{ enygmatic } | mobilis in mobili

The next day we left early in the morning so as to make it in time for our flights. The environment outside was fast bearing resemblance to a “street” war zone with security personnel gearing up by the road. Luckily we reached the airport in time and without incident.

Soumen, Ajay and Gargi were booked on the earlier SpiceJet Flight and they managed to check in a little before Hansel and Me. By the time we had cleared the long and laborious security check though they had already boarded their flight. Pretty soon it was time for our flight as well and soon I was on my way back to Mumbai from Ladakh carrying with me memories of an enchanting trip to that heaven on the roof of the world

On the previous night we heard news of the curfew being temporarily lifted in Srinagar. This certainly buoyed our spirits for the long journey onwards. We began at the crack of dawn from Kargil and stopped for tea along the way at Drass, the second coldest inhabited place in the world. The road was equally scenic with the scenery filled with lush green meadows, babbling brooks and serene rivers and grazing sheep. Along the way we passed several military encampments and a convoy of army trucks.

Along The road to Srinagar

As we neared Srinagar the tension in the air was palpable. In fact after a point, we could see armed military sentries posted after every km along the road. At around mid-day, we finally sighted Dal Lake and began our entry into the city. The city certainly looked normal, though there was an undercurrent of tension in the air – the proverbial calm before the storm.
After checking into the Hotel, we decided against venturing out into the city as the reports that we got from the Hotel Manager as well as the news channels were not at all encouraging. So we just called it a day after a quiet dinner.

We began our journey to Kargil with a new driver. Due to the problems in Srinagar our travel agent arranged for a driver from Srinagar so as to avoid any trouble along the way. While he was certain that we would reach Kargil without incident, the Kargil-Srinagar journey was what was hanging under a cloud of uncertainty.

Mountains along the way to Kargil

The road to Kargil was breathtaking. Along the way we passed the moonscapes of Lamayuru, fields, desolate mountains, scrubland and quaint little villages. At around 4:00 in the evening we finally arrived at Kargil and checked into our hotel.
After resting for a bit, we went out to explore the marketplace. I managed to find some excellent apricots and walnuts on sale in the market (Should have bought more though…). We also bought more provisions for our journey the next day. After the “shopping” we went back to the hotel to turn in early since we needed to leave at the crack of dawn for Srinagar.

The next day we began our last leg of local sight seeing before hitting the road to Kargil and then on to Srinagar. Our first stop was the Hall of Fame, which is a museum of sorts erected in remembrance of the many soldiers that have lost their lives in the Ladakh Region. The museum has a beautiful monument erected to remember those who have fallen in the mountains of Ladakh and boasts of an impressive collection of artifacts relating to both the wars fought here as well as the local culture. Read the rest of this entry »

The next day didn’t begin as I expected. I woke up and lo behold it was raining outside. Luckily the rain stopped in a few hours. After having breakfast and checking out of the rooms, we went to see a local monastery at Sumur. Like all the other Monasteries, this one too had some of the most intricate and beautiful paintings on the wall.
We then began our long ride back to Leh. This time round we stopped at Khardung La for some time. Standing at 18,000 ft above sea level and peering into the valley below was an unique experience for me. After shopping for souvenirs, we left Khardung La to reach Leh by lunch. Read the rest of this entry »

The next leg of our trip was an overnight trip to Nubra Valley. The route took us through Khardung La Pass, which at about 18,000 ft above sea level is the highest motor-able road in the world. As compared to Chang La, I think it actually took us a lot less time to get to Khardung La from Leh. After clearing the pass we stopped along the road to have some fun in the snow. It was quite crazy with people sliding through the snow, throwing snowballs at each other and in general attracting bemused smiles from the passing vehicles.

Read the rest of this entry »

We woke up early in the morning as we needed to leave by at least 5:00 am or so to make it in time to Pangong. When we left, the skies were still overcast and it did seem that we might have grey skies that day. The road to Pangong took us through the scenic countryside and then up into the mountains. In a few hours we had reached Chang La Pass, which at 17586 feet above sea level, is the second highest motor-able pass in the world. Stopping there, we had some Ayurvedic Tea courtesy of the Army outpost there. Read the rest of this entry »

The day dawned and the daylight dispelled the miasmas of the previous day. We were in high spirits!! The day comprised of an trip to some of the famous Monasteries near Leh. We first visited the Hemis Monastery. After a scenic ride to Hemis, we disembarked and got our first glimpse at a Ladakhi Monastery.

Colorful Paintings on the walls of Hemis

The narrow doorway to the monastery barely prepared us for the splendour and rich colors that the interiors held. It was breathtaking, especially the intricate paintings on the walls of the Monastery. After spending about an hour there we moved onwards to our next destination – Thiksey Monastery.

Thiksey Monastery

Thiksey, in my opinion, was one of the most scenic monasteries that we visited while in Ladakh. Once again we quickly saw the interiors of the monastery and moved on to our next stop – Lunch. Lunch was a simple vegetarian meal at a roadside eatery near Shey Palace. The palace used to be the summer palace of the erstwhile kings of Ladakh. While not much of the splendour of yesteryear’s is on display in the palace, one can definitely get a feel of the grandeur of the days gone by.
After Shey Palace, the last stop of the day was Stok Palace. This is the current residence of the former kings of the Ladakh region and many of the ceremonial garbs, ornaments etc are on display at the Palace. On our way to the palace, the sky suddenly grew quite overcast. That along with the barren terrain, made the trip quite surreal – like we were driving up to some gloomy medieval castle.
The Palace did have an excellent museum, which had some really unique items. On display was a monstrous head-ornament which the queen is rumored to have worn, swords twisted by the King’s Oracle, various curios etc. After seeing the Palace, we headed back to our hotel in eager anticipation, since tomorrow was the day we’d go to Pangong Lake !!

View from the plane

We had an early morning flight to Leh on Kingfisher Red. The flight left on time, and we were on the last leg of our journey to Leh. Quite soon, everyone on the flight was taking in the sights of the majestic mountain ranges towering below the plane. In about an hour and a half we began our final approach to Leh.
At the airport we were met by the representative from our hotel. After a short ride, we were shown to our rooms at the hotel. The manager at the Hotel advised us to take the day off and rest at the Hotel. Leh, is at an altitude of about 3500 m above sea level and one needs some time to get acclimatized to climate there. As expected though most of us were badly affected by the acclimatization process, with the usual symptoms of headaches, mild nausea etc. However, given that we would start our first day trip on the next day we were all in very good spirits.