The trip we planned and dreamed for months : Leh- Ladakh

My friends and I, love traveling and usually we go for short trips that require less planning. Unlike those, this one needed proper planning, higher budget and safety concerns.

Leh- Ladakh is the dream tourist destination for all adventurers. Also, for us, 12 final year students it was the big break after final exams. We planned for the trip 6-7 months beforehand. Hence, half of my study hours went in dreaming! Our trip began on 18th of August where we all met in Delhi.

Delhi

I had never been to Delhi before. I have no idea how it is the capital, when there are no roads where roads are supposed to be! This was a different experience for me. No traffic rules. Majority of the business and transactions occur on the middle of the roads! Cars stop anywhere and everywhere. No offense but this is what I saw in Delhi, in the places that I visited, I don’t know if it’s always so and in every other part. That night we went to a Amritsari chur- chur paratha place and had some of the best parathas. Next day we took the Rs.200/- tour through the city. It began with Birla Mandir, Rasthrapathi Bhavan, India Gate, Lal Bahardur Shastri’s house (that seemed like a hq of his fanclub, seriously!). After which our bus broke down. We walked to Qutub Minar in that heat and spent an hour or so there but in vain. We still had Lotus temple and Red Fort to cover. The bus would just not cooperate and the tour guide was trying his best to convince a huge family that was asking for a refund and a drop to the railway station immediately. We sat there like kids while so many uncles fought. We finally got a bus that took us back to the hotel. We watched the GoT episode that night!(at least, the north remembered!) The next day we played heads-up and Taboo till noon and headed to our friend’s place by Metro. She had made some amazing biriyani. Nicely fed, we roamed through Sarojini market and took the horrendous journey to the airport with so much luggage, changing 3-4 metro lines. We stayed up in the airport as our check-in was at 3:00 am.

Leh

But the flight journey was rewarding. We were caught in the sandwich of clouds and hills and the early morning sun to shine. We were all super excited to see our traveller guy holding the pluck card of “The Whitewalkers” to welcome us, but instead we waited for him for an hour or so! This day was for complete rest to acclimatize to the height. In the evening we went to the Leh market and like all hillstations, the shops close very early. We had the travelers staple diet- Maggi and some hot lemon tea! That night few of us were sick(not from Maggi but from the height!). The next day went in exploring in and around Leh. The colourful banners flying high and on the bridges is so pretty. Thiksey monastery was our first stop. Colourful and elegant. We then went to Rancho school or Druk White Lotus school just to see the wall. 3 Idiots has helped the Ladakh tourism at a scale, unimaginable. But the view from there was great and few of my friends decided to send their children here! Next stop, Shey palace. I do not understand the need to build all monasteries and palaces on hills. Why? So after climbing and panting we made it there. We were all the more excited for the descent since we saw a Thukpa place. (It’s basically soupy noodles!) Then next we headed to Stoick palace but only 2 of my friends went in once we came to know that it was 3 storied. Next to Leh palace, the roads were blocked so we trekked to reach it. There’s nothing inside apart from so many dark rooms. Then to Shanthi Stupa from where the view of sunset was breathtaking ( literally, from the climb!)

Day 2 of Leh was more fun. We visited the Gurudwara Pathar Sahib. Many of our first ever time in a Gurudwara. It was a refreshing experience. Next up Magnetic hill (marvel of science, Earth is so cool bruh!) then to Sangam of Indus and Zanskar rivers and later to Alchi monastery which is so old and beautiful. This journey to the monastery had beautiful rivers and streams with crystal clear water flowing. Our last stop was Hall of fame, a museum to revisit the battles fought by the Indian Army. Patriotism rose exponentially in our hearts. I decided to be a best citizen. And soon we went to the adventure arena and missed the parade, but we were happy zip lining and hanging upside down on ropes and walking on nets. Also, when in Leh, try Apricot, Seabuckthorn juices and various indigenous fruits. The water here and the cold makes your skin perfectly pimple-free and spotless, enjoy till it lasts. And often the food here is mostly bland. You’ll be craving for Hajmolas, hence I suggest you take some!

Nubra valley

Even though Nubra, Pangong and Tsomoriri are just 120 odd kilometres away from Leh, the journey takes around 6-7 hours, thanks to the curvy landscape. We traveled via Khardungla pass (18,000ft) with snow capped mountains. Super excited seeing the snow, we made snow balls and fought. Not knowing that this extreme temperature could affect us, we reached Nubra valley and Hunder sand dunes. We stopped at Diskit monastery where our driver took us to the newly built one first, which did not give us any monastery feeling! We told him to take us to no more monasteries. We were tired of climbing to any. Took a double humped camel ride and also attended the nearly ultrasonic shrills of 4 ladhakis(they told us that they were dancing!). That’s 83 bucks each we never saw again! Tired from the journey and extreme temperatures we checked in to the guest house. There were dozens of apples hanging from a tiny apple shrub! From then on there was no connectivity with the outside world whatsoever nor electricity. Late night chats in the dark wooden cottage. You can guess the topic at hand, obviously the vivas and exams we had just answered!

Pangong Tso

This journey from Nubra valley to Pangong was loooong. But the changing and beautiful terrain kept us hooked. I was very sick by the time we reached Pangong, I went straight and slept. My friends went to the lake for pictures. The lake was beautiful, huge and pristine. That day was Ganesh Chaturthi and we spent the evening having detailed mythological discussions. I will never forget the night sky. The sky was lit up with soooo many stars, that it was hard to see the dark background. We tried taking pictures. Our inner photographer was out and were talking in long exposure time, increased ISO and shutter speed-language. We had electricity for just 2 hours and with a single plug point in a room. Boy, the fights! Lantern assisted nights.

Tso Moriri

This journey was super exhausting. We were driving along Pangong lake for god knows how many kilometers and now we just wanted to get away from the lake. “Enough lake, we know you’re pretty. Stop showing off!” Hills were no longer a sight of beauty but a torture due to curvy roads. We saw Mormot, Pashmina goats and Yaks on our way. This lake is completely protected by the army. Once in we could not come back to the lake again. This was beautiful and serene, but lake again! Blue water and hills around. This time we stayed in tents and with lanterns you know how spooky it can get. So we spoke about ghost stories, obviously! It was so cold. So cold. I have not stressed about the coldness enough. The nights drop below zero degree Celsius. The continuous jhulu-jhulu of streams flowing near by added to the cold. The sky was absolutely stunning, as always. It was so cold that the bread that would come out of the toaster before placing on plate would turn into stone. We also had a small dance session with our driver, Tashi bhaiyya, to mark the last day of the travel. The camp had a great playlist of songs that astonished us.

The journey back to Leh was not as bad as the driver had frightened us to be. We were super close to the border. In fact in the border. That was scary. We saw a hot water spring and an army memorial and a fox on our way. Again the roads had army camps on either sides throughout. We reached Leh and our guest house felt like home. We did last minute shopping to take souvenirs home. Sunday is Leh main market where locals get local cuisines for sale. This was our first ever most planned and high budget trip we ever took. We did the best we could in those 10 days in our limited budget. For exact information of our itinerary and places of stay refer this article on tripoto that my friend published.

https://www.tripoto.com/trip/trip-of-a-lifetime-ladakh-59c381ea4bcaf?source=afb

All in all, it was a tiring, spectacular, memorable and a challenging trip I’ve ever been on.

Important travel tips

1. Do not carry extra luggage. The thin person has to sacrifice and squeeze in between them when there’s no room in the boot.
2. Take the 24hrs rest seriously. The headache that follows is terrible.
3. If you’re not used to the cold and altitude, always carry paracetamol.
4. Do not try to annoy your double humped camel, Shradha can tell you what her camel did to her! (She wasn’t hurt.)
5. Do not show off saying minimal clothing can keep you warm. Unless you are Yak skinned, then you can run around naked!
6. Also make sure and keep a check on news for landslides or border problems.
7. If you’re going there for peace, solitude and serenity and if you’re sick, I’ll assure you, you’ll get none.
8. Take beautiful pictures of the hills, lakes and monasteries because you’ll miss them once you’re back though you hated them during the journey. ( I know I did. I preferred a Goa trip for the serenity!)
9. Have a great, fun filled trip!