Om mani padme hum...Ladakh calling

Julley!!! At 37000ft in the plane, beautiful view of the Himalayas is breathtaking and unforgettable. Temperature at the time of landing was at 13 degrees.

View of the Himalayas

Luggage picked and the next purchase before getting into our cab was purchasing a handy oxygen bottle for Rs.399/- at the airport. Our driver for the next few days was Jawan, who also picked us up from the airport. He is supposed to have completed his MSc in Bangalore and knew 'swalpa swalpa' Kannada. This was meant to be a budget trip (well mostly) and we were booked at a small cozy guest house by name Shashipa Guest House in Chubi. This place has 3-4 basic rooms but warm with comfortable beds. 24hrs hot water available. We were given a room on 2nd floor, which meant walking up so many stairs in that chill on our first day. Well, we were short of breath by the time we reached our room, but 60+ Owner who was taking care of us ran up and down the stairs to get our luggage, flask with hot water & a cup of tea as welcome drink. Tea got served with some biscuits. We were asked to rest till evening to acclimatize. That's something important that everyone should follow when you reach Leh. However experienced you are, give your body atleast a day to acclimatize with the height and weather there and then decide to explore. While we had our basic plan chalked out in Bangalore, we hadn't really finalized on what would be covered in the 5 days that we had. During our resting period, with a little help from uncle we sketched out our final plan and this is what we did.

Day 1: Rested till 3pm to acclimatize. Evening Visited Hall of fame- Leh war memorial, pick up tickets for the light & sound show for evening & the ticket for light & sound show at Zorawar fort. Hall of Fame is a museum constructed by the Indian Army in memory of the brave Indian soldiers who laid down their lives defending our country. This place needs atleast an hour to cover if you like to read about the historical events such as the Kargil war. This museum also talks of the cultural aspects of Leh Ladakh. Entry ticket costs Rs,.200/- per head (for shows included) and Rs.25/- for taking a mobile along

Resting under the sun @ Shashipa

Chai time @ Shashipa

Outside Hall of Fame

@ The Hall of Fame

Once done with  war memorial, we headed towards Leh Palace. Its a 17th century palace built of stones, wood, mud & sand. Its a nine storied structure and how much did we cover you think...just two floors!! Breathlessness comes so easily that its hard to believe that we've been trying to keep ourselves fit. This place is a test to our fitness levels for sure :S. Ground floor which was meant to be stables is dark, had to use the torch light to even see where the path was leading. Top floors have beautiful balcony views and a complete view to the Leh city. It also has a whole lot of Tibetan styled paintings. Entrance ticket costs Rs.25/- per head.

About Leh Palace

Wood roofing which ensures warmth inside

Palace view

View from one of the windows

@ 2nd floor balcony.

Wooden architecture not to be missed

Perfect place for a pic-1st floor

Panoramic view of Leh city

Leh Palace in the background

Leh Palace done, next was Shanti Stupa. Its a peace pillar built by the Japanese Buddhists for the promotion of World peace. Its a long walk till the stupa, or so it seemed. Simple and quiet place. Well we did get hungry & cold then and decided to stop at the cafe for a glass of Kahwa- energy drink(tea) full of Saffron(Kesar), dry fruits and honey.

The Shanti Stupa

Outside of the Shanti Stupa

Enjoying Kahwa@the cafe

Visitors@Shanti Stupa

U&I

Realized that the stop at cafe had delayed us, we had to rush/ run to our van to ensure we reached back war memorial for Beat the Retreat and the light & sound show on time- 7pm. Loved the show, so many stories of bravery to listen to and wagah border like end to the day. 1hr show worth seeing. I had goosebumps on my head (chill and thrill) and teary eyes at times listening to the stories of Kargil warriors.

@the light and sound show

Day 1 ended with Dinner at IL-Forno restaurant in Leh city. This was suggested by VJ's good friend Rinchen. By the way, the day of Poornima & Amavasya (full moon & no moon) are considered to be dry days- hence no liquor served in any of the restaurants in Leh. Rinchen & his friends joined us for dinner- good food & quick service assured. At the moment Il-forno is considered the top most restaurant in Leh and if you are lucky most nights they have live music.

@ Il-forno

With Rinchen

Day 2: A ride to Lamarayu monastery was planned- 100kms from Leh. We started from Shashipa at 10am. In an hour we were at Magnetic hills- the phenomenon that defies gravity. You need to park your vehicles in the box marked with a white point on the road. When parked at the indicated spot, vehicles begin moving forward. We didnt experience this; probably because we were on the bike. But a tick in the box :)

Somewhere on the way

@Magnetic Hills

On the way to Lamarayu about 10mins ride from Magnetic hills you can also see the confluence of the Indus & Zanskar rivers. If you can actually start early then you could plan to river raft here.We were on tight schedule, hence had to miss on river rafting on this trip. Well, 5 days is just too short for this beauty. The whole ride was a treat to the eyes- nature has so much to offer.

Indus & Zanskar Confluence

Saw Moonland enroute Lamarayu. It is called so because the landscapes here are said to be like that of the moon. Lamayuru is one of the oldest and largest monasteries in Ladakh. Its a Tibetan Buddhist Monastery at a height at 11520ft. On our return we stopped over to admire the moonland again and next stop we took was to see Likir Monastery. Did not visit the monastery as we were getting late for our return. Target was to be back in Leh city before dark. 

Moonland

Moonland view

The bells @ Lamarayu

@Lamarayu

Resting & soaking in the quietness

Him with Himalayan

With a local

Lamarayu from a distance

@Lamarayu

Inside Lamarayu

Likir Monastery

View behind Likir Monastery

Next stop was at Pathar sahib Gurudwara. This Gurudwara has a boulder with imprints of the body of Shree Guru Nanak Dev in sitting position. It is said that a demon existed on the opposite hill and used to frighten the people. Guru Nanakji decided to help them.This increased the rage of the demon and he decided to kill Guru Nanak Dev. He is said to have thrown a huge rock on Guru nanak who was meditatin.  But Guru Nanakji was not hurt as the rock transformed into molten wax and took his shape.Again in anger the demon again planned an attack and kicked another rock. This time the foot of the demon got imprinted on the molten stone. After this the demon acknowledged the powers of Guru NanakJi and swore to stop troubling the natives and spend the rest of his life in the service of people.

Unfortunately no photography allowed inside, hence no pics uploaded here. While entering the gurudwara, there is a separate locker to deposit our footwear. As it was cold we decided to keep our sock on. We had to cover our head as we would do in any other gurudwara. Took the blessings of Gurunanakji and collected the hot prasad (Wheat halwa made loaded with Ghee). We were about to exit when I noticed others walking into a room...hall. All tourists & local visitors were being served hot masala tea by the Army Jawans. Along with tea was Rusk & some sweet boondi. The service being done without expecting anything in return is just amazing in the Gurudwaras. The much required hot tea actually gave us the required energy to ride back towards Leh city. We did not visit to the temple on top of the hill. Gurudwara below is what carries main significance. 

We entered Leh city around 6.45PM and thats when I reminded VJ about the Zorawar fort. We walked at 7:00PM to see the Zorawar fort and what invited us in was another light & sound show. The Zorawar fort is built by General Zorawar Singh. The significance of General Zorawar Singh is that, it is because of him that we have Leh as part of India. The fort has a museum to see & the light & sound show tells us the story of how Zorawar Singh was persistent and fought for Leh. 

Museum @ Zorawar Fort

Our day ended with dinner at the German Bakery based on ground floor of the same complex as Il-forno. We tried the Veg Thukpa here. While it looked like a bowl of soupy vegetable noodle it was quite filling. While had planned to eat some dessert from the bakery, I had no appetite left to eat. So decided to give some treat to the eyes by staring at the bakery counter and ended up buying Brownie & Peanut cookie. Didnt eat it though. The Brownie served as our snack from Leh to Diskit. 

Day 3: Started early to the one & only- Khardung-la. I had heard so much about it & now I was about to experience it. Its just a pass, but then at 17,582ft its one of the highest motorable pass in the world. This pass is used to carry supplies to Siachen Glacier. What greets us is the scenic heaven and then the chill :) and the traffic jam. See the 'zoom in' pic below to believe. Someone told us it was -8 degrees and that called for something hot. Gulped down Hot Chocolate from the cafeteria there. This time of the year (Oct end-Nov) is the start of winter here, hence the snowfall. Extreme caution needs to be maintained through these roads as the snow makes the roads slippery. You will find cars/ trucks chaining their back tyres and driving through the snow. The roads are fairly good here.

Some key points to take care here:

• Keep yourself warm. Definitely have thermals on. I was 4 layered and yet feeling frozen
• Keep yourself hydrated
• Take Diamox as a safety precaution prior to planning K=top
• Ask for help even if you feel slightest of discomfort. AMS hits without a clear warning.
• Don't stay at K-top for too long- 15-20 mins is a good enough time to enjoy the place & move on.
• Carry your oxygen bottle along in your vehicle.
• Be cautious while riding/ driving. Roads can get slippery during snow & there are high chances of rock falls.

Pics don't do justice to what we see

Warning boards from BRO

Click on the pic & zoom in :)

Snow all over

Hot Chocolate @ K-top

All roads lead to heaven

Joy of feeling the snow

Om mani padme hum

What more can I say about Khardung-la, its a treat to the eyes that makes you want to see it again & again. Next was to go to Diskit. On our way to Diskit, we closed on Shyok river viewing, Sumur Monastery & Panamik. 

The Shyok River also known as the 'River of Death' . The Shyok valley widens at the confluence with the Nubra River. We could see Shyok flowing throughout our journey till we reached Diskit.

Dust Storm which we thought was fog

Shyok River

Rare green patch

Dust storm again @ Nubra

Snow topped mountain

Yak Yak Ladakh

Resting & admiring the beauty of nature

Shyok again

Stream

On the way to Sumur

Next was Sumur Monastery. Sumur Monastery also known as Samstem Ling Gompa is an important monastery to Nubra valley. The Monastery is about 150yrs old. When we went in, the doors to the prayer hall was closed, hence we had to take a look on the outside of the monastery. The red door that you see below was locked with a lock design which is more than a 100yr old, I had seen this in Zorawar fort museum. The monastery entrance has a variety of apple trees maintained by the monastery.

Beautiful entrance

Door with old padlock

Apples at the monastery

View of Monastery

Prayer bell behind

Another view of Monastery

Black-billed Magpie

Monks from Monastery

Tibetan or Himalayan Snowcock

Greenery behind had to be captured

Throughout Nubra you can spot Leh Berry- Seabuckthorn shrubs. They are thorny shrubs that grow across the road in Nubra valley throughout our way to Sumur Monastery & Panamik. I had read so much about the berry that I requested our driver to pluck me some for taste. And he did..small orange colored berry with seed inside them. The berries were really sour, so much that by the time I had about 8-10 of them I was done. Apparently these berries help with reducing mountain sickness and have disease fighting abilities. Sure it must be packed with Vitamin C too. Anyways I ditched the idea of buying a bottle of Seabuckthorn juice after I tasted the berry.

Leh Berry Shrub

Leh Berry/ Seabuckthorn

Next was a visit to the Panamik Hot springs. The hot spring here is believed to have medicinal and; healing properties to cure diseases like Skin, gastric & joint pains. Entry charges to see the hot springs costs you Rs.30/- per head. The water from the spring is burning hot, so be cautious before you put your hand in. After clicking a few pics & resting near the hot springs we came down to have a hot cup of tea. The lady who manages the ticket counter also runs a small cafeteria. Jawan is diabetic, hence had Namkeen chai/ Gur gur chai (salted tea). VJ ordered for regular tea. I had missed having the namkeen chai during our Kashmir trip and hence wanted to try it this time. So here I ordered for a cup of namkeen chai also called as Gur gur chai. The pic below shows the namkeen chai in pink color and the regular tea in brown. The first taste as you sip in is salty, next you realize that there is butter in it. Finished our cup of tea and got back to our van and there Jawan gave us half a piece of Khambir for us to eat. Khambir is a traditional fermented bread made from whole wheat that is usually had with Gur gur tea. Tasted like a thick chapati, dry. Should have had it with gur gur chai to have appreciated it I think. Neverthless, greaseless Khambir had its own unique taste & for me it was a tick in the box to have tried a Ladakhi cuisine.

Walk to the hot springs

At the Panamik Hot spring

Tea & Namkeen tea

Khambir

Panamik was last place for the day. We had to search for a place to stay overnight. Jawan had done some homework for us and found out that Zambala Guest house would be a good place to stay overnight. Got a deluxe room for the price of standard room. The guest house is a family run place and guests are made to feel at home. We were asked what we wanted to eat and thats exactly what we got served. Power in Nubra is available only between 7PM-11PM, so charging of mobiles or availability of internet was only available during that time period. Hot water available when asked only. The room was meant for just a nights rest. With free wifi available until 11PM we were able to contact home. Airtel & jio phone network wasn't connecting in Nubra, so we had to depend on the wifi connectivity at the guest house. Good food and good service is what got us happy. And its located right next to Diskit main bazaar. Next morning was an early start again. With pitch darkness at 11PM we had nothing to do but to sleep.

Room@Zambala

Day 4: At 7:30AM we started on our journey to Turtuk village. Turtuk is the last village on India Pakistan border which can be visited by the civilians. Turtuk is mainly a muslim village. Its not really the village but the beauty we got to watch enroute....I remember this quote, "Roads were made for journeys, not destinations". The road to Turtuk is heavily guarded throughout. Roads are decently maintained, just few rough patches. At Turtuk we stopped over for a cup of Lemon ginger honey tea at Ashoor Cafe & with help from locals bought dried apricots at a local shop next door.

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Shyok Axis War memorial

Army School

Bogdham Villagers

Bogdham Villagers

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Chalunkha

Jawan told us that's K2

@Turtuk

Village view

Bikers on the road

Turtuk Village

Me purchasing Apricots

From Turtuk we headed straight to Hunder Sand dunes. Hunder is most popular for their Bactrian Double humped camel rides in the cold desert. These camels are shorter than the usual camels that I have seen so far. Our lunch was Maggi at the cafeteria in Hunder. We had a long wait before the camels were ready for a ride.Camel ride is Rs.450/- per person for 30 mins and ATV which is also available for rides costs Rs.800/- for 3.5kms ride. VJ got to sit on Albert & me on Chicken. Albert is the son of Chicken and refused to show his face to the camera. Everytime we tried clicking a pic of ours he would hide his face behind Chickens neck :D . One of the other camels refused to be leashed, have put up the video below..this one decided to spit on the guy everytime he tried to noose him. Post the camel ride, VJ tried the ATV ride. While he kept refusing it, this would have been his first time and I was happy to see the excitement on his face when he returned from his ride.

Merawala Maggi

Double humped camel

On our Camel ride

Camels at a distance

Happy face after the ATV ride

ATV ride

Next in plan was Diskit Monastery. Diskit monastery also known as Diskit Gompa is mostly popular because of the huge 32mtr stature of Maitreya Buddha which faces Shyok river towards Pakistan and has a prayer hall attached. It was chilling cold on top, so much that taking out the gloves for taking a picture got me shivering. We happened to meet Bangalore bikers who had planned to explore Leh Ladakh in 15 days without a firm itinerary..an expedition :). We did not walk up to the monastery as we were already too tired from the days trip.

Maitrerya Buddha

Diskit Monastery

Diskit Main Market

After the Maitreya Buddha visit we got dropped back to Zambala Guest house. We decided to take a walk in the Diskit market. Unfortunately not too many open shops as it was off-season. A bit of shopping for prayer flags and we were back to our room for dinner. Good home cooked meal for us was kept ready as soon as we asked for it. For those wanting to spend a night or two at a comfortable place in Diskit can definitely stay at Zambala Guest House. 

Day 5: Next morning was supposed to be our journey back Leh via Pangong-Tso lake. The road to Pangong-tso was terrible in bits and pieces. Jumping inside our car, holding on to balance ourselves and then suddenly there would be a patch of good tarred road. So wherever BRO had noticed a water crossing or heavy snowing, the roads hadn't been tarred. 

Stream by the road

Well yes, good tarred road

That's a road too

Road eh!

Got hungry and ended up sharing the HUGE peanut cookie from German bakery between the two of us. Breakfast stop was at Karakoram Restaurant Home stay. Run by a senior citizen couple, this place has been kept clean. I am guessing that usually the drivers like to take a stop here, but their bread omlette and lemon ginger tea was also good. While we were seated outside I could see our driver sitting with other drivers in the kitchen. The kitchen was a very traditional type with small colorful bench and table. The drivers had a tea cup in their hands and I could see them adding something into their cups, mixing and gulping it down every few minutes and thats what got me curious to check what they were eating in place of breakfast. Turns out they were having something that they called Chashul (video attached below). I couldn't find reference for it on the net but the ingredients that went in into making it were Sattu ka atta, Gurgur chai/ namkeen chai, Dollops of butter, Chenna/ Powdered paneer. Mix all the ingredients and either drink it or eat it. I found it rather tasty, could eat just a small bowl of it but found it filling and nutritious. It is supposedly an energy food which keeps them warm and active until next meal.

Peanut cookie

Checking out stickers from various riding groups

Enjoying hot lemon ginger tea

Karakoram

Next stop was supposed to be Pangong-Tso lake. Its a Salt water lake which runs 134kms long from India to China.It is the world's highest salt water lake. This is where the famous 3 idiots movie scenes were shot. Did not take the pic sitting on the bench as VJ refused to sit. But I got one for myself on Kareena Kapoor's scooter. Hope I have done justice to show you what we saw, through the pics below. 

@Pangong

Shooting spot of 3 Idiots

Mesmerizing colors

Looks like a painting

Meri gaddi

and I go weeeeeee

The change of colors

3 idiots?

Bird captured

Us

There's nothing more you can do but to enjoy the color of the water. Its nail biting cold there, yet we saw someone trying to take a dip in the water. We had our lunch at one of the restaurants at Pangong and started back on our journey to Leh. Supposed to spot Marmots but not a single one appeared even after a wait. We got lucky with spotting a herd of Yaks grazing. Route was via Chang La and that is when we felt the need to have a larger vehicle. The road to Chang La is very steep and our Omni which had done fairly well in the last 4 days was suddenly struggling to climb. VJ had to jump down and push the vehicle for some momentum atleast thrice. The roads had also got slippery because of melting snow. With both these challenges and bad road we had to sit alert just incase there was an emergency. The road is pretty bad..well cant call it a road either, check out the pics below. After a slow & careful drive till Chang La we stopped for a hot cup of tea on Chang La top @ 17,590ft at Chang La Cafe. There is just one cafe with toilet facility. Not clean, but manageable. I think I went through a certain amount of AMS here with some head spin. The tea really helped. We were told that it was 3 degrees outside.

Snow melting adding to trouble

Yak Yak

Yak Yak Yak

Mooo...I guess

ahheemm, thats road

@Changla Top

I was glad that we didn't spend too much time there, the cold was getting to me after all the walk & struggle with the van. Next stop was at Thiksay Monastery. Again, we did not go inside the monastery, just clicked a few pics from the outside and moved ahead to see Rancho school - Druk Padma Karpo School. This school became famous after Aamir Khans movie 3 idiots got shot here. Earlier the school was open to public for viewing but after the management noticed that it was difficult to control visitors even during school hours, they decided to close the school gates to the visitors and built a wall behind the school like a memorial. There is no entrance fee here. We had to miss Shey Palace because of shortage of time, but those visiting this road should check out Shey Palace too.

Thiiksay Monastery

Rancho School

Thiksay

Natures beauty

By the time we reached Leh it was already dark, did some shopping in Leh main market for Apricot Jam and some chunky jewelry for my daughter. Dinner was again at Il-Forno. We got lucky with some live music from a duo band.

Day 6: Flight back to Bangalore was at 11am. We had our breakfast at Shashipa, special Poori with egg bhurji for us along with hot tea. We settled our bills, requested for a click of pic with the family which they kindly obliged. Next stop was at a small cafe opposite German Bakery for a cup of tea with Rinchen before we were headed on our way to the airport. A great end to our 5 day trip.  

At Shashipa Guest House

Teatime with Jawan & Rinchen

With Rinchen

Well not everything has been seen & covered, so it gives us an opportunity to plan another one to make sure we say we have seen all of Leh.

For those planning a trip to Leh, some pointers to take care of::

• Carry plenty of warm clothes when travelling in Winter
• Layer yourself up
• Cover your head, face & neck, specially in Khardungla & Pangong
• Thermal socks would keep you warm along with good boots.
• Carry Oxygen bottle along, available at the airport. Take 3 puffs at a time, whenever you feel breathless
• Give minimum one day to acclimatize after reaching Leh, just rest and dont travel.
• Dont get too excited and jump around :)
• Keep yourself hydrated well
• Diamox helps with keeping AMS away. so start with the dosage of diamox a day or two before you start your journey- check with your doctor too.
• Those who undergo travel sickness suggest you take your medication for that or carry along a lemon or mint to help you with the journey- Winding roads all the way
• You will find public toilets almost everywhere, so dont plan to pee in the open- be conscious about 'Swacch Bharath'. If not a proper toilet, you definitely will find toilet with just holes in them, plug your nose and finish up with your business
• Eat light when your travelling, break down into smaller meals.
• If you are in doubt what to eat, order a maggi without further thinking. Nothing can go wrong with it. Or a bread Omelette would do too.
• Ginger lemon tea & Kahwa sure helps with fighting AMS. 
• Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS) can hit anyone anytime, so if you face any kind of discomfort  (slightest), it is best to let someone know about it.
• What do you need to watch out for: Any headache in the back of the head, vomiting, numbness, sleepy- get help immediately
• Dont spend too much on your stay, all you need is a comfortable bed to sleep and hot water to take bath(if you have to). Look for affordable accommodation & save some money for yourselves :)

The itinerary we followed for a 5 day trip::

• Day 1: Leh City tour: Hall of Fame, Leh Palace, Shanti Stupa, Back to Hall of fame for Beat the retreat & Light and sound show- stay at Leh
• Day 2: Lamarayu: Magnetic Hills, Lamarayu Monastery, Confluence of Indus & Zanskar, Likir Monastery,Patharsahib Gurudwara, Zorawar Fort light & sound show- Stay at Leh
• Day 3: Khardungla, Shyok river viewing, Sumur Monastery, Panamik Hot springs- stay at Nubra/ Diskit
• Day 4: Turtuk Village, Hunder Sand dunes & camel ride, Diskit Monastery- Stay at Diskit
• Day 5: Pangong Lake, Chang La, Thiksay Monastery, Rancho School, Leh Main Market- Stay at Leh

Some useful contacts that you could use::

• For your bike or car rental requirements or hotel stays: Rinchen Angchuk: +91 97974 61555
• For Airport drop/ pick-up or taxi/cab requirement: Jawan: +91 94195 35306
• Shashipa Guest House, Chubi, Leh: Mr.Nawang Tsering: +91 9906993801, 01982-251251
• Zambala Guest House, Main Bazaar Deskit, Nubra, Ladakh: Mr.Nawang: +91 9469177465, +91 9469018675, 01980-220418

If there is anything more that I can help you with or have any questions for me, please do feel free to leave behind a comment.

Aerial view of Delhi

View of the Himalayas