara, we further crossed the Magnetic Hill n reached the Sangam of Indus & Zanskar river. It was like a painting, greenish Indus calmly meeting the muddy brownish Zanskar.

Picture14: Indus & Zanskar Sangam

We further went with an intention of visiting atleast one of the 2 monasteries, Alchi n Likir. But we had to turn back after covering nearly 2/3rd of the distance, because firstly we were not sure about the amount of petrol left in the bike or its milleage[and no fuel station in sight] & secondly there was a patch of extremely bad road to cross. So we turned back n were about to reach Leh when we had a flat. Oops! Back to Leh we had lunch & then in evening headed for Hall of fame, a museum. But it had closed by then n we could not visit it. So we headed for Shanti stupa instead. It is located at a height & gives a panoramic view of the whole Leh city. So after a series of flop shows in the day, we had a nice time admiring the view from the shanti stupa. We just sat contemplating how our past one week had been, & how much we had enjoyed being there.

Picture15: Leh City

Next morning we boarded our flight to Delhi. The receding view of the Himalayas was beckoning me to come back again. Maybe we will go back there sometime :)