Winters in Leh

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One needs to get completely out of one's head or physically very strong to visit Ladakh in Winters. I and Vijay certainly fall in the former category. Was it an attempt to get out of rut ? ..or an escapist tendency that lead us to Ladakh in Jan 2009. Delhi was already colder. and yet we decided to take the only running morning flight to Leh ( one can not reach Leh by road in winters as all the connecting passes are closed )....Flight was half empty and half full. Apprehension already disappeared though excitement still persisted. We were not sure for how long we are going stay there. a precipitous trip like all time. random thoughts of demented mind were running through our head..

Duration of flight was less than 2 hour. and we landed to the GOD's Land. it was like ever before. the same ecstatic beauty that mesmerized me at its very first glance. thin air that i could feel from the very first breath i took in. now we were walking into the Wild. a lonesome city. most of the residences in the city were closed .we reached to heart of the city,the market. all the shops were closed except the one at the T-point and it was freezing with negative 15. we ordered two cup of tea. and asked that shopkeeper that we are looking for a place to stay. i still remember the smile at his face. he looked at us weirdly and asked "Aap log yahan sardiyon main kya karne aaye hain ?"

then we had to explain a lot that we had been travelling high altitude places before plenty of times. and had been to Ladakh in Summers couple of times. so we want to experience the beauty of this place in a different season. though none was convinced with that crazy answer neither were we...
after taking tea. we kept our luggage on that shop itself and hunted for a place to stay. most of the hotels were closed. finally we were able to get a room in a hotel that was partially closed but owner was still staying there. they charged heavily. and there were couple of restriction too...
* Only 1 bucket water will be given for the day.....(though other forms of water(Ice and snow) were in surplus)

* Electricity will come only for an hour in a day so if you want to charge your camera etc. be disciplined

* 2 hot water fabric pillows will be given at 8'o clock in the night...

* Drinking water will be available 24*7...


Images:

Read more :

http://thinkingparticle.com/blog/wild-leh-winters

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