Leh – June 2014

Probably the most extensively planned trip by far till date (as of June 2014). This was the first long trip with friends which involved flight travel and that too to Srinagar! We took flight to Srinagar and then drove to Leh in a 4 wheel (yes I agree 2 wheel it shoudl have been). In Srinagar we enjoyed the view of Dal lake from our House boat and loved the hospitality of the people. Our driver to/from Leh and around Leh “Mr Rigzin” was an amazing driver. We used to often ask him is it snowing in Leh, is it cold enough. He used to say “as we go up, the weather will cool down and so will the people”.

The view during the Srinagar – Kargil – Leh ride was breathtakingly beautiful. I have heard the Manali – Leh route is equally gorgeous. Next trip will be through Manali for sure! When you reach Leh (height –around 10k feet above sea level), it hits you – India is so damn beautiful. The low oxygen did not affect us as much, as we had a gradual ascend. This would be my advice to travellers, please don’t land in Leh directly. Let your body adapt to change in the air, instead of taking Diamox. If timing is an issue, return in a flight.

The sparsely populated Leh has a different rythm to it. People are courteous and less inclined to technology, the houses are prettier, food is delicious and weather is pleasantly cold. Due to time constraints, apart from exploring Leh we just covered Nubra Valley – the cold desert and Pangong Lake – the “3 idiots” movie lake. We did see lot of monasteries, the magnetic hill and visited the school again from the movie “3 idiots”. We drove through Khardungla - the highest motorable road in the world (around 18500 feet above sea level). We drove up the hill while it was heavily snowing. Maggi never tasted better than the one we had at the hill top military canteens (Khardungla as well as Changla).

The first site of Pangong just takes your breath away. The blue water, the cold wind, the snow white cranes in abundance. I still remember the view, as if it was yesterday. At Pangong, for the first time we experienced negative temperature (around -10 degrees) and we were not prepared at all.

The 2 hump camel ride in Cold dessert of Nubra Valley was one of the kind experience. And the tents we stayed in were just wonderful. At that height, in extreme temperatures whatever you get is comfort.

We live in luxury of ACs and heaters and soft beds with easily available groceries but when you leave all this and look beyond, the real luxury is to have morning tea with fresh air and the view of the Himalayas.