Sunday, June 30, 2013

Ju Leh Ji

(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 cafĂ© 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...

Saturday, June 15, 2013

A Diamond for my dear daughter

Her "Hello World" moment happened on 5th of May. And on the eve of her naming ceremony, it's only apt that I present a 'Diamond for my Dear Daughter'.



For details on how the diamond was cut see here