Leh Ladakh tour (July-August 2013)
For a long time, I was feeling the urge to go back to ladakh
region once again (after my first visit to the region in September 2006) and soak
in the same air and view the remarkable and breathtaking scenery. Also, on last
occasion, I had taken photographs with my Nokia mobile which were not very good
and I wanted to take better photographs (using my Sony digital camera having
higher resolution). There was one more incentive…guess what ! One participant
Mr. Rohit Agarwal (an advocate by profession like me) is a regular traveller to
said area and has travelled on his bike every inch of Ladakh region in about
18-19 excursions and was thus well aware of the terrain and all the do’s and
dont’s for this strenuous and once-in-a-lifetime journey.
We 7 persons, thus got together, and decided in May 2013 to set sailing for the trip on 27th July 2013. We seven were Sunil Goel (myself), Amit Burman, Rohit Agarwal, Vanita, Maithili, Gita, Harshdeep.
We hired two vehicles – one Toyota Innova and one Mahindra Xylo car. Since the terrain in Leh Ladhakh area is rough and tough, it is advisable to take comparatively new car and not old model. Only few cars like Innova, Xylo, Scorpio are able to withstand the jerks of the uncertain terrain of that region. It is also advisable to take vehicle which does not have taxi number and instead has a private registration number as the locals, I was told, create problems for the taxis of other States and insist on taking their taxi.
Two three days before starting our journey, Vanita and
Maithili purchased some food articles like biscuits, toffees, snacks, etc.
which were to be used by us over the next 10 days.
27th July
2013 Saturday : Delhi to Dalhousie
Vanita and Maithili, in Innova with driver Kaalu, from
Gurgaon, reached my home at dawn at about 5.30 am. By 6 am, we were at the
Mukarba chowk bypass where we waited for the other car to join us. Rohit, Amit
and Gita were in that car (Xylo, driven by Vipin). They reached at around 6.45
am. It started drizzling. We started our journey on the National Highway No.1
(GT Road). Our destination for today was Dalhousie.
We passed through Sonepat, Panipat, had breakfast at Karnal
at 9 am, Ambala, Gobindgarh, Ludhiana, Phagwara, Jalandhar, Pathankot. We
reached Pathankot at 4.20 pm. After Pathankot, we passed through zig zag hilly
area which had lots of boarding schools. We crossed Dhar, Banikhet and then
reached Dalhousie at 6.45 pm. The xylo picked up Harshdeep (Lt. col. in army)
on the way near Pathankot.
In Dalhousie, we stayed at Mehar’s Hotel (near Gandhi Chowk), which is owned by the family of the famous painter late Mr. Manjeet Singh Bawa and his brother Mr. Surjit Singh Bawa (who is a known trekker and still active at the age of 80 years) now runs the same. It is a heritage property. It was a simple hotel but a spacious one, being one of the oldest hotels of Dalhousie. Its telephone numbers are 01899-242179, 240524 and website is www.meharhotel.com. The mobile numbers of Mr. Sukhdev S.Bawa are 9736083706, and Delhi number is 9871031274.
At 10.30 pm, we went to sleep.
28th July
2012 Sunday : Dalhousie to Bairagarh
I got up at 6 am. Took morning tea and enjoyed the pleasant
weather of Dalhousie listening songs on my sony MP3 and walked the mall
road.
At 10 am, we started from the hotel. Crossed Lakadmandi. We went upto Dainakund, which has army checkpost beyond which it is prohibited for civilians to go. It has Asia’s largest communication tower put up by the army.
We reached Khajjiar at about 11.40 am. We took photographs, enjoyed the scenery and after half hour, we started again for our destination.
At 5.30 pm, we reached Bairagarh (Tehsil Churah, District Chamba, Himachal Pradesh). It was a hilly ride after
Khajjiar upto Bairagarh, passing through some really mesmerizing sceneries.
Normally, the two routes followed by people to go to Leh are : Manali-Keylong-Jispa-Leh and Srinagar-Leh. We took the third route which is non-conventional and comparatively tougher route i.e. Dalhousie-Khajjiar-Bairagarh-Sach Pass-Keylong-Jispa-Leh.
29th July
2013 Monday : Bairagarh to Sach Pass to Shour village
Our planned destination today was Keylong and today was going to be a hectic day. We prayed to God that let there be no rains because the route is totally uphill and dusty for most of the part and if it rains, it will become muddy which will make the vehicle to slip, which apart from escalating danger, will also take much more time to cover the route.
Our planned destination today was Keylong and today was going to be a hectic day. We prayed to God that let there be no rains because the route is totally uphill and dusty for most of the part and if it rains, it will become muddy which will make the vehicle to slip, which apart from escalating danger, will also take much more time to cover the route.
At 5 am in the morning, we got up. Took tea. At 6.15 am, we started from the Mannat Guest house. On the way, the view was simply mesmerizing, with fountains and water falls dotting the entire route.
At every pass, there is a small structure in the form of a tiny mandir housing photo of Lord Shiva. We paid our homage there and then proceeded ahead. We descended. We saw 8-9 feet high walls of snow on both sides of the route at 2-3 places. It looked as if we are passing through tunnel of snow.
It was a dusty path, with lots of dust being blown due to the movement of vehicles. We had to constantly roll our vehicle’s windows up and down. There were not many vehicles on this route as it is non-conventional route and mostly locals use this route. Unfortunately, a nut of the shocker of Xylo car fell somewhere. Due to this, we had to drive the xylo at lower speed, this wasted a lot of time today.
At 11.15 am, we reached plain area. Took cuppa noodle, bhurji
etc at a camp there. It was getting too hot here.
At 3.30 pm, we reached village Kilad in Pangi valley district. Took lunch at a dhaba here. At 5 pm, we reached Finduri Seri village by travelling by the side of Chandrabhaga river. The xylo shocker was got repaired here and at 5.40 pm, we again started.
We had already lost a lot of time due to slow speed of the
vehicle and it became clear that we would not be able to reach Keylong today.
So we decided to go as far as we can to a place worth staying.
After crossing village Cherry (Division Kilad, Sub-division Sach) and village Purti at 7 pm, we reached Village Shour at 7.25 pm. It was getting dark and it was not possible to travel further in dark on this dangerous route. So, we decided to stay here. We spotted Forest Rest house. We met the caretaker Mr. Tulsiram and explained our requirement. But he told that he can not allow us to stay unless we have prior booking ! After a lot of persuasion, he agreed. However, there was no water for cooking food or for freshening up. Some of us went to the village and brought water in buckets. We had to sleep without having any dinner.
30th July
2013 Tuesday : Village Shour to Keylong to Jispa
We got up at 5 am. Could not sleep properly the previous
night. There was no arrangement for water, so could not use toilets and could
not get food. It was a very small village and we could not spot any dhaba here.
Moreover, it was early morning. We managed by eating bananas and snacks stored
in our cars. We waited for about 1 ½ hours for starting our onward journey as we
were told that some blasting was going on on the route after about 2-3 km for
road widening. I switched to sitting in Xylo today.
At about 7.15 am, we reached a bridge over a nalla dividing Pang valley and Lahaul valley. Now, we were entering from Pangi valley to Lahaul valley. We noticed that the Innova car could not be seen anywhere at the back. Infact, there was no one else on this route. After waiting for them for sometime, we went backwards by about 1 ½ km when we found them. They told that Innova’s tyre had punctured and they had to fix it.
It was a very beautiful view all around. There were some many
small and large waterfalls emerging from nowhere in the mountains. Not only
this, there were so many fountains (jharna and nalla) on the way. At some places,
the nalla was crossing the road / route and our car had to drive through water.
The road was swept away by the nalla at some places. At about 10.15 am, we
reached a spot where a big nalla was crossing the road. We managed to drive
through it and sat at this spot for ½ hour and enjoyed the scenery. We were
told that earlier, there were two dangerous nala on this route but now the same
have been diverted to some extent and therefore their impact is not felt much
while travelling on this route.
At about 11.15 am, we reached a village (called Udaipur !) and had breakfast there. After travelling about 10 km from here, we reached a point where there was a road going to Trilokinath Dham Temple which was 6 km from the said point. We decided to visit this temple. We reached there after 20 minutes drive. It was a unique temple in that here Lord Shiva is present and is worshipped in Buddhist style ! The temple had huge prayer wheel and many such small wheels and colourful prayer flags.
These all are peculiar to Buddhist temples and monastries. It signified that we were now entering the Ladakh region. A board on a Health Centre outside the temple showed that we were in Lahaul Spiti district of Himachal Pradesh. After spending 15 min there, we started from the temple at about 1.15 pm.
At about 3.30 pm, we reached Tandi. We deviated a bit from the route (instead of going straight to keylong) to get filled fuel in our vehicles. You may be surprised to know that there is only one petrol pump in this entire region and that is in Tandi. It is run by Indian Oil Corporation. The next petrol pump is 365 km away, in Leh ! I took photograph in front of the board at the petrol pump certifying this bizarre fact. Tandi is 46 km from Udaipur, 22 km from Sissu, 37 km from Koksar, 57 km from Rohtang top, 74 km from Marhi, 108 km from Manali, 437 km from Chandigarh and 685 km from Delhi. Tandi is also the junction point of blue waters of Chandra river and green water of Bhaga river, resulting in Chandrabhaga river which later becomes Chenab river. From Tandi, Keylong is 7 km, Stingri is 13 km, Jispa is 30 km, Darcha is 37 km, Zingzingbar is 67 km, Baralacha La is 82 km, Kilingsarai is 94 km, Sarchu is 116 km and Leh is 372 km.
At Tandi, we got our car fuel tanks filled to the full as well as got filled extra diesel in four 20 litre cans for emergency and continued with our onward journey. We reached Keylong in half an hour. We tried to search for some dhaba to eat food but it was already about 4.30 pm and all dhabas had closed. Luckily, we managed to get some rice, roti and subzi in one dhaba. Three of us got head massage at a barber shop here.
At about 6.45 pm, we reached Jispa and searched for accommodation. There are only two options
for accommodation here – one is Ibex
hotel and other is PWD run Guest house. Though Ibex was a little costly but
it had better rooms, toilets, even TVs in the rooms and we ultimately finalized
it. Village Jispa is the last village in
Lahaul & Spiti District of Himachal Pradesh. Thereafter, Ladakh region
starts. The hotel is located in
picturesque location, with river flowing nearby against the backdrop of
mountains. This Hotel Ibex (Phone : 01900-233203, Mobile : 9418625414) is
in Village Jispa, P.O. Gemur, Tehsil Keylong, District Lahaul and Spiti,
Himachal Pradesh.
We took three rooms in the Ibex hotel (@ Rs.1200/- each). We took showers. In the evening, at about 8 pm, we took dinner in the hotel. It was a little cold here. We went to sleep at about 10 pm as tomorrow was again going to be a hectic (but wonderful) journey.
We took three rooms in the Ibex hotel (@ Rs.1200/- each). We took showers. In the evening, at about 8 pm, we took dinner in the hotel. It was a little cold here. We went to sleep at about 10 pm as tomorrow was again going to be a hectic (but wonderful) journey.
31st July
2013 Wednesday : Jispa to Leh
At about 6 am in the morning, we started from Ibex Hotel,
Jispa. After about half hour journey, we reached a small lake. It was a
beautiful view to see reflection of mountains and rising sun in the lake. There
was a small motorized boat chained there but we could not spot anyone as it was
too early in the morning. But we could not resist clicking ourselves in front
of the lake.
We continued with our onward journey. We bypassed Patsio. The view around us dramatically started changing. The views started becoming more and more beautiful. We passed by Army checkpost at about 7 am. The mountains and scant greenery on mountains, with black tar road in serpentine cutting across mountains in zig-jag manner, presented a collage of colours. At about 7.30 pm, We passed through Surajtal which is a small lake. We reached highest point on the mountain. There was huge snow by the side of the road. Snow patches could also be seen all around on distant mountains. Ironically, the sun was getting hotter but the wind was cooler. I was feeling as if some movie was being played in 4-D around me and I was watching it from my moving car. It was difficulty to find any private vehicle on the route, though we had to pass by trucks quite often.
At about 9.15, the view again started changing. We could
notice the sand formations (in the shape of damru and human faces) all over at
a distance from the road, between the dried river and the plain grounds at the
bottom of the mountains.We crossed over a bridge. Thereafter, the jurisdiction of Himank started. We took meals at a small restaurant called T. Dolma restaurant. This place is called Sarchu. Leh was still 251 km from here.
We moved on. The journey became more uphill and the oxygen level in the air also started coming down. I would like to caution here that in mountains, people generally suffer from Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS). Giddiness and vomiting are two main symptoms thereof. This is because of depletion of oxygen level in our body due to scant vegetation and low level of oxygen in this region. To avoid the same, one must drink lots of fluids (water, juices) at regular intervals. Avoid drinking cold drinks as the same are carbonated and increases carbon dioxide level in the body. One must also avoid taking larger quantity of alcohol in these high altitude regions as the same reduces the oxygen carrying capacity of lungs. The views all around were mesmerizing and awesome. One has to be there to feel it, it can not be explained in words. At about 11.45 am, we crossed Brandy bridge, which is under the maintenance by BRO (Border Roads Organisation). At about 12.25 pm, we reached Gata loops. This is a wide angle point from where one can see the road downwards in the form of several loops. In all, there are 21 loops. This is at an altitude of 15302 Feet (4667 Mtrs).
As we moved on, we noticed certain bikers zipping past from opposite side one by one. It gave a very thrilling feeling to me to watch them against the backdrop of imposing hills and mountains presenting a picturesque view. I also noticed a couple from a foreign country riding on independent bicycles with their rucksacks and belongings. This route i.e. Keylong/Jispa to Leh is most saught after route in the world and is heaven for those who love to drive, particularly bikes. The roads are so good (at most of the places) that one can not resist the temptation of driving. The other car (Innova) which was carrying Vanita, Maithili and Amit was way behind and we had not seen them for a long time now. (Later, we found that Vanita had serious breathing problem due to high altitude and they borrowed oxygen cylinder from an army camp on the way).
At 1 pm, we reached Nakeela Pass. It is at an altitude of 15547 Feet. A pass is the highest point on any mountain. Thereafter, we started the descent to reach the plain area and then to again start ascent on next mountain.
At 1.40 pm, we reached La-Chulungla pass (‘La’ means Pass in Ladakhi language). It is at an altitude of 16616 feet. The rock formations, in different shapes (including like human faces), became more pre-dominant on the mountains at a distance from the road. We noticed bikers at several places.
At about 4.30 pm, we reached a plain area which seemed to be
out of this world. There was valley on one side, with different hues, shades
and colours. From here, was starting black tar road which seemed to be ending
nowhere, with plains and mountains on both sides. The road was very good. At
about 6.10 pm, after driving through this beautiful road journey, we reached TaglangLa pass. It is at an altitude of
17582 feet. Each pass is characterized by a small temple and different colored
flags tied on ropes, which are very common in Leh Ladakh region.
At about 8 pm in the night, we reached Leh which is at an altitude of 3470 mtrs. Rohit knew of a guest house where he has stayed in the past. It is called Paul Guest house (Phone : 01982-252650, 9906990211, 9906997104). It was in a lane in the main market.
1st August 2013 Thursday : sightseeing in Leh
We got up at 7.30 am in the morning. After a sound sleep, we
all were feeling refreshed after yesterday’s arduous journey. We took bath. At 11.30 am, we reached office
of Deputy Commissioner-cum-Chief Executive Officer LAHDC (Ladakh
Autonomous Hill Development Council), Leh which issue the permits for going to other places (Khaltsi / Nubra
/ Changthang) in Leh-Ladakh region (cost : Rs.3060/- for permit for 7 persons).
We got issued the permits for Nubra valley. We got prepared several photocopies
of permits as well as our photo Identity –cards outside from a shop. It is very
important, as you will not find at photocopier facility once you go out of Leh.
You will have to submit photocopies of permits at various check posts on the
way. In the application form for the issuance of permit, do not forget to
mention names of all the places which you intend to visit and the period of
your visit to such places. Thereafter, we took brunch in Lamayuru restaurant in
the Leh market (Bill : Rs.1250/- for 7 persons). Returned to hotel at 1.30
pm. Thereafter, we strolled in the
market.
At 4 pm, we started in our car on Leh-Srinagar highway NH-1. We reached Magnetic hills (Project Vijayak of BRO) which is 29 km from leh. It was a surprise point. It is said that the mountains here have magnetic power. If you turn off the engine of your vehicle and keep it in neutral mode, even then it starts moving by the magnetic force of the mountains around. I personally tried this and found it to be true ! Then on return, we went to Gurudwara Pathar Sahib which is just 2 km away from this spot. This emergence of this Gurudwara is connected with an incident of Guru Nanak Dev ji.
At 4 pm, we started in our car on Leh-Srinagar highway NH-1. We reached Magnetic hills (Project Vijayak of BRO) which is 29 km from leh. It was a surprise point. It is said that the mountains here have magnetic power. If you turn off the engine of your vehicle and keep it in neutral mode, even then it starts moving by the magnetic force of the mountains around. I personally tried this and found it to be true ! Then on return, we went to Gurudwara Pathar Sahib which is just 2 km away from this spot. This emergence of this Gurudwara is connected with an incident of Guru Nanak Dev ji.
While returning towards Leh, at about 6.30 pm, we reached Pethub / Spithub Gompa of Spituk
monastry. There was a Kali mata mandir on top of the gompa. We had a beautiful
view of the airport strip from here. At 7 pm, we started from there. We got the
fuel tank of our Xylo car topped up on the way (as the petrol pumps in Leh town
are always overcrowded, which consume more time). At 7.15 pm, we reached Hall of Fame but it was closed at 7 pm.
At 7.45 pm, we reached Shanti
stupa which is situated on a hill. There were flood lights here, which
facilitated us to view this place even in night. From here, one can have the
view of the entire Leh town. Leh is at
an altitude of 3470 mtr. The highest petrol pump here is at a height of 10500
ft. People here spend 4 months in Leh, 4
months in Goa and rest of the time of the year at their hometown.
At 8.30 pm, we returned to our hotel.
At 9 pm, we went to Leh View Restaurant which is on the terrace of a building in the market. We took bear, snacks and dinner. It was last day of Vanitaji here as she had not recovered and she had decided to go back home. She is boarding 7 am flight tomorrow morning to Delhi.
At 10.30 pm, we reached back hotel. We gossiped and socialized.
At 12.30 am, we went to sleep.
2nd August
2013 Friday : Leh to Khardungla to Hunder
At 5.30 am in the morning, Amit dropped Vanita ji at the
airport.
After taking bath, we checked out (cost : Rs.4200/- for three
rooms for one night) and started from
the hotel at 8 am in the morning. We took tea, samoae and pakode at a dhaba in
the market and started for Khardungla at 8.30 pm. Khardungla is 39 km from leh.
We purchased some khubani (fruit) from
the market.
At 9.30 am, we reached South pullu. There is a Traffic control post here which is at an altitude of 15300 ft. It is said that wherever you start feeling AMS in the mountains due to altitude, start smelling camphor (kapur, used in puja). It gives you refreshing feeling and maintain the oxygen level. I myself tried and found it really effective ! Many bikers passed by us on the way.
At a point about 1 km before khardungla pass, the road was blocked due to huge boulders on road due to blasting for road widening which were being cleared by a road cleaning tractor machine. Long queue of vehicles piled up on both the sides. It wasted about 3 hrs. I started feeling giddiness. We started again at 12 pm.
At 12.30 pm, we reached Khardungla
top. It is at an altitude of 18380 ft ( 5602 Mtr). There was a huge rush of
vehicles, army trucks, bikes and people
had gathered. It was looking like a colony. We clicked pictures here. This is
world’s highest motorable road. From here, North Pullu is 14 km, Khalsar is 56
km, Nubra Sand Dunes are 86 km and Siachen
Base camp is 164 km. We took the famous tea in the canteen here run by army. It
was cold here and we could see traces of snow on the mountains around.
After spending about an hour, at 1.40 pm, we started our descent from Khardungla top. At 2.20 pm, we reached North Pullu which is 14 km from Khardungla top. At 2.45 pm, we reached Khardung village. We took some food (Bhurji) here. At 3.25 pm, we again started. At 4.15 pm, we passed by vill Khalsar. After just few minutes (7 km), we reached a point from where two routes were emerging. From here, one route is going to Sumur (20 km), Panamik (48 km), Sasoma (63 km) and Siachen Base camp (110 km). The other route is going to Diskit (15 km), Hunder (22 km), Pratappur (27 km), Thoise (35 km) and Turtuk (95 km).
We took the route to Diskit and Hunder. After some time, the
scene started changing from rocky mountain to green fields. As we were
approaching Diskit, we saw a monastery atop a hill. We then came across a sand
desert on our right side visible from our car. For a moment, it appeared as if
we were in Rajasthan. The sand looked like that of Rajasthan’s desert. There
was a sandstorm, peculiar to that of Rajasthan. We had to roll up the windows
of our cars. The desert signified that we are about to reach Diskit.
At 5 pm, we reached Diskit.
We took tea in a roadside stall. The reflection of the mountains and the little
greenery in the small water bodies looked very fascinating.
At 6 pm, we reached Hunder (situated in Nubra Valley). It is a nice place. It is basically green plains surrounded by rocky mountains. We searched for some decent guesthouse. Eventually, we finalised a farmhouse type house being run by local couple. It is called Olgok Homestay Guest house. It is at an altitude of 3070 mtrs. The owner’s name is Zahoor Ahmed (Mobile : 9469177357, Phone : 01980-221092). Its address is Hunder, Nubra – 194401, Leh Ladakh, Jammu & Kashmir. The concept of Homestay (like paying guest) is popular in ladakh. We bargained for 3 rooms for a total of Rs. 3000 per day. We performed Art of living in the open amidst wind. It was a good view all around. There were Poplar(i.e. safeda) trees in the complex. These are in abundance in this area.
At 9 pm, we took dinner : dal, rice, sabzi and salad. At 11
pm, we went to sleep. I felt uneasiness while sleeping, partly because of
snoring by Amit and partly due to my low oxygen level, I guess.
3rd August 2013 Saturday : Hunder to Turtuk to Hunder
We got up at 7 am in the morning. Took breakfast : milk,
toast, butter and jam. The Guest house owner was a thorough gentleman and was
very cooperative and hospitable.
At 9 am, we started from the guest house. We enjoyed Double
hump Camel ride at the designated spot nearby (cost : Rs.180 per person for 15
min). The view was awesome and picturesque. Thoise, which is the route to
Siachin, is 15 km from here and Turtuk is 77 km from here.
At 10.30 am, we started for Turtuk. At 11.45 am, we passed by vill Changmar. We took photos on the way. At 11.55 am, we crossed Durga bridge. We crossed dusty river. At 12.15 pm, we reached police check post. We submitted one copy of permit here. We crossed Bogdang village. There was a school called Army Goodwill School here. At 12.45 pm, we crossed another bridge : Tejasavi Teen. We gave permit copy to TCP (Transit Camp Post) here. All these bridges are weak. Only one vehicle is allowed to pass at a time.
At 1.30 pm, we reached Turtuk. It is a beautiful picturesque
village. It is the last civilian village in the Indian territory. After Turtuk, the territory of Pakistan
starts. We headed to Rinchen Dwar which is the last army post in Next vilage
Tyakshi. No public is allowed beyond this point. The Army personnel here turned out to be very
helpful. We went in the army camp and met Major, 2nd Lt. and Captain. The CO
Col. Pendse came. He was kind enough to
offer us tea and cold drink. We six in army jeep went by zero road to OP1 i.e.
army post bunker which is 5 km away. The actual line of control was just 10 ft
from us !
At 3.15 pm, we started from the army camp and reached village Turtuk at 3.25 pm. We took lunch in a dhaba (cost :Rs.1500). We walked to the village and explored. There was a Masjid here. The Khubani (apricot) tree were everywhere. We could see panormic views of village houses and lushgreen fields against background of mountains valley and Shyok river. The entire view was simply out of this world. I can challenge that such a view has not yet been captured in any of the movies either by our Bollywood or even in any foreign movie.
At 5.25 pm, we started from vill Turtuk. At 7.20 pm, we
passed by Thoise. There is a big army establishment incl air strip here. It is
15 km from Hounder.
At 7.45 pm, we returned to our Guest house in Hounder. We took bath and Art of living. At 9.30 pm, we took dinner cooked by the owner, his wife and daughter. In most places, for vegetarians, the main and mostly only option is dal, chawal and omlette. I took a walk after dinner. We sat in open and gossiped. At 12, we went to sleep. Today also, I felt uneasiness in sleeping.
4th August
2013 Sunday : Hunder to Leh
At 2.30 am, I got
up as I could not sleep properly. I was feeling breathlessness. I walked inside
the room. I passed time by arranging my rucksack for today. At 5 am, I did
pranayam. I walked for about 25 min. Then I took bath.
At 8 am, we started from Olgok Guest House Hunder for Tangste via Leh. Leh is about 127 km from Hunder. At 8.50 am, we passed Khalsar. At 9.40 am, we crossed Khardung village. By the time we reached North Pallu, my condition worsened. I took oxygen for 5 minutes at army camp en-route. I was administered 4 lit oxygen per minute. I felt better. The person who attended on me that my oxygen level was perfectly normal ! One of the best thing in Leh Ladakh is that there are so many army posts on the way and they are always there to help you in case of medical or any other emergency.
At 11.25 am, we reached Khardungla top. After taking tea and pakodas here, we immediately started from there. At 1 pm, we reached leh. We straight went to Govt. Civil hospital (S.N.M. Hospital) to get myself checked up. I went to the OPD and met the doctor who checked me and prescribed medicine called Diamox (I had heard that though this medicine is best for AMS, but it also causes shortage of water in the body). However, by this time, I had started feeling better, probably because we had come down from the high altitude.
We took lunch at lamayuru restaurant in Leh. Then I, Amit and Mythili checked in at Paul Guest House and took two rooms. The other 3 members, who were in separate car, had not stayed at Leh and had gone further towards Changla and stayed at Tangste whereas we decided to stay at Leh so that we do not exert ourselves and I could stabilize overnight so as to take up further journey which was equally harsh.
I took rest and slept in the guest house till 6 pm. Then we
went to Shanti stupa. Thereafter, we sat by the side of river Indus and enjoyed
the evening fading into darkness. We came back to the guest house. We bought
fruits on the way. At 9.30 pm, we took dinner at Happy World restaurant. There
were too many foreigners all around. The weather was pleasant. The atmosphere
made us feel as if we were sitting in some restaurant in Europe.
At 10.30, we walked to our guest house and went to sleep.
5th August
2013 Monday : Leh to Changla Pass to Pangong Lake to Leh
I could not sleep properly today also. It seems I had lost
the sleep.
At 6 am, we started from Leh hotel. We got fuel tank of our Toyota Innova car topped up. We reached Karu in 25 min which is 40 km from Leh. We took tea and biscuits at Karu. Changla is 41 km from here. The weather cold and cloudy today. It rained in mountains. At 8 am, we passed Jingral check post.
At 6 am, we started from Leh hotel. We got fuel tank of our Toyota Innova car topped up. We reached Karu in 25 min which is 40 km from Leh. We took tea and biscuits at Karu. Changla is 41 km from here. The weather cold and cloudy today. It rained in mountains. At 8 am, we passed Jingral check post.
At 8.30 am, we reached Changla pass top. It is at an altitude of 17586 feet (5360 Mtr). We were served complimentary tea by Indian army. We took photos. Spent half an hour here. The snow was littered all around. It was a little slippery as it was drizzling.
Then we descended the mountain and drove through rough
terrain. At 10.35 am, we reached Tangste.
Here we took omlate breakfast at a roadside eating point. Spent 15 min here.
At 11.30 am, we reached Pangong Tso (‘Tso’ means lake). Here, we met our other three friends who had already reached here about one hour back. They were going to Chushul (which is comparatively harsh terrain)whereas we had decided to go back to Leh, particularly since we had our luggage lying in guest house at Leh.
At 11.30 am, we reached Pangong Tso (‘Tso’ means lake). Here, we met our other three friends who had already reached here about one hour back. They were going to Chushul (which is comparatively harsh terrain)whereas we had decided to go back to Leh, particularly since we had our luggage lying in guest house at Leh.
It was a panormic view at Pangong. The view was beautiful and
mesmerizing. Pangong lake is at an altitude of 14300 ft and is 154 km from Leh.
The end of the famous hindi movie ‘3 Idiots’ was shot here three years back. We
went ahead in car about 8-9 km to Spagmik village. Then we returned to Pangong
and visited the Souvnier shop. There was nothing much to buy.
From Pangong, Leh is 154 km, Karu is 119 km, Srinagar is 589
km, Manali is 629 km and Delhi is 1200 km.
At 2.20 pm, we started from Pangong lake. At 4.35 pm, we crossed Changla pass top. At 5.40 pm, we reached Karu where our driver took tea. At about 6 pm, we entered Leh and sat by the side of Indus river. Our driver utilized time to wash the car with the river water.
At 7 pm, we reached Paul Guest house in Leh and took shower. We walked in the market and took dinner at Lamayuru restaurant. At 9.30 pm, we went to sleep. Today, I decided to sleep alone in room (Amit slept in separate room, with his snoring). It worked wonders to my sleep ! I got sound sleep after 3 days. I also took Alprax 0.25 tablet, just to make sure that I get sleep.
6th August
2013 Tuesday : Leh to Kargil to Drass
We got up at 5.30 am and freshen up. At 7 am, we started from the guest house. We took
breakfast at Punjab sweet house. Got filled diesel in the car.
We took Leh-Srinagar highway NH-1. Srinagar is about 440 km from Leh. Some film shooting was going on near Magnetic Hill. At 8.25 am, we crossed village Nimmu. At 8.55 am, we crossed Saspol. The River rafting (7 km)was being done at a spot after that.
At 9.30 am, we crossed village Nurla. There were2-3 hotels here, one was named ‘Apricot Tree’. At one point, white water river stream meeting into muddy water river. Most of journey was alongside River Indus on our left side. At several places during entire expedition, I noticed Bihar Jharkhand labour force doing road clearing constructing and widening work. At 9.45 am, we crossed village Khaltsi. BRO's project Vijayank. 3 4 km after Khaltsi, there is diversion - one way going to Kargil and the other to Batalik.
At 10.10 am, we reached a spot called Moonland. Here, the appearance of mountain is like moon surface - yellow hue with rugged surface.
At 10.35 am, we crossed Lamayuru.
There is a big monastry here. Its altitude is 11680 feet.
At 11 am, we crossed Fotula Pass. At an altitude of 13479 ft, it is the highest point on Leh-Srinagar highway. From here, Kargil is 105 km and Srinagar is 295 km.
At 11.30 am, we crossed Hanskot.
At 11.50 am, we crossed Village Khangral
at altitude of 11866 ft. We then crossed Namika
La at an altitude of 12198 ft. At 12.36 pm, we crossed village Mulbek. At 1 pm, we crossed Darket village. At 1.30 pm, we
crossed village pashkum Kargil.
At 1.50 pm, we reached Kargil. We took lunch at restaurant of Kargil Tourism Facilitation Centre. At 3 pm, we started from Kargil. But traffic route was blocked and jammed just outside kargil on highway as cloud burst had taken place here 3-4 days back and road was damaged. The labour were clearing debris from road. The road laying work was also going on. Our half hour was wasted.
At 4 pm, we crossed vill. Chanigund. At 4.15 pm, we crossed village Kharboo Drass. Now, the terrain started becoming greener. The naked mountains start becoming greener. As we inched closer to Drass, the cool breeze welcomed us. At 4.45 Pm, we reached village Bhimbhat. We walked to a tourist point and saw a stone which, by a legend, is believed to be Bhim’s body (one of the Pandava in Mahabharata) which is 1 km walk off the highway. At 5.15 pm, we reached War Memorial after 1 km on highway. At 5.55 pm, we started from War Memorial. We reached JK Tourism Tourist Bunglow Rest House in Drass which is 5 km away. We took 2 double rooms @400 each (Caretaker : Saeed Ahmad).
At 7 pm, we reached back War Memorial for dinner : dosa, vada,
papdi chaat etc as only dal rajma chawal was available in Drass and we are
tired of eating these. Dosa was not good. Kashmiri Kahwa (a type of tea) was good
@Rs.15. At 8.30 pm, we reached back Tourist bunglow in Drass. At 10 pm, we went
to sleep.
7th August
2013 Wednesday : Drass to Zozila Pass to Sonmarg to Srinagar
At 1 am in night, I woke up and could not sleep thereafter. At 7.30 am, we took breakfast in Ali
restaurant opp our JK Tourism bunglow. At 8 am, we started from Drass for
Srinagar. From Drass, Sonmarg is about 60 km and Srinagar is about 147 km.
At 8.20 am, we crossed Pandras village. At 8.40 am, we crossed Matiyan. At 8.45 am, we cleared Minamarg police post. At 9.05 am, we reached Zozila War Memorial at Gumiri. We spent 15 min here. We then crossed Gumiri. We started feeling chill as we were approaching Zozila pass which is at an altitude of 11649 ft. We crossed Zozila pass at 9.25 am. We did not realise when we crossed zozila pass. Only a overhead big green hoarding of BRO tells you that you are at zozila pass. The road condition was not very good after pass, though Road tiled at some stretches. Dusty bumpy ride for about 40 minutes. The camps of BalTal (Base for Amarnath yatra) down in valley was visible from the top.
At 10.16 am, we crossed TCP Baltal.
At 10.25 am, we reached
Sonmarg. The Thajwas glacier is
6 km from highway. We took 3 horses (@Rs.500/- per horse). At 11 am, we three
on horses travelled to a point near Glacier. Then walked 100 mtr upto Thajwas
glacier. At the Glacier, we took photos. We started coming down after 20 min.
It started raining. We took shelter in a tent of khanabadosh at 1 pm. We took
tea there. Our horsewalah was waiting there. We waited for rain to stop.
At 1 pm we started back on horses. We reached point on
highway where they dropped us at 2.15 pm. We paid them Rs. 1500. It was worth a
ride.
We went to the restaurant in Hotel Sonmarg Palace nearby
which also serve jain food ! No guest here but he agreed to make food for us.
We chose to wait. We took lunch ( Rs.230).
At 2.45 pm, we started from Sonmarg. Srinagar is 83 km from Sonmarg. At 3.15 pm, we crossed Gund. At 3.45 pm, we crossed Kangan town. At 4.10 pm, we crossed Gunderbal.
At 4.30 pm, we reached Dal
lake in Srinagar. At Ghat no.15 of the Dal Lake complex, we met Hamid. We
were interested in houseboat not on roadside but deep inside in dal lake. He
took us in shikara to show us houseboat called ‘Good Faith’. We liked it. The
environment here was calm and serene. It wa almost the last houseboat. We
reached gthere after 15 min ride after crossing streets of houseboats shops in
dal lake. We negotiated rate to Rs.5400/- for full houseboat (having 3
bedrooms)for one night (including dinner, breakfast, shikara ride). The name of
the owner of the ‘Good Faith’ houseboat was Gulam Mohmad Shoda. His Son’s name
was Hamid. This houseboat’s address is Lotus Dal-Lake, Behind Nehru Park, PO
Box No.49, Srinagar – 190001. Their telephone numbers are 0194-2453782, 2141137
and mobile number is 9419001401.
At 6 pm, we came back to Ghat no 15 by shikara. Met Rohit, Harshdeep
and Geeta there who came via Nioma and Tso-moriri. We 6, in our cars, went to a
place for Hot air balloon ride but it was not being flown. Only up down. We then
went to Pari Mahal. We saw Chief
Minister Omar Abdullah taking walk there. We viewed sunset from there.
At 8 pm, we returned to Ghat no. 15 of dal lake. We took shikara (3 passengers per shikara) and reached our Houseboat in 15 min. Art of living in houseboat. Then we took dinner at 10 pm, cooked by the owner’s family. At 11 pm, we went to sleep.
At 12.30 am in night, the power went off and fans stopped. We
felt suffocation in the absence of fan. The houseboat owner, in the dead of
night, went in a small boat and brought diesel for running generator and
ultimately the fans of our rooms started. It was suffocating- Little chill but
no air.
8th August
2013 Thursday : Srinagar to Patnitop to Udhampur to Jalandhar to Delhi
At 4.50 am, I woke
up in Good Faith House Boat. At 5.15 am, we six friends in 2 shikaras went to floating vegetable market. It is 2nd
such market in world, after Thailand. We took snaps.
At 8.45 am, Rohit, Harsh and Geeta left. Geeta wass extending
her stay and going on 5 day trek of seven lakes with IndiaHikes from Sonmarg.
At 9.30, we three (me, amit, Mythili) started from the Houseboat.
The shikara was brought by by ‘Dil ka Raja’. His shikara also carried this
name. He was interesting character. He gave garland made out of lotus flower
plant ! We reached the ghat. Rohit etc were still there.
At 10.10 am, we started from Ghat no. 15 of Dal Lake Srinagar. Our Innova car had completed journey of 2713 km upto here. It was too hot in srinagar. Today, we put on AC of car after 12 days.
At 10.45 am, we crossed Pampora
: place where kesar flower is grown and cultivated. At 11 am, we crossed
Avantipur ruins. At 11.15 am, we crosed Sangam. At 11.34 am, we crossed
Bijbehera. At 11.39 am, we crossed Batengoo Anantnag Kashmir. We took right turn
at roundabout at Anantnag (The straight
road was going to Pahalgam which was abt 60 km). From this turn, patnitop is
132 km, Katra is 232 km and Jammu is 242 km. We took Anantnag-Jammu Road. Anantnag
is a district of Kashmir.
At 12.05 pm, we reached Qazigund.
We purchased akhrot, badam, aam papad, jute jackets here. At 12.40 pm, we
started again. The route was inclined up from here. At 1.15 pm, we crossed 2543
mtr long Jawahar Tunnel. Project
Beacon. At 1.35 pm, we crossed Banihal,
Distt Ramban. At 2.45 pm, we stopped for
lunch at Prem Punjabi Vaishno Dhaba at Siri
(Rs.250). Ramban is 2 km from here. Udhampur is 86 km from here.
From Siri, we started again at 3.15 pm. At 3.50 pm, we crossed Batote. At 4.15 pm, we passed by Patnitop. It was pleasantly cool here - Fog and mist. At 4.27 pm, we crossed Kud. At 4.45 pm, we crossed Chaneni. At 5.30 pm, we passed Udhampur. I could not meet Vishwanand (teacher who lives in Udhampur and who met me 2 years back in Udhampur Trek) as driver took other road. Vishwanand was waiting for me at his house and had got made tea etc. I felt sorry for this.
From Udhampur, we took Samba Bypass instead of going to Jammu. It took us to Manrag, Mansa. We fed atta to fishes in Mansar lake.
At 7 pm, we started from mansar lake. At 7.35 pm, we touched
Highway at Samba. At 8.25 pm, we crossed Lakhanpur toll. At 9.15 pm, we stopped at Khubsurat
Vaishno dhaba at a place in HP 7 km from pathankot. At 10 pm, we started.
I noticed that our driver Kaalu was feeling sleepy and was
dozing off. Our car was going at speed of about 100 km per hour. Seeing this, I
decided not to take risk, though he said he is fine and can continue driving to
Delhi non-stop without sleeping. We thus break our journey and at 11.45 pm, we checked in at Hotel Majestic Grand, Jalandhar.
9th August
2013 Friday : Delhi
After taking sleep for about 4 hours, we got up at 4.30 am.
Without taking bath, we got ready, checked out from hotel and continued with
our journey to Delhi. On the way, we took breakfast at some dhaba. After
passing through Panipat, we reached Delhi at about 11 am in the morning. I got
down at my house at Punjabi Bagh and the driver went ahead to drop Amit and
Mythili.
Thus, another memorable, enchanting, fascinating, wonderful and mesmerizing trip came to an end.
The Ladakhi religious structures in ascending order are
Chorten, Gompa and Monastry. The flags of different colors- Blue, red, green,
yellow and white – can be seen everywhere in Ladakh region. Prayers are written
on these. It is believed that when these flags flutter, prayers reach God. Ladakh is bikers paradise. Ladakh is also called desert in the sky.
More photographs of this trip can be seen at : https://www.facebook.com/sunilgoel71/media_set?set=a.3339085972137.1073741828.1718287029&type=3
Travelogue of my 2011 Udhampur
Trek at :
Travelogue of my 2012 Mizoram,
Nagaland Trip at :
Sunil Goel advocate B.Sc. L.Lb L.Lm
New Delhi
sunilgoel@rediffmail.com
9810215488
