I promised to write about our Ladakh experiences, but somehow never got down to doing it. However, I shall do so sooner or later and won't forget to include some photographs as well.
For the moment, I shall just mention that we had a wonderful time in Delhi, Manali, Leh (from where we started off for the trek), Srinagar, Lucknow, back to Kerala, and then after that, to Mumbai, Aurangabad, Ajanta and Ellora. All in all, we were away for almost two months and had a terrific time. The trek in particular, was out of the world! Will write more soon...
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Here I am, writing about our Ladakh experiences, but at a much later date. Since I had kept brief notes about our travels, it was easy enough to reconstruct the journey, and the photographs helped in reviving memories!
Our Himalayan Adventure
Finally, here it is, a visual
record of our journey from Manali to Leh, our trek from Likir to Temisgam and
then the Leh-Srinagar trip. It was a voyage which took long in the making,
almost 25 years! In the past, our Ladakh travel plans had always appeared
jinxed, as, on several occasions, we almost made it, but not quite. Once, we
had reached as far as Srinagar and
were practically about to board a flight to Leh, when we got news about Simmy’s
father’s illness (and subsequent passing away), and had to rush back all the
way to Kerala!
I had been perennially fascinated
by Ladakh. The rugged terrain, the high altitudes, the blue skies, and the
friendly people had always attracted me. So this time, we made our plans very
well indeed. Thanks to the internet and a beautiful book on trekking brought
out by Outlook Magazine, it was fairly easy to organize the trip without any
running around.
We left Cochin
on the 5th August 2010.
There were hiccups right from the beginning! As there was a ‘Bharat Bandh’ that
day called by the Opposition parties, we had to move into the airport complex
the previous day, when my old friend Philip Mathew of Malayala Manorama very
kindly offered us his Guest House to stay in. We left Delhi
on the 8th, accompanied by Arvind Kala and his wife Chunnu, and stayed at their
lovely little cottage in Manali till the 11th. The Kalas were
gracious hosts indeed and we truly enjoyed their lavish hospitality. Their
cottage is high up in Manali, far from the confusion of the town, near the Log
Huts, with a spectacular view of the mountains, the valley, and the Manalsu
river far below.
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| Chunnu and Simmy in Kala's apple-laden garden |
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| The Kalas outside their beautiful Manali cottage |
Despite some goof-ups by the
HPTDC (who had earlier confirmed our bus bookings), we managed to board the
bi-weekly bus to Leh on 11th July and had reached only as far as
Marhi, when we were told that there had been a landslide and that we would have
to trans-ship ourselves and our luggage into another bus waiting at the other
side! Luckily, mules were available nearby and all 35 of us passengers hired
mules for the luggage and then trekked uphill for almost one hour before
reaching the other bus. Because of all these delays, we got to Rohtang
Pass (13050 ft.) quite late, after 5 pm. Surprisingly, there was very little snow
at Rohtang, probably because this was July. By the time we got to Keylong, it
was 10 p.m.. At Keylong, we were
provided fairly decent tented accommodation, in the compound of the
Chandrabhaga Hotel, with dinner at their restaurant.
 |
| In our tent at the Chandrabhaga Hotel in Keylong |
We were up early next morning (12th
July) at 4 am and after breakfast at
the same restaurant, were on our way, via Jispa, Darcha and Zingzing Bar,
reaching Baralacha La (16500ft.) around 8 am.
By now, the altitude had begun to affect me quite badly and from Baralacha La
onwards, I was rather unwell, disinclined to even take photographs! Simmy on
the other hand, despite her total lack of exposure to heights, seemed
absolutely fine and I was rather jealous! As a matter of fact, throughout our
journey, Simmy had no altitude problems at all and it was I (who always prided
myself on my trekking capabilities!) who was constantly down.
 |
| At the snow-bound Baralacha La |
Baralacha La was snow-bound and
we took some great photographs there, after which we continued our journey
along the Tsarap chu river, which provided some spectacular scenery, reaching
Sarchu at around
10 am.
 |
| The Tsarap chu river |
We reached
Lachulung La around
1 p.m. This pass
is at a height of 16616 ft. and by this time I was very, very sick indeed, with
nauseau and head-ache, while Simmy, much to my discomfiture and embarrassment, seemed
impervious to the cold and the altitude and appeared enviably hale and hearty! Almost as if to balance my
distress however, the passenger sitting in the next seat, a Frenchman, seemed
to be much worse than me. He was very sick indeed and sorrowfully told me that
although he had been up to great heights in
Europe
before, and was an avid trekker, he had never faced such severe altitude
problems before.
An hour and a half later, at around 2.30 in the afternoon, we stopped for tea
at Pang, a tented village on the way.
 |
| Tea at Pang |
Leaving Pang, we soon entered the Moore
Plains, a very interesting piece of flat land, stretching out for almost 40
kms., all at a consistent altitude above 15400 ft. Such flat terrain is quite
unusual in Ladakh, and I wish I had taken some photographs. Sadly, I did not,
because I was too sick. Though very sick, I found myself wondering idly why the
Indian Air Force did not establish a forward Air Base here in the Moore Plains,
which would be located very strategically, within striking distance of both
Pakistan
and
China!
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| Entering the Moore plains |
By around
5.15 pm we arrived at
Tanglang
La. This pass is 17582 ft. and is supposed to be
the second highest motorable pass in the world! By now, I could hardly breathe,
but managed to take some pictures and pose for some as well! This was the last
time I took pictures that day, because I was too sick for the rest of the
journey.
 |
| At Tanglangla, the second highest pass in the world! |
At Upshi, we reached the Indus
River, crossed it and went on via Karu,
Thiksey and Choglamsar, reaching Leh around 10
pm.
The next day, 13
th
July saw me in a much better condition. Leh is a lovely little town, with an
ambience and atmosphere uniquely different from most other holiday stations in
India.
It’s full of foreigners, and rarely does one see holidaying Indians there. The
tourists are mainly adventure-tourists, who come to flavour the unlimited
opportunities that Ladakh provides. The place is full of little cafes, bistros
and wayside eating houses, in many ways reminiscent of the ones in
Goa,
but in many ways quite different too. And that is not the only connection that
Leh has with
Goa. A very interesting aspect of these
restaurants is that off-season, many of the owners, as well as the staff,
migrate to
Goa to set up similar units there!
 |
| The roof-top cafe at Dreamland Restaurant |
 |
| At Dreamland Hotel |
 |
| A view of Leh Palace from below |
 |
| Main street, Leh |
We had made arrangements for
trekking and stay with the Dreamland Trek & Tour Company and stayed in their
Dreamland Hotel on
Fort Road.
It had no pretensions to being 5-star, but was reasonably comfortable and
extremely affordable! And their restaurant served delicious food. We often went
up for breakfast to the roof-top restaurant, from where we could see the
surrounding mountains and the Leh Palace, which of course is the most
conspicuous and visible feature in Leh, perched atop a hill right next to the
town.
We spent three days in Leh,
acclimatizing, so as to be absolutely fit during the trek. On the 16
th
July, we set off for Likir, in an Innova provided by the Tour Operators,
accompanied by two young Ladakhis, Lotus and Ridzin, who were to be our guide
and cook respectively. They were very sweet boys indeed and were very good to
us, looking after every little need of ours during the trek. As evident from
the photographs, Ridzin bore an uncanny resemblance to Tintin, and that is what
we named him!
 |
| Lotus (our guide) and Tintin the cook |
The
Indus
River is the lifeline of Ladakh,
and though Leh is not exactly on the banks of the river, it is only about 6 kms.
away. Near Leh, the river is quite gentle, as it flows through mainly flat
land, but elsewhere, it is a raging torrent, often flowing through deep gorges
far below the road.
We reached Likir village about
10.30 am and straight away went up to the
monastery, situated, as always in Ladakh, at a vantage point, atop a cliff high
above the village. (If this was Europe, instead of a monastery, there would have been a castle, with the local baron lording it over the hapless villagers below!) With about 100 lamas on its rolls, this gompa is the venue
of an important annual prayer festival held in February each year. It has a
huge bronze statue of the Buddha, several massive prayer wheels and an
interesting library and museum. The view of the green village below was truly
spectacular.
 |
| The giant Buddha at Likir Monastery |
 |
| The lush green Likir village below the monastery |
After spending more than an hour
in the monastery, we went down to the village, located the muleteer and his four
mules (all previously arranged by Dreamland Treks & Tours) and by
noon were on our way. Crossing a small stream,
we passed the village, went under a chorten, trekked across somewhat flat
terrain for about an hour, then climbed up gently for another hour before
hitting the Phobe La Pass (3580 m). Then we trekked downhill for another two
hours, and crossed another stream at Sumdo, which we had to wade across. The
water was icy cold and we had to wait for several minutes in the sun, to warm
our feet.
 |
| Warming our feet after crossing the Sumdo river |
From Sumdo it was uphill again, crossing the Chagatse La Pass (3630
m), before reaching the
village of Yangthang
around
5 pm. It had been a long,
continuous trek for almost 5 hours, and though not strenuous, was very hot,
under a blazing sun. Our sun hats came in very handy indeed.
 |
| Our camping site at Yangthang village |
 |
| Simmy outside our tent at Yangthang |
Yangthang was a beautiful little
village, surrounded by mountains on all sides. Our aides soon pitched the tents
a little away from the village, at a camping site adjacent to the
Yangthang
Primary School and we were served
hot tea and snacks. We then walked along a little stream leading to the
village, met a few other campers (mostly French), and came back to loll around
the campsite. Though it was past
7.30 pm,
it was quite bright and there was something ethereal about the whole place, the
lighting, the mountains and the general atmosphere. Everything looked so
breathtakingly beautiful that I was moved to tears. I suddenly felt like opening
the Bible and reading Genesis. I did so, and while reading the first chapter
about Creation aloud, found myself breaking down after every sentence. I could
hardly complete the reading, and I was as surprised as Simmy at my own
condition! It was, I suppose, what could only be described as a ‘mystical’
experience.
 |
| Our kitchen tent |
We had two tents; one was a
kitchen tent which also doubled as the sleeping place for the staff, while the
other was a smaller blue tent for us. Soon Lotus and Tintin got busy cooking
dinner and by
9 pm had whipped up a
simple but delicious meal which we ate with great relish in the kitchen tent.
By
9.30 pm we were fast asleep in
our cosy tent.
 |
| Our staff in the kitchen tent |
 |
Tintin and Lotus busy in the kitchen tent
|
 |
Simmy enjoying her dinner in the kitchen tent
|
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| Inside our cosy tent |
The next day (17
th
July) the luggage was packed onto the mules soon after breakfast in the open,
with tin trunks serving as our table. We were off by
9 O’clock.
 |
| The mules being readied for loading |
It was downhill at first, and within one hour
we were crossing a fast-flowing stream near Ridzong. Simmy had to be helped
across the slender wooden plank bridging the water, and we had considerable
trouble getting the mules across. One of them almost got swept off downstream.
 |
| Lotus helping Simmy cross the stream |
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| Our mules almost get swept downstream |
After crossing the stream it was
uphill all the way, in the fierce sun. It was a stiff climb, mostly along a
little rivulet which seemed to stretch on and on.
 |
Uphill all the way
|
 |
| Menhirs? No, just natural rock formations |
On the way up, we came across
some rocks of fantastic shapes and sizes, reminding me of menhirs. Finally at
around 4.15 in the evening, we reached the tiny little
village
of Uley, (total population of 7
households) where we were to camp. Tintin, the muleteer and the mules had gone
on ahead of us, and by the time we reached camp, the tents had already been
pitched and hot tea was awaiting.
 |
| An exhausted Simmy at our campsite in Uley |
Uley was a pretty village, and I
discovered later that it holds the world record for being the highest polling
station in the world! It was situated at about 15,000 ft. and I soon began to
get breathless.
 |
| I begin to suffer from altitude sickness at Uley |
It got much worse towards the night after dinner. I could
hardly sleep because of the discomfort and troubled Simmy throughout the night.
At one time I was pretty sure that I was going to die and remember hallucinating about Simmy
sorrowfully loading my body onto the unhappy mules! Worse still, I imagined my
friend Kala very disapprovingly saying, “This Cat (he always calls me Cat), why does
he come all the way to Ladakh to pop off, and give so much trouble to Simmy?” Anyway, the discomfort eased off after some
time, and well past
midnight, I got to
sleep. The next morning, to my great relief, I was much better and after a quick breakfast, we were
off once again, this time downhill for quite some time, going back mostly over
ground we had covered on our way up.
The rest of the way was also
fairly easy and within three hours or so, we were in Hemis Sukpachen,
undoubtedly one of Ladakh’s prettiest villages. The village, named after the
grove of cedars (shukpa in Ladakhi)
is full of sparkling streams surrounded by shady willows and large barley
fields. The huge private camping ground there, even had toilets (albeit very
crude and primitive), which was indeed a welcome change for us after two days
of open toiletting! The ground was so full of European trekkers, mostly a group
of noisy but friendly Italians, that there was almost no place for us to pitch
our tent. We finally found a place near a running stream, close to a private
house which even offered hot water. We grabbed the opportunity and indulged in
the luxury of a hot bath. Our staff too had a respite as they could cook food
in a regular kitchen (very basic of course), bang next to our tent,
thoughtfully provided by the owners of the camping ground.
 |
Going down from Uley
|
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The lush greenery at Hemis Sukpachen
|
 |
| Relaxing outside our tent at Hemis Sukpachen |
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| The amazing greenery at Hemis Sukpachen |
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| Goodbye to Hemis Sukpachen |
The next day saw us passing
through real rugged mountain paths. Our mules went much ahead of us and at
times the climbs appeared so stiff that we wondered if we would ever catch up
with them, as they appeared so far away.
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| Our mules are far away! |
The sparse mountainscape was occasionally interspersed with brilliant
patches of Ladakhi flowers which provided great contrast to the otherwise
barren scenery.
 |
| An unusual sight -- flowers on the way |
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| Simmy surrounded by the gaunt mountains |
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| Another snap of Simmy |
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| Simmy the trekker par excellence! |
The ravaged landscape continued till the climb to the Mebtak La
Pass (3750 m), marked by prayer flags, from where we descended down a gorge to
Ang, a charming village with apricot orchards. At Ang we reached a motorable
road, down which we walked a few kilometers to Temisgam, where we were met by
our vehicle sent down from Leh by the organizers. At Temisgam we bade goodbye
to our genteel muleteer, dumped our luggage into the vehicle, and were soon
speeding along to Lamayuru, where we would spend the night. The road to
Lamayuru was tortuous and winding, offering spectacular views of the hair-pin
bends, locally known as ‘jalebi-loops’
.
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| The jalebi-loops en route to Lamayuru |
 |
A prayer wheel in Lamayuru
|
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| A chapel in Lamayuru |
By 5 pm we reached Lamayuru and
pitched tent near a lamasery-cum-lodging house below the awesome escarpment on
which perches the huge 11th century Lamayuru monastery and its guest
houses.
The next day, we went for a quick
tour of the craggy, impressive monastery surrounded by the yellow loess formations
for which the area is very famous. The numerous caves adjacent to the monastery
in which monks used to reside in earlier days, are quite fascinating and offer
a glimpse of the ascetic living conditions of those days.
 |
| A cave at Lamayuru |
After spending a few
hours at the monastery, it was time to leave and we started on our journey to
Leh which took about 6 hours. The most interesting part of this trip was the
stop at Magnetic Hill when we actually witnessed a gravity-defying
phenomenon. Our stationary vehicle, when parked at a particular spot on the
road, would move uphill, instead of downhill!
 |
| Magnetic Hill |
We spent the next two days in
Leh, relaxing and unwinding from the rigours of the trek. We ate some great
food mostly at the Dreamland Restaurant, visited the Leh
Palace, and did some minor shopping
at the bazaar near Fort Road.
 |
| Simmy with Javeed Iqbal of Dreamland Treks |
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Outside the Dreamland Treks Office
|
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| Simmy gets friendly with some French tourists at Dreamland Restaurant |
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| At the Leh Palace |
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| At one of the entrances to Leh Palace |
We also booked our tickets to Srinagar
on a J& K Road Transport Bus scheduled to leave Leh on the 22nd
July. The bus unfortunately left Leh only at 4
pm, which meant that most of the journey was done after daylight
hours. So we missed most of the spectacular scenery en route. The bus passed
through places such as Drass, Kargil and Tiger Hill, all made famous because of
the Kargil War and we were sorry that we could not see them in daylight. We
stopped for dinner at Drass and I remember eating piping hot rajma-chawal
at a restaurant. We were both ravenously hungry, and the food tasted absolutely
delicious. Inside the bus, it was quite comfortable, but the temperature
outside was bitterly cold. When we got off to eat, I was wearing nothing but a
light sweater; as soon as we got out however, I saw a board which said,
‘Welcome to Drass, the second-coldest inhabited place in the world!’ I quickly got back into the bus, put on my
heavy jacket and returned to the restaurant, vaguely wondering which would be the coldest inhabited place in the world. Is it Siberia?
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| Drass- the second coldest inhabited place in the world |
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| A restaurant in Drass |
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| An invitation to visit Tiger Hill |
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| Inside our bus |
Most of us passengers slept off
during the rest of the journey. Though dark, it was obvious that the road was a
dangerous one, very narrow, and with precipices sometimes on both sides. No
wonder this is called one of the most adventurous roads in the world, another
being the Manali-Leh road, on which we had earlier travelled. Simmy and I
prayed fervently that the driver would not go to sleep. As it became brighter,
we began to see the shapes and sizes of the mountains around; it almost seemed
as if were in an aircraft. Our vehicle was high up in the mountains, while
below floated the clouds, and further below, was the Kashmir
Valley! Altogether an incredible
sight.
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| View from an aircraft? No, from our bus |
We reached Srinagar
just as dawn was breaking. As no porters were available so early in the
morning, I had perforce to climb up to the roof of the bus and bring down our
luggage. Thus, at the ripe old age of 62, I accomplished this feat and was
quite surprised at my own agility.
Srinagar
was like a city under siege. There was curfew and the hotel where we had
booked, the Lala Rookh, was a virtual fortress. It was cordoned off, there
were sandbags all around and machine-gun toting soldiers guarded every
entrance. Luckily they let us pass when we showed our identity cards and our
reservations.
 |
At the Hotel Lala Rookh
|
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| Relaxing at the Hotel |
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| The desolate Lal Chowk from our hotel room |
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| The beautiful Catholic Church in Srinagar |
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| Shikaras lying idle |
We spent two days in Srinagar. One of the first things we did was to visit the local Catholic church-- a very beautiful old British building, attend Mass and offer thanks for our safe journeys so far.
 |
| No business for the houseboats |
 |
At the empty Ahdoos Restaurant
|
I had never seen the city so dull. Because of the troubled conditions, most
shops were closed, there were no tourists, business was dull, and houseboats,
shikaras, etc. were just not plying. Even the famous Kashmiri restaurant
Ahdoos was barely functioning.
 |
| An armoured vehicle at Lal chowk just outside our hotel room |
We were
glad to get out of the city on the 25th of July; in fact ours was
one of the last flights from Srinagar
for about ten days, because there was considerable trouble in the city after this,
and flights were just not landing or taking off. We were lucky to get away!
A few days after reaching Delhi,
there was even more disconcerting news. There were cloudbursts, avalanches and
floods in many parts of Ladakh and many tourists and trekkers had to be
evacuated by Air Force helicopters. We thanked God that there were no problems
while we were on our trek.
