Ladakh - the roof of the world - June 2011

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Dear All ,

Entering my first lines in this travel blog and with a lots of excitements. Years back had started a similar initiative on the shores of Sri lanka , but coincided with a huge setback in life ...so call it superstitions.. ... call it emotions.. I was being held back to write about the wonderful experiences...At last I want to break free.. and with memories of Ladkah I visited recently.. no better way to start I wonder.. from the roof of this world .. the moon land of Ladakh. For two long weeks that seemed like just a few breathtaking moments , we travelled across the expanse of Ladakh, visiting Drass-Kargil-Leh( Lamayrury & Dikshit Monsatries on way) , moving on to Pangong Tso , the Nubra Valley - Sumur , then to Wild Tso Moriri , Tso Kar and then on the return lap towards remote Sarchu- crossing over the passes on after another, feeling the cold fresh breaths of mightly Himalaya. The nights were exciting , often in basic tents with the wind teasing to carry us away in the middle of the night. The days were mesmerising , the changing colours of cold desert , the thousand shades of blue and green lakes.

We watched....we danced...and soon we ran out of time.... I think mortals like us are not meant to find a lasting place in those heavens. Now as the days go by , those memories haunt each of us at night. ... like tonight as I write to those moments down... far away in those himalayas .. this time in the city of Kathmandu... my bond with Himalayas live on.

The trip started from June 3rd when we left Kolkata for Delhi. The next day we reached Sri Nagar to formally start our journey by car for the next 13 days till we reach Manali in Jammu and Kashmir. The road is not an unknown route and been a delight of many tourists like me but the remoteness and harshsetting has always prevented a full scale commercialization as evident in many places in our country. Wish it stays like this for many more years.

Leaving from Srinagar , crossing over the high Passes into Drass was quite smooth. The small glacial patches on the way near Sonmarg were a delight for the kids. It was a pleasure looking at those rivers whezzing underneatht the ice and tall trees vanihsing high in the mountains where the clouds meet them. They also realised snow can be dirtly too, with all the mud and leaves collected from the surrounding vegetations.


Kargil was a surprise and we had expected a dull landscape which proved to be quite colourful when we left for Leh the next day. From a distance the town looked like a lovely green dot amidst the high barren mountains .. as the roads winded towards Leh.


The morning at leh was flooded with fresh sunlight , glistening over the towering snow mountains all around the city . I have never seen mountains like these , like standing on the shore of a ocean with this huge waves as if frozen in time. From the roof of the hotel , one could look into the horizon .. which on one side had these endless waves, changing colours of grey , brown and yellow .. even purple ... blue and white.
Leh grew on my mind. Amidst the trips to the other locations we returned to the city for the night stays, took day trips around the long never ending Shyam Valley. The monastries were quiet and scenic. Sometime they appeared nested amidst the ancient folds in the rock , sometimes they towered the peaks of small hills around the valley. Each was frozen in time, the worn out walls still showed the paintings on them.

The distant and remote Nubra valley and Sumur valley gave different perspectives. the white sand dunes seems strange amidst the high snowy mountains in the distance. The camel ride did add to the moments for the kids. Touch was commercialism has taken its toll on the weary camels.. wish we could look at them running wild in those distant deserts... would have been a fitting tribute to these virgin valleys.

The team had its culnery moments , our first kabab attempt at the Sumur village resort. We had carried dressed chicken , ingrediant like curd , spices and the sheeks and all we needed were adequate supply of wood for nice fire. The kids were great , gathering pices of dry sticks and branches and with a little assistance from the hotel boy, had a nice fire going. Making the kabab was more fun that eating them ... while some of us managed the sticks, mashima managed the fire itself .... the fire , the kababs, the fun and the drinks.. lasted much beyond our expectations...


We went to Pangong Tso first and then towards the end of our trip , to Tso Moriri , on our way towards Manali . On way to Pangong Tso we stopped by a small river for our pack lunch . the picnic was fun. From a distance you could see the Yaks grazing on the fresh patches of grass that has grown after the winter spell. Some of us who had seen the bright green photographs of the lake while planning for the trip were a bit demoralized as the clouds on the sky prevented such bright outbursts of colour, when we had our first glimpses . However once we were at the shores and running around like kids, the colours returned ...

Pangong was a beauty . Towards its northern shores, the shallows had a bright light blue shade while the far southern corners turned deep blue. the water at the shore created ripples like ocean waves, the sound of those waves still sound fresh in mind. Treena too was running happily on the shores, she had her neverending supply of pebbles... which she threw on the waters .. her favorite activity in the entire trip... whenever she came close any waterbodies of any size or shape. she was a darling to watch at the pangong shore , wearing a bright yellow jacket against the rich blue background.

The team missed Ritisha and her parents who joined up soon for the later journeys. Later in the trip , the shores of Tso Morori them to make up for the lost moments at Pangong.

The tents at both Pangong and Tso Moriri were an experience by itself. with the exotic view in front , they gave us luxury unthinkable in the middle of nowhere. They had annexed toilet with running water to the basin and commod. What more could anyone want. in the morning though when no water came , it was clear that nature had its own rules... the water had frozen in the pipes . We had to wait till the sun was high up and pipes warm enough.
At night, it was well below zero and the cold added a terrible headache due to the altitude of over 14000 feet. The winds lashed at the fragile tents , whistling by and shaking the structure. the moon looked like a bright head light of an approaching space ship....one could not look directly for long.

Soon it was time for us to bid goodbye to Leh and head on toward south towards Tso Moriri and then Manali. The few days spent in this unforgettable small town has made me promise to go back someday. Monalisa has those silent memories in her mind too... perhaps someday again we will set foot at this beautifull valley again.

the road to Tso Moriri was bright and colourful. For the greater part of the day we travelled by the river Indus , winding amidst the high mountains which were far rocky as compared to the sandy ones present on the Kargil route. At times there were purple mountains standing out sharply against other colours. there were ones that shone like the Mcannas Gold mountains.

Reaching Tso Moriri was unforgettable. As we travelled near, we reach a high plataue region where suddenly there were miles and miles of grasslands, tiny specs of cattle grazing on their slopes far away. Behind them huge chains of snow peaks lofted majestically. And then suddenly there was a drop of blue in those greens. No , it was not yet Tso Moriri but a small sister Tso Chun. she was cute indeed. Those flowing grasslands around her , the snow peaks at the backdrop, a little white spec of nomadic tent ... I can still see clearly as I close my eyes.

Tso moriri atlast .... we reached as the rays of sun sped away steadily from its shore disappearing at the end of the day ... we chased them frantically trying to keep up so that we reached the lake with the lights still present on its shores. Strangely , from the distance it looked so close but to reach the shore, it took us one full hour on the rocky barren tracks. The two cars creacked and squicked as we atlast reach the lake.

What a creation of God. Never before have i seen such deep blue shades of water. Is it a lake , is it an ocean ? we ran like kids again ... taking photos in every direction. Within minutes of arrival I must have taken hundreds of clicks.. so did others, Soumya and Kaushik. Our investments in NIkon D90 seemed to be earning its dividends.

Like in Pangons Tso , we went out at the lakes long after the last rays had left the shores. We had seen the receding rays play their tricks over the nearby mountains, sometime red , sometime purple... long after the sunset. And when there was no light , the moon came up and the waters lit up again. We were at the shore for a long while , not speaking to each other ... our minds were chatting with the nature around us. we watched ... and watched .. and watched.


The next day at Tso moriri was a treat the whole day long ... hundred of photos .. long walks on the shore , a trip to the high view point.. filled our eyes and heart with rich colours of water and mountains.

the day after , was time to leave the Ladakh valley , melancholy setting in our minds as we drove out of the lake shores and toward the high passes again. Though we felt sad leaving the lake , the journey with its show of wild valleys of Tso Kar , the salt plains around it ,the wild horses on its shore, the day was far from over.
Passing Tso Kar , which gave an impression that once this lake may have been far larger than what it is today, we reached long streches of grass lands over which our cars decided to take shortcut to reach the NH1 toward Manali. it was almost an hour before we actaully found the highway and it was a memorable journey accross the grassland.

Once on highway , it hardly looked like one. the road was closed untill a few days back and looked it needed a lot a repaires. However travelling was not strictly restricted on the road as the cars seemed to fins ample diversions over the huge plateau accross the pang valley. That stretch of land was also another experience. Very high rocky mountains of purple rose in the foreground as a formidable wall. the drive a was straight one , dusty but adventurous and most part of it was off the road. I remember that for months I used to surf on google earth and look at this stretch in awe. From such viewpoint it looked like a vast sandune but while travelling one cannot imagine the whole stretch is actually an elavated plateau. Then all at once we reached the end of the plain land and the road sharply fell toward the edge of the cliff down towards a huge river basin. Pang is situated at the bottom of the descent.

At Pang , we stopped a bit of snacks which is mostly maggie in this part of the world. We also heared that the Manali rohtang Pass may be closed if we are to reach later in the day if we stop over at Sarchu as per plan for tonight . we debated how much of this was actually true given the fact that the drivers needed to get back soon , it may be more of a planned hype. I realised , civilization was creeping back in our minds .. with its colours of doubts and mistrust ...

We reached Sarchu after crossing the whisky Nalla and tanglang La .. more of amazing golden mountains and snow. Sarchu proved to be a very beautiful valley and the camping ground was large patch of green valley through which a deep gorge ran. Our camp was one of the last and just at the edge of a glacier coming down from mountains nearby. We wondered how cold it would be at night.

We did not have to wait long to find out. the night was predictably cold , the camp was not as well prepared as those at the lakes. We decided at leave at the crack of the dawn.

The last day began for Ladakh. We were to cross Baralacha la , stop at Keylong and make a run to cross Rohtang in time before it closed due to apprarent bad weather there. With anxiety as we crossed the great Baralachala , we momentarily forgot all the worries ...what a place. .. tons of snow and peaks .. the whole place was so amazing.. in the yellow lights of dawn... another unforgettable experince.

The journey continued with incedences , we crashed our headlight into a glacier, Treena stopped to have her first babies poo poo out in the snow . She wondered how soon her creation will turn into a fossil 😊)


We passed Keylong with a wonder how crowded this place has been , Jispa seemed better. The disappointments continued , the weather grew more hazy , the roads grew more crowded. Crossing Rohtang was adventurous.. giving all of us some skipped heartbeats..The mountain appeared ready to crumble down in a huge pile of mud and slush. The road was pretty bad with grim reminders of landslides on both sides. The road blocks and traffic snarls continued right till the door of the hotel.
The hotel was a nice one , comfortable after the long journey . After a joyful rafting ride where we got completely wet … we set out our descent to earth. Had a minor accident in Volvo where treena escaped with a minor bruise.
Soon we are back home unpacking our bags and the crumbs of dusts, pieces of rocks and tons of sadness crept out.

I am on the road again.. this time back to the mountains of Nepal .. away from home..
As the night sky glistens outside the window..of my hotel.. alone and lost I lookout at the Kaalpurush.. the mighty Orion shining bright.. asking me not to sleep , not to be sad.. but to dream on.. for more travel to come.. reaching out to this beautiful world… holding the hands of my darlings.. back to those dreamlands someday….

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Comments

[Monalisa]

wish we could visit there once more