Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Ladakh - Dream Destination



Our itinerary for 6 days :

Day 1 : Leh City, Leh Palace, Shanti Stupa
Day 2 : Leaving west for Kali Mata Mandir, Magnetic Hill, Likir and Alchi Gompa
Day 3 : Going South-east for TsoMoriri Lake (bottom right corner)
Day 4 : TsoMoriri (15000 feet) to Leh - 220 km
Day 5 : North-east to Pangong(14000 feet) Lake via Changla Pass (17800 feet) and back (150 km one way)
Day 6 : Going north towards Nubra Valley via Khardungla (18380 feet) , upto Diskit and Hundar - back to Leh (total 260 km)


Day 1


Early morning flight from Delhi to Leh - Yea we got 1Rs tickets from Deccan booked 3 months in advance. Additional security check for flights going to Leh means all check-in luggage have to be manually identified before it is loaded. The checks are even more stringent at Leh and you have to reach Leh airport 2 hours before the scheduled departure time. Also they discourage any handbags in the plane so make sure you only have a small handbag with all your valuables only.

The wow factor started from the flight itself as we looked down upon the snow covered peaks below us. After a while the plane seemed to be flying between the mountains and we had to hold our breath as it landed. We started soaking in the unique landscape - barren brown mountains - the moment we got out of the plane. On the way to our accommodations we were aware of our lungs doing extra labor for air. Its highly advisable not to exert yourself too much and let your body acclimatize for the first day.


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Mantra Resort (Changspa) - This is the place we stayed in for the first two nights. A quiet resort amidst beautiful surroundings (just the way I like). Rooms were a bit small but the sitting area in the front was a great idea (perfect for a round of drinks at night). Bit far from the main city, and with no market or taxi stand around, we had to walk 30 minutes for anything. Food was awful, or may be it was just our appetite at 12000 feet. Overall - ok if you are in a big group and want to be away from the noise of the main city. Big no no - if you are with family.


After couple of hours of sleep, we had our lunch and set out for Leh. The city was bustling with tourists (mostly Europeans) and the market was quite colorful. We walked right through the city (~ 4km) to reach the Polo ground.




Polo Ground(Leh). Just behind Polo ground is the Magistrates office where Inline permits are issued for TsoPangong, TsoMoriri and Nubra Valley. You have to pay a fees of 20 Rs per person per day for the permits. An agent can get the permits for you for additional 100 bucks per person but its just as easy to get them done yourself. It only takes 10 minutes but make sure to reach the office before 4:30 pm. You will be required to leave a photocopy of the permit at all checkpoints, so get plenty of copies done.



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Leh Palace - simple architecture - deserted inside with lots of small passages. Not much to look at but still holds a rustic beauty. Go there to enjoy the wonderful view of the Leh city from above. Would have been a nice climb to the top but we were tired and with two small kids, so took a cab.




Shanti Stupa - beautiful building set atop a hill in Changspa. Was build by some Japanese organization to promote Buddhism. There is a long flight of stairs leading to the top. Alternatively, you can take a cab up the long winding road at the back. The view from the top was absolutely magnificent. I thought it was a perfect place to view a sunrise or sunset. On the first day, we took a cab to reach the top. We were getting late and couldn't spend as much time as I would have liked. I decided to come back up the steps the next morning, but could never find enough time. Would always regret not getting up there again...

That was too much exertion for the day, so we all headed back to the resort with a light headache. After a light dinner, we immediately went to sleep.


Day 2

We were all feeling much better the next morning. Apparently our bodies had started acclimatizing. After having breakfast at the Roof-top restaurant, we hired a cab for our route for the day that was going to cover Sangam, Magnetic Hill, Kala Mata Mandir, Alchi Gompa and Likir Gompa. Taxis in Ladakh are way expensive (~ 16 Rs per km) and they all follow a union rate card. You can easily get a 10% discount off the quoted prices but nothing more. So round trip to Pangong (300 km) cost us 5000 Rs and Tsomoriri (430 km) - 7000 Rs. Carry double the cash that you originally planned because Ladakh is an expensive destination (but you would be too engrossed in the beautiful surroundings to really notice that till you come back)




Magnetic Hill - The hill is supposed to be magnetic. The magnetic force is said to be strong enough to be able to pull a vehicle up the slope. And yes we did get a demo of our Scorpio moving up the slope with its engine shut-down. What do I think - there's surely a catch. The hill doesn't pull any other objects towards itself - only big vehicles. I bet even a fully plastic vehicle would behave similarly.




Sangam - Confluence of Indus and Zanskar rivers. A great riot of colors. The two easily distinguishable colors of the two rivers, and million colors in the background. We stopped our car on the side of the road. I wanted to get down to the rivers but wasn't sure if I would be able to get back up the steep slope.





Alchi Gompa - The monastery is more than 1000 years old. A guarded door led us into a dimly lit room containing splendid statues of Buddha. Another room had thousands of ancient Buddhist manuscripts. The monastery is along the banks of river Indus. I couldn't resist going down and splashing refreshingly cold water on my face. The monastery is not very big and had a bit of a deserted look. I don't suppose a lot of tourists go there.







Likir Gompa - A small detour on the way back to Leh took us to Likir Gompa. The monastery is situated on top of a small hill and looks impressive as you get the first glimpse from the road. There is a huge statue of Buddha in the monastery. Rest of the monastery seemed off-limits to tourists, hence there was not a lot to see.





Kali Mata Mandir - The temple is situated on top of a hill very near to Leh airport. There is a fair number of steps to be climbed to get to the top. The effort is rewarded by the view of the airstrip and rest of Leh. The place looks like another monastery complete with monks in their red robes. That is until you get inside to find Kali's statue instead of Buddha.



Day 3-4

Next two days we reserved for Tsomoriri lake. We left early, had delicious aaloo paranthas at a Punjabi Dhaba near Karu, and were on our way.




Enroute TsoMoriri - TsoMoriri is 230 km from Leh (8 hour drive). The roads are in reasonable good shape and the journey is not very tiring on the body. For most part we traveled with the Indus river. The way is absolutely beautiful and the landscape a canvas of colors ( can you make out the shades of purple and brown in the hills). We hardly met any vehicle on the way and there aren't many shops on the way either, so carry some water and eatables with you.




Hot Springs - Enroute Tsomoriri, most tourists take a stop here. Its almost midway and perfect place to stop for a cup of tea. Go down to check out small springs bubbling out between stones, just along the river bank.




This smaller lake was on the route to Tsomoriri. I am still not sure of the name of this lake. The lake had salt depositions that shone in the sunlight.




TsoMoriri - Absolutely beautiful. Huge lake surrounded by mountains. Was amazing to see different colors of the lake as the sunlight gets reflected from the surface. We spent plenty of time exploring the periphery of the lake.


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Tourist resort, Tsomoriri - The 5 room resort stands about 100 m from the lake. Initially seemed a bit expensive at 2000 Rs (with full meals) but we really enjoyed the stay there. Rooms were comfortable and had an attached toilet/bathroom. The owner was one of the friendliest persons I have known. The food was excellent, the best we had in Ladakh. Would highly recommend the resort if money is not an issue. Other staying options were home stays at 300 Rs or tents at 1800 Rs. The home stay didn't appeal to us. Tents were already booked, otherwise we might have gone for them.




Picture perfect view from my room at the resort. Can you ask for more ??




Tsomoriri with snow peaks in the background. The colors kept changing with the angle of the sun.




Colors of setting sun getting reflected in the water.




It was a night before Full Moon, so we decided to wander way past sunset. Was amazing to be out there alone, in the milky light of the moon. Catch the sun setting behind the mountains and moon light getting reflected in the lake. The lake is big enough to have gentle waves hit the shores that make a soothing sound. One of the most beautiful night of my life. Turned out to be quite adventurous as well because we got really late while going back. We had underestimated how far we had gone. There were only two of us, and when the moon light was shadowed by a hill on the way back, it got really dark with my Chinese torch not working. By the time we got back, the rest of the group was really worried and had already started a search & rescue mission.




The next morning we woke up at 5 to catch the sunrise. It was absolutely chilly and my face almost froze. Don't know how we survived those 30 minutes before the sun came out and warmed us. In hindsight, sunrise was definitely not worth getting up that early and braving the cold.


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On the way back from Tsomoriri, this little mammal decided to pose for us. He came right upto our car, stared at us with inquisitive eyes before disappearing into its underground hole. There were plenty of them roaming about in the green pastures.


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Yaktail hotel (Leh) - We returned to Leh and checked into Yaktail hotel in Leh. Compared to seclusion of Mantra, this was right in the centre of Leh market. The inside of the hotel was very green (which is what lured us). The rooms were much bigger and nicely decorated. The food was more tolerable than Mantra. Not a bad deal at 1000 bucks. This is to be our night stay for next 3 days.


Day 5

Again we left early for Pangong Lake. Pangong is nearly 150 km from Leh but you can easily do the return journey in a single day.


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Changla Pass - The way to Pangong Lake goes via ChangaLa, third highest motorable pass in the world. As we started our climb to the pass, we could feel the air getting thinner and chilly. It was quite cold at the pass inspite of the bright sunshine. While walking you could definitely feel the effect of thin air in the form of a light headache.




Army personnels posted at Changla Pass. Amazing that they spend so much time in those harsh conditions, and not just in summers. Even then, they were more than friendly. Wish our police force can learn some things from the Army. Three cheers to them !!!




TsoPangong - Even larger than TsoMoriri (we could only see a small portion of the lake). Nearly 40% of the lake lies in India and the rest in China. Bounded by mountains, the lake shone in brilliant colors of blue in the afternoon light. There are a couple of small restaurants and a hotel at the lake. Few tents were also pitched in and they actually offered us for 300 bucks. We were so disappointed we didn't have an extra day to spend there. You are also allowed to pitch in your own tents (that might change depending on border conditions - a friend on earlier visit didn't even get permits to visit the lake). Would strongly recommend all to spend a night at the lake.




There is a small village a few kilometers further down. We set out for the village, but the road was so bad we stopped at a nice spot in between. There was a small strip of land extending into the lake and we actually had water on both sides. Absolutely beautiful. We spent a few hours there but no amount of time could have been enough.


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Freezing water. Felt like going for a swim but didn't want to fell sick. Kids had a gala time making sand castles.




This guy actually drove a caravan and parked it right at the lake. Now thats a cool way to travel. Wish I owned one. The guy never came out of the van, so I took liberty to pose as it was mine.


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Now time to pose in front of our vehicle. It actually got stuck in all that gravel. At the driver's seat is obviously our driver, a gem of a person. Very soft-spoken and helpful. Never heard him complain or raise his voice even a bit.


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Tents at the lake. Going rate 300 Rs - only valid for that night. No extra day :-(


Day 6

We had kept the last day for KhardungLa and Nubra Valley. Normally Nubra Valley is a two day trip with overnight stay but we had only one day, so we skipped going towards Panamik. Our main aim was to satisfy our egos by going to KhardungLa. We didn't have much expectations of the Nubra Valley but 'boy' were we in for a surprise.




Khardung La - Highest motorable road in the world (till China makes a road to Everest). Highest I have ever been in this life. Damn cold !!! However, we were disappointed not to find much snow around the pass. Pictures of my friends who had gone there earlier in June showed the road surrounded by 5 feet snow on both sides.






Nubra Valley - I thought I had seen Ladakh already. But as we descended from KhardungLa into the Nubra Valley, I was amazed. The landscape was unlike I had ever seen in all my traveling years. Not for a moment do you feel that you are still in India. The road journey from KhardungLa to Diskit/Hundar was definitely the best experience of my Ladakh trip. Beautiful beyond words. I wished I was on foot rather than inside the car.




Camel ride at Hundar - There is actually a desert (complete with sand dunes) in Ladakh. And ofcourse there are camels too albeit double humped ones, and much furrier and healthier, though shorter than their Rajasthan counterparts. Probably the camel rise wasn't worth it at 150 bucks/30 min in the hot sun, but what the hell. It was another experience to remember. Seeing the desert stretch upto the mountains was unique.




School kids at Diskit - Diskit is the largest village in the Nubra Valley. We stopped for a nice lunch at the Sangam restaurant. This photograph was shot from the window of the restaurant.


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Diskit Gompa - How can a major village be without a monastery in this region. And yes like most monastries this was also situated on top of a hill. There was a fair bit of climbing to do - more than any other monastery that we had been to. We reached the top to find all the doors were locked - apparently it was lunch time. After half an hour, an apologetic monk unlocked the doors and showed us around.




View from the Diskit Gompa. Afterwards it was back to Leh via KhardungLa once again. Next morning we boarded the return flight amidst lots of security checks and chaos at the airport. Dream trip finally came to an end but the memories will remains fresh forever. Ladakh is definitely one of the most beautiful places I have been to and the most unique. I hope to return for a trekking trip sometime.