Day 1
It was my dream destination.. I could not believe I was heading to this heavenly place called Leh - Ladhak on the 27th of July, 2014.
Morning flight, scheduled at 8.30 from aamchi Mumbai to Chandigarh, fully loaded with luggage for the power-packed trip, I reached the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport at 7.15 am. Counting down the time to start my road trip, I walked into the aircraft. Sitting on the window seat, my excitement knew no bounds.
Landed in Chandigarh Airport and the road trip begins at 12 noon! The airport being in the outskirts of the city, our trip did not cover much of Chandigarh. But what we saw and learnt about Chandigarh and its local rules was astonishing. Two laws, which I believe should be implemented in the whole of India - first, pillion rider has to wear helmet and second littering or spitting around can reduce your pocket balance by Rs. 2000. Both these laws were strictly followed by all without any exception and there were policemen on duty at every nook and corner to catch hold of the law breakers. No wonder, Chandigarh is such a beautiful city.
Chandigarh to Manali trip began after a sumptuous Punjabi lunch at Heritage Haveli. A 305 km drive, through lush green mountains, smooth roads with few bumpy ones as wake up calls for those who slept, glimpses of the blue waters of Beas River in the reservoirs of the Bakra Nangal Dam, drizzles that added to the beauty and countless number of waterfalls.
I hadn't gone through my itinerary as many times, that I could memorize and be prepared mentally for what would be coming next. In short, this trip was a surprise for myself. Such being the case, I wished I had more than two eyes so that I don't miss any moment. I wished I could capture that fresh air the way I could capture the scenic beauty in my new DSLR.
Though we reached Manali by 8.15 pm, we had a hard time finding the hotel where we had made our bookings for stay for that night. Finally we reached our destination at 9.30 pm after a dozen calls, half a dozen of wrong ways and a more than an hour of time wasted! But the struggle of finding the place found peace with a stomach filling, hot and delicious dinner freshly made by the caretaker of the cottage.
The first day came to an end with the pleasure of the breathtaking sights and dreams of more amazing experiences yet to come in the trip.
Day 2
On 28th July, I woke up early to capture the sunrise. But to my disappointment, the clouds covered the sun as it rose. Nevertheless, nature has always given me reasons to smile and fall in love with it repeatedly. Those small colourful birds chirping the morning songs, the giant sized snow-clad mountains and the sunrise protectors - the clouds, were thoroughly mesmerizing.
The next phase of the trip - Manali to Jispa, around 140 kms, about 5 hours of journey, began at 9.15 am after breakfast and a mini photo session with my fellow travellers.
A stream of water was a loyal companion throughout the trip. The roads built by the highest road builders - Border Road Organization were decked up with funny but meaningful yellow boards that help in keeping the mind alert and accidents away. Cloud covered roads with almost no visibility were surrounded with silhouettes of tall trees. To add to the flavours of relishing the nature, we bought freshly roasted hot corn (maize/ butta) on the way.
51 km from Manali, we reached Rohtaang Pass. Chilled and freezing, for the first time in my life, I could see snow. Although dirt had settled on it, I couldn't believe, I could actually feel it, touch it and enjoyed the moment when my hands became numb. It was the perfect moment to have hot Maggi noodles and tea. A group of bikers on the Royal Enfield, another group in SUVs (Scorpio) and a few cyclists had just arrived to make us realise that this road trip could be lot more adventurous.
As we continued our journey, it was time to feed ourselves. Stopped by a roadside dhaba and had finger licking Rajma chawal with a personal touch of the hardworking and sincere localities which came with the culture in the land of Lama.
A special petrol pump, where our vehicles were fed fuel, came just as we were nearing our destination for the day. The reason why it was special was because the next filling station was after 365 kms!
At our destination, we arrived around 4.15 pm. A camp with Swiss Tents, on the banks of River Bhaga was yet another experience. So close to nature, I felt, so far from the materialistic life; peace started dwelling within.
On the banks of the River, we headed on a short walk to feel the waters. As I kept my feet in the flowing current, I jumped out; so cold it was. Slowly again as I walked in, I closed my eyes to feel the purity of the water and my closeness to Mother Nature. Heading back to our tents, hot bhajiyas and tea was ready.
The day ended with campfire and music followed with homely dinner and a peaceful siesta with the sound of gushing water in the background.
Day 3
The longest journey day had begun - 29th July - Jispa to Leh. 335 km, 12-13 hrs of journey time, we started at 5.30 in the morning and headed to the land of Stupas.
Unlike the roads so far, the mountains were no more lush green, there was no river that flowed along with us. There was a change in the landscapes. Different coloured mountains - grey, green, brown with a barely any vegetation and capped with snow were our new companions. Extremely windy and the increasing altitude made us get wrapped in the warm clothes. The highest pass on this highway was Taglangla Pass - 17582 feet high and the second highest motorable road in the World! I added it to the list of reasons to be proud of India.
We drove through a length of 40 kms flat, smooth road with not even a single pothole, surrounded with extensive plains backed with bare mountains. Fascinated by this road and concluding it to be a very photogenic place, we decided to halt and click. As we stepped down, we couldn't stop our teeth from cluttering; freezing cold atmosphere with strong winds. Arid and barren land around with shivering temperature was an experience by itself. Salute to the people who build these roads! I could get the foretaste of the days to come in the paradise.
By this time we had crossed Himachal Pradesh and entered the corridor of heavenly state - Jammu & Kashmir. We could see number of heavy military vehicles and military men. I wonder, how the stand strong and fight to protect us in a place where we couldn't even stand for 5 minutes!
This route also covered the amazing roads which have a series of 21 hairpin turns which is much more fun than a roller coaster!
And here we enter the base of paradise - Leh town. There was something strange that I noticed as we entered Leh. Suddenly there was greenery and tall trees stood by the edges of the roads. Later we learnt that these trees were planted physically to make Leh a liveable place. There was a board which marked the success of planting 100 trees. A canal was build on the Indus river to provide water to the town. We came across a number of military base camps, trucks, Stupas amidst the roads, roadside vendors and shops. These Stupas which were built in the middle of the road is said to have been built by people who were punished or people who did sins under the Buddhist Religion.
Leh was relatively warmer during the day. But due to the altitude of 11,500 feet, walking was strenuous as air was thin and oxygen was short. The hotel we stayed in had lots of flora and a peaceful ambience. Tired with the travel, we decided to take rest as we reached the hotel around 5.30 pm.
Day 4
The next day - 30th July, began late. We had decided to re-energise ourselves with a good long sleep, as advised by our tour guide, before we started off for the day. We left from the hotel at 11 am and headed towards the market by walk. Breathing heavily and walking in the lanes of Leh, I couldn't stop wondering if it was real or was just a dream to be here. Quick picks from the market and heading towards an Italian restaurant, we had a relaxing first half. Our second half began with visit to Shey Palace. It is the largest victory Stupa in Ladakh and has a statue of Lord Buddha rising to a height of three storeys the top of which is made of pure gold. Unfortunately, we couldn't make it to the palace since it was closed for restoration and maintenance.
Next visit was to the Hall of Fame - everything about the Indian Army and Ladakh region. It was shocking to learn that the Indian Army is posted even at the Siachen Glacier, where the temperature in summers is minus fifty degrees Celsius and minus seventy in winters. A short film covering the struggles during the Kargil War gave me goosebumps and made me realise how our Army fights even the harsh nature with courage and still has strength to defeat the enemies. Even a hundred thousand salutes are not enough for our brave Military.
Shanti Stupa was the next place of visit, from where one can see the whole of Leh town. On the hilltop in Chanspa, I captured the view of the greenery clearly marking the boundary of Leh surrounded by barren mountains behind which the sun sets. Day ended with mouthwatering dinner in a Tibetian restaurant - novelty dishes - dumplings and Thupka.
Day 5
31st July - Trip to Nubra Valley. The most amazing part of the road trip since this route covered the highest motorable road in the World. Patches of shaky and dusty roads, but we could find men at work on the road, continuously moving aside the stones rolling over from the slopes of the mountains or flown from the streams of water melting from the glaciers. These roads sustain the weight of the heaviest military vehicles and these vehicles keep continuously moving all through the year. In case of any accidents or mishaps on these roads, the BRO immediately clears it off for uninterrupted flow of traffic. Infact, we saw a truck which had rolled down the mountain, being pulled up by the BRO. They had built a special road to access this truck and pull it up! If there are 100 reasons you can find wrong in our country, there are a 1000 things we should be proud of and learn from every part of our own country!
Finally we reach the highest motorable point in the World - Khardungla Pass. The moment when I was filled with pride! 'Sky is the limit' - a board read. But Khardungla was the sky for the rest of the world! Other board had instructions of not staying at Khardungla for more than 20-25 minutes, since the air was rare, for it is at 18,380 feet height above sea level! A group of aunties we noticed were having a gala time on the top. We had a quick cup of maggi, tea and a piece of dumplings each and continued the journey.
Nubra Valley, where we reached around 2.30 pm, pretty much on a lower altitude was quite hot. We checked into the tents where we were to stay for the night and found it to be extremely hot to stay inside the tents atleast till the sun sets. In this part of India, none of the places we stayed had even fans. Global warming surely has started showing its colours. The tents were surrounded with plants with colourful flowers and vegetable plants like cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, etc.
The places to cover in Nubra Valley were - hot water springs and double humped camel ride.
Since it was too hot to stay inside the tents, we decided to have lunch and move out. About 20 kms away, there were natural hot water springs. An indoor pool was built to divert the hot water. We sat down dipping our legs inside the hot water and relaxed.
Then we headed towards the sand dunes where we were to ride on a camel. These were not normal camels. They had two humps - more storage capacity. There were 5 camels and a baby camel. The same group of aunties were here having fun on the camel backs. As we were nine of us, we had to go in batches. I was in the second batch. Until the first batch was back, I had my own private time with my camera and the vivid landscapes around. I had never imagined, that at this height in Jammu and Kashmir, there would be sand dunes and a camel ride! Sitting in the sand and playing with the fine sand, I was lost in myself; the child in me had woken up. Now, it was our turn to raise on the camels back. The best moment of this part was the priceless reactions of the person sitting on the camel when the camel stood- some are frightened, some shout, some wake up with a start and I, laugh at all these reactions but hold tight to my camel. And as my camel started walking, I realised I was sitting on Mumma camel of that little baby camel. The baby camel was so adorable that it followed its mother in the full ride and collided against my leg several times as it came to touch its mother! Glad to be back on ground with all our back bones intact, we headed to our dwelling place. By then the sun had set and the weather had become cooler. After a good dinner, we were out for star gazing. Millions of stars popped up in the black background. I couldn't resist myself from getting my camera to capture so many stars which, being in a city, I could never see. But I was told by my friend, my first mentor in photography, that I cannot click a picture without a stand. Even with a stand it was difficult, since stars are distant objects and camera could not focus them. 45 minutes of trial and error, finally I got a perfect picture of stars. I did not use a stand, instead kept my camera on the ground, facing the sky! That gave me a satisfactory sleep in the night.
Day 6
1st August, on our way back to Leh, we visited the Diskit Monastery. A huge statue of Lord Buddha, it is the oldest and the largest monastery in Nubra Valley.
Back in the hotel at Leh, relaxed evening with simple dinner and off to sleep with the dreams of the most awaited part of the trip.
Day 7
The big day of the trip - 2nd August - trip to Pangong to paradise of paradises, about 225 km from Leh! On the way, we visited Thiksey Monastery, about 19 km from Leh. A 12-storey complex which houses stupas, statues, paintings, swords and a lot of little monks. All of these little monks we spotted were friendly and ever ready to pose with us for a photograph. Huge statue of Buddha on one side and a prayer room where a number of monks were chanting on the other side truly gave a spiritual vibe in all of us.
And as we drive to Pangong, we halt for lunch in a restaurant where Aamir Khan and other celebrities had visited. It was a unique lunch place which had a sit out on the floor with short tables and aesthetic ambience. Another uniqueness of this place was I got curd rice!! And yet again we find the same group of aunties there, one of whom is constantly asking the hotel waiter, "Papad milega na" and she repeats the question thrice in an interval of 3 minutes. As we are through with our lunch and move out, we see this group of aunties sitting in the waiting area and munching papads in a very disciplined way and the group was named "Papad Group" for the rest of out trip.
We also halted by the World's third highest motorable road - the Changla pass. The most amazing part of this halt was that we could see a full circle of rainbow with sun in the centre, Breathtaking moment indeed!
Here we see the first site of Pangong Tso. Between the mountains hiding behind, but yet not able to conceal itself fully, the blue waters of the lake made me click pictures continuously, as I was afraid I would not be able to see such a beauty ever again. On the banks of the lake, I clicked numerous photos of the clear blue waters. I stepped into the water and was magically caught into the chilled water. My mind was in a state of meditation and I captured the purity of air, serenity in the surroundings and the peace built within, with a deep breath, so much that as I write it now, I can still feel the level of sanctity in that moment. Then it was fun time. All of us, clicked group photos in various poses - sitting on the banks, jumping - this shot took lot of time to capture a perfect picture where everyone is in air.
Again the stay for the night was in tents on the banks of the Lake. We again went to the banks of the lake. As it was getting chilled and darker we had to return back. After having dinner, we had a campfire which was soothing. Back in tents, it was time to sleep; this time in the background was the rustling winds which made the tents flutter!
Day 8
3rd August - Back to Leh. On our way back to the hotel, we visited Rancho's School. It is a school fully funded by donations and completely working on solar energy. Children there came from less privileged background.
Later, the evening was spent shopping apricots and its seeds which is a dry fruit that tastes like almonds.
Day 9
4th August - Leh to Ule with rafting in Zanskaar River.
The day began with a drive to the 'Sangam' of River Zanskaar and River Indus on the way to Ule. Plain, well maintained, smooth roads on NH 1 on the Srinagar route, we drove through the mountains at leisure. We halted at the Sangam for our next activity - rafting. Sangam was the finish point of our rafting journey. As we waited there for the bus in which we were to be taken to the starting point, we stepped into the muddy yet pure waters of the Zanskaar River at the confluence and relaxed.
The bus arrived and we were all set for the adventure to come. On the way, we saw a raft tumble and a boy being rescued with the rope. It was a preview of the experience in store for us. We also saw men at work using huge drilling machines to drill holes in the mountains that were to be exploded for road widening.
Finally, we reached the point where our rafts were waiting for us. I was given a wet suit and extra large shoes, life jackets, helmet and a paddle. All set to start the task, we were given safety instructions and all precautions to be taken while rafting.
I sat on the left side of the raft on the last row and we started rowing. There were 7 rafts which started with us. Chilled water splashed on my face and was soothing under the hot sun. And there came the first rapid. The water current was strong and our guide instructed us to keep rowing. But looking at the huge waves, all of us preferred holding the rope on the side of the raft (lifeline) which made the raft go out of control and it tumbled! For sometime, I did not understand what had exactly happened. I thought it was only me who fell off the raft. I struggle under water. I always have a fear from water because I can't swim; though the safety instructor had clearly mentioned that swimming was impossible in such strong currents. I refused to open my eyes, gasped for breath underwater and drank a lot of water in the process of trying to breathe. Finally I came above the water level because of the float and dared to open my eyes and realized that all of us in the raft had fallen since the raft had tumbled. All through the struggle I made sure I hold on to the lifeline of the raft and did not bother my shoes, paddle being flown away. I was rescued in some other raft; then shifted in my raft. I was shivering from top to bottom - my feet were open and I had taken in a lot of water which was chilled and muddy. I was, in literal sense, fully shaken!
That taught us a lesson - follow the guide blindly because rafting is a team effort and not paddling in currents is like inviting the river water to play with your raft! After a few more rapids, we took a 10 minutes break where my shivering had not stopped but doubled. I decided to sit in the middle for the rest of the journey since I couldn't paddle any more. But I realized sitting in the middle was more frightening for there was no lifeline to hold on to! And we managed to finish the activity with no more ups and downs!
As soon was we got down, we had to take another bus to have lunch. It was 3 and my stomach was grumbling! This time we did not get into the bus, we got on top of the bus! It was so much fun to travel like that. We reached the place where we changed and hogged.
We then got set for our journey to Ule - A place only for relaxation after rafting. Relaxing and refreshing evening with filling dinner marked the end of the third last day of our journey!
Day 10
5th August - Ule to Leh. Started late in the morning for a short distance trip from Ule to Leh.
On the way, we halted at the 'Magnetic Hill'. Its the hill where a vehicle in neutral gear and the engine being switched off, moves by itself in the absence of any slope towards the magnetic hill. The reason still remains a mystery!
We also halted by the Gurudwara Sri Pathar (Pith) Sahib Nimmu, the highest Gurudwara in the world, built and maintained by the field regiment, Indian Army. Variety of swords and delicious chai added to the memories of the Gurudwara visit!
Back to the hotel, the saddest part of the journey - packing; which marked the end of our stay in the paradise! Pizza for dinner and a peaceful sleep made the day complete and this time even the trip!
Day 11
Last day at Leh - Flight at 8.30 am, we departed from the hotel at 6.30 am. Leh being an airforce base, had many fighter planes in the airport. We had checked in window seats for all since this was a lifetime experience to take off amidst the mountains called Himalayas! Barren mountains for a while which turned into green ones and snow capped ones after sometime and rivers running through the mountains, I did not find time even to blink my eyes!
Capturing all moments in my mind, we reached Mumbai at 12.45 pm after a hop over at Delhi.
A trip covering more than 1590 kms by road, that loaded my camera with 4gb of photos and myself with memories, gave my lungs clean and fresh air to breathe, most adventurous rafting, loads of fun, enumerable breathtaking views, a hundred reasons to feel proud of my country and finally, it made me fall in love with nature yet again; I wish this trip never ended!
