tour to ladakh – reader story*

tripp.in reader, Sadaf Asif  sent us her Ladkh trippin log. Here is a pretty detailed account of her tour:

This September we flew in to Leh from Delhi.  Just before the landing, we had a marvelous view of the snow clad Himalayas.  We felt like a bird flying on top of the snow capped mountains.

Pic courtesy Anupam Ghosh

On reaching our Hotel at Leh, we were astounded to see the Apple trees full of of red and juicy apples.  Our room at Bimla Hotel had a small terrace on which the apple tree leaned.  We could easily pluck the apples from the terrace to have a great morning breakfast treat.

Ladakh, being at a height of  11500 feet above sea level, within few hours of reaching, one can feel the oxygen reduction in the atmosphere through increased palpitation of heart, difficulty in climbing stairs, giddiness, etc.  So every tourists is advised to have a three day course of tablet Diamox, twice daily, in order to acclimatize. If you believe in ayurved then keep inhaling Bhimseni Kapur through a handkerchief.  Taking complete rest on the first day  is recommended. On the second day, we went for local sight-seeing like the Shanti Stupa, Leh Palace, Leh Market.  Amongst all the Monasteries in Leh, Shanti Stupa is worth visiting because of its architectural design and scenic beauty.

Snowpeaks enroute to Nubra

On the third day, we started for an overnight stay at Nubra Valley through the Khardung La Pass.  Khardung La Pass is at a height of 18380 feet which is the highest motorable road in the world.  That’s the reason why we find so many bikers in this region from all parts of the world.  The temperature here is generally between  -8 to -10 deg. C.  The view of the glaciers is simply jaw-dropping.

After a six-hour scenic journey, we reached Hunder in Nubra Valley.  We stayed at Yourdum Guest House, where the owner was a sweet and polite lady who allowed us to pluck vegetables like carrot, cabbage, onion, tomatoes, capsicum, etc from her farm to make a tasty salad.  She then served us with delicious veg food cooked with the ingredients from her own farm.

walnuts

Here we could see the green colour fruit of Walnut, which stores inside it the shell of the walnut which we normally see in the market.
You can make prior bookings at Yourdum Guest House by calling +91 1980 221114 or +91 9469735827 . 
In the evening, we went to see the sand dunes, where we could ride the doubled humped camels in the desert.  This 15-minutes ride cost Rs.150 per head.

Buddha

Next day, while returning to Leh, we visited the Diskit Monastery.  The main attraction of this monastery is the stupendously made open statue of Buddha on top of the hill, standing at a height of 32metre facing the Shyok river towards Pakistan.

On the fifth day, we started for a 130km journey to Pangong Lake, as seen in the movie ‘3 Idiots’.   This blue coloured lake is 134km long, salt water lake, 60% of which is owned by China.  Anyone can get carried away with the serene beauty of the lake and the vibrancy of the colours.

Pangong Tso - Turquoise Hues

The lake is nestled in the laps of the mountains.  It is in the process of being identified as “Wetland of International Importance”.

On the sixth day, we left Leh for Kargil.  Enroute we stopped at the Pathar Sahib Gurudwara which is managed by the Indian Army.  The Army officials here are very polite and showed great hospitality by serving us breakfast, tea and toast.   This Gurudwara is famous for the boulder which contains a hollow imprint of the shoulders, head and back of the Saint Guru Nanak.  It is believed that a demon pushed a huge stone from the top of the hill to kill Guru Nanak while he was meditating.  The stone touched the back of Guru Nanak and softened like warm wax.  So we can find the impression of the Guru’s back, as well as the demon’s foot on the boulder.

The next astonishing thing we saw was the Magnetic Hill.  The mountain had magnetic power in it which attracted metallic objects.  A car completely stopped in neutral gears, is pulled uphill towards this point, in spite of the slope on the opposite side.  The aircrafts passing above this point are forced to increase their altitude to escape magnetic interference.

After magnetic hill, another most impressive sight on this route is the Confluence (sangam) of two rivers Indus and Zanskar.  We couldn’t believe our eyes, when we saw two different coloured rivers mixing in each other.  From this point, the river flows into Pakistan and then down to Arabian Sea.

The confluence of Indus and Zanskar

Journey to Kargil normally takes 8-10 hours.  Enroute we got to eat fresh and juicy fruit of Apricot, and we also purchased dried apricots.

Though road journey in Ladakh is very long as it goes through the mountains, it is very exciting.  After every 10 minutes drive, we see mountains of different colour, different texture, different shapes and forms.  The beauty of these mountains is incredible. From Kargil, we went to Srinagar on the next day, where we took our return flight and a lot of moments captured in our hearts.