This
was one travel blog post pending for a long time, so much so that the next trip
started before completion of this one. Finally it was time on a lazy Sunday
afternoon to start typing the experiences and memories of Leh. The rooftop of
the world has been on the list of places to visit for me & my better half,
with whom I co-author this blog post. However, lack of time and money kept
delaying this.
Between
me and my wife, we always have two different lists of places to visit based on
interests. Thus, finding common ground is difficult and Leh happens to be one
of the common places ranking high on the list.
It
obviously helps to have friends in the industry and making your own itinerary
is what we eagerly look forward too. A lot of research on the internet,
followed by reading books, blogs and culture and history is done by the wife
and its over to the husband to fit it in the trip with all the weird routings
and airlines.
However,
Leh was different, we wanted to club as much as possible. Do we go from
Srinagar with a stay in Kargil and return via Manali? Or do we do the reverse?
A plethora of options lay in front of us as we asked for a quote for each of
them and it turned out to be way too high, as expected. Yes it was a last
minute travel plan for a place like Leh, we were booking only 2-3 months in
advance.
A
random check on the booking engine, showed a round trip fare of 28k INR per
person on Delhi-Leh-Delhi sector. While flights to Srinagar were cheap, the
vehicle cost was astronomical between Srinagar and Leh.
As
luck would have it, I generally search for fares and flight options on
Cleartrip, because it is easy out there to select From/To based on airport
codes and on this day, it was MakeMytrip(MMT) on which I was searching and I
glanced at their packaged deals section.
Leh-ladakh
7N/8D read the caption, and the package was titled amazing Ladakh! Quick checks
and double checks on the dates, reading the policy and terms and conditions and
then finalization! Ladakh – here we come!
13th
to 20th July to Ladakh. The likes of MMT have been doing this
charter business for a long time, organizing a weekly charter on a particular
day each week. First Sunday – take people to Leh, and get them back the next
Sunday, which deposits another set of travelers to Leh. It’s cheap because the
charter is pre-booked and MMT or the likes get handsome deals with hotels as
well as vehicles for long term pre booking. So what could have cost around
50K+airfare per person resulted in costing us 32K all inclusive ex-Delhi. “Steal!”
remarked people who had already been to Leh.
We
made it a point to check with family and friends, who had travelled to Leh and
the bone of contention was Diamox. Is it helpful, is it not? Does it react? The
suggestions were extreme like you need to take it a day or two in advance to
check its reaction to its not really needed, it doesn’t kill altitude sickness,
but is only a diuretic.
Well,
well, Priyanka’s curious mind was bound to initiate a google search on Diamox
and Voila!, Diamox indeed is a diuretic and it adjusts your pH factor and helps
you adjust to the hills better. And as it adjusts the pH factor, one urinates a
lot! Well, there you go, the reason of regular urination is not being at high
altitude but the medicine which you took few hours ago!
(L) Sunrise from the aircraft, (R) Snow clad peaks enroute Leh
As
we landed in Leh early one Sunday morning, we felt the lack of oxygen at every
step and kept ourselves to our room and slept the entire day. You start
believing in karma when you notice that the people who suffered altitude
sickness at KhardungLa were the same ones who had quickly changed into shorts
and vests on day 1 to visit the market for some shopping. If that was not
enough, you also notice that these are the same ones who against advice are
eating the oily food stuff like Theplas and Khakras!
Having
a pre-planned itinerary was helpful as we went around seeing places in groups.
Sightseeing started with visiting the Shanti Stupa – built on a hillock and
similar to any other shanti stupa in the world, Hemis Monastery – perched on a
hillock, about 40 kms from Leh, and Thiksey monastery which resembles the
Potala palace in Lhasa, Tibet. As if the lack of oxygen is not a challenge
enough, you end up climbing some more stairs to visit these monasteries. And we
kept wondering why couldn’t the monasteries be built in the plains of Ladakh??!
The
entire worker population at these heights comes from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar
and it was sad to see them work at such altitude and cold without a proper
gear. Our taxi driver, was probably a perfect candidate for one of the radical
parties in our home state Maharashtra – since he quipped – “Ek Bihari, Sau Bimari” (One Bihari gets
hundred ailments along).
We
stayed in Swiss tents at village Tirith in one of the tented camp sites, near river Shyok to
return the next day, when we experienced snow fall at Khardung La. What luck!
And this followed when we crossed Chang La – world’s third highest motorable
road enroute the magnificent Pangong Tso.
The
lake is a natural wonder – over 130kms long and 5 km wide at the broadest
point, it is 40% in India and the rest in China (in reality Tibet). It’s a salt
water lake and freezes in winter. We had an experience of a life time as we
decided to stay put for that day and stayed few kms further away near the China
border, away from the maddening crowds at the regular places made famous by 3 Idiots. We spent a memorable evening in freezing cold.
(L) Chang La, (M) Curtain Raiser - Pangong Tso, (R) Serene!
The lake, famous for its changing colors, did not disappoint us and next morning, we were lucky enough to see another memorable sight – Golden peaks; when the first rays of the sun fall on snow clad mountains, the peaks turn golden for few breathtaking moments, something we had last seen in 1999 in Annapurna range.
(L) Lucky Charm - the stone sculpture, saw many of them at Pangong, (R) Day Break
(L) Golden Peaks, (M) 3 idiots cafe, (R) FYI :)
We
missed out on Lamayuru – which is another monastery towards Kargil, but did
complete the local tourist circuit – Magnetic Hill, Gurudwara Pathar Saheb and
the confluence of Indus and Zanskar. It is such an interesting sight that the
two rivers, having considerably different colors of their water, show so much
resistance to mix and flow together from thereon.
(L&M) - Magnetic Hill, (R) Confluence of Zanskar & Indus
Our
resourceful driver, a staunch BJP supporter, had some more information for us
at this point, where he showed us the road which will soon link Leh to Manali –
a project, which I have been following since the time it was announced, because
back then I was a regular at Manali. Apparently the work has restarted within
days of Modi government taking oath and was completely on the back burner
during the decade of UPA rule.
A visit to Leh is incomplete till one visits The Hall of Fame - an Army museum, showcasing the life at high altitude, local culture and glimpses of Kargil War.
Army Hall of Fame Museum
Leh
market is over rated, with limited things available for purchase. We did take
tour of the multiple markets in the town and couldn’t find anything exceptional
and interesting. However the food had to be tried and the locals suggested we
try Thukpa and Thenthuk. Thukpa is a Tibetan noodle soup while Thenthuk is a
variety of Thukpa which has hand pulled noodles.
As
we returned, we kept thinking about the life of people in Leh, the difficulties
they face, and struggle for survival and livelihood,, being in Goa for the peak
season and back in Leh for the peak season in Leh, families, education and
despite the hardships, their patriotic nature and support for India, unlike much
of the rest of the state.
One
stark observation has been the patience, the locals show. Even during traffic
jams, the only vehicles which were honking were those which were not having a
JK registration. The next is caring and sharing. It is heartening to see how at
14000 feet, the driver just waved at the roadside worker who was having his
meal and this person gave him more than half of Sattu, a local delicacy.
The
hills make you a completely different person when you are back to the plains
and you come back with a lot of gratitude, humility and respect for people and
nature. Just the realization about the grandeur of nature in front of you, makes
you understand your rightful place in this world!
When
to Visit: Leh is not a year round destination. The peak period is from May
through September. The tourist season ends with the Ladakh Festival and begins
sometime around March end.
By
Air: Air India, Jet Airways & Go Air have direct flights to Leh from Delhi.
On few days of the week, Leh is connected to Jammu & Srinagar by Air India.
By
Road: One can make a one stop trip from Srinagar (Stay at Kargil) or from
Manali (Stay at Sarchu)
Stay:
Luxury accommodation is not available in Leh and hotels of all budgets are
available but need to be booked in advance. We stayed at Hotel Leh-Chen near
the Shanti Stupa, away from the town and market.
Local
Travel: All vehicles are non AC and mostly Scorpios/Innova are available
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Folk performance by Locals |
About the Authors:
Priyanka Sharangpani - Joshi is a lawyer by profession & a passionate traveler. Priyanka is founding partner at Lex Credence, a law firm based out of Pune. She dreams of visiting all continents in the next 10 years!
Ameya Joshi is a Management professional who dreams of completing atleast one Round the world trip and loves to personally route each trip. His dream destinations Moscow & Istanbul already visited, he now tries saving for a trip to Tahiti.
Both of them wish for an opportunity to be sponsored for World Trip.