Ladakh

   Ladakh is basically a cold desert. Now, it is one of the UTs as well. It has 2 districts, Leh & Kargil. Here, the sky is very deep blue in colour. Travelling in a car, enjoying the scenic beauty you'll just feel that in this new lively nature, you are the first one from mankind. It's like an endless discovery. There are two routes to go to Ladakh. One is from Srinagar to Leh via Kargil & another is from Manali to Leh via Rohtang pass-Kelong. In winter here, the temperature falls to -20 degree. Then, the whole Ladakh valley becomes snow-covered. In April-May, Srinagar route opens & in July, Manali-Rohtang pass route opens. The 2nd route is more attractive in terms of natural beauty. The right word is 'Danger in Beauty'. This route is opened for 3 to 4 months only. Our journey was from Delhi to Manali via night-service & then to Leh via Rohtang-Kelong.

  28th September. We rode a Volvo Bus in Delhi at 6 in the evening. I got a window seat. Next morning, when I woke up, I saw the Beas river from my seat. It was Kulu.

After Kulu, taking a right turn, we came to Bhuntar, a little hill town in the bank of Beas. Here, we took a short tea break. After a few hours of ride, we reached Manali. In Manali, Dewdar trees are more dominant then Pine. Staying there for 2 nights, we started our journey to Ladakh on the very first day of October.

Manali to Sarchu

  From Manali to Leh, the total distance is 473 km. On our first day, the target was to cover 230 km to reach Sarchu. Being ready in the early morning, we entered our car. Our journey began at 7 am. We were a total of 12 teammates. So, we hired a Traveller Tempo. Covering 51 km our first halt was at Rohtang Pass, 13050 ft above the sea.

  All of us were much hoped to see the place full of snow. But alas! it was our misfortune. We didn't even see a trace of ice here. The effect of Global Warming is practical here. We entered our car again & our car started to go. But for landslide, we had to stop at Gramphu, a little hill village.

  From here, the road gets divided into two. One road goes to Leh via Kelong & other comebacks to Shimla via Kunzum pass-Spiti. We took the 1st road. Here, a new river Chandra started to accompany us. It comes from Spiti.

 Keeping the river on the right side, our car was moving. Though we saw some little hut type houses in the mountains in the mountains we didn't see any people or any other car on the road. Passing Khoksar, Sisu, Gondola - these 3 villages loneliness became our friend. Here the colour of the hills is Saffron with Black contrast. The place is totally treeless. In Tandi, we saw trees like Poppler, Willow, Belli. Though HP is famous for Pine & Dewdar trees, there is no trace of these trees. This place is the Sangam of Vaga & Chandra river. The colour of the Chandra river is green & that of Vaga is clay type. After Sangam, the two rivers flow without mixing of colour for a quite long distance. After Sangam, the river is known as Chandravaga.

 Keeping the Vaga river at one side our car was going upwards. After a few hours, we reached Kelong, 115 km from the origin. Kelong is to say the headquarter of this upper Himachal. There are some hotels too even in this odd place. But, as our target was another place, we again started to go. At a time, all green plants vanished. The place was seemed to be like a cold desert. The Grey-Saffron hills with black strips were looking awesome as if, nature has painted on Grey-Saffron canvas with a black brush. The stones were shaped like ancient sculptures. We stopped the car in this cold desert to feel the beautiful nature. But we didn't remain there for much time as we had to go Sarchu before daylight ends. After some time, the natural view changed. Instead of drawing hills, colourful hills came ... I have never seen them even in my dreams!

Then, I realized why many travellers not only from our country but also from foreign countries come Ladakh by following only this route. Even I had seen some foreign solo travellers cycling on this road. This route is also popular among Indian bikers. We reached Gypsa, 11055 ft from MSL. The breadth of Vaga river is vast here. I saw 3 to 4  hut type houses on the bank of Vaga river here. I asked the driver, how they managed to live here? In reply, he said that the Government has major facilities for them. They get full ration even here at such a remote place. I saw some Beli trees here. The characteristics feature of the tree is that it can absorb water even from the rock. We were going keeping Vaga river at one side. As we were going to the upstream, the quantity of water in the river was increasing. At one time, we reached Dorcha, 11220 ft from MSL.

There were some tents to survive the night. We reached Deepak Tal, a lake full of Greenish water. But the water level at that time was quite low. In Patsote, 12500 ft above MSL there is a military camp. Vaga river is flowing in this cold desert. We reached Surajtal, the origin of the Vaga River. After this, we reached Barlacha Pass, 15940 ft above MSL, the 2nd pass of this route.

  

 

After this pass, I felt a sharp change in the weather. The weather became too cold & all regions became snow-covered. Each year from June to October, for 4-5 months, this route gets opened. We started at Manali at 7 am. Then, it was 7 pm & we travelled 200 km.  In front of us, we saw a vast saffron-coloured area where the evening light was playing. It is Bharatpur.

Sarchu

  It was evening. The glowing electric bulb at the military canteen created a different environment. We crossed Sorapchu river through a small bridge. This river is the border of 2 states ie. Himachal and J&K. Though, J&K is not a state now. We reached Sarchu, 14035 ft above MSL.

 Coming out of the car, we realized the teeth trembling cold weather. It was - 2 degree. We hired 2 tents for the night stay. In dinner, we ate curry & roti. It was at 1 am. Light of Moon entered our tent. I came out of the tent. The cloud-free sky made the Moonlit night too much special. It was an un-eternal environment. I forgot everything & just stared at the valley. Seeing me out of the tent, one military man came to me & told me to go back to the tent as it may be risky. I regained my existence & felt the teeth trembling cold. It was -4 degree. I came back to the tent & slept for the rest of the night.

Sarchu to Leh

  Next day morning. Taking tea, we entered the car. In the Northern zone, though evening comes late but morning comes early. At 7.30 am, The Sun was at the peaks of the Mountains. I clicked some pictures of the White snow-covered Mountain peaks. These were looking like meditating monks wearing white scarfs. Taking Sarapchu river on one side, our car moved further.  We crossed the 'Ting-ting' bridge. After going through the hairpin loop, we again noticed the change in natural beauty. Black-striped saffron-coloured mountains came instead of white snow-covered mountains.

After crossing through 20-22 hairpin loops, we came to the upward region. Here, we got the 3rd pass of the route, Lachulung La, 16616 ft above MSL.

 We all came out of the car. From here, we saw the famous Kangla Jal peak. Moving forward, we saw two peaks on the two sides of the road like the guards. The driver told that it is the gateway of Ladakh. Here, the beauty of the mountains is of another type. Because, this is the opposite side of the Himalaya, The Trans Himalayan range. At North there is the Karakoram, At the south there is Himalaya & in between these two, there is Ladakh! Again hill sculptures accompanied us. Covering 7 km from Sarchu, we came to a valley at 14k ft. It is the most charming & beautiful valley of this route named Pang.

A small river, Fang flows over this valley. We stopped near a tea shop. Our next halt was at Tang Lang La, 2nd highest motorable road after Khardung La. From here the view of Karakoram at the north is too clear. After this pass, the road goes downward. For that, the naked mountains again came instead of snow-covered mountains. At Upasi, we saw the best colourful mountains. Red, Yellow, Green, Grey - we saw all of these coloured mountains. The epic Sindhu river flows at some distance ahead of this place. The only hydroelectricity project of Ladakh is on this river. At last, we reached Leh. We stayed in hotel Rafica near Fort road.

Leh

  In front of Rafica, there are two Poppler trees. To touch the sky, they became too much high. Here, the existence of this tree is dominant. I went to the roof of the hotel to get a panoramic view. The whole Ladakh valley was looking awesome from here. Clear sky, pollution-free air, no noise pollution ... considering all, Leh-Ladakh is perfect for peace lovers. It was evening. Solar street lights started to glow. The full moon of  Purnima tithi just had risen from the eastern mountain region. With that, a sweet gentle cool breeze created the heaven.

  Next day was the sightseeing day. In the morning, a car came to take us from the hotel. The name of the driver was Angchok Bangchok. Though he is a driver, he is different than other typical drivers of the country. He did his M.A. in History. He also took the role of a guide to us. Our first visiting place was Hemis Gumpha. In our way, we passed a role model village of Leh valley on the bank of the Sindhu river, named Sonam. Though the village is small, but it is nicely oriented with some small beautiful houses. There is also a school named, Ladakh Public School. Though Ladakh is Muslim dominant, in Eastern Ladakh most of the people are Buddhists. Coming out from Leh town, we saw many white Buddhist temples. As here air-pollution is negligible, o the temples are still white in colour. We came to Shey Palace. Once upon a time, Shey was the summer capital of Leh. In the year 1665, King Deldon Namgal founded this palace. It is a Buddhist Monastery. Its aim was to promote the speeches of Buddha & to develop the area. Riding up with the stair, I just thought how a clay made palace is still intact!  There is an old Shakyamuni Buddha portrait in this palace. Thiksay Gumpha is 5 km from here. It is a soooo big Monastery, having 12 storeys. There is a big golden Buddha statue.

 On the bank of the Sindhu river, we were going through the Leh-Manali route. After sometimes taking a right turn from the main road, crossing the Sindhu River through a bridge we reached the famous Hemis Gumpha.

 There is a big golden silver prayer wheel in front of the Gumpha. Inside of the Gumpha on the 1st floor, there are many different types of Buddha statues. After visiting the Gumpha, we went to a ghat of the Sindhu river named, 'Pyaar ka Bandhan Ghat'.

 It was evening. We came back to Leh town. At night, we went to the Tibetian Market.  

Leh to Nubra

  On the following day, Angchok drove the car to the North East side, at Nubra valley, 150 km from the origin. It was a tough journey. The roads were too much elevated. Our first halt was at a Military Check Post at South Pullu. Here, our identities & car was checked. After South Pullu, the road became more elevated. After a while, we reached the welcoming gate entitled 'Gateway of Nubra'. Next halt was at Khardung La, the highest motorable road in the world at 18630ft! It was an amazing experience there. The feelings were too much special.

   It was too cold, -2 degrees. We went to a military canteen nearby. I took a cup of herbal tea there. There is also a cloth & memento store. Total 18 engineers & more labours died during the constructing this road. After some time, we saw the Magpie birds, famous in these areas. Again, military checking occurred at North Pullu. After North Pullu checkpoint, Shyok river started to accompany us. On the opposite bank of the river, there is a small village with nearly 500 people named, KhardungLa. Here the sky is unexpectedly Blue. At Diskit, we got a homestay. Keeping our luggage there, we again rode the car. After covering 7 km, we reached Hunder. We reached a white sand desert.

 

 Narrow Sumur river is flowing across this desert. There is also a wooden bridge over the river. We were the only people to go there at that time. There are some military quarters. Tibet is a few km away from here. Turtuk is a small village near this desert where the light of modern civilization yet not still entered. The parent river of Sumur is Siachen river, which's origin is the famous Siachen Glacier. Here, most of the local people are Tibetian & Mongolian. Blue eyes, Golden hair & Pink cheeks are the characteristic features of them. Some of them are Greek too. History says that they came here in search of the grave of Jesus Christ & permanently staying here after that. There is a very old monastery in this Nubra Valley. In that Gumpha, there are many old scripts, which says the history of these people. The main attraction of this desert is the camels having 2 humps. After a few hours, we again came back to our homestay at Diskit.

 Coming Back to Leh 

   Next day was Monday. Monday is the road maintaining & repairing day of the Khardung La. So, we had to reach there before 8 am. For that reason in the early morning, we became ready to leave Nubra valley. In the previous night, it was snowing. We were lucky too because, in our way, we had the good fortune to enjoy snowfall. It was an amazing experience. Finally, we came back to Leh at noon. In the afternoon, I came out of the hotel for local sightseeing on foot. I came to a local village. I saw some small hut type houses on the sides of the Wheatfields. I met an old villager. We had a short conversation too mostly in Hindi.  As vagrant, they came here. In that time, Ladakh was ruled by King. Later, when Govt. came, all of them got field & house & after that time they are living here.

  From Leh to Pangong Lake

   On the next day, our target was to go to Pangong Lake & come back to Leh. Up & down total 300 km journey. So, being hurry, we left the hotel room in the morning for Pangong Lake. Up to Karu, the road was the same. From Karu to the west there is Kelong & to the east, there is Pangong. So, we followed the eastern route. At Shakti, we saw much military force. This is one of the high-security zones. After Jingal, the road became too steep. We came to Chang La, 3rd highest motorable road in the world at 17350 ft. There is a lord Shiva temple near the Pass named Chang La Shiva Temple. It was too cold weather. In spite of the very cold weather, we came out of the car & entered the Shiva temple, ringing the bell hanging from the gate. We also got some prasad from the temple. The view of nature especially the snow-covered peaks is awesome. After Chang La Pass, we crossed one truck. Apart from Leh road, it is the 1st vehicle of the day that we passed. From the driver, we came to know that, it is a truck full of ration for the villagers of this region from Government. On every 3rd day, one truck comes here to supply ration. After Althak Lake, we came to Tangse. There is a military checkpoint, where our car & identify were checked. Tangtse is a great valley full of green grass & covered with colourful mountains. After Lukung, we passed the Pangong Resort & reached the western bank of the lake. At 14270 ft, the lake is incredible.

 White swans swim in this deep blue lake. Which seem to be majestic. It is an international lake of which 40 per cent is in India & other 60 per cent is in China. At North, red yellowish Chang Chenmo mountain covers the lake. We were just walking along the southern bank of the lake. Just after few minutes army men stopped us. Then we realised that for swans, there is no restriction to swim, but for us, there is a full restriction only because of the international border! After that, we went to a hotel near the lake. After taking some foods, we returned to Leh.

From Leh to Drass via Kargil

  It was the Leh leaving day. In these days, I really started to love the town. So, the leaving time was painful. At first, we went to the Info China war memorial of 1962. There is a museum near the memorial. The history of Ladakh & the memory of Indo China war is kept there with care. Next place was magnetic zone.

 Here, our driver switched off the car engine but, the car was moving & it was a plane road. We were going through NH 10. In one side of the road, there is a village named, Nimmu.

 The odd was that all where like in fields, near house, army men are guarding. At a time, the Sindhu river started to accompany us. With its accompany, we came to another village named, Nurla. There we got a local tea shop near the road. We took a halt there for tea. At Khalsi, we took our lunch. In the afternoon, we reached Kargil. Kargil is a Muslim dominant place. At our right side along the road, we saw a big wall. It was made during the Kargil war of 99. Covering 57 km, we reached Dras. Our night stay was at Dras. Coming out from the car, one signboard attracted my eyes written, ' Drass, the 2nd coldest inhabitant in the world'. Seeing this, the feeling of the cold became high. The night was too much cold. Next day was the end day of this tour. In the morning we became ready.  Our 1st halt was at Tiger Hill, where the Indo Pak war had occurred. We entered the Jojila War Memorial.

 There is a red-carpeted path named Bijoy Path. In front of that, there were the name of the martyrs. After this place, our car ran towards Srinagar.