Khwashiyon ke khwaabon ko Pankh lagaata yeh dil,
The October 2014 Ladakh Trip Diary Entry (with inputs from Ankur Khera)
Julley!!
Disclaimer to anyone who just started to read this. Beware! Long post, this one! :)
Ladakh – the cold desert of India, where naked mountains and barren vastness greets you at every bend in the road, with its chilling low-oxygen wind. The second biggest district in India, in terms of area, and probably the one with the least population density. A serene, isolated part of India that makes staying there memory for a lifetime.
For those who don’t know much about Leh and Ladakh, many references to places/spots/passes/rivers in this piece may not make much sense. This is more of a diary entry for the group of friends who went on this trip. But if you have gone there once, this will definitely bring back some memories. And if you want to visit Ladakh, don't consider this a travelogue - though this will surely fuel your desire to experience it.
That being said, just a short note from my side: And “Julley” is the common greeting for Hello, Hi, Thank-you, good-day, good-night, etc.
So when in Ladakh, say ‘Julley’ every chance you get, and every stranger becomes a friend. :)
We 5 college friends (including me) started planning this trip as soon as I shifted from Bombay to NCR in April end, 2014.
But that wasn’t the beginning of the dream: Ladakh had entered my wish-list ever since I saw 3 Idiots, and became a definite to-do after my first long bike ride (Bombay-Goa).
There were many who doubted our plan – saying that the September end is the offseason in Ladakh for a reason – it might snow anytime! The recent floods in Srinagar and Jammu also raised a few eyebrows. But we were confident about our timing. And it proved right – we saw a minimal amount of melt and slush in our 8 – day journey. All the snow had cleared from the roads and the lower parts of the hills, and the seasonal nallahs (Brooklets) had dried up in most places, except for a few in Himachal, on our way back via Rohtang. That made the ride back home much smoother and certain.
And when Khera (Ankur) relocated to Gurgaon from Chennai, me-Noul-Shandy-and-Anand took it as the final sign that this trip was meant to be undertaken in October'14 only.
After much hullaballoo around the no. of days, the route, the expense, we finally arrived on the below skeleton of a plan (with most of the details to be figured along the way):
1. Take a 7:00 AM flight from New Delhi to Leh, on a Saturday.2. Roam in and around Leh for 2 days.
3. Spend two days on the other side of Khardung-La pass (Nubra Valley).
4. Spend the next 3 or 4 days coming from Leh towards Manali (via Pangong Tso, Tso Moriri, Lahual and Spiti , Keylong and Rohtang).
5. Catch a bus/cab from Manali to New Delhi.
Landing in Leh (Day 1):
The adventure began the evening before: when we all gathered at Noul's place in C.R. Park, South Delhi. We barely slept for a couple of hours before it was time to fly! 
Oh, such excitement!
It seemed to us as if the Plane was taking too much time to reach Leh. Such vast expanses of mountains beneath us: few muddy-brown, and the rest covered with the softest snow imaginable (or so it seemed from above).
The airport lobby was small enough to give the cozy hospitality feeling already; lots of informative posters were hung on the walls.
We planned to reach the city-center first, and then decide on where to stay.
The taxi-guy asked for the exact amount as was mentioned in the Taxi-Union’s rate-list PDF we had found on the internet. That first impression stayed with us the entire trip: people of Ladakh were honest; we didn't need to haggle much to get fair deals.
The Leh city is bigger than we had pictured in our minds; took us about 15 mins to reach the main Leh market. Most of the shops were yet to open for the day; it was still before 9 AM.
We had breakfast on an open-terrace Italian restaurant on the 2nd floor; the building gave us a view of the entire market, the Leh Palace, and the mountains around. We could already feel very relaxed and leisurely - the right mindset to enjoy Ladhakh.
After some door-peeking and Julley-talk, we found a very charming Guest House (Khamzang Guest House, Upper Tukcha), a bare 10 mins walk from the market. And being the onset of offseason, we got it for cheap as well (Rs 650/room/night). The guest house had a garden, with umbrella-tables and chairs, right outside the big windows of our rooms. Our room had magnificent views of the snow-topped hills and the long pine tress.
We spent the day resting at the Guest House, exploring the nearby fields/lanes, and then venturing out a little into the market for dinner. In the evening, the temperature plummeted 5-6 degrees within minutes of the sunset. Even in the day, as soon as the sun went behind the clouds, the air used to turn chilly. At night, some of us reported mild headaches and difficulty in sleeping – the high altitude was making its impact felt.
Royal-Rides (Day 2):
What a beautiful morning it was! The crisp chilling wind countered the barely warm sun - the day was as clear as it could be.
We had a leisurely breakfast at the small, sweet “Secret Recipe” bakery – on the way to the market. All of us ordered different dishes - waffles and fruit-muesli and Maggi to count a few.
After that, we rented 3 bikes –2 Bullet Electra, and 1 Thunderbird.
We had made some inquiries about the bike rent rates the earlier evening and managed to get the bikes at some discount.
Don’t worry much about where to get the bikes and how much to pay. There’s a separate ‘Bike Street’; just ask anyone. The rent rates are almost the same, starting from Rs 900 per day per bike. Do haggle. The bikes will have enough petrol to reach the nearest Petrol Pump.
Word of advice: prefer newer bikes (or the ones which have an electric start).
After stopping for petrol, we visited ‘Hall of Fame’ (A local museum/gift shop maintained by Army) before continuing on the Leh-Kargil Road.
The view of river Indus and the rugged dry desert en-route were making us halt frequently for pictures.
We reached Pathar Sahib Gurudwara (24 KMs from Leh) around the lunch-time, and after visiting the shrine, had a tummy-full of ‘Langar’ there.
The next stop, Magnetic Hill (28 KMs from Leh), failed to keep up to its promise. The supposed anti-gravity portion of the road was clearly a gentle slope.
But do visit to see many bikers try and climb the hill with the sign ‘MAGNETIC HILL’ and fall in the process. :D.
We even gave it a shot, and on his way back from the top, Noul almost plummeted to the road - only later we found out it wasn't intentional, and his bike's breaks had temporarily malfunctioned.
We even gave it a shot, and on his way back from the top, Noul almost plummeted to the road - only later we found out it wasn't intentional, and his bike's breaks had temporarily malfunctioned.
We turned back from the point where Confluence of Indus and Zanskar was visible (approx 30 KMs from Leh) and saved enough daylight to see the Leh Palace, and Shanti Stupa the same day.
Leh Palace was eerie, mostly under renovation, and reaching the gate required a considerable length of walking due to the approach road being under construction (uphill walking isn’t easy first few days in Leh, for outsiders). But it offered the bird’s eye view of Leh City, and some dark, maze-like pathways within it, enough to get lost for at least an hour.
Shanti Stupa was, as the name suggests, very peaceful and calm. And being the highest landmark of Leh, offered an even wider view of Leh, Indus, and the mountains around. The Buddha-temples were reverberating with chanting and drum-beats on 'Om Mani Padme Hum'; it felt like the place people go to in the search for Nirvana.
We were at the top when the Sun went down, and within minutes, all were diving into my backpack for their woolen caps and mufflers. The wind surely made the chill reach our bones.
It was officially nightfall in Leh when we reached Lamayuru restaurant in the lower market of Leh. Dinner was like any good dhabha in north India – the hot Gulab Jamuns in dessert were awesome.
We reached our temporary home – Khamzang; and everyone was tired of the long day - were sleeping like logs in no time.
The Mighty Khardung-La (Day 3):
The 3rd morning in Leh – and we were ready to roll.
Having booked a local driver uncle and his Innova the earlier day, we set out for the Khardung-La and the valleys beyond.
The road was taking us higher and higher – the air turning colder as we did so. The terrain turned from green to shades of brown, and some intermittent shades of grey rocks and white snow. After South Pullu, the road was non-existent; the path fairly flat though.
Khardung-La (approx 18,000 feet) - This was literally the highest point of our entire road trip.
It was very-very cold on the top. Last season’s snow was still present.
We estimated the AMS to really kick in after about 15,000 feet and hence took the few quick snaps. Some of us felt our heads turning heavy.
Those who brag of visiting such heights the first time, and then spending hours on the passes, are really taking a big risk of getting sick and spoiling rest of their trips/vacations/journeys.
After crossing North-Pullu, we had our lunch in Khardung village - at a quaint little kitchen by the road-side run by a lady. Our driver uncle seemed to be friendly with every dhaba that we halted at - he used to go right into the kitchen and start helping the cook make our dinners! That was both weird and sweet. :D
Looking for some roaming around on the way to Panamik, we spent some silent time on the dunes near the Simur village.
Saw Nubra River – Simur - Hot water spring at Panamik – ate momos made in the kitchen.
Retuned to the Y point in Khalsar, and passed Diskit on our way to Hunder village. It was already nightfall, and very few guest houses/home stays were operational as it was nearly the end of tourist season.
We stayed at Dragon Guesthouse and had home-made dinner. Relatively less tired than the day before – we ended up chatting/goofing around for some time before sleeping.
Anand was at his talkative best; we were happy giving him the ‘lead’. I am sure videos captured by Noul here would be sufficient proof, Anand! :D
Bactrian Camels and Diskit Monastery: (Day 4):
Another beautiful morning – Sun beaming down on our little guest house. We had missed the view with hills towering behind the guest house in the dark of the previous night. What majestic view it was.
After bathing and breakfast, we started for the Hunder Sand Dunes – and the next 1 hour was spent with the Double humped Bactrian Camels - not to be found anywhere else in India.
The 15 min ride cost us 200 bucks each but was worth the swaying ride.
The blue Shyok river adjacent to the road made us take another stop – a brief photo-shoot ensued.
We had our lunch at the same spot as the previous day – in Khardung Village. It had turned very cold when we crossed Khardung La back into Leh – delayed by road being constructed between North Pullu and Khardung La.
Dinner at a local dhaba in the lower Leh market, where we planned our route for the next 3 days. It was going to be a hell of an experience – staying at Pangong Tso at night, off-roading from there to Tso Moriri, and then finally hopping back on to Leh-Manali highway.
Pashmina Shopping and On way to Pangong (Day 5):
We spent the first couple of waking hours doing some regular tourist stuff: buying Pashmina Shawls, Buddhist Prayer flags; and some required stuff: like packaged eatables for the next 3 days. All packed, we started our de-toured journey back to civilization.
Left the Leh-Manali highway at Karu – crossed Chang La pass– Tsangtse village– reached Psangmik by nightfall. Oh, btw, Psangmik is the small village full of homestays and camp-sites at the shore of the Pangong Tso (approx 14,000 feet). The starry light made us more curious as to how the famous lake would look in the daylight.
After some browsing, we found the perfect coziest home-stay – 200 bucks/head/night. At the common dinner table, we met a trio from Gurgaon (Sea-Green Duster) and a German guy.
The beds were cozy enough to save us from the freezing cold winds coming inwards from the lake.
Pangong: the Queen of Lakes: (Day 6)
Wow. A cold breeze hit me as soon as I stepped out of the home-stay. It was still some 30 mins before the sunrise; the twilight time.
Man, what a view. A divine experience, meant to silence you and sooth you.
The never-ending expanse, the ice-cold waves all were working together to numb our senses. And then, from behind the mountains which made our border with China, up came the sun.
We all captured whatever we could of that moment, both in our eyes and our camera. The waves had frozen water on the rocks along the shore; we also found many frozen brooklets who were beginning to melt again under the early morning sun.
After eating our breakfast, and getting some Paranthas packed for the lunch, we left Psangmik, towards Chushul.
The majestic lake was on our left side as we made our way south through the towns of Mann, Merak, Kakstet and reached Chushul.
This 40-45 KMs drive along the lake was the most memorable part of the journey for most of us.
Anyone who decides to go back to Leh from Pangong (which many tourists do) would miss this view as the taxis turn back from the campsites at Psangmik only.
But we had good weather and a willing retired - ITBP driver on our side. So we had planned to reach Tso Moriri via this non-existent path (not even remotely close to being called a road).
Khonchok uncle pointed to us all the India and China army border outposts (or at least the general area where they were situated) along the lake and the mountains beyond.
We reached Mahe (via Chumathang) around 1, and had our lunch. We again had found Indus and accompanied it for some time before we crossed over it and took a left toward Sumdo. Just before reaching Sumdo, we saw Yaks very close to the road.
Sumdo is the Y-point where we would return after seeing Tso-Moriri, and take the 3rd road towards Tso-Kar (and finally towards Leh-Manali Highway).
We passed another smaller lake on our way to Moriri: Kyagar Tso.
Tso Moriri: While Pangong is more wavy, alive and kicking, Moriri is more calm and serene.
There is a village very close, overlooking the lake (camping isn’t allowed at the shores of the lake).
When we reached the shore, there were sheep grazing on the big grassland nearby – the whole effect was that of a classic old painting.
The water was bearably cold, and we went into the lake till our knees.
It was 4:00 PM, and we had about 2.5 hours of daylight left. So we decided to ditch our original plan of staying at Tso Moriri for the night and decided to move on towards the third major Tso. (Later we agreed we should have stayed there itself, and enjoyed the 'nothing-to-do' time).
We traced our route back till Sumdo, and then took a left turn towards Leh-Manali Highway.
For some length of the path – it was as if we had reached the bottom of the Grand Canyon – twilight had fallen, there wasn’t a soul to be seen around, and there were huge hills on both our sides.
It was adventurous, soothing and a little spooky all at the same time.
By the time we reached Tso Kar, it was already dark. We could see the silhouette of the lake in the distance.
When Ladakh was an independent Kingdom, Tso Kar was the salt reservoir of the entire area.
We were imagining how the lake would look in the morning when we realized that there weren’t home-stays or tents available nearby.
The one sole tent-owner seemed in some state of inebriation; we consulted with Khonchok uncle and decided to head for Spang (pronounced as pang).
At a hardly-discernible link road, we joined Leh – Manali Highway approx 40 Kms before Pang.
The road in that small section (and possibly some distance in the other way towards Leh) was like a 4-lane highway – we reached our night’s stop in no time.
Spang (Pang): the adventure of the tent – cheap, still comfy– the tent-lady threw extra blankets over us, as we crawled into our floor beds after our dinner. The long day and the yak-wool blankets above and below us had us snoring in no time.
Pang – Jespa (Lahaul and Spiti) – Keylong – Sisu –Rohtang – Manali (Day 7):
Even our eye-lids were shivering when we woke up from our tent-beds.
Nature calls were another challenge as the ice-cold water from a ground-water hand-pump froze our hands as soon as the water touched them. Even the water in our 1 left-over Kinley bottle had frozen to solid ice!
Here again, we saw the peace-loving philosophy of Ladakhi people (or either the communist effect from across the border, read CHINA). The 200 bucks per head as the rent for each bed was shared with all the tent ladies in the road-side camp. The committee kept a record of which tent housed how many people over the night and shared the money accordingly.
Only the amount for breakfast that we had there went solely to our tent-owner lady.
Leh-Manali Highway – Oil Tankers on way to Leh - Gata-loops – 22 morh – the river “TSarap” waiting on the other side of the deadly curves – Road being repaired/expanded at many places by the BRO.
Jespa (or Jispa, 140 km from Manali) is a beautiful town. We stopped along the road, very close to the river “Bhag” (a tributary of Chenab). Anand and Shandy bathed, (Shandy did something else too before bathing :p).
Keylong – saw a wedding – full local culture flavor.
The once-final-destination of one of the college trips – Rohtang was now just another pass we had to cross over, another curve in the road. That says a lot about the goals that we generally make in our lives, doesn’t it?
Found half the north India either on the road from Rohtang to Manali or in the hotels of Manali.
For us, Manali city had lost its charm after seeing the Leh city.
No Rooms were available in Manali. 1-2 options that we could find were exorbitantly priced. The old demand-supply bitch bit us that night.
Manali to Delhi (Day 8):
Finally decided to get a cab for Delhi. Found a willing (and a little drunk) driver after much search (total fare - 12K till Delhi) and Left Manali at 12:30 AM in the night.
Reached New Delhi in the afternoon the next day. And the drama after Haider movie show meant the fun wasn’t over for the weekend. But that’s a story for another day.
It has been around 3 months since we came back from that slice of heaven, the adobe of Gods, the Himalayas.
But the sights, and sounds, and the cold, fresh air, and the lovely heart-warming hospitality of the Ladakhis, and 7 days of disconnect from the maddening world makes it feel like it was yesterday.
And, as I promised Khera on the banks of the river Shyok, I will send him a picture of me, on my Avenger, standing right there on the shore.
As far as I can predict, this trip will always have a very unique place in our hearts until a very, very long time.
Juley!!!
Find more pictures of the trip here:
pottercanvas.blogspot - meri-aashiqui-raahon-se-raaste-hi-meri-manzil
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