Exploring Ladakh- To heaven and back !

 

‘La’ – Pass

‘Dakh’- Owner

“Ladakh”

Angchuk said “You know ma’am, that’s the meaning of Ladakh, that is, we the indigenous people are the genuine owners of this pristine land”, while driving uphill Changla Pass. Angchuk was our driving person during Ladakh trip that we met on the very first day of the journey.

Like everybody else, Ladakh was on my bucket list for a long time; the time when I used to read about it in the NCERT geography books, I used to imagine about the strident climate, picturesque landscape that almost devoid of vegetation; about Sangam where Indus and Zanskar meets making a grand sight to behold. To strike off my bucket list, this time I and one of my friends made a plan to explore Ladakh.

The first day of journey came with a surprise as when we landed in Leh airport none of our mobile networks were working. A local taxi driver (Angchuk as mentioned in the beginning) helped us and told us that since Ladakh is in J& K region, only postpaid sim cards works here, but one can use the wifi anywhere they go. That was a relief.

Ladakh covers around 117000 sq km from northern and western Kashmir region, in the Northwestern Indian subcontinent. It contains Ladakh range, which is the south eastern extension of Karakoram range and the upper Indus valley. If you are going by air, you will have to take a flight to Leh as Ladakh does not have any airport. You can take a direct flight to Leh, or from Delhi to Leh; but personally speaking the direct ones costs more so we took the later option. One thing I would like to mention here, when the flight enters Leh, the aerial view of Leh-Ladakh cannot be explained with words. You can see the jawdroppingly gorgeous mountain ranges with braided Indus and Zanskar flowing through it. So if you are travelling to Ladakh please book the window seat. Period.  

As we already booked our rooms in Zostel, Leh, upon arrival, we directly went there and Astha at reception counter received us saying that since the rooms are yet to be ready, we can chill out at the rooftop café. The café has a very chilled out vibe and you can see the snow capped mountain ranges with a Buddhist monastery far away. It is advised to take some rest at the first day of arrival to Ladakh as it is a high altitude area (2800-4500 m from MSL) so as to acclimatize the body. After freshening up and taking a nap we went for exploring nearby sites of Leh in the afternoon. Hall of fame was our first destination which is a museum located in Leh-Kargil highway about 4km from Leh and was constructed by Indian army in the memory of the brave Indian soldiers during Indo-Pak wars. They have a cute little army café too, where we had momos with freshly prepared schezwan chutney. Sangam was around 40 km away from Leh in a place called Nimmu on Srinagar highway. Sangam always fascinated me. It is the confluence of Indus and Zanskar River where the two rivers can be separately seen meeting, while the Indus appears Shiny blue, zanskar appears muddy green. On the way back we stopped at Magnetic hills. Situated around 30km from Leh, magnetic hill is a phenomenon that defies the law of gravity and leaves travelers spellbound, because of these hills’ uncanny ability to pull resting vehicles toward itself. Numerous stories knitted around this place where Indus flows at the east, creating spectacular backdrop. Just after magnetic hills, there came Pathar sahib Gurudwara which is maintained by Indian army. After taking blessings from there we left for Shanti stupa which is on a hilltop in Chanspa and also known as white domed stupa. As it was evening approaching, a bone chilling breeze welcomed us. The panoramic view of the Leh city from the stupa is astounding.

Shanti stupa

 

Magnetic Hills

                                

“Ma’am as you are in Ladakh, don’t forget to taste Thenthuk”, suggested Angchuk. So we left for Leh market stroll and had thenthuk in an authentic Tibetan restaurant. Thenthuk is a typical Tibetan noodle soup that is primarily made with lamb meat. As we had to travel far away in the next day we came back to our hotel and rushed for dinner in the café, where I met Bhavisha, palak, Naren and other fellow travellers; someone started playing guitar and Zostel started zostelling  !

(To be continued....)