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The Leh Trip

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Day 1
The trip began in the flight on a Sunday morning from Delhi to Leh. The view from the sky cannot be described in words. I have always believed that a picture can speak more than a 1000 words. This was one of the views we had from the sky. There were several other beautiful snapshots which we took. The memory of just the view of the sky will be etched in my memory forever. I was very excited in the flight, thinking of what I might be able to witness and experience. 

 

We landed early in the morning at Leh Airport. The airport was the most beautiful airport I have ever seen in my life. The airport is one of the highest airports in the world at a height of 3,256 m above mean sea level. It is surrounded by mountains. Each side presents to you a different terrain and colour of mountain. One of the sides shows mountains ranges which are brown in colour with their peaks covered in snow. These mountains seem to be composed of sand and clay. Looking at the history, these mountain ranges were formed millions of years ago. The present land was a large shallow sea called Tethys. Over a period of time, the Indian subcontinent (part of the Gondwana land) slowly moved and collided with the Eurasian land mass (called Angara). The Himalayas were formed as a result of collision of tectonic plates. They are called Fold Mountains as a result of this collision. You can research on the history of the Himalayas for more details. We had already contacted a taxi person before landing in Leh. We had got his contact details from a friend who had visited Leh last year. He was waiting outside the airport with a sign-board with my name on it. We were told to just take his suggestion and simply let him decide our hotel. We followed this advice and he took us to a hotel. The name of the hotel was Hotel Dolma. We took up two rooms paying Rs. 800 per day for each room. The best thing to do on day 1 is to sleep and rest. It is strictly advisable to rest and let your body acclimatize to the climate of Leh. It is also a good idea to visit your doctor and take Diamox . In case you have a headache, please visit the Sonam Norbu Memorial Hospital, Leh Public Hospital, they give oxygen if you have low concentration of oxygen in your body. The oxygen is provided free of cost. Some of us were having acute headache on the very first day and we were asked to take oxygen for about an hour. The prime reason why some of us had low oxygen concentration was because we were using heater which was releasing carbon monoxide.

 

Day 2
You can visit the Leh market. The special attraction is the Tibetan market. You can get a lot of handicrafts and Tibetan showpieces and Buddhist souvenirs. However, you will have to bargain a lot. The Leh market also provides you an opportunity to take xerox, and visit the internet café, café, grocery, and general stores. It is easy to find cuisines like Punjabi, Chinese, Italian and Mughlai. You can also book a cab and visit places close by.

Some places we visited on day two are Shey Palace and Hemis Monastry. According to Wikipedia, the Shey Monastery or Gompa and the Shey Palace complex are structures located on a hillock in Shey,15 kilometres (9.3 mi) to the south of Leh in Ladakh, northern India on the Leh-Manali road. Shey was the summer capital of Ladakh in the past.The palace, mostly in ruins now, was built first in 1655, near Shey village, by the king of Ladakh, Deldan Namgyal, also known as Lhachen Palgyigon. It was used as a summer retreat by the kings of Ladakh. The Shey Monastery was also built in 1655 on the instructions of Deldon Namgyal, in the memory of his late father, Singay Namgyal, within the palace complex.

We saw a large statue of Lord Gautam Buddha. The atmosphere inside the palace was very soothing and calm. Being at a height the view was great. We clicked some great pictures.

The time was against us so we headed towards Hemis Monastry. Hemis monastery is at a distance of about 40kms from Leh, and takes about 3-4 hours from Leh.

We reached Hemis Monastry. It’s a beautiful place. It is slightly colder as it is at a higher altitude. The Hemis monastery, according to Wikipedia, existed before the 11th century. Naropa, the pupil of the yogi Tilopa, and teacher of the translator Marpa is connected with this monastery. A translation was made by A. Grünwedel (Nӑro und Tilo, Festschrift Ernst Kuhn, München 1916) of Naropa's biography that was found in Hemis monastery. The monastery had an enormous statue of lord Buddha. The interiors were very beautifully decorated, and we managed to click a few pictures of the walls with beautiful paintings.

We also took some pictures in places near Hemis.

After spending some time observing and interacting with the monks in Hemis we left and headed back to Leh. We took a break in a place called Karo. 

We then headed towards Leh and saw two places there. The first was Leh Palace and then we saw the Shanti Stupa.

According to Wikipedia, the Leh Palace overlooks the Ladakhi Himalayan town of Leh, modelled on the Potala Palace in Lhasa, Tibet. The palace was built by King Sengge Namgyal in the 17th century, but was later abandoned when Dogra forces took control of Ladakh in the mid-19th century. The royal family moved to Stok Palace. Leh Palace is nine storeys high; the upper floors accommodated the royal family, the stables and store rooms were on the lower floors.

Shanti Stupa was our next stop. According to Wikipedia, Shanti Stupa is a Buddhist white-domed stupa (chorten) on a hilltop in Chanspa, Leh district, Ladakh, in the north Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. It was built in 1991 by the Japanese Buddhist Bhikshu Gyomyo Nakamura . The Shanti Stupa holds the relics of the Buddha at its base, enshrined by the 14th Dalai Lama himself. The Stupa has become a tourist attraction not only due to its religious significance but also due to its location which provides panoramic views of the surrounding landscape.

With this we ended day 2. We ate dinner at a nearby Punjabi restaurant. We paid Rs. 1700 for the Omni van for this entire trip of day 2.
 
Day 3

The plan was to visit Pangong Tso Lake (Distance 185kms, time 5-6 hours one side). We will be coming across the Chang la pass, typical temperature between -15 to -25 degrees centigrade in the morning. We booked a Xylo for Rs 5000.

According to Wikipedia, Chang La (el. 5,360 m or 17,590 ft) is a high mountain pass in Ladakh, India. It is the third highest motorable road in the world. The Chang La is on the route to Pangong Lake from Leh. The name literally means "Pass towards the South" or "Pass in the South" (Chang = south, La = Pass).

We saw some military trucks on our way between Chang La and Pangong Tso.

 

Very soon we reached Pangong Tso. According to Wikipedia, Pangong Tso, Tibetan for "long, narrow, enchanted lake", also referred to as Pangong Lake, is an endorheic lake in the Himalayas situated at a height of about 4,350 m (14,270 ft). It is 134 km (83 mi) long and extends from India to Tibet. 60% of the length of the lake lies in Tibet. The lake is 5 km (3.1 mi) wide at its broadest point. All together it covers 604 sq. km. During winter the lake freezes completely, despite being saline water.

 

 

Day 4 

We left early morning at 6 am. The plan was to visit the Magnetic Hills, Sangam (distance 50kms, time 3-4 hours). The trip travel expenses, to and fro, were Rs. 1400. According to Wikipedia, Magnet Hill is a gravity hill located near Leh in Ladakh, India. The hill is alleged to have magnetic properties strong enough to pull cars uphill and force passing aircraft to increase their altitude in order to escape magnetic interference. In reality, the effect is an optical illusion and there is no magnetic disturbance in the area at all. The “Magnet Hill” is located on the Leh-Kargil-Srinagar National Highway, about 50 km from Leh, at a height of 11,000 feet above sea level. On its south side flows the Indus, which originates in Tibet and goes to Pakistan.

Sangam is the place where Indis meets Zanskar. At Nimo, Zanskar joins Indus which is ultimately called Indus. In the picture below, the river coming from the left is Indus, which is very clear, and forms the fertile Indus valley (Leh, Saspol, Basgo, Alchi etc.) and the one on the right is the muddy Zanskar, whose water is not very useful for cultivation purposes.

Day 5

Headed towards Turtuk village from Leh. The distance is about 220 Kms or about 8 hours. Khardung La pass comes enroute to Turtuk. According to Wikipedia, Khardung La (Khardung Pass, la means pass in Tibetan) is a high mountain pass located in Ladakh region of the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. The local pronunciation is "Khardong La" or "Khardzong La," but, as with most names in Ladakh, the romanised spelling varies. Its elevation is 5,602 m (18,379 ft) metres high and that it is the world's highest motorable pass. When we went to Khardung La in the morning at around 8am the temperature was -23 degrees centigrade.

After passing through Khardung La, we witnessed Shylok river which flows to Pakistan.

Very soon we were in Turtuk village. Turtuk is the last Indian village and is about 5 km from the Pakistan border.

We witnessed the Line of Control in Rinchin Dwar.

 

Day 6 

We stayed in Diskit. Next morning, day 6, we witnessed a camel, a double humped camel more specifically, sand dunes and a lot of fun. Our travel expense for this entire trip from Leh to Turtuk halting at Diskit and back to Leh was Rs. 9000.

Day 7 
We rented Thunderbird for Rs. 600 per bike. We had a lot of fun. The journey lasted for about 4 hours. We went from Leh to Hemis covering about 80-100 km.

Finally we left Leh with a lot of memories and a wonderful time...