Ladakh... Revisited (Read: Mind.. Rejuvenated) Part-1

Once again I ended up visiting the land of souls... Ladakh.
Many people ask me why I revisit the same place again. I have no explanation except that I go to the place I feel drawn towards. Its not some kind of calculation to cover maximum number of places. It's just that I sometimes love to relive the best moments from the past. Like watching my favorite movie again or reading a great book twice.

March 23- A friend of mine told me about the scheme of economical tickets by Go Air. I checked at cleartrip and got dirt cheap return tickets to Leh (from Delhi) at Rs. 4507. I couldn't stop myself from planning my September vacation in March. Quite early but totally worth it.
Lat year was tough journey. But this time we kept it easy. We reached Leh on 26 August by air. Its a 1 hour journey from Delhi to Leh by flight. We had per-booked bike for 7 days but due to health issue of a group member, dropped the plan of riding. Instead we kept bike for 2 days ( For Nubra visit) and then returned them for a 50% return.
Then we got a cab booked for the rest of the days. It made our trip easy but the thrill and fun of moving on bike was missing. However, I must say that the routes to Pangong and Tso MoRiri are pretty bad. So, anyone not ready for a really tough journey should avoid biking even if you are pillion rider.

That was the gist of our journey. Now allow me take you to the enchanting tour of Ladakh.

Day 1:
This day actually started on 25 August, though 25 was not the date of journey theoretically, but practically it was. On 25th, we started getting prepared for altitude sickness, that we could face once we reach Leh. In the Morning and evening, we took half diamox. We packed everything that we took on our last trip. We had a flight at 5 in the morning which required us to reach at airport at 4a.m. We had to get up at 3 a.m. But the excitement kept us awake till midnight. We hardly got a sleep for 2 hrs. Bad start. We reached Leh at 6 and everybody in the group was hit by headache. It was hard to understand whether this was due to AMS (Acute Mountain Sickness) or due to our hectic journey.

Reeyork House

Apple and Apricot trees

We had booked our rooms at Reeyork House, Leh. Its a nice guest house, not very luxurious but pretty good for 900 bucks. We got delicious organic veggies grown and cooked in house.

Reeyork's own organic garden

Staff at Reeyork House brought nice lemon tea at our arrival. we had some Pooris and Aalu Bhaji for breakfast and then we slept through the morning. It helped in acclimatization also. We had our lunch at Dreamland Restaurant and then we returned to the guest house. The way from Reeyork House to Leh market is through a narrow lane which is full of local bakeries. We had really good breads from there.
We kept our first day for rest mostly and had evening tea and dinner at guest house itself. Only we went for taking bikes for next day's journey to Nubra Valley. We took two Royal Enfield Classic (Petrol capacity: 12 litres.) and one Thunderbird (Petrol capacity: 16 litres.)

Day 2:

Breakfast time

We were scheduled to start early in the morning but after having fresh breads, donuts and coffee for breakfast at nearby German Bakery, we actually left at 8:30 am.

Fresh breads baked in wood oven

 As there is no Petrol pump in the route or in Nubra Valley, we carried around 12 litres of petrol for 3 bikes. We went only to Nubra and returned. If you plan to visit nearby villages, then you must carry more petrol.(Check the distances via google and plan accordingly).We went through a fine stretch of 24 kms till Southpullu and then the road was nowhere.

 Next 15 kms upto Khardung la were quite tough. As it was our first day, we were not accustomed to the bikes and environment, it took us nearly 4 hours to reach Khardung La top. But reaching there filled us with a sense of achievement.

Khardung La top

Then someone reminded us of our remaining journey and we moved ahead and only to face worst roads. Actually, the GoI or BRO have nothing to do with the road conditions. They, in fact, work day and night to maintain these roads but the high altitude, melting snow and frequent landslides make it impossible to maintain proper roads near passes. But once we crossed around 15 km on both sides of the passes, roads became much better. After Khardung La top, around 12 km stretch caused us pain. But as soon as we approached Northpullu, we were on nice roads. After that we covered distances quickly. From there we had to cover around 75 km.

Khalsar Village

The roads were great and we took a halt at Khalsar for lunch. Khalsar is a villlage from where Nubra valley region starts. Also. a no smoking zone starts there but tourists still do not follow any rules and can be seen smoking there.
This village got completely destroyed in rains during July 2015. Only one or two hotels were open.
After lunch at around 4 in the evening, we did not take any halt and reached Hunder at around 6 in the evening. 

Guest house at Hunder

Guest house at Hunder

We got rooms at Sand dunes view resort at 600 bucks per room. It was a decent guest house but was quite far from sand dunes or camel ride site. 
Earlier people at Hunder used to have camels in their houses but now they leave camels in the forest area at night and bring them back in morning for camel ride.

 

Evening at Nubra Valley

Night at Nubra Valley

It was the loveliest morning I had woken up to... You don't agree? See for your self in the images taken by Ankush..

Hunder

Sunrise@ Nubra Valley

  In the morning, we went for camel ride. The beauty of this place engulfed our minds and we were so lost in it that we lost count of time. We had to leave at 8:00. 

 

But were enjoying it so much that we waited happily for the camel ride which had to start at 9:00. But it actually started at around 9:30. It costed us INR 200 for a 15 minute ride. Although I went for the ride but I felt bad for the way camels were treated by locals. But in this extreme corner of the country, people do whatever they have to do for their survival. This was negligible as compared to the tough life in the cold desert of Ladakh.

 

Lost in the sand..

 Difficult to reach distances, tough climatic conditions, proximity to Indo-China border, scarcity of modern resources like electricity, communication, transport, petrol etc. make life quite tough here. The only relief comes from army set ups at every few kilometers.

River turned into mirror.. Never seen such clear water before!

After having breakfast from Army canteen, we left for Leh. This time, we gained momentum and reached Leh at 5 in the evening. 

Usually we are disturbed by lack of cleanliness and sanitation at tourist places but in Ladakh, we usually find clean areas. But tourists now a days are increasing filth at such delicate ecosystems. People can be seen dropping polybags, bottles etc. When we love to visit clean places, we should consider it our responsibility to maintain the sanctity of the place.
While returning back we rested at a beautiful place .This is one of cleanest places I have seen. I actually sat on road without getting myself dirty. We clicked some quick pics. Here are a few:

Serene Ladakh

My favourite

I got paid for this one ;-)

Most of us had previously been to Ladakh on motorbikes. But one member in our group was new and she succumbed to the conditions and we changed our plan from bikes to Cab. In the evening, we returned our bikes and got 50% refund (And lost 50% :-(((  ). We booked our cab with Mr. Norba, an ex serviceman. We got a decent deal at 15000 INR for Leh to Pangong and Tso MoRiRi. Mr. Norba was a delight to have on our tour. He shared so many stories that we could never be aware of had we continued with bikes. (Everything happens for a reason, I guess :-)  ). We stayed back at Reeyork for the night and dined at Leh market. Leh market can offer great things to buy. I was really confused as I literally wanted to buy everything.
We found one organic store in the main market area and the moisturizers they sale seem to be the only saviours from dry air of Ladakh. The air is so dry that even after applying moisturizers and lip balms after every hour, skin became dry and lips chapped. But that seems to be a small price for being at such a wonderful place..

Last Day at Leh...

Today we had to leave for Khardungla Pass, world's highest motorable pass. But somehow the circumstances forced us to stay. But I have no regrets. The day at Kendriya Vidyalaya, Leh was so good that I have no qualms about it.

View of Himalayas from inside the campus

We got up a bit late as compared to our daily routine since past 7 days. We had no target to chase!!!  Waking up to a lazy day had become a luxury and we were going to enjoy it. We all got up ready by 11 a.m., prepared some Poha for breakfast in Ravi Bhaiya's kitchen and enjoyed a dubbed Tamil movie. After 7 days, we got time to see the pictures we had taken throughout our journey. While Ravi Bhaiya was in school, we captured his Laptop and transferred and received all the photographs. After so much of hardwork, ;-)),  we started feeling hungry. Also, the guys needed to get their bikes to mechanics for some repair so that we can head back to home... ;-)
So, we went to a fine Kashmiri restaurant in the main market. The food was delicious.. Then Mohit, Aashish and Ankush went for bike repair and me n Viky went for a shopping spree... Most of the things that we got in Leh can be purchased in Delhi also (but I got to know that later!!!!) but the joy of shopping there is something you should not miss. I spent every single penny I had. I may never come back again and it should not be a regret. I got something for everybody back at home.
You can find nice T-shirts all over the market. I was searching for some T-shirts and I found every shopkeeper had similar ones. Boring!!! Then I saw a slim street going into a small market. That was not actually a street, just 3-4 shops inside. But, I discovered a wonderful shop there. The old man was selling for a bit high price but it was just worth. Moreover, he had a filmy connection to it! (Remember? I love filmy connections!). He told a story that how he sold T-shirts to Amir Khan during the shoot of 3 idiots. And how Amir bargained ( Still purchased in 5 times the normal selling price...). Now that may be an actual anecdote or just a story but I loved it. And got 4 T-shirts. I have 1 with me, rest all have been looted by friends and brothers.

Now I got extremely tired ( I am not tired! There is no Oxygen ;-)). The boys also returned from bike servicing. Its time we headed back to the school.

Playground, KV, Leh

At school, we arranged a cricket match with the teachers of KV and what a match it was! At a place where even simple jobs like walking and speaking can exhaust you, we were having a Cricket match!

That's how we ended our last day at Leh, completely enjoying. Sometimes the joy of not doing anything dwarfs the success of touching down to all major tourist attractions. It lets you enjoy the feel of the place. 
We will leave tomorrow. Let’s breathe in the air of Ladakh as much as possible (Although there is little oxygen in it ;-)).

Leh..... Living Life..

Day 2 at Leh-

After sleeping for a night in Leh, we got comfortably acclimatized to the altitude. However, not much of work could be done.

We planned to go to the famous Pangong lake by bikes. But Mohit’s health and my fears did not allow us to get on the bikes. So, Ravi Bhaiya (Mohit’s brother) booked a cab for us. We left early in the morning at around 6 a.m. as we planned to return by evening. But I would really love to stay for a night there. I can only imagine how it would be to look at the star studded deep blue sky with a tranquil lake besides surrounded by looming mountains. Even the thought of this gives me goose bumps. Never mind, it has been added to my wish list. Next time!!! Oh yes! I am coming here again. Some time in my life!

 Way to Pangong! So Serene!!!

 Caution! These roads are highly accident prone

As we left early, we did not face much of traffic. It can be very difficult to drive with huge traffic on bad road to Pangong. So it is always advisable to leave early. We were stopped by a herd of holy cows of Ladakh- Yalks.

Ladakh's holy cow

We stopped at a tea stall for Maggi and tea. The stall owner added some local herb in it and it was the yummiest Maggi I have ever had. She had a beautiful and shy daughter who posed beautifully for us. Here are some pics-

Then we left for the lake. After around one hour, we got the first glimpse of The Pangong lake. Oh My God!!! That is so beautiful. This is something someone should visit at least once. And a lot of tourists have come after the movie 3 Idiots. But one thing we forget is to maintain the dignity of the place. Why can’t we leave the habit of dropping chips packets and plastic bottles everywhere? We must know that these places are very difficult to reach let alone clean. So any junk left would remain there forever and ever. So we should not destroy such vulnerable places.


We were reaching close to Pangong and our excitement was shooting. Around 35 kms of Pangong lake lies in India and rest of around 100 km is in China.

Since this place has become famous after “3 Idiots”, we find many food stalls named after characters of 3 idiots.

 
 

 We enjoyed in the salt lake and had some great pictures taken.


 
 

Tohfa Qubool Ho!

Nothing to say!

This is one experience I find difficult to express. The beauty, serenity and tranquility of the place is ineffable.

 

 

Even the photographs are less beautiful. After having lunch, we left for Leh. While returning, we stopped at Changla Pass. Its not advisable to stay at passes, so we left early. moreover, we were so much in awe of Pangong that everything else seemed less beautiful. 

Leaving ChangLa Pass

JULEY!!!