LEH TRIP
Day - 1 - 18-06-16 - Delhi-Leh (11500Ft)
Acclimatized - Hotel Glacier View- So we were in Leh, land bound by two of the world's mightiest mountain ranges, the Great Himalaya and the Karakoram, it lies athwart two others, the Ladakh range and the Zanskar range. Ladakh is also known as the land of passes. That was the knowledge for the starters.
Our Hotel Glacier View was lovely and the view from the window was spectacular, with directly over looking the Leh Palace.
We decided to explore and get some Leh local food and found a place called Summer Harvest and had the traditional Thupka. We went back to the hotel to rest, again by the coffee time we stepped out to the place around the corner called Hidden North Cafe and dint have much just Lemon cake, Yak Cheese, chocolate donut, cinnamon roll, which were all yummy. There was a cultural folk dance show organized in the hotel which was lovely, the ladies wore very bright colored ethnic wear and the men wore their traditional wear too and the ladies danced very elegantly and gracefully whereas the dance by the men was more in the lines of the war hence they danced with props such as swords and other weapons. The dances signified the celebration of climates and animals such as the home coming of the rare birds and harvests etc.
Day - 2 - 19-02-16
Next morning we felt better and went out for sightseeing. First we went to the White Shanti Stupa from where the view is spectacular, later went to the Sankar Gompa where the Buddhist monks till day live, it has some very old art and construction. After lunch at Chengspa road and missing the driver the shopped at the local Tibetan flee market and bought some local blue famous torquise stone and coral and flags and the prayer wheels and the chimes. We managed to find our driver and went to the Palace - Now the Leh Palace is on the Mountain with a temple on a higher Mountain next to it which is the view from one hotel. The Leh Palace has in total 9 Floors on a mountain usually people end up going upto the 2nd floor, between the 2nd and 3rd floor has a beautiful shrine and 3rd floor has a balcony overlooking the 2nd floor terrace and has a birds view of the full city.
Not used to the altitude any little physical activity is tiring. We rested for a while in our hotel and left the hotel for our evening snack again at Hidden North Cafe and treated ourselves to some yummy treats, then we proceeded to the market where we did some more local shopping and explored some more places. We stopped by at this famous German Bakery called the Gezmo and got Lafa (v/nv) packed for dinner. The sweet treats were really sweet.
Day - 3 - 20-6-16
Leh - Alchi - Ule Ethenic resort - we packed our original bags and left them at Leh and took a small bag for an overnight stay at Alchi. We started by 9:30am and reached the rafting point at 11:00am where we did raft in the Zanskar river which confluences with the Indus river. The rivers were calm and so were we. The view was breath taking with the soft blue sky above with the rough brown mountains surrounding us and we floating by in the cementish zanskar river, which was an palate of one of God's scribbles of art.
The river is of a muddy colour but as we jumped in the river during our rafting the water was clean unlike the suggestive colour.
Rafting per head costs Rs. 1450/- per head and they provide us with the body suit, helmet, life jacket and shoes. We got done by 2:00pm and stopped at the first place to have lunch, it was a new home run place where the lady of the house made fresh momos from scratch in front of us and served us with lovely home grown chamomile tea and the famous sweet Sattu (Sattu is a kind of local flour which they mix with frsh home made butter and serve as a thick batter). Our driver was eating with us too and the owner of the restaurant refused to charge him saying they dont charge their family. That day being a full moon day i.e poornima days it was festival time and they don't have non veg anywhere in Leh.
After our scrumptious lunch we walked around in the monastery which was a cluster of monasteries within and was spread over a big campus. One of the rooms was fascinating as the Lord Buddha idol was atleast 40' feet high. The other room had the famous buddhist art work of a mandala which they had done during the festival time, last year and preserved it in a glass table top. The other room had a famous statue of the buddha which had a face on all 4 sides - North, South East West.
The Alchi monastery is wonderful and time just flew by. We headed off to our resort in Alchi which was a natural wonder. Every cottage/room was designed in a way, where every cottage had 3 walls of glass and you could see the sky, mountains and the river flowing below.
Day - 4 21-06-16
The morning was eventful thanks to me, as in the process of unlocking my friend’s room door I snapped the key and the rescue operation became a crisis operation. It was fun though, and what was better was what followed - the breakfast, where they served crepes and pancakes with nutella. The hotel staff was warm and their breakfast was the best. It was time for us to hit the road to Leh and we reached in good time for lunch and reached our hotel - Glacier View and rested for awhile.
We had to meet Blanka (Wippassi - Nature Lover etc.,) at 5pm at german bakery which was walkable from our hotel. She told us her fascinating stories and we were pretty struck with the thoughts even after.
Post that we went shopping and our friends treated themselves with some hot and fresh road side popular kababs rolled in a roti, and sources told me they were delicious..
I bought some Tanka Paintings and we stopped by at a place called World Cafe for dinner which was quite known for its wood oven fresh pizza.
We packed up and hit the bed as we had to leave the following morning for Nubra Valley.
Day - 5 22-06-16
By 8am we started our journey to Nubra Valley and within the first 30 mins we reached the first check post where we had to file 2 forms and get the permits and further ahead there was a 2nd check point. It would have been a lovely sight with the stream passing by and a small little cafeteria along side it. However, what we had was a stream flowing by and a lot of men taking a leak along side it, with a lot of chips packets and empty plastic bottles thrown around. What humans add value to a glorifying place such as this is disgusting.
Once we hit the rough road everything was heavenly considering the view. As we ascended amidst the snow capped mountain ranges after a good 2 hours drive we reached the highest motorable point – The Khardungla Pass- where we could not stay for more than 20 mins due to the thin air. It was over crowded and polluted at every level – right from the air as the generator vent was right on our faces and there was litter everywhere. If not the air the pollution would kill us. We finally managed to take the ceremonial picture in front of the road stand stating Khardungla Pass, which is quite a task considering the crowd. There is a very cute cafeteria which serves hot tea and maggi and some snacks. The shrine and the flags fascinated me and I was quite thrilled with the white snow covered accessible mountain in the background with the colourful bright flags with the bikes parked in front of them. The ladies washroom was used as a trash can, guess people there dint think women might need a washroom.
We once again hit the rough road to proceed to Nubra Valley and reached by 2pm. Our resort was a wonderful and they welcomed us warmly and the lunch was simple yet satisfying and we felt rejuvenated after the lunch and some rest. Once we got back we headed to Hodur Sandunes where we sat on the rare short double humped camels and there was a little calf which followed us through very cutely. The Diskit area is the town center and the 32feet high statue of Maitreya Buddha is there and is maintained by the Diskit Monastry. It’s a tall bright statue and its amazing how beautiful the bright colors appear with the white on the background along with the Shyok river. After this we headed back to our beautiful luxurious resort, where there was wi-fi which we never used, a hammock tied between 2 trees which I swayed on and a terrace awaited us with a sky full of stars just until they shied away to the glorious rising full moon. It was the next night of the full moon and it was as radiant as the previous night. We just sipped on our local brewed barley with yeast, fermented drink called the “The Chang”- its tangy and sharp but the amazing chocolate soufflé, which was the dessert of the day on the menu evened it out. It was just perfect. Life was marvelous and I am lucky.
Day 6- 23-06-16
Next morning we woke up in extremely comfortable rooms amidst the snowcapped mountains and short greens outside our glassed walls. It was unreal, the serenity and purity was over whelming, why do u need walls when the snowcapped mountain are the boundary walls and why do need locks when the Sun and the moon are guarding over you. The resort was designed in such a wonderful way that even the washrooms had a spectacular view. Nubra Valley treated us well and we were just too sad to leave though the idea of going to Pangong lake pepped us up on the way.
We headed back to Leh but we could have gone directly to Pangong Lake, about half way to Leh there is a diversion which goes to Pangong, however our trip was planned to be a bit relaxed. We visited the Thiksey Monastery where the wall paintings were just brilliant.. I sat there for some time as the Buddha statue is beautiful and was extremely peaceful, it just demanded for a meditative moment.
By this time Leh being our center point, we had started to feel like locals in Leh, my frds had their favorite kabebs and I am sure to have picked more souviniers. We had our favourites which surely included the small restaurant on the corner “Hidden North Café” which served our fav ginger lemon honey tea and a lot of good stuff.
Day 7 – 24-06-16
We started our journey packing our warmest jackets which we dint use all through the trip and prepared for the last and the roughest drive of our journey. Our driver punctual and we loaded our bags, a pack of mineral water and ourselves in the car and hit the road. Our first point was the Magnetic Point where we halted for abit just to experience the reverse gear on the first gears and moved ahead on reverse gears. It was funny, like one of those elliptical movements. We saw a lot of bikers going uphill without any effort and roads are rough but it was eventful. A little ahead and we saw marmouts ( A cuter version of mangoose and they were very friendly animals), we stopped by to pet them and they were so smart to come to us in expectation of some cookies, though the boards says not to feed them. They are now a rare species and are just found around this area. As we moved ahead the road become rougher and more scenic. We spotted wild horsed which have been around this area for as long as the locals can remember. Its amazing to know how these animals have settled here in such less numbers just like the humans and are able to cope up with living for generations adapting to the rough nature and weather. The road was tough and finally we crossed one bridge and got on to a turning which has a small belt of places to eat and there are paid toilets which were totally worth it although the food was not that great but its still food at that height. The river flows along side the area and its refreshing to dip your feet. There is also a police station there with a very good looking cop there.
We finally reached Pangong Lake after 7-8 hours of a body tearing drive but the blues on the sky and the pangong lake all at once rejuvenated us and made it all worth it. It was just breath taking and spectacular. We were awestruck in the womb of Leh Ladaakh. Here we technically got downgraded in order to get an upgrade as we got tents closer to the lake coast from the once a bit further away. The moment we reached there, we just dumped our stuff in our respective tents and hit the coast. Needless to say water was freezing cold it had a lot of rocks and just as we settled ourselves there was a sudden rush of horses which galloped away and it was such a movie moment, I thought things like this only happened in movies. We were told that the china border was up ahead and the guide guided us with all the history but we were lost in the magic of valley.
They made us some hot snacks and then they served us dinner which was all decent and made from the glacier water :/ . They informed us that the lights (Generator) would be off by 7:30pm and just the dinning tent would have lights until 8pm and we had dinner and a friend of mine wasn’t quite feeling well. She ate a whole lot of tablets and dint feel right until 10 and then we decided to give her some oxygen from the cans we had brought.
The night there was one of the best nights I have ever spent. It was dark once all the tent lights were switched off. The stars twinkled like nowhere else and the lake reflected it with the mountains helping the light effects. It was not just pristine it was heaven, I stayed awake outside my tent in the cold dark night looking up at the sky in hope of sighting a shooting star and hurray, I did. Was a high point for a star gazer like me and needless to say one of the most amazing view. The moon calmly rose from behind the mountains over powering the tiny stars and ruled the sky. The whole night with the snow capped mountains, almost a full moon rising and the reflection of it in the pristine Pangong Lake was a moment to understand that the world is beautiful in its natural form. The motivation to go on with my quest of plotting shooting stars in unexplored territories just became stronger. The Moon rose high and the night was getting chilly and hence making me go back and get cozy in my tent bed.
Day 8 – 28-06-16
We woke up to the blue skies mountains and the blue pangong. We had hot puri bhaaji for breakfast which was made fresh in the glacier water and we gobbled it up happily. We got ready and headed off to the commonly known spot as “3 Idiots” place. The drive was rough and gave us the feel of the 4 wheel offloading drives. The white sand and the blue waters with the mountains reflecting its grand self upside down, made the world look perfect even in the topsy turvy still reflection. The canopy had lots of colorful flags tied around the pillars and it just looked too cute. The black rot iron canopy on the white sand with the Pangong blue lake along it and mountains standing tall with blue skies above with the bright colourful prayer flags and ofcourse me in the canopy was surreal. White is Bright I thought.
We sadly departed and headed towards Leh. The drive shook us up inside out but went on. It was sad to see that the roads were being laid by the workers and they asked for food and we gave them all we had but it was sad. The roads are closed half the year and by march - april as they open the military starts to re stock their resources for the year by having there trucks re-stocked from Shrinagar. I was told that in all of Leh there was no match box from February to April 2016.
On our way back to Leh we stopped at the famous Hemis Monastery which is the wealthiest monastery in Ladakh belonging to the Red Sect - it is here each summer that plays are held and Ladakhis from all parts of the country visit Hemis, its grand and there were works going on to prepare for the kumbh mela which was scheduled about 15 days from then. We visited the army museum and did manage to see the other local attractions in Leh.
Its amazing how they survive. They are happy to have apricots, yak milk and cheese and stay through until summer. Upon reaching back to Leh we had no energy to do much and just crashed realizing the body aches. We had an early morning flight to Delhi so just packed and crashed.
Day 9 - 29-06-2016
End of another marvelous trip and flight back to Delhi. The Leh airport is small and the security is just not too sharp. The scanning and all is just formality. But what a place. It’s a must visit while you can survive the strain and if you love nature…
