Juleh Leh.

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Prologue

I'd been conceiving this trip of ours to some grand place for quite some time...we'd already been to two great trips previously, whilst in college..one to a small hill station panchmadi...and the other to Jabalpur's dhuandhaar and Kahna national park...these biking tours were pretty adventurous, thanks to some serious biking by my dear friends Abin Joseph, Himanshu Dutt, Allen Joseph, Vinimay Kumar.In order to up the adventure quotient a few notches this time, we thought of Ladakh, the land of Lamas. This was back in 2008. Circa 2011... the thought remained a thought...and everyone got busy with their lives..graduated to corporate world...I found love..in Pune, in CadB, in E square, in MG Road... also there's this girl named Niharika...she's not that bad either! life was good.

3 years later, a few lucky ones amongst us including me got the dates finalised, leaves approved, cash arranged, team ready and spirits high.....LEH trip was ON ... After seven years of listening to "haan be ..iss baar aata hoon na main dilli..pakka" from Amit Poharkar, I knew that he won't be fooling me this time..

I'd also like to mention some of my buddies, who couldn't join us.
Atanu Tagore: was busy developing some mainframe crap for daimler chrysler's multi billion dollar project.
Rimjhim Dasgupta: oh..well...she was doing some textile thing with Tulips, the ultra up market store in Pune.
Bhakti Hazare: was too keen on kenya.
Yashodhan Hazare: was working on "how to be invisible".
Rahul Bahree: was busy in arranging trips for some firangs to outer space...yes he has tieups with NASA.
Vinimay Kumar: was busy saving L&T Infotech's ass from recession.
Jerry James: was saving money for a big ass LCD.
Jitu Gidwani: oh no..a tour...it will require money...i m out.

We were down to 8 members, including my brother.
Abhishek,Sankalp,Niharika,Himanshu: from Delhi
Amit,Sunny: from Pune
Jai: from Hyderabad
Saju: from Bengaluru
Saju's SLR: from Japan

Our ambitious trip to oxygen deprived, but amazingly mesmerising Leh Ladakh had all the elements of adventures in it. With absolutely marvelous scenes from Kashmir to Leh to Manali, the dazzlingly dangerous routes via Dras and Kargil from snow clad peaks of Khardungla to sand dunes of Nubra Valley, from Chang la moutain pass to serene waters of Pang Gong Tso,it had it all.

DAY 1; Saturday; 12:00 am ;Rendezvous (Delhi), Delhi to Jammu to Kashmir

Amit and Sunny landed in Delhi on Friday evening from Pune. Himanshu picked them up and went to rendezvous point. Jai and Saju were supposed to arrive sometime around 11:30 late at night. I, Niharika and Sankalp got into an autorickshaw and reached Bahri's humble abode in Patel Nagar at midnight. I was expecting some noise. There was none. While we unloaded our bags in the living room, Amit,Sunny,Himanshu,Bahri were busy boozing in a bar recommended by cool Bahri. We settled down on the comfortable bean bags in front of 32 inches flat paneled television and waited. A few minutes later, guys arrived. Amit was as lean as ever, and Sunny as dark as Bournville. Butler bros, Himanshu and Bahri were their usual self. Jai phoned one of us after few minutes, as he was not able to find his way through the intricate lanes of patel nagar. Bahri and I went out to pick him up...in style...in cool Bahri's cool Chevy. Accompanying Jai was Saju, whom we had never met before. He seemed like a fun guy. Most importantly he was the guy with the DSLR. Soon, after exchanging pleasantries everyone was eating like pig (except Niharika) and catching up with each other on good old days. Our train was supposed to leave not before 4:50 am in the morning from New Delhi Railway Station. We set out for the station unusually on time, as it started pouring. Guys had their fags and tea and toasts outside the station. Once inside while waiting for the train, we also devoured on sandwiches prepared by my mum, celebrating the successful completion of "sneak the crazy Romeos in" mission. It was then that we heard it. It was time to bid goodbye to cool Bahri as unmistakable bugle of our train was reaching its crescendo. It stopped. We were onboard. It was finally happening. A feeling arose, a rare one that you are going be part of something special. Most of the guys were too wasted to have any feelings so without further ado, we found our respective berths and were sleeping and snoring in next fifteen minutes. 12 hour journey to Jammu Tavi felt like 2 hours, as we found ourselves standing outside Jammu Tavi's station really soon. It was around 4:00 pm in the evening. Jai and Amit went looking for a Tempo Traveler, while rest of us withdrew cash from the nearby ATM. Niharika seemed happy, Sankalp was busy listening to songs on MY ipod, Sunny was fiddling with his camera, Saju was calm, Himanshu was at ATM fetching cash, I was having an ice-cream...it was all good. Jai and Amit, meanwhile booked a Tempo Traveler for 18000 bucks, that will take us to Leh via Kashmir. It was quite comfortable than it really seemed from the outside, had ample space for 12 people. There were only 8 of us. It left plenty of room for everyone to move around. The sky was pale orange, the sun almost gone but still warming the evening. we set out towards Leh from Jammu at around 5:30 pm, took couple of tea breaks before reaching our supposedly planned place for stay that night, Patni Top, a quaint hill station. It was around 9:00 pm, very dark and it felt like a really long Saturday. Niharika looked pale and everyone else was tired too and deserved some rest. Saju, Jai, Amit, Sunny went to find a place for stay, while I, Niharika, Sankalp and Himanshu guarded our Traveller. It was then that I wished we should have atleast made plans for our accomodation. Sankalp as usual found a companion, in a snail this time while Niharika wasted no time in taking out the camera and handing it over to me. While we were enjoying clicking photos and Sankalp molesting that poor little basstard, the dark grew darker, our hopes of finding a room got slimmer. But as Morgan Freeman's character states in The Shawshank Rdemption, "Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things and good things never die", we moved ahead and hoped to find a place in another, even smaller hill station called Batote. We reached Batote in an hour, and got lucky as we found oursleves a real cozy room, albeit a bit small, but a room nevertheless. After dinner, I hit the sack immediately, so did Niharika and Sankalp. Rest of the gang had rum and went berserk, and slept later.

DAY 2; Sunday; 4:00 am ; Kashmir to Dras to Kargil !

Waking up at 4:00 am is a pain in the ass, no matter where you are. Everyone managed to drag their bodies out of the beds by 4:00-4:15 am and started getting ready. Apparently there was no hot water, we were left with no choice but to battle it out. We survived and were soon checked out of the hotel and on our way. There was no sign of sun yet, we were on schedule. As the first rays of light pierced through the morning sky, we were introduced to Mother Nature, in its most breathtaking, pristine form. We had our vehicle stopped near a bridge over the River Chenab. It was serene. The gushing flow of water below could be heard from afar. Saju was with his beloved DLSR clicking pictures at the speed of light. Everyone was amazed. Jai tried to capture all of it in his 4th generation ipod Touch. Our driver called for us...we didn't want to go, but he was adamant. We all hopped in, and bid goodbye to Batote. 5 hours later, we spotted submachine gun toting soldiers, and we knew that its Kashmir, the land for which India and Pakistan have fought three wars. Since there was no sign of skirmish in the beautiful valley, we continued our journey in the dreamland. Once through the legendary 2.5 KM long Jawaharlal Nehru Tunnel, we were transported to Kashmir Valley. It was as beautiful as people tell, nice panoramic views, huge mountains, greenery abound, great cherries....no doubt, tourist development says its heaven. We stopped for a lunch break in Sonemarg, bought a few kashmiri shawls and clicked a few hundred photos, where Himanshu almost pulled of a great stunt >> sitting on the ice..clicking pictures with DSLR..and then out of the blue, the coefficient of friction gets zero and he slipped and slipped ...while we could only watch (and laugh ofcourse) ... Saju had his heart in his mouth as he saw his DSLR slipping away, but Himanshu managed to get it out without a scratch on its body. phew!..we were so relieved. After the photo shoot, we headed towards "the Gateway to Ladakh", a small but famous town called Dras, which was infiltrated by Pakistani troops during the Kargil War. It happens to be the the second coldest inhabited place on Earth. Just being there in flesh and blood brought an adrenaline rush in all of us. We took our time and had tea, and few slices of freshly baked cakes from a small bakery . After an hour of ride from Dras, we spotted Tiger Hill, the highest peak in the region that was recaptured by the Indian Army during the Kargil war. A few kilometres ahead, there was this gigantic wall more that 200 metres in length. It is said to be built by the Indian Army in a single night that helped block the incoming shells and bombs from the opposition. After four hours of riding a very treacherous terrain, where every view was from another world, we reached Kargil town at around 8:00 pm. We found ourselves a dormitory this time which was quite luxurious. There were 12 beds for 8 of us and a big televsion set, many charging points. Most importantly there was hot water available. Everyone slipped into their comfortable bermudas and ganjis, had dinner , smoked hukkah and slept at 9000 feet above sea level. It was surreal.

DAY 3; Monday; 5:00 am ; Kargil to Leh

As difficult as it was to get up at the crack of dawn, we did so with surprising ease. The excitement of the journey ahead was far greater than the will to sleep. We were in action by 6:00 am and ready to rock n roll. After couple of hours from Kargil, we took a pit stop at Mulbekh, a very small town in Zanskar Region. A staggering Budha Statue carved in the rock welcomes you, also known as Chamba Statue. After having tea and parathas, everyone called their parents assuring them of group's well being , and set off to Leh. What followed was, panoramic view after view of mountain ranges, some dinosour shaped, and some just like normal mountains. Greenery gave away to dust...lots of it. But it never ceased to amaze, never stopped being beautiful. There was no horizon. Big moutains everywhere, some snow capped peaks were visible but they seemed light years away. We crossed many villages, spotted a few students coming home after school. It was hard to believe that people actually lived there. There was this point where there was spectacular combination of colours of rocks. We couldn't resist and got down for yet another photo shoot...bought local dry fruit called 'khumani' and peed in funny looking loos with funnier flushing mechanism. After few more hours on National Highway 1, we reached a point where there were more army men than civilians. The long stretch of NH1 seemed like Utah's highway 12 in the movies. After doing close to 700 kilometres in the Tempo Traveller, we thought of giving our bodies some rest it deserved and food it craved.A small nodescript town called Nimmu was our stopover for lunch. The eatery's owner bragged about his home grown vegetables and garlic. We managed to coax him into making chilly garlic "chutney" with the food and it was worth it. Once through with the lunch, we started off, yet again. Not long after our luncheon, we reached Magnetic Hill, that happens to defy the law of gravity. Our tempo didn't budge as it was supposed to, as gravity held its own but we were just happy to be there. Just a few kilometres ahead was Gurudwara Sri Pathar Sahib. After paying our homage, we moved ahead. After spending innumerable hours in the Tempo, crossing hundreds of villages and many Himalayan mountains, covering almost 724 kiometre long stretch of the Road, we arrived at Leh in the evening at around 5:00 pm. Though tired, everyone wore a smug smile on their faces. We bid goodbye to our driver bhaiya and thanked him for getting us to our destination on time. As always, we split into groups of two; I, Niharika, Sankalp and Saju kept our eyes on the baggage..and Captain Amit and his cadets went looking for a hotel. Amit and his boys returned after fifteen minutes looking disappointed and visibly out of breath. As all of us stood there dazed and confused, a xylo stopped by. The stocky driver promised us to help find lodges near the main market area in return for 200 bucks. We agreed readily and were stuffed in his xylo like coleslaw in a sandwich and were taken to a place where there were three adjacent hotels. But unfortunately, none of them was in a position to provide two rooms for three consecutive nights. Apparently, every room in almost every hotel in Leh was pre booked as it was the holiday season, so we were left with no choice but to check into a hotel for two nights and look for another later. So, we checked in to Hotel Korpo, where our rooms were quite nice, had invitingly comortable beds, neat bathrooms, great balconies and most importantly a kickass view of Leh's Old palace. Everyone had some rest and after a cup of tea, we felt rejuvenated and were ready for an evening stroll in Leh's main market. Puneites, Amit and Sunny were a tad too tired, so they stayed indoors, while rest of us slipped into fresh attire and got ready. Everyone looked dapper in their new clothes, but Saju stole the thunder with his black leather jacket. The market was quite lively..it had umpteen tour and travel offices, bike rentals, cabs for hire, chinese food, tibetan food, goat meat on the roadside, antique shops, handmade jewelery, pashmina shawls, rugs, carpets, curios , souvenirs ...it had it all. For us it was just a recon visit, so we enjoyed the hustle bustle, and gathered some info on Leh Tourism to plan for the next three days. While doing so, we did some walking and my feet seemed unusually heavy or maybe I was just exhausted. Infact, it seemed like, everyone was tired after all, so we decided to give our legs some rest and have food. Jai has this obsession with Thukpa, a soupy Tibetan dish, so we went into a Tibetan eatery and had shitty momos and noodles instead, as crazy foreigners seemed to have finished all the Thukpa. While carrying few water bottles and food parcel for Amit and Sunny, on our way back, it suddenly hit me, why Amit and co. were out of breath couple of hours ago and why everyone's legs were giving away. We were walking uphill at 11,500 feet above sea level. Everyone slept like a baby that night.

DAY 4; Tuesday; 7:00 am ; Leh ; 21st June

21st June is usually the hottest day of the year, but it seemed quite cold that morning. Everyone got up and wished Amit as our self-proclaimed captain had turned 25 that fateful day. I,Jai,Sunny,Saju and Amit got ready in a jiffy and went out to arrange for transportation. Today was the day to explore Leh. Himanshu, Sankalp and Niharika stayed back and slept some more. After having tea and Gulab Jamuns sponsored by Amit, we were all fired up, maybe a little too fired up as Amit felt something known as altitude sickness and decided to head back to hotel before it got worse. We split this time too, but not on purpose. I and Sunny were left behind, as Jai and Saju seemed too excited to slow down. While sunny flirted with a 55 year old German lady, I caught hold of Jai and Saju. We looked around for someone who could help us in getting our permits made quickly. A guy named Wangchuk Shali charged Rs 30/- per head for getting the permits done by the evening. We handed over our identity proofs and promised him to be back in time to collect our inner line permits, without which you are not allowed to visit most of the tourist attractions around Leh Ladakh. Mornings in Leh could be fun...some really pretty ladies riding real tough Enfields was a kodak moment we missed. Inspired, it took us a minute to decide on our transportation. A bike was costing us 600 bucks a day. We negotiated it down to 550, then Sunny went in for the kill with his super bargaining capabilities, and we got four bikes, all for Rs 2000. There were two pulsars, one in red and other in blue, one Yamaha FZ16, and one monster of a bike Royal Enfield's Thunderbird. We rode through the Leh main Market like king of the roads and reached Hotel Korpo in 10 minutes. Himanshu, Amit, Niharika and Sankalp joined us, we got our bikes refuelled and were on road again. Riding on those motorcycles, on amazing long stretches without a care in the world, I guess everyone had that feeling now, that rare one. With no particular spot in mind, we followed Jai's and Sunny's lead and reached Spituk Monastery. After seeing the giant kali statue and several monks, we had Maggi in the monastery's canteen. Meanwhile, high altitude was taking its toll on Amit. Keeping the interests of others in mind, Captain Amit asked us to drop him back to the hotel, so that we can carry on with our exploration. We did what we were told, and set off in another direction this time sans Amit. Niharika managed to find enough time in between our errands, she bought some hand made stuff from Tibetan Refugee Market.

The other direction that we took was as majestic as any, and after 20-25 minutes of ride, we reached a stupa. The balcony of the stupa was as big as a football field. It offered a magnificent view of Ladakh and its snow capped peaks. After clicking another hundred photos, and checking out the inside of the stupa, we left that place. While we were coming downhill, Jai layed his eyes on some hot firangs outside an eatery called "The German Bakery" and stopped the bike. It was quite easy to coax the other guys for a bite. We had Jai's favourite dish, Thukpa this time and honey based pancakes. After this small break, we went towards our hotel to check on Amit. He was in a bad state. We had him pop a pill called "Dimox" to fight his condition. As soon as he gulped the tablet, he threw up in almost every direction one can imagine. Jai miraculously managed to escape the onslaught, who was standing quite close to Amit. While everyone went helter skelter, Amit came out of the bathroom, looking relieved and better than before. Captain Amit was ready to kick some ass.

We headed towards Leh Manali highway this time, crossing a few villages on our way. Ladakhi kids got excited at the sight of four motorcycles, and yelled "Juleh" , "Juleh". Sunny who had by this time mastered the lingo translated it for us. Juleh meant "hello". We all went "Juleh", "Juleh". Saju let his DSLR do some talking by clicking some great shots of those kids. Niharika tried her hand at riding the Yamaha and was happy posing for the picture after all her efforts went in vain. Himanshu was happy riding on Thunderbird. Sankalp was enjoying the FREE vacation. It was a fun evening. With no schedules to keep, no deadlines to meet, we were completely lost and never wanted to be found. We carried on with our rides and went as far as 10 kilomoeters on Leh Manali Highway, sojourned at a tea stall, had tea and some snacks and came back to Leh main market just about in time to collect our permits. After returning the motorcycles to the rental, first thing we did was book a tempo traveller for the next day's journey to Nubra Valley. Afterwards, all of us strolled through the market. Vendors were selling goat meat by the road side, and it was not bad at all. We all needed something more substantial for dinner, so we got in an imposing Hotel called Dreamland. Sunny ordered local favorite Gustafa, while Jai stuck to his beloved Thukpa, Amit had some sort of paneer, while rest of us had the liberty of devouring all the dishes on the table. Food was not that great, but since we were dining al fresco, we enjoyed it. It was only 9:30 pm when we were back on the streets of Leh. We were supposed to meet a friend of ours, who was also on vacation with her family. While one group being led by our able captain Amit was able to locate and meet Priyanka, I after dropping Sankalp and Niharika to the hotel, was left helpless in the dark alleys of Leh. It took me another 30 minutes to find my way back as it was too dark. Amit and co. also returned around 11:00 pm. Traveller was scheduled to pick us up from the hotel, early in the morning around 6:00 am. Without wasting any time, we hit the sack the very instant, we reached our respective rooms. It most certainly was one hell of a day for everyone.

DAY 5; Wednesday; 6:00 am ; Nubra/Khardung La ; 22nd June

The traveller dude "Konchok" arrived at 6:30 am in the morning, and honked his horn that served as a wake up call for most of us. He just glanced at us and knew that we won't be leaving before 7:30, but being a cool dude that he was, he waited. We were all ready in 45 minutes, but we made him wait even longer, as skipping breakfast before such an arduous journey was not a very good idea. Once done, we loaded our tempo with food, water supplies and "Dimox" that will help us fight the harsh weather conditions in Khardung La. We began our ascent at around 8:00 am from our hotel. Niharika and Sankalp were bubbling with excitement, Captain Amit was trying to steal a nap behind his Aviators, Himanshu was being himself and sleeping like a king, Saju,Jai,Sunny were playing with DSLR and Sony Cybershot DSC H 70, while I was feeling dizzy. The snow capped peaks that seemed in a different world till some time ago, were getting closer every minute. Khardung La pass boasts of highest motorable road in the world and some really low levels of Oxygen. It was only 40 kilometres from where we started, but the terrain made it seem like 400. Roads were narrow with melted snow rivulets becoming frequent as we moved higher. It is advisable to take an experienced driver(like konchok) on this expedition. My immune system was chickening out as we moved closer to those snow clad peaks. Konchok brought our vehicle to a halt at 18,380 feet and we announced our arrival at Khardungla Pass. As soon as we stepped out, I longed for oxygen more than anything else. Maybe it was the altitude or sheer exertion, my head ached. Himanshu puked. I guess, he understood my feelings pretty damn well at that point. Rest of the crew, though a bit out of breath seemed to have fun. Niharika and Sankalp were surprisingly unaffected by severe weather conditions, both of them went bananas clicking pictures at every possible point. It was definitely one of the most fabulous places I've seen, and I strived hard to enjoy the moment . It was close to 10:30 am in the morning, sun was shining bright, but it was impossible to escape the bitter winds of The Great Himalayas. We went inside supposedly the highest cafeteria in the world to have some tea and everyone's favourite, Maggi Noodles. It felt great and helped me fight my weakness. We were back in our vehicle, went a little downhill this time, much to my relief. After one more stoppage and couple of hours of crossing unpaved winding roads, Nubra Valley was in our sights. The most striking feature of the valley was its huge sand dunes. Honestly, it was a little wierd. After almost dying of biting chilly cold a little while ago, here we were, amidst a valley with desert all around us, warm as a cozy blanket. We camped ourselves by a small tributary of Nubra river. Once the crazy feeling of being in a desert sunk in, we settled down, rolled up our trousers, and went into the water. I had my share of fun and was out in a jiffy. Jai was in a real playful mood, and tried to drown Saju in 2 feet deep water. While he failed to drown him, Saju was all soaked. One thing led to another and soon, I was clicking pictures of a bunch of semi nude guys getting wet and naughty. After drying off their asses, the crew decided to give double humped camel ride a miss, and head back to challening Khardungla instead. It was Sunny's turn to feal the heat(feel the chill, I mean) this time. He also joined the pukers club. We were back at the higest motorable point and though a little sickish, I braved the winds this time and had few pictures clicked. Another interesting thing about Khardungla was its latrines. There was some frozen shit in there. Tourists must have taken the nature's call 10-15 years ago, and here it was lying right before my eyes, frozen. Disturbing but true. After 300 kilometers of roller coasting, we were brought back to our hotel in the evening. Tonight was the night, when we will move to a new guest house, which Sunny and Himanshu had already booked on Day 4. Zik Zik guest house's owner was amicable and made us feel at home. Both the rooms provided to us were spacious and comfortable. Although super tired after shifting, I and Jai went to the main market to fetch some food and water. We booked the same traveller for next day's tour as most of us had befriended Konchok and more importantly he was an excellent driver. Jai and I had taken a liking to the roadside goat meat, so we ate as much as we could and brought some for Sankalp, Niharika and Himanshu. While Sankalp had some of the meat, Niharika was aready alseep. Sunny also slept early that night. Amit, Saju, Himanshu, Jai downed a few pegs before dozing off. Another awesome day had come to an end.

DAY 6; Thursday; 7:00 am ; Changla Pangong Tso ; 23rd June

Getting up early was not as bad as it was couple days ago. Our bodies were getting used to the gruel. Next up on schedule was Pangong Lake via Changla Pass. Changla happens to be my favourite Marathi Word. It means good. Our trip so far had turned out to be extremely changla. Following the same timetable, we did our breakfast real quick and loaded up the traveller with Aquafinas and eatables and ourselves. The dramatic route began to take our breath away, as we started off. After an hour of commute, we had to stop as BRO workers were doing some maintenance work. Since, the road was narrow, there was no choice, but to wait for them to finish. Border Roads Organisation has indeed done an exceptional job in maintaining these roads, at some of the highest points in the world. What I liked most about BRO was their sense of humour that was evident in the road signs like "After whisky : driving risky", "Feel the curves : Do not test them" , "Darling I like you : but not so fast" . Other vehicles were also starting to queue up behind us. We lost the advantage of starting early. But no one seemed to complain, as we were standing at a very good vantage point from where, the most breathtaking, eartstopping, winding route we had just covered was visible. While Niharika and Sunny without an iota of thought in the world sat on the road and played rummy, we took some random pictures which later turned out to be great photos. The thing about Leh Ladakh is, even if you are a shitty lensman, you need not worry as the scenery more than makes up for the shit. Once the workers finished their task, we moved ahead with gusto. No one was tedious or sick today. Everyone was alive, had this zeal, we were all raring to go. Maybe, We were acclimatized to the conditions it seemed, after days of weathering them. After couple of hours, Changla pass was what we were standing on. Though not as harsh as Khardung La, the low levels of Oxygen could be felt. Everyone fit as a fiddle now, enjoyed being there, had Maggi as always in the cafeteria, clicked some more photos at 17,500 feet. After another 3500 feet of descent and 3 more hours we reached a place, which most certainly was the most amazing sight of our lives. A friggin lake with crystal clear sparkling water at 14000 feet above sea level with huge moutains all around is something I hadn't imagined in my wildest of dreams. Pangong Tso is one hell of a long lake at 134 kilometeres, one third of it is in India and the rest in China. It freezes during winters (despite its salinity)and you might as well ice skate on its surface. It completely blew me away. As for rest of the crew, Niharika was at peace enjoying the beauty, Saju had his DSLR to play with, Sunny had Jai !! , Himanshu, Amit were testing the temperature of the lake, Sankalp had his eyes on two yaks. Saju emerged as the clear winner of "who's going to stay the longest in coldest water ever", and we also managed to get clicked with the ominous looking yak. Everyone besides me dipped their feet in the lake, got a feel of the water and sat and watched, in awe. Amazing was the new normal. Many different shades of blue were visible. At that very moment I vowed to myself to be back in near future and walk on Pangong if not ice skate. After spending some real good time in the lap of Mother Nature, we had our lunch in a tent like structure and hopped back into our tempo traveller. Enroute to Leh from Pangong, there was this glacier like struture with a small tributary flowing beside it, and our jaws dropped once again. We got down to feel the ice. It was a very thick layer, as big as a playground, and play we did. We went crazy knocking each other out with snow balls. Everyone got at least one Facebook profile picture clicked at that point before moving. Konchok stepped on the gas this time and 150 kilometeres of road to Leh was eaten up in less than 5 hours, that gave us plenty of time to make arrangements for our departure next day and explore local market one last time. Konchok dude introduced us to a friend of his, Akshay, who will take us to Manali for 14000 bucks. Done with the bookings, and after bidding goodbye to Konchok, we went shopping. Sunny played a crucial role in baragaining as always, as Niharika went berserk eyeing every possible item available within her budget. Saju got himself one big wall hanging Buddha face, so did Jai, Amit and Himanshu got some stuff too. Moving ahead, Ladakh Tees caught our fancy and we went inside, everyone bought tees and came out looking happier than ever. While I, Jai, Niharika and Sankalp stayed, Amit and co. went back to the hotel. As we'd had enough of noodles and thukpa, so we decided to have South Indian food this time. After having uttapam and dosa, we needed a little walk. After a last long walk in Leh main market, we reached Zik Zik, where Sunny, Amit, Saju and Himanshu had made arrangements for our dinner. We were in no position to eat anymore, so a lot of food was wasted. Jai received all the flak for miscommunication. Once in our rooms, we zipped our baggage and prepared for departure in the morning. Three amazing days had gone by like three fleeting seconds.

DAY 7; Friday; 8:00 am; On a highway to Manali ; 24th June

Sunny was having a hard time. He won't be seeing cute chinki owner of Zik Zik lodge anymore. But we all gotta do, what we gotta do. So, after taking a picture of hers and paying our dues, we checked out of the hotel and were enroute to Sarchu, which is around 250 kilometres from Leh and was our intended place of halt that night. Leh Manali highway was as amazing as Kashmir Leh route and this Akshay dude as fiesty as Konchok. After an hour of journey, we stopped over at a small establishment for breakfast. While we ordered our parathas, a big firang biker group also stopped by at the same place. They had big Enfields, big shoulders and bigger appetite. I felt puny and finished up the paratha in a jiffy. We moved at a steady pace, thanks to some serious driving by Akshay and in the process crossed number of astonishing valleys. We came across points where major portion of the road was unpaved, under construction or under water ! No wonder this highway is closed all around the year except between June and September. Landscape was so beautiful, you wouldn't want to blink. The high point of Leh Manali highway, both figuratively and literally was Tanglang La Pass, which is said to be the second highest mountain pass in the world at 17582 feet. After crossing another couple of hundred kilometres, dusty mountains gave way to greener ones as we moved closer to Himachal Pradesh. Sarchu lies on the boundary between Himachal Pradesh and Ladakh. As soon as we entered Sarchu, we could see many tented camps. We found Goldrop Camps the most viable, and booked two tented camps for that night. After years of watching it on National Geographic, here I was in a tented camp, with nothing but a zip and a piece of fabric to protect you from the cold. It was an awesome feeling. We had plenty of time left for dinner, Niharika went for a walk like a long lost monk all alone, while the guys were doing all sorts of crazy stuff. They also raced each other on the road. Sankalp emerged as the winner of the sprint, I caught the action on DSLR. Dinner was pretty good too. Cold was increasing exponentially with every passing minute. While Niharika covered herself in four layered clothing, Sankalp and I were making good use of the shawls. "Gam ka saathi RUM" became "Thand ka saathi" as Amit and his cadets downed a few pegs to ward off the cold. Crazy Romeo was in deamand. Some crazy romeo amongst us had a crazy idea of a stroll in the night. Niharika was already striving hard to sleep inside the tent, couldn't join us, so 7 of us moved a little uphill, tried getting closer to the stars. Stars seemed so big and bright in Sarchu, unlike we see them from New Delhi, faded and jaded. It was sheer bliss. Bliss didn't last long as cold grew and we were forced to retire to our respective beds in camps. That was the coldest night of our lives.

DAY 8; Saturday; 5:30 am; Sarchu , Rohatang, Manali >> state bus >> New Delhi

Someone yelled from outside our tent and I got up, checked my hand and feet for frostbite. There was none. It was still chilly, we couldn't poop. We got into tempo traveller parked near our tents, and continued sleeping. All of us slept for quite some time in the beginning. The snow clad Bara Lacha brought us up from our slumber. Snow was so thick and in such abundance, it felt like North Pole. We spotted few sheperds driving their flock of sheep down the snowy roads. Also visible from the comforts of our traveller was frozen water bodies, small ponds of water, with the topmost layer of water completely frozen. After crossing the Bara-lacha Pass, once the snowy effect was gone, we felt hungry and were ready for breakfast. Tea, Omelette, bread butter jam was what we ate before gedding ready for another tryst with the road. The road took us to Keylong, Tandi and beacame rough again a few kilometers before reaching Rohtang Pass. As we readied ourselves for the first view of the famous pass, the clouds kept coming in the way. Niharika, Amit, Saju, Sunny were all kicked about getting to Rohtang. I'd already been here once, so maybe the kick was missing. But then, it eventually didn't turn out to be as great as expected, mostly because of the crowd and traffic jam. Yep, we have traffic jams at 13000 feet above sea level too. To add to our displeasure, Akshay dude kept on driving and didn't stop where we wanted to halt and have a little fun. His argument proved to be right as there was lot of traffic, and we could have gotten stuck. He got us to Manali by the evening and we bid him goodbye too. As beautiful as Manali was, it was pale in comparison to what we had experienced these past few days. We split as usual, this time in groups of three. One went looking for some food, the other got the tickets booked, the third guarded the luggage. The tickets we got was of a state bus, not a Volvo or a Deluxe. We freshened up a bit, had some snacks, put our luggage on top of the bus and got into our seats just like a coleslaw in the sandwich. Those 14 hours of journey were pretty harsh, but we made it to New Delhi, Kashmiri Gate Bus Terminal. The weather in Delhi was a big relief, as it was drizzling.

Epilogue: DAY 9: Sunday; 8:00 am

... and it was drizzling. What followed in Delhi was usual. Everyone rested and arrived at my place for tea in the evening. We dropped Niharika at her apartment in Indirapuram, picked up a friend, Ashwin in the evening and headed for CP. Jijo joined us at Spirits, where we reminisced about our trip. Himanshu playing the host to perfection offered to pay the whole bill. A funny argument ensued between Amit and Himanshu and we were all in splits. After C.P , we went to Chandni Chowk, had birayni packed from Karim's and were back in Bahri's den by 1:00 am. Saju, Jai, Amit, Sunny all flew to their respective bases, while I dropped Ashwin at Akshardham metro station next morning....reached home...slept like a log...and dreamt about the land of lamas.

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Photos

Beginnings.
Enroute to New Delhi Railway Station.

Amit and Co.
Sunny,Jai,Sankalp,Saju,Amit,Himanshu

Jammu Tavi.
Outside Jammu Tavi's station.