(All of one year has gone by since Shreya and I made this trip
in July 2012. Nevertheless, hope you have a nice read)
Ju le (n) pronounced joo-lay meaning hello, goodbye, please,
thank you
It’s been 4 glorious years since my first trip to Leh
Ladakh. A lot has transcribed, but somethings - friends, runs, have stood, much
like the mountains of Ladakh, unchanged and unchallenged.
The motivation for
this trip was probably a desire to re-live with Shreya, all the fun that I had
in the previous visit.
One of the first things that struck me when the taxi drove
us from the Rimpochee airport to Changspa was, how little the town had changed
– like it was in a time capsule. Vijay-ji from Infinite
Adventure had taken care of the logistics for this trip. We were booked at
Sheldon Holiday Home – a quiet home stay in the heart of Changspa. As is
typical of home stays in Leh, the home had it’s own vegetable garden, cozy
rooms and warm congenial family, kids, grand parents and all.
Day 1 was largely spent in lying around and breathing hard –
getting acclimatized to the 11500ft altitude of the quaint town. We walked up
to Shanti stupa for a bird’s eye view of the landscape in the evening.
Day 2 & 3
Riding snow, riding rains
Up Khardung La, the elevation
gains
Dub dub dub dub to the bullet’s
tunes
To the warmth of the sand dunes
We checked
out the following morning and packed a little bag for a bullet trip to Nubra
Valley. The bullet was an almost new Standard 350 which was yet to receive a
registration number. Yes, it was as if I was cheating on my Thunderbird, but I
have begged for forgiveness, my bullet needs a full body massage actually. In
contrast, the Standard 350 was in top shape. A gentle kick and it roared into
life. The town was more than one petrol bunk and ATM now, we topped up both
before riding under the arch that said – Khardung la 40kms
Riding snow, riding rains
Up Khardung La, the elevation gains
Good roads,
great views warmed us up till South Pullu at 4800m. Warmed up, because, for the
next 50km till North Pullu, we were chilled to the bone. We were warned at the
check post of the rough terrain ahead. Riding this up to Kardung La was an
experience. With the melting snow forming small rivulets taking down lots of
tarmac with them. In other places, the Border Roads Organization was clearing
away one of the frequent landslides off the road. We stopped only for a couple
of quick photographs at Khardung La, arguably
the highest mortorable pass.
To make matters worse, there was mild snowfall as we made
our way down to North Pullu. I slowed down at every army shack hoping to find
some warmth from the rain which was now a cold heavy drizzle. The halt only
came at North Pullu, where we savored some hot Maggi and tea. Shreya
contemplated heading back – the proposal was quickly dismissed.
We pushed through despite the drizzle. And as a reward for
this, the rains stopped, the road got better, with no climbing to do, we
cruised down towards the valley.
Dub dub dub dub to the bullet’s tunes
To the warmth of the sand dunes
As we neared Diskit valley, the vistas changed from the snow
lined mountain path to arid lake bed and sand dunes. Although the rain had
stopped, our bones were still cold. We made some quick basic enquiries and
slipped under blankets in the cozy room at the first home stay we came to –
Olgok guest house.
Late evening, we strolled down to the sand dunes (not wise,
it was a 45min stroll!!) and rode on the Bactrian double humped camel. A good
Samaritan offered us a lift to our home stay on the way back coz it had started to rain too. We had a
breakfast of Ladaki bread (barley?), apricot jam, omlette and tea.
I took off early in the morning, running on the empty
highway towards Pakistan, towards the town of Turtok. The complete silence was
broken by the rivulets running alongside, running to join the Shylok river. The
road curved up towards a bridge across the river in a bit. The altitude of
3100m did it’s bit too, running uphill I was easily out of breadth. I made up
some pace on the return to finish a 10km in about 58mins. Details here.
We visited the Diskit monastery enroute, where a Kannada
speaking monk explained to us the meaning of Maitreya and the fierce deities in
the temple. We made a quick stop at the Diskit town to shop for much needed
gloves and dry socks. The prayers and woolens helped, we totally enjoyed the
return trip.
Back in Leh, we had enough fuel in our tanks to pay a visit
to Spituk monastery. The Buddha overlooking the valley from atop the monastery
is one of the lasting images of Leh.
Day 4 & 5
Only 2 in a car for eight
Passing Chang la at its height
Down treacherous roads we went
To Pangong Tso, to a cold windy
tent
Only 2 in a car for eight
Passing Chang la at its height
Although we
had a great time with the return leg from Nubra, the rains were still on our
minds. So for the trip to Pangong Tso, we decided to get into a car and be
caged! With no luck with accommodating any other tourists with us, it was just
Shreya and I in the Innova. As luck would have it, it was a glorious day… to
ride a bike!
Down treacherous roads we went
To Pangong Tso, to a cold windy tent
As we climbed
up towards Chang la, the roads began to deteriorate and with it, Shreya’s car
sickness. We stopped for a short break at the café on Chang La. It must have
been a combination of cold, altitude, claustral conditions, Shreya was a wreck
by the time we reached our camp site on the banks of Pangong lake. It was
almost 2pm or so when we got ourselves some lunch. We spent the rest of the day
inside the tent. There was a heavy gale during the night, but thanks to some
hot water packs, we managed to sleep well. A 5k jog the next morning, left me
breathless within minutes. The next morning, we headed back to Leh after
breakfast, thinking more than once that we would have perhaps loved this more
on the bullet.
From a cool town called Chilling
Past chocolate rocks, whirlpools, rapids
swirling
Life jackets, wet suits, our rafts we oared
Up and down white waters, while Zanskar
soared
The last day
was perhaps the best of the trip. We finished off with a fantastic 2 hour white
water rafting in Zanskar from Chilling to Nimmu. We were driven from Leh, some
50kms to Chilling, where we were joined by about 30 other tourists from all
across Europe and the US. We got into the gear – wet suits, life jackets and
shoes. After a briefing by our coach, we set off. It was a 20km ride, took us
about 2 hours. The river was wild, scary, intense, mild and calm all at once!
The Class III & Class IV rapids kept us engaged through out. There were 2
other dinghies like ours, one folded up, spilling all its crew into the icy cold
waters. There was then a bit of rescue operation!
When Nimmo
was in sight, I jumped off the raft to drift the last few hundred meters home!
I got this
on my GPS, take a look here.
It was a great holiday, one year on, the good memories still linger on...
It was a great holiday, one year on, the good memories still linger on...
