Ladakh is a district in the Indian state of J & K. Leh is the district capital, and also has a functioning airport. The fastest, though not the cheapest way to Leh is by air.
We spent 6 days in Ladakh. I enjoyed every moment. A forewarning, this post is going to be long.
We spent 6 days in Ladakh. I enjoyed every moment. A forewarning, this post is going to be long.
I had always wanted to visit this place of mystic
beauty, but the plan never materialized. To be honest, it was my wife's
continual insistence that we finally made it to the majestic mountain
desert.
Day 1: Acclimatization
We left Delhi in the early morning Air India
flight. All the flights to Leh depart in the morning. Our flight departed as
per schedule at 0555hrs. After about an hour or so, we were flying over the Himalayas.
What we saw out of the window was sheer beauty, which simply can't be described
in words. In complete awe, both our heads were glued to the small window.
After the sultry weather of Delhi, the conditions
in Leh were most welcome. It was drizzling when we disembarked. The
sight that greeted our eyes was magnificent. It was as if the place had been Handcrafted by God.
We were on the tarmac, ready to board the bus,
and all around were bare mountains, some with snow caps. We made our way
out, after collecting our luggage. The airport was one big shed, that’s
it.
Outside the Airport, we saw a person holding a placard
with my name on it. With Bollywood songs running in the background, the scene
outside was incongruous.
Soon we were on our way to to the Guest
House in Choglamsar which is about 10 km from Leh.
Most of the tourists prefer to stay in Leh but we
chose Choglmsar, away from the bustling town of Leh. The Guest House was
located on the banks of the Indus and was overlooking the Stok Kangri peaks. Our
host Mr Dorjey warmly greeted us. We had tea and also met our neighbors, a five
member Belgian family.
In our itinerary we had the following:
Day 1 : Acclimatization and visit to the local
market
Day 2 : Local Sightseeing
Day 3-5 : Trek
Day 6-7 : Visit to Pangong Tso lake
Day 8 : Departure to Delhi
We had to acclimatise to an altitude of
3500 m for a couple of days. Basically acclimatization is taking rest and
not straining oneself. My wife, Swetha had a good sleep while I kept pacing up and down
the room getting bored. As evening came I had to remind my host that the
agreed upon itinerary included visit to the local market.
The taxi arrived in half hour and we went to the
market. Though the host had promised, a Xylo/Innova in the mail we were
provided with an Ecco, a less comfortable and less cleaner car(which probably
is also used as a share taxi). For some reason we didn't mind.
We reached Leh market in about 20 minutes. Peak
tourist season brings along with it, crowds from all over the world and
pollution. The entire town was engulfed in noxious smoke and to top it up, was
the cacophony of Royal Enfield bikes.
We strolled in the market for a while. Swetha got
a couple of Kashmiri salwar tops.
Most of the stuff being sold, like small
idols, and other Buddhist paraphernalia would be available at one tenth the
cost in the Tibetan market in Janpath, Delhi.
After about an hour or so, we left for the Guest
House. Our host, on the way back joined us.
Every guy has a dream of riding a Royal Enfield
Bullet in the Himalayas. I too had that dream; it was on my bucket list. I
enquired with the host about renting a bike to go to Pangong Tso lake which is
about 130 km from Leh. He looked at me and said- ‘not advisable’.
Day 2: Hemis, Shey, Thiksey and Shanti Stupa
The 'Not advisable' word was still reverberating in my head. If it were only me, I wouldn't have bothered but the responsibility of the pillion rider(my wife) was mine. The roads are bad, with water streams flowing across, he had said. Moreover we would have to drive through the Changla Pass, which is at an elevation of 5360 m.
On top of that, any vehicle breakdown or puncture will leave you stranded.
He had offered me a shared trip to the lake. I had to decide by the end of the day.
After a sumptuous breakfast, we headed to the Hemis Monastery which is around 50 Km from Leh. It was the same Ecco, with the same driver. The driver was good natured and friendly. Actually most of the Ladakhis' are good natured and friendly.
We were traveling on the Leh Manali highway. The Indus was on the right and mountains on the left. Needless to say, the view was breathtaking.
The roads were good and the driver was entertaining us by pointing out the shooting spots of the movies 'Border' and '3 Idiots'.
My mind started to drift. A few days later, I would have to travel down the same road. But how? Would I be willing to take a risk ?
Just then I heard a faint and periodic noise in the background- Thud Thud Thud- which grew louder with every passing moment. As I looked out the window, a group of Bullets thundered passed us. I had made up my mind.
After 40 km we crossed Karu and reached a fork on the road. The left road led to Pangong Tso and the right one, continued to Manali. We took the road on the right.
After about 10 minutes we left the highway and proceeded towards the Hemis Monasterey. Unlike the highway, this road was narrow.
We reached the Monastery in 15 minutes.
The monastery had a museum in addition to the area dedicated to the Buddha. We entered the Museum first, without shoes.
The Hemis monastery is atop a mountain, and the museum was like a cave. It was like, our driver said, a freezer. We got to see many artefacts of Buddhism, but we were rushing through as our feet were beginning to freeze.
From the Monastery we could see an idol of the Buddha, situated in the adjacent hill.
All the Buddhist monasteries have a cylindrical wheel like structure that can be rotated in the clockwise direction when facing it. Probably it is equivalent to the Temple bells found in Hindu Temples
BIRTH
DEFEATING THE DEVILS
TURNING WHEEL OF DHARMA
We could also see the panoramic view of Leh
Swetha started getting real bored. I was going around the stupa and soaking in information and enjoying the view, while Swetha was sitting in a corner and relaxing.
With the stupa, the second day came to an end. We proceeded to the guest house and then called it a day.
Day 3 4 & 5 - The unfinished trek
On the most exciting things that I was looking forward to was the trek. I enjoy trekking, and have done a lot of it. The serenity and tranquility while walking in a jungle or on the mountain sides is simply amazing. I somehow convinced my wife for the trek, but I didn't account for altitude and the trekking inexperience.
Our host had planned a three day trek for us, starting from Day3 of the trip.
Day 3 - Trek to Rumbak village, within the Hemis National Park. The trek to Rumbak should take 2-3 hrs.
Day 4 - Trek from Rumbak to Shingo via the Ganda La pass. This pass is at an altitude of 4900 m above sea level. We would have to trek from 4 to 5 hrs.
Day 5 - Trek from Shingo to Chilling crossing the Zanskar river on a rope pulley bridge. Visiting Sangam, Magnetic hill and Hall of Fame on the way back.
We started in the morning after breakfast. Our host asked us to take lots of toilet paper (no plumbing in the villages, more on that later), a torch and water bottles, the bottles could be replenished at the villages. We had very minimal change of clothes, we wouldn't be bathing for three days our host informed us.
I had a bag on me, with the necessary stuff along with my camera and binoculars, which I borrowed from my father. My wife had her bag. We drove for about 45 mins into the Hemis National Park, as far as the vehicle could take us.
After applying sun screen lotion, we started our trek. Ladakh is at a high altitude, but the sun is unforgiving. We started our trek, on a dirt track with tyre marks. The track would soon become narrow, that only foot travel is permissible.
Straining oneself at high altitude, is not a wise thing to do. In the plains, i.e. lower altitudes, the saturated blood oxygen is 99%. At high altitude places like Ladakh, it becomes 92%. Oxygen is transported through haemoglobin in our red blood cells. If the percentage of oxygen reduces, the body is being deprived of oxygen. So the body has to 'acclimatise' to the oxygen level. Moreover physical stress and over exertion can plummet the oxygen to such low levels that a person can become comatose and further reduction in oxygen saturation could be fatal. The reduction in oxygen saturation level manifests itself into what is known as High Altitude Sickness.
We could feel the effects of the altitude when we deplaned. There was a feeling of mild dizziness. I borrowed my father's pulse oximeter for the trip, and we checked our oxygen saturation level. Mine was 94% and Swetha's was 92%.
Getting back to the trek, I guess my body had acclimatised, but I couldn't say the same for my wife. I could see, she was stopping every 5 minutes or so. She was also dabbing her nose. From what I could make out, her nose was bleeding. I checked the oxygen saturation, it was 84.
These were the first sign of altitude sickness. Our guide, Mr Mangal and I exchanged worried looks.
Mr Mangal, told me that either we turn back or wait for some more time. Swetha decided to give it a go. I had diamox in my bag, but she wouldn't take it.
As we moved on we could see a couple of chukar partridge birds, which were rather reluctant to fly.
We were walking besides a stream which is fed by snow capped mountains.
In many Ladakhi villages, it is believed that Goat skulls wards off evil spirits. On our way to Rumbak we got to see a goat skull fixed to a pile of rocks.
We reached three fourths the distance and had our packed breakfast.
There were lots of people on the trail, and we were the only Indian tourists.
After having our food, we started for Rumabak Village. We had to walk around 5 km more.
The effect of the altitude combined with long walk was taking the toll on Swetha. To help her I carried her ruck sack too. After every 10 minutes or so, she would ask the guide how much further to the destination. By now it was clear that the trek couldn't continue as planned. We had to return back the next day. Had we gone as per plan, the next day would be steeper and the duration of the trek longer.
After half an hour, an agonising one for my wife, we could get a glimpse of the village, our abode for the night.
Rumbak is a Ladakhi village of around 20 houses. The villagers' provide comfortable accommodation in their houses for trekkers. Most of the villagers are elderly couples who have taken to farming and cattle raising. A few of them also have horses. The village is un-electrified, most of the houses have solar panels that charge during the day, and provide electricity during the night. There is no plumbing too. Instead of a toilet, there is room with an open pit in the house, and one has to use the pit to attend to the call of nature. There would be heaps of manure and a shovel. So instead of flushing, one has to take the shovel and cover 'it' up with manure. So if you can't stand the smell of manure, you can't take a dump.
Mr Mangal took us to one such house. 'Julley'! they greeted us which is Ladakhi for Hello, (and later I learnt many more words.).
The front of the house had a horse stable, and there was a cattle shed on the side.
The smell of Manure was in the air.
We were taken to our room, which was on the first floor.
The room was very well furnished. The interior was incongruous with the exterior. There were three mattresses and a couple of quilts. The entire room was carpeted.
My wife went to the 'toilet' and threw up. I guess manure didn't agree with her or it was the altitude sickness.
Our hostess, an elderly women got us some tea and cookies. I gorged on them, while Swetha was reluctant to even taste.
She collapsed on the bed, and was trying to sleep. I checked her oxygen saturation and made sure she couldn't look at the display. It was 75%, way below normal, but not low enough to be an emergency. I looked at her tired face and told her everything is normal. I just hoped that her normalcy would return post slumber. There was no way we could carry on with the trek as planned. We had to return the next day.
Had we gone as per schedule, we would've travelled via Yurutse, a one house hamlet 2 hours from Rumbak.
After making sure, Swetha was comfortable, I decided to go to Yurutse and return.
While she was seemingly asleep, my guide and I started. It was 1400 hrs and we had to return before night. Plenty of time, as the sun sets at 2000 hrs.
The trek to Yurutse was was much more arduous. We had to tackle steep gradients to reach the house in Yurutse. On the way we saw a herd of Himalayan Blue sheep or Bharals grazing.
We were treading very close to the slope of the mountain. On the way we met two Irishwomen who were also going towards Yurutse and would be spending the night there. We also met two Mexicans who were returning via Yurutse.
We had to cross a stream, which resembled a river. There was a log of wood across it and the water was just kissing the trunk.We managed to cross the stream without any problems.
After about 1.5 hours we reached the lone house in the Hamlet. It was a big house, that could comfortably accommodate 20 trekkers.
We were warmly greeted by the owner. While chatting with a German couple, we had some tea overlooking a beautiful peak.
After spending some time there, we started for Rumbak. The log across the stream was now submerged. Mr Mangal, tip toed across the log and made to the other side. I had a heavy camera and a binocular with me. I walked very slowly across the log, with my foot submerged and somehow made it across.
On our way back we got to see a few wild asses.
After an hour Rumbak was in view.
The village has lots of Magpies.
I reached the room to see her wide awake, apparently she could't sleep. Consuming lots of water actually helps alleviating the adverse effects of high altitude, but she wasn't willing to use the toilet unless an absolute necessity.
She was very tired and I doubted if she could walk back the next day. I had seen horses taking luggage to camping sites. I enquired with Mr Mangal if there were any Horses available that could reliably carry Swetha, he said he would check.
I hung my shoes and socks to dry. The hostess served us Tea.
While sipping tea, I was glancing through the books and albums that were kept in the room.
We went downstairs for dinner. I had expected a local Ladakhi cuisine, but was stupefied to see black dal, rice and a vegetable dish. My guide and I were hogging, while Swetha refused to take in a morsel of food.
Mr Mangal informed us that the host could lend his horse, and a person can be arranged to pull the horse. It would cost Rs 1500. Without a thought I agreed.
Swetha would get a horse ride tomorrow. What an adventure it has turned out for her.
Remember the small doors I mentioned, Swetha banged her head real hard while exiting the dining hall. When I went back to the room, I could see her literally crying, longing to get back home. With no food and water, she was very weak. Her oxygen saturation level was not building up any confidence.
Rumbak has a single satellite phone, thats it, no other means of communication.
Mr Mangal had called up Mr Dorjey and had informed him about the condition of my wife.
Mr Dorjey alarmed, was planning a rescue operation at 2100 hrs.
With no food and water in her system, and low oxygen saturation, things were not going well for my wife.
By then Mr Managal had found out that a Nurse stationed in the village had an oxygen cylinder. We quickly went to her and she was very helpful. We got the cylinder to the room, and fed her oxygen.
The Nurse advised her to take in some food in the form of salted rice. The hostess provided the rice. The main reason probably is to make her thirsty and consume water.
Mr Mangal informed Mr Dorjey that the rescue was not required.
She reluctantly had the rice and then water. More reluctantly, she made her way to the bathroom. Within half an hour she was sound asleep.
I was out on the terrace gazing at the sky. It was beautiful. The sky was blanketed with stars. I saw a shooting star, and made a wish that Swetha safely return back to Leh.
The next morning she was much better.
We had breakfast, thanked our hosts and were on our way back.
We were personally received by Mr Dorjey, at the entrance of Hemis National Park.
After the drive back to our Guest house, Swetha collapsed on the bed and was fast asleep in 10 minutes.
I asked Mr Dorjey, if he could arrange a comfortable vehicle for sight seeing the next day to which he agreed. I also asked him to arrange a Royal Enfield bike for our trip to Pangong Tso.
I was whiling away my time reading while my wife was re-acclimatising. In between I went to the terrace and snapped a few pictures.
In the evening Mr Dorjey, a bird watching enthusiast took us to a few bird watching spots on the banks of the Indus and opposite the Shey Palace. We saw plenty of Citrine Wagtails. A few days earlier I had casually mentioned to him, that I am interested and a beginner in bird watching. It was very nice of him to take us to Bird watching spots.
The next day, we went to the Hall of Fame. It was a museum maintained by the Indian Army, that is dedicated to the memory of our heroic soldiers who fought with courage and valour against the nefarious designs of our neighbouring countries.
The museum had artefacts and photographs from the recent wars. I was really moved, and tears welled up in my eyes.
My father served in the Kargil war, and I know how anxious we were till his return.
After stopping by the Gurudwara Pathar Sahib, we went on to see the 'Indus Zanskar' confluence via 'Magnetic Hill'. The Magnetic hill provides an optical illusion of travelling against gravity, without any external force.
At the confluence point we could see two rivers with different colours meeting.
We then proceeded to the Alchi monastery, on the Leh-Srinagar highway.
The drive was noticeably long.
We weren't keen on taking pictures at the monastery, as we had seen many monasteries. After reaching back, I called up Mr Dorjey to remind him to get the Royal Enfield bike delivered.
After 10 in the night, the bike was delivered. We had to fill it up the next morning.
I was excited and nervous. I have a 150 CC Pulsar, that I have driven a lot.
I would be riding a 500 CC Royal Enfield with my wife as the pillion, through one of the highest mountain passes in the world, where the roads are tough and rough.
I couldn't get much sleep that night.
Day 6 & 7- The road Trip to Pangong Tso.
In the morning, Mr Dorjey accompanied me to the Petrol Bunk. The bike was really powerful. The Gear system was the same as Pulsar ( 1 Down 4 Up). The clutch was a little far for the size of my hand. I forgot to fill air in the tyres
Our destination was Camp Redstart, in Spangmik, overlooking the Pangong Tso lake. We had booked a tent for the night. Our destination was about 150 km one way. Mr Dorjey informed me that a car would take 4 and a half hours depending on the number of stops.
The only Petrol Bunk on the way is at Karu, about 40 km from Leh, after which there are no Fuel stations.
The guys who delivered the bike said the a spare Can of fuel is not necessary, filling up at Karu while going and while returning fuelling enough at Karu so as to reach Leh would suffice.
I had read a lot about people carrying a Can of Fuel for the trip to Pangong Tso, so I asked Mr Dorjey for a Can. Coincidently he had a 10 litre full Can. I offered to refill the Can and return it to him, if we used any of it. He agreed, and even helped tie the Can to bike. We got our helmets, I put on my knee guards and elbow guards which are charged extra, and we were all set. The hiring charges were Rs 1600 per day, and fuel cost is mine.
We started, and driving the bullet was awesome. I could feel the power of the bike. I was taking it slow, as the bike was new to me. We crossed the Shey palace and had to overtake a convoy of Army trucks, which was a difficult task.
I had put my rucksack behind me on my back, but that gave very little space for my wife behind. So I hoisted the bag onto the fuel tank, that way I would be protected from the cold air too.
We crossed Karu, and I didn't fill any gas. After crossing the petrol station, we were stopped by a Motor Union guy. In Ladakh, it seems bikes should be rented from shops that are affiliated to the Ladakh Motor Union. If there are any violations, the Union representative wouldn't let the bike proceed. I couldn't see how a lone old guy could stop a Bullet, but I had the 'yellow paper' with me, so I stopped.
We then filled air, the air guy filled it up to 5psi more than rated, telling me that for these regions thats how its done.
We also filled up some forms and deposited them at the police post. We are supposed to fill self declaration forms at Karu and Tangste. I forgot to fill one up at Tangste.
After the checkpost, the road condition started deteriorating. We even doubted if we were on the right track. After a while, my wife exclaimed that the spare fuel Can is sliding. We stopped, retied the fuel Can to the bike, and carried on.
After about half an hour we could see some vehicles on the mountain slopes. Just before that we had to pay some Municipal fee for some place.
Then the ascent started, we kept climbing , traveling in zig zag patterns. After a while, every glance to the side would make me scared. There were no road railings, and the roads were narrow. The village in the valley got smaller and smaller.
I didn't take driving gloves, which turned out to be a big mistake. After the trip my hands were scorched.
At times there would be Army vehicles coming from the opposite direction. Some times on the hill side and some times on the valley side. Hill side is safer, I have the hill to my left, but valley sides very frightful, too much to the edge, and we'd fall hundreds of feet below.
There were places where the roads were non existent. There were hair pin bends on gravel. There were streams crossings, some ankle deep and some knee deep.
To make matters worse, the stream crossing had big rocks and loose gravel submerged.
When we reached Zingrail, we took a break. There were some Army units there.
I stopped the bike on the side of the road, with lots of loose gravel, a mistake I was soon to realise. After Swetha got off, I was trying to push the bike, to a better location for parking. I started pushing the heavy bike and my legs started slipping on the gravel, the bike and I had a fall. Luckily the bike didn't fall on me. Other bikers nearby came to my rescue and I thanked them.
While nearing the Chang La pass, I suddenly heard something being dragged. We stopped and found that the Fuel Can had fallen off and was being pulled by the bike.
As we were thinking of what to do, some 10 bullets passed us, most of them driven by foreign nationals.
I decided to put the Fuel Can into my rucksack. I removed the contents of the rucksack, put them in a plastic bag and tied it to the bike. I now had my heavy rucksack strapped to me in the front while resting on the fuel tank of the bike. In no time my back started aching.
Just about one kilometre from Chang La, I stopped in my tracks. The stream crossing in front looked like a river crossing. What made it more dangerous was that it was quite deep, the water was flowing fast and it was flowing off a steep cliff.
I asked Swetha to get down and take the rucksack, I went ahead slowly. The foreign bikers were taking pictures on the other side. One of them guided me. I went slowly, and manoeuvred the bike to avoid hitting big rocks, and in the process got both my feet completely wet. Getting across the stream was a big relief. My wife had to cart the heavy rucksack across the stream.
We reached Chang La pass at 1230, half the distance covered and completely exhausted.
As we were running late, we thought of clicking snaps while returning.
The road after Chang La was in terrible shape. Getting down hill is risky. You have to be in a low gear. Press the clutch the bike goes faster. Use the disc brake, the bike skids. I had Drum brakes in the back wheel, so it helped reduce the speed. I used the disc break in the front in a pulsed manner to cut down on speed.
Intermittently we could see sign boards with 'Avalance Prone zone' written.
We could see the carcass of many vehicles in the valley below and that sent a shiver down my spine.
We reached Durbuk, and took break. We then proceeded to Tangste. The road between Durbuk and Tangste was superb. The bike cruised at 80 Km/hr. After Tangste, the landscape began to change. It was beautiful.
We were getting late, so we clicked very few pictures.
My wife spotted a Mormont and insisted that we stop and take a picture.
We had many more stream crossings. We spotted some more wildlife.
We were really exhausted, and were waiting to reach our Camp.
When we got a view of the lake, we thought it was all worth it. The view was mesmerising.
There was one really deep stream crossing, I went though it fast and got our clothes wet.
Finally we reached Camp Redstart. We were warmly greeted, and were shown to our tent. The view from the left side of the tent was breathtaking.
We reached the camp at 1445 hrs. The camp guys were good enough to make lunch for us. We rested for an hour. The accommodation was quite good. There was an attached toilet with plumbing.
In the evening, we went for a stroll to the lake side. It was very cold and my ears were paining. The sight of the lake and mountains made be forget the pain.
We came back to the Camp and had a cup of tea. The other tents were occupied by a group of youngsters from Maharashtra, probably IT employees. They were not content with the serenity and tranquility of the place, the booze addled bunch created a lot of ruckus. Thankfully they stopped by midnight.
The night sky at Pangong Tso is simply beautiful. The entire sky was blanketed with stars. I saw a couple of shooting stars too. Needless to say, I wished for a safe journey back.
The next morning, we made sure to get into the dining hall before the noisy gang, had our breakfast and were ready to return.
Mr Namgial, the manager and the staff were very courteous and helpful, they attended to all our needs. Mr Namgial got the Fuel Can fixed to the bike in such a good way, that it didn't move till we returned to Leh.
We were on our way, riding past this mesmerising lake.
We took a lot more photographs while returning.
Another Mormont stop
And finally Chang La pass.
After Chang La we, we didn't take many photos. While descending from Chang La, we took a shortcut that many bikers were using. The shortcut was very risky. It was a mud road, with a very steep gradient. Somehow I kept my balance and reached the main road.
We took a break at Tangste, and then proceeded to Karu. We stopped at the check post and informed the person of our return.
We then stopped at Chamba restaurant, Thiksey for lunch.
At the restaurant we called up our parents, they were relieved. Actually no one had supported our idea of using a bike. But the thrill is worth the risk.
Even Mr Dorjey was relieved to hear of our return.
In the evening we went to Chengspa, Leh and returned the bike at Mr Dorjey's office.
We also met my father's commanding officer during the Kargil War. We had dinner at the Tibetan kitchen, and returned back with Mr Dorjey.
The next morning we were dropped at the Airport, and our most memorable trip yet came to an end.
Looking out the window from the plane at the majestic snow capped peaks, I felt a certain sense of belonging and I was sure of one thing, I'll be back for the trek!
Day 2: Hemis, Shey, Thiksey and Shanti Stupa
The 'Not advisable' word was still reverberating in my head. If it were only me, I wouldn't have bothered but the responsibility of the pillion rider(my wife) was mine. The roads are bad, with water streams flowing across, he had said. Moreover we would have to drive through the Changla Pass, which is at an elevation of 5360 m.
On top of that, any vehicle breakdown or puncture will leave you stranded.
He had offered me a shared trip to the lake. I had to decide by the end of the day.
After a sumptuous breakfast, we headed to the Hemis Monastery which is around 50 Km from Leh. It was the same Ecco, with the same driver. The driver was good natured and friendly. Actually most of the Ladakhis' are good natured and friendly.
We were traveling on the Leh Manali highway. The Indus was on the right and mountains on the left. Needless to say, the view was breathtaking.
The roads were good and the driver was entertaining us by pointing out the shooting spots of the movies 'Border' and '3 Idiots'.
My mind started to drift. A few days later, I would have to travel down the same road. But how? Would I be willing to take a risk ?
Just then I heard a faint and periodic noise in the background- Thud Thud Thud- which grew louder with every passing moment. As I looked out the window, a group of Bullets thundered passed us. I had made up my mind.
After 40 km we crossed Karu and reached a fork on the road. The left road led to Pangong Tso and the right one, continued to Manali. We took the road on the right.
After about 10 minutes we left the highway and proceeded towards the Hemis Monasterey. Unlike the highway, this road was narrow.
We reached the Monastery in 15 minutes.
The monastery had a museum in addition to the area dedicated to the Buddha. We entered the Museum first, without shoes.
The Hemis monastery is atop a mountain, and the museum was like a cave. It was like, our driver said, a freezer. We got to see many artefacts of Buddhism, but we were rushing through as our feet were beginning to freeze.
From the Monastery we could see an idol of the Buddha, situated in the adjacent hill.
All the Buddhist monasteries have a cylindrical wheel like structure that can be rotated in the clockwise direction when facing it. Probably it is equivalent to the Temple bells found in Hindu Temples
After visiting the Buddhist temples, which housed a
statue of Buddha and the prayer hall, we were on our way out. None of the inner
temples permit photography.
Thiksey monastery would be our next stop, the
driver informed us. A 25 km drive towards Leh, and we reached the Thiksey
monastery.
This monastery is perched on top a mountain, and
around 3 temples dedicated to the Buddha. We didn't take any pictures here, as
it was very similar to the Hemis Monastery.
We had lunch in a restaurant attached to the Hotel
Chamba. We also invited our driver to join us for Lunch. I wanted to try
local Ladakhi cuisine, and ordered Veg Thupka. The driver ordered Veg Thentuk
and Swetha was prudent enough to order 'Nan' and 'Mixed Veg Curry'.
The dish I got, was probably made for foreigners or
maybe Ladakhi people eat bland food. I tried putting everything into the dish,
from chili sauce to pepper, but the dish remained flat. I had no choice, but i
consumed the food. Thankfully my wife ordered food, palatable to my taste and I
shared some with her. She too reluctantly shared the Thupka with me.
We were bored of Monasteries by now. Our next stop
was the Shey Palace.
The palace was in complete ruins. We just strolled around inside.
There were a Buddha temple inside the palace too and photography was
permitted.
Maybe it was the altitude, but we were tired. We
then had to check off Shanti Stupa from our list.
The Shanti Stupa is atop a hill and one can get a
panoramic view of Leh Town.
I was also keenly looking forward to the trek,
scheduled for the next day.
We reached the Shanti Stupa. A stupa is a place of
meditation. A Japanese Buddhist conceived the immense structure.
The monument had idols
that depict a few phases of life.
BIRTH
DEFEATING THE DEVILS
TURNING WHEEL OF DHARMA
We could also see the panoramic view of Leh
Swetha started getting real bored. I was going around the stupa and soaking in information and enjoying the view, while Swetha was sitting in a corner and relaxing.
With the stupa, the second day came to an end. We proceeded to the guest house and then called it a day.
Day 3 4 & 5 - The unfinished trek
On the most exciting things that I was looking forward to was the trek. I enjoy trekking, and have done a lot of it. The serenity and tranquility while walking in a jungle or on the mountain sides is simply amazing. I somehow convinced my wife for the trek, but I didn't account for altitude and the trekking inexperience.
Our host had planned a three day trek for us, starting from Day3 of the trip.
Day 3 - Trek to Rumbak village, within the Hemis National Park. The trek to Rumbak should take 2-3 hrs.
Day 4 - Trek from Rumbak to Shingo via the Ganda La pass. This pass is at an altitude of 4900 m above sea level. We would have to trek from 4 to 5 hrs.
Day 5 - Trek from Shingo to Chilling crossing the Zanskar river on a rope pulley bridge. Visiting Sangam, Magnetic hill and Hall of Fame on the way back.
We started in the morning after breakfast. Our host asked us to take lots of toilet paper (no plumbing in the villages, more on that later), a torch and water bottles, the bottles could be replenished at the villages. We had very minimal change of clothes, we wouldn't be bathing for three days our host informed us.
I had a bag on me, with the necessary stuff along with my camera and binoculars, which I borrowed from my father. My wife had her bag. We drove for about 45 mins into the Hemis National Park, as far as the vehicle could take us.
After applying sun screen lotion, we started our trek. Ladakh is at a high altitude, but the sun is unforgiving. We started our trek, on a dirt track with tyre marks. The track would soon become narrow, that only foot travel is permissible.
Straining oneself at high altitude, is not a wise thing to do. In the plains, i.e. lower altitudes, the saturated blood oxygen is 99%. At high altitude places like Ladakh, it becomes 92%. Oxygen is transported through haemoglobin in our red blood cells. If the percentage of oxygen reduces, the body is being deprived of oxygen. So the body has to 'acclimatise' to the oxygen level. Moreover physical stress and over exertion can plummet the oxygen to such low levels that a person can become comatose and further reduction in oxygen saturation could be fatal. The reduction in oxygen saturation level manifests itself into what is known as High Altitude Sickness.
We could feel the effects of the altitude when we deplaned. There was a feeling of mild dizziness. I borrowed my father's pulse oximeter for the trip, and we checked our oxygen saturation level. Mine was 94% and Swetha's was 92%.
Getting back to the trek, I guess my body had acclimatised, but I couldn't say the same for my wife. I could see, she was stopping every 5 minutes or so. She was also dabbing her nose. From what I could make out, her nose was bleeding. I checked the oxygen saturation, it was 84.
These were the first sign of altitude sickness. Our guide, Mr Mangal and I exchanged worried looks.
Mr Mangal, told me that either we turn back or wait for some more time. Swetha decided to give it a go. I had diamox in my bag, but she wouldn't take it.
As we moved on we could see a couple of chukar partridge birds, which were rather reluctant to fly.
We were walking besides a stream which is fed by snow capped mountains.
In many Ladakhi villages, it is believed that Goat skulls wards off evil spirits. On our way to Rumbak we got to see a goat skull fixed to a pile of rocks.
We reached three fourths the distance and had our packed breakfast.
There were lots of people on the trail, and we were the only Indian tourists.
After having our food, we started for Rumabak Village. We had to walk around 5 km more.
The effect of the altitude combined with long walk was taking the toll on Swetha. To help her I carried her ruck sack too. After every 10 minutes or so, she would ask the guide how much further to the destination. By now it was clear that the trek couldn't continue as planned. We had to return back the next day. Had we gone as per plan, the next day would be steeper and the duration of the trek longer.
After half an hour, an agonising one for my wife, we could get a glimpse of the village, our abode for the night.
Rumbak is a Ladakhi village of around 20 houses. The villagers' provide comfortable accommodation in their houses for trekkers. Most of the villagers are elderly couples who have taken to farming and cattle raising. A few of them also have horses. The village is un-electrified, most of the houses have solar panels that charge during the day, and provide electricity during the night. There is no plumbing too. Instead of a toilet, there is room with an open pit in the house, and one has to use the pit to attend to the call of nature. There would be heaps of manure and a shovel. So instead of flushing, one has to take the shovel and cover 'it' up with manure. So if you can't stand the smell of manure, you can't take a dump.
Mr Mangal took us to one such house. 'Julley'! they greeted us which is Ladakhi for Hello, (and later I learnt many more words.).
The front of the house had a horse stable, and there was a cattle shed on the side.
The smell of Manure was in the air.
We were taken to our room, which was on the first floor.
The room was very well furnished. The interior was incongruous with the exterior. There were three mattresses and a couple of quilts. The entire room was carpeted.
My wife went to the 'toilet' and threw up. I guess manure didn't agree with her or it was the altitude sickness.
Our hostess, an elderly women got us some tea and cookies. I gorged on them, while Swetha was reluctant to even taste.
She collapsed on the bed, and was trying to sleep. I checked her oxygen saturation and made sure she couldn't look at the display. It was 75%, way below normal, but not low enough to be an emergency. I looked at her tired face and told her everything is normal. I just hoped that her normalcy would return post slumber. There was no way we could carry on with the trek as planned. We had to return the next day.
Had we gone as per schedule, we would've travelled via Yurutse, a one house hamlet 2 hours from Rumbak.
After making sure, Swetha was comfortable, I decided to go to Yurutse and return.
While she was seemingly asleep, my guide and I started. It was 1400 hrs and we had to return before night. Plenty of time, as the sun sets at 2000 hrs.
The trek to Yurutse was was much more arduous. We had to tackle steep gradients to reach the house in Yurutse. On the way we saw a herd of Himalayan Blue sheep or Bharals grazing.
We were treading very close to the slope of the mountain. On the way we met two Irishwomen who were also going towards Yurutse and would be spending the night there. We also met two Mexicans who were returning via Yurutse.
After about 1.5 hours we reached the lone house in the Hamlet. It was a big house, that could comfortably accommodate 20 trekkers.
We were warmly greeted by the owner. While chatting with a German couple, we had some tea overlooking a beautiful peak.
After spending some time there, we started for Rumbak. The log across the stream was now submerged. Mr Mangal, tip toed across the log and made to the other side. I had a heavy camera and a binocular with me. I walked very slowly across the log, with my foot submerged and somehow made it across.
On our way back we got to see a few wild asses.
After an hour Rumbak was in view.
The village has lots of Magpies.
I reached the room to see her wide awake, apparently she could't sleep. Consuming lots of water actually helps alleviating the adverse effects of high altitude, but she wasn't willing to use the toilet unless an absolute necessity.
She was very tired and I doubted if she could walk back the next day. I had seen horses taking luggage to camping sites. I enquired with Mr Mangal if there were any Horses available that could reliably carry Swetha, he said he would check.
I hung my shoes and socks to dry. The hostess served us Tea.
While sipping tea, I was glancing through the books and albums that were kept in the room.
We went downstairs for dinner. I had expected a local Ladakhi cuisine, but was stupefied to see black dal, rice and a vegetable dish. My guide and I were hogging, while Swetha refused to take in a morsel of food.
Mr Mangal informed us that the host could lend his horse, and a person can be arranged to pull the horse. It would cost Rs 1500. Without a thought I agreed.
Swetha would get a horse ride tomorrow. What an adventure it has turned out for her.
Remember the small doors I mentioned, Swetha banged her head real hard while exiting the dining hall. When I went back to the room, I could see her literally crying, longing to get back home. With no food and water, she was very weak. Her oxygen saturation level was not building up any confidence.
Rumbak has a single satellite phone, thats it, no other means of communication.
Mr Mangal had called up Mr Dorjey and had informed him about the condition of my wife.
Mr Dorjey alarmed, was planning a rescue operation at 2100 hrs.
With no food and water in her system, and low oxygen saturation, things were not going well for my wife.
By then Mr Managal had found out that a Nurse stationed in the village had an oxygen cylinder. We quickly went to her and she was very helpful. We got the cylinder to the room, and fed her oxygen.
The Nurse advised her to take in some food in the form of salted rice. The hostess provided the rice. The main reason probably is to make her thirsty and consume water.
Mr Mangal informed Mr Dorjey that the rescue was not required.
She reluctantly had the rice and then water. More reluctantly, she made her way to the bathroom. Within half an hour she was sound asleep.
I was out on the terrace gazing at the sky. It was beautiful. The sky was blanketed with stars. I saw a shooting star, and made a wish that Swetha safely return back to Leh.
The next morning she was much better.
We had breakfast, thanked our hosts and were on our way back.
We were personally received by Mr Dorjey, at the entrance of Hemis National Park.
After the drive back to our Guest house, Swetha collapsed on the bed and was fast asleep in 10 minutes.
I asked Mr Dorjey, if he could arrange a comfortable vehicle for sight seeing the next day to which he agreed. I also asked him to arrange a Royal Enfield bike for our trip to Pangong Tso.
I was whiling away my time reading while my wife was re-acclimatising. In between I went to the terrace and snapped a few pictures.
In the evening Mr Dorjey, a bird watching enthusiast took us to a few bird watching spots on the banks of the Indus and opposite the Shey Palace. We saw plenty of Citrine Wagtails. A few days earlier I had casually mentioned to him, that I am interested and a beginner in bird watching. It was very nice of him to take us to Bird watching spots.
The next day, we went to the Hall of Fame. It was a museum maintained by the Indian Army, that is dedicated to the memory of our heroic soldiers who fought with courage and valour against the nefarious designs of our neighbouring countries.
The museum had artefacts and photographs from the recent wars. I was really moved, and tears welled up in my eyes.
My father served in the Kargil war, and I know how anxious we were till his return.
After stopping by the Gurudwara Pathar Sahib, we went on to see the 'Indus Zanskar' confluence via 'Magnetic Hill'. The Magnetic hill provides an optical illusion of travelling against gravity, without any external force.
At the confluence point we could see two rivers with different colours meeting.
We then proceeded to the Alchi monastery, on the Leh-Srinagar highway.
The drive was noticeably long.
We weren't keen on taking pictures at the monastery, as we had seen many monasteries. After reaching back, I called up Mr Dorjey to remind him to get the Royal Enfield bike delivered.
After 10 in the night, the bike was delivered. We had to fill it up the next morning.
I was excited and nervous. I have a 150 CC Pulsar, that I have driven a lot.
I would be riding a 500 CC Royal Enfield with my wife as the pillion, through one of the highest mountain passes in the world, where the roads are tough and rough.
I couldn't get much sleep that night.
Day 6 & 7- The road Trip to Pangong Tso.
In the morning, Mr Dorjey accompanied me to the Petrol Bunk. The bike was really powerful. The Gear system was the same as Pulsar ( 1 Down 4 Up). The clutch was a little far for the size of my hand. I forgot to fill air in the tyres
Our destination was Camp Redstart, in Spangmik, overlooking the Pangong Tso lake. We had booked a tent for the night. Our destination was about 150 km one way. Mr Dorjey informed me that a car would take 4 and a half hours depending on the number of stops.
The only Petrol Bunk on the way is at Karu, about 40 km from Leh, after which there are no Fuel stations.
The guys who delivered the bike said the a spare Can of fuel is not necessary, filling up at Karu while going and while returning fuelling enough at Karu so as to reach Leh would suffice.
I had read a lot about people carrying a Can of Fuel for the trip to Pangong Tso, so I asked Mr Dorjey for a Can. Coincidently he had a 10 litre full Can. I offered to refill the Can and return it to him, if we used any of it. He agreed, and even helped tie the Can to bike. We got our helmets, I put on my knee guards and elbow guards which are charged extra, and we were all set. The hiring charges were Rs 1600 per day, and fuel cost is mine.
We started, and driving the bullet was awesome. I could feel the power of the bike. I was taking it slow, as the bike was new to me. We crossed the Shey palace and had to overtake a convoy of Army trucks, which was a difficult task.
I had put my rucksack behind me on my back, but that gave very little space for my wife behind. So I hoisted the bag onto the fuel tank, that way I would be protected from the cold air too.
We crossed Karu, and I didn't fill any gas. After crossing the petrol station, we were stopped by a Motor Union guy. In Ladakh, it seems bikes should be rented from shops that are affiliated to the Ladakh Motor Union. If there are any violations, the Union representative wouldn't let the bike proceed. I couldn't see how a lone old guy could stop a Bullet, but I had the 'yellow paper' with me, so I stopped.
We then filled air, the air guy filled it up to 5psi more than rated, telling me that for these regions thats how its done.
We also filled up some forms and deposited them at the police post. We are supposed to fill self declaration forms at Karu and Tangste. I forgot to fill one up at Tangste.
After the checkpost, the road condition started deteriorating. We even doubted if we were on the right track. After a while, my wife exclaimed that the spare fuel Can is sliding. We stopped, retied the fuel Can to the bike, and carried on.
After about half an hour we could see some vehicles on the mountain slopes. Just before that we had to pay some Municipal fee for some place.
Then the ascent started, we kept climbing , traveling in zig zag patterns. After a while, every glance to the side would make me scared. There were no road railings, and the roads were narrow. The village in the valley got smaller and smaller.
I didn't take driving gloves, which turned out to be a big mistake. After the trip my hands were scorched.
At times there would be Army vehicles coming from the opposite direction. Some times on the hill side and some times on the valley side. Hill side is safer, I have the hill to my left, but valley sides very frightful, too much to the edge, and we'd fall hundreds of feet below.
There were places where the roads were non existent. There were hair pin bends on gravel. There were streams crossings, some ankle deep and some knee deep.
To make matters worse, the stream crossing had big rocks and loose gravel submerged.
When we reached Zingrail, we took a break. There were some Army units there.
I stopped the bike on the side of the road, with lots of loose gravel, a mistake I was soon to realise. After Swetha got off, I was trying to push the bike, to a better location for parking. I started pushing the heavy bike and my legs started slipping on the gravel, the bike and I had a fall. Luckily the bike didn't fall on me. Other bikers nearby came to my rescue and I thanked them.
While nearing the Chang La pass, I suddenly heard something being dragged. We stopped and found that the Fuel Can had fallen off and was being pulled by the bike.
As we were thinking of what to do, some 10 bullets passed us, most of them driven by foreign nationals.
I decided to put the Fuel Can into my rucksack. I removed the contents of the rucksack, put them in a plastic bag and tied it to the bike. I now had my heavy rucksack strapped to me in the front while resting on the fuel tank of the bike. In no time my back started aching.
Just about one kilometre from Chang La, I stopped in my tracks. The stream crossing in front looked like a river crossing. What made it more dangerous was that it was quite deep, the water was flowing fast and it was flowing off a steep cliff.
I asked Swetha to get down and take the rucksack, I went ahead slowly. The foreign bikers were taking pictures on the other side. One of them guided me. I went slowly, and manoeuvred the bike to avoid hitting big rocks, and in the process got both my feet completely wet. Getting across the stream was a big relief. My wife had to cart the heavy rucksack across the stream.
We reached Chang La pass at 1230, half the distance covered and completely exhausted.
As we were running late, we thought of clicking snaps while returning.
The road after Chang La was in terrible shape. Getting down hill is risky. You have to be in a low gear. Press the clutch the bike goes faster. Use the disc brake, the bike skids. I had Drum brakes in the back wheel, so it helped reduce the speed. I used the disc break in the front in a pulsed manner to cut down on speed.
Intermittently we could see sign boards with 'Avalance Prone zone' written.
We could see the carcass of many vehicles in the valley below and that sent a shiver down my spine.
We reached Durbuk, and took break. We then proceeded to Tangste. The road between Durbuk and Tangste was superb. The bike cruised at 80 Km/hr. After Tangste, the landscape began to change. It was beautiful.
We were getting late, so we clicked very few pictures.
My wife spotted a Mormont and insisted that we stop and take a picture.
We had many more stream crossings. We spotted some more wildlife.
We were really exhausted, and were waiting to reach our Camp.
When we got a view of the lake, we thought it was all worth it. The view was mesmerising.
There was one really deep stream crossing, I went though it fast and got our clothes wet.
Finally we reached Camp Redstart. We were warmly greeted, and were shown to our tent. The view from the left side of the tent was breathtaking.
We reached the camp at 1445 hrs. The camp guys were good enough to make lunch for us. We rested for an hour. The accommodation was quite good. There was an attached toilet with plumbing.
In the evening, we went for a stroll to the lake side. It was very cold and my ears were paining. The sight of the lake and mountains made be forget the pain.
We came back to the Camp and had a cup of tea. The other tents were occupied by a group of youngsters from Maharashtra, probably IT employees. They were not content with the serenity and tranquility of the place, the booze addled bunch created a lot of ruckus. Thankfully they stopped by midnight.
The night sky at Pangong Tso is simply beautiful. The entire sky was blanketed with stars. I saw a couple of shooting stars too. Needless to say, I wished for a safe journey back.
The next morning, we made sure to get into the dining hall before the noisy gang, had our breakfast and were ready to return.
Mr Namgial, the manager and the staff were very courteous and helpful, they attended to all our needs. Mr Namgial got the Fuel Can fixed to the bike in such a good way, that it didn't move till we returned to Leh.
We were on our way, riding past this mesmerising lake.
We took a lot more photographs while returning.
Another Mormont stop
And finally Chang La pass.
After Chang La we, we didn't take many photos. While descending from Chang La, we took a shortcut that many bikers were using. The shortcut was very risky. It was a mud road, with a very steep gradient. Somehow I kept my balance and reached the main road.
We took a break at Tangste, and then proceeded to Karu. We stopped at the check post and informed the person of our return.
We then stopped at Chamba restaurant, Thiksey for lunch.
At the restaurant we called up our parents, they were relieved. Actually no one had supported our idea of using a bike. But the thrill is worth the risk.
Even Mr Dorjey was relieved to hear of our return.
In the evening we went to Chengspa, Leh and returned the bike at Mr Dorjey's office.
We also met my father's commanding officer during the Kargil War. We had dinner at the Tibetan kitchen, and returned back with Mr Dorjey.
The next morning we were dropped at the Airport, and our most memorable trip yet came to an end.
Looking out the window from the plane at the majestic snow capped peaks, I felt a certain sense of belonging and I was sure of one thing, I'll be back for the trek!
well written; no doubt it is an another world.
ReplyDeleteExcellent tour
ReplyDeleteExcellent tour
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