Mission Ladakh - Conquering the High Passes of Broken Moon Land!!

Ladakh (La-pass;Dakh-land), "The Land of High Passes", "Broken Moon Land", "The Land Of Endless Discoveries", "Land of Prayers", "Desert In The Sky" etc etc. These innumerable captions associated with Ladakh itself gives the sense of grandeur of this majestic place lying in the Trans Himalayan region. Being a travel lover, Ladakh was always on my mind as one of the must visit destination. Set in Himalayan mountain splendor, Ladakh is an enchanted land, which amid the global chaos of our new century, seems in control of its own destiny. The scenic splendor of the soaring mountains and pristine valleys, coupled with the vibrancy of its cultural life, makes Ladakh one of the last undiscovered destinations; an adventure to feed the soul and enrich the senses.

Watch the stunning Ladakh landscapes wonderfully captured in this time-lapse video

                                                       

Video Courtesy : www.knotinfocus.in

Also get a glimpse of the amazing and breathtaking Ladakh Landscapes captured so elegantly in the following bollywood songs.

     

 

The Plan : The Master Plan!

 

  We are group of few colleagues that rarely miss tea-time while in office. Apart from current affairs, sport and general men's gossips, travel also is one of the favorite topic for discussion. Once in a while Ladakh used to pop up in our discussions related to travel. Our friend Arun used to highlight Ladakh as part of travel plan for the holidays especially for our year-end holidays. However given the very harsh climatic conditions, Ladakh was ruled out for exploring during the year-end holidays which generally falls on the last week of December.

  To be precise, our Ladakh plan was hatched when we went to Goa during Dasara Holidays of 2013. Actually Goa trip was planned by my wife's colleagues family. They happened to invite us too for the trip. Being a travel freak and also the fact that it was Goa, we decided to join them. After having good time in Goa for couple of days, we boarded the return bus to Bangalore. Since the bus was early in the evening at 5:30PM, we had good amount of time to chit-chat before going for sleep. Both the families got into some discussion on travel, camera etc. During the discussion, my wife's colleagues husband brought out a point that if we are planning for Ladakh, its better to book flight tickets upfront since its cheaper to book tickets well in advance as they too were interested in Ladakh trip. Though they could not join us for the trip, however it was this suggestion which made our Ladakh trip happen. Once back in Bangalore, I discussed about Ladakh plan with my colleagues and started exploring the internet for all possible information related to Ladakh. Initially I saw a interest from fairly large no of my friends and colleagues in the Ladakh trip. Hence we kick started our Ladakh trip plan. 

    More formal and serious discussion started on 26^th Nov 2013 when Sumant gave a headsup for the Ladakh trip with a mail thread asking all interested folks so that we can go ahead and make the booking. There was wonderful response by many of the friends and colleagues. Hence we started looking out for best flight deal. Initially we had a plan to begin our trip somewhere around last week of April combining Labour Day holiday. At the same time we started going through tons of blogs on internet to find out best travel date. Many had suggested that May-Sep is the perfect time to travel to Ladakh. Moreover we didn't want our travel be affected by bad weather. Hence to be on the safer side we decided to travel anytime in May. Coincidentally we got a fairly better deal on the airfare for the second week of May. Meanwhile we had few confusions whether to fly directly or drive into Leh via Kashmir or Manali considering the picturesque journey that is offered en route. After considering the amount of travel and the necessary leaves required, we finally decided to fly directly to Leh. Even after taking a decision on travel, there was  some last moment hiccups for booking due to few other suggestions by friends and some inputs over net. But on one fine day we decided its enough of thinking. It was 19^th of Dec 2013, when we decided to go ahead and make a flight booking to Leh for the dates May13-21 2014. We did booking just before our year end holidays. Had the booking was not on that day, we must've have shelled out more for the air tickets. Finally after intense discussions and planning we crossed first hurdle for our Mission Ladakh. It was Prashant, Savita, Sumant, Deepali, Sapna and me in the final Mission !!

   In addition to the air tickets, we  had to find out local tour package covering the places that we wanted to visit. While planning I had spoken to some of the travel vendors especially MakeMyTrip, Yatra, Thomas-Cook, Cox&Kings regarding the travel packages for Ladakh. However their packages were not convincing w.r.t to the cost and the destinations covered. Hence we dropped the plan of booking the package with the well know travel vendors. Few blogs also suggested not to book packages with the standard tour agents instead go with local travel agents. Meanwhile more exploration on the web led me to one Ladakh travel provider http://www.ladakhtravel.net/. Though Internet didn't provide me much reviews about their services, but the cost and itinerary was very much in-line with our expectations. Even the selection of the hotels were very good based on the Tripadvisor ratings. They had offered standard and deluxe packages with price difference only couple of thousands. Since we wanted to have once in a lifetime experience in Ladakh, we went ahead and booked the deluxe package. Not to mention, Ms.Tahira the travel agent with ladakhtravel.net helped us in making the right choice of destinations and hotels in Ladakh. Hence we took a final decision of going ahead with the travel package from ladakhtravel.net. Overall we had an amazing experience with the ladakhtravel.net package.

Tips for travelers:

• Book air tickets early if you plan to fly into Leh. Air Tickets for Ladakh and Oxygen in Ladakh are in limited supply.
• Go through the numerous blogs.
• Choose right destinations that are appropriate for your travel duration.
• Try to find tour package with local travel agents.

 Planning was the major part of Ladakh tour which lasted for almost a month and a half.  With the air tickets and tour package booked, we had now 5 months to plan other logistics for our travel to Ladakh. After all the booking was done, no one bothered much about the trip till the month of April. As the tour date was fast approaching, we got into action and started preparing the travel check-list. Again lot of tips came from information super-highway the internet itself. Also our travel agent provided us the check-list. In addition, Mr. Pradeep Bakshi from Gujarath whom I met on tripadvisor gave good tips on Ladakh Travel. He had visited Ladakh almost four times on various seasons. Also he guides most of folks who want to travel to Ladakh. We collated all the data we received and prepared our final check list.

Here is our checklist:

1. Pair of Thermals.
2. Woolen clothes i.e Sweaters, Hand-gloves, Woolen Socks, Jackets, Monkey caps, Shawls. These are absolutely necessary if you travel in the month of May.
3. Medicines - Diamox, Cold Tablets, Fever Tablets, Dispirin, Vicks Vaporub, Pain Killers. All these needed in an emergency only. We took Diamox only once to feel better though.
4. Sunscreen(SPF30 and above), Cold Cream(Carry a big one), Lipbalm.
5. Carry a Thermometer if possible. You will get a clue about the outside temperature. Otherwise there is no way to know the outside temperature.
6. Chocolates, Dry Fruits, Tang Packets, Electral(ORS).

Tour de Ladakh : This is how we got LEH'd.

Day :00: Bangalore-Delhi - May 13 2014
Day :01: Delhi – Leh . Complete rest at the hotel for acclimatization.
Day :02: Leh to Shey, Thiksey, Stok Palace, Druk Lotus School - 90Kms
Day :03: Leh - Alchi, Likir – Lamayuru and Moonland was added to the Itinerary after reaching Leh with an additional cost. - 130Kms
Day :04: Leh to Nubra.  Stay at Nubra Camp: 125 Km. (4 - 5 hrs one way Approx via Kardung-La).
Day :05: Nubra to Leh 125 Km. (4 - 5 hrs one way Approx)
Day :06: Leh to Pangong. Stay at  Pangong Camp: 134Km.(4-5hrs oneway via Chang-La)
Day :07: Pangong to Leh. 134Km.(4-5hrs oneway)
Day :08: Leh to Airport (Departure) - May 21 2014

View Mission Ladakh - My Ladakh Trip !! in a larger map

Places visited : Marked in Letters.
Restaurants : Marked In Digits.

Our Base Camps :

Leh : Hotel City Palace ( www.citypalaceladakh.com )
Nubra : Organic Retreat Camp ( http://nubraorganicretreat.com/index.php )
Pangong : Camp Martsemik La ( http://campmartsemikla.com/ )

Few Points to Remember:

• Don't try to overdo things in an excitement. With very less oxygen, one can get exhausted in no time in Ladkah. Take your time. Go slow on the activities.
• Drink Lot of Fluid during your journey in Ladakh.
• You might feel faster breath, faster heart beating sensations the night. This seems normal for a healthy person. All of us had this experience. 
• Nothing to worry about Vegetarian food in Ladakh. There are plenty of options in and around. We were very sceptical about this while planning.
• Only Airtel, BSNL and Aircel  provides mobile connectivity in Ladakh. And it must be a postpaid connection.
• Internet is very limited in Leh. There will be very frequent disconnections. Please don't depend too much on the internet once you are in Leh.

 

Day 0 : Bangalore - Delhi - Leh

 

   Finally  the day has arrived. It was the  13^th Of May 2014 when we started our journey to Ladakh from Bangalore for the trip of our lifetime.  We were very anxious till the last moment since the chances of flight cancellations to Leh  are pretty high due to the weather conditions. One of my colleague had a bad experience wherein cloudburst completely ruined their trip. En-route, we had a stop-over at Delhi for almost 5Hrs since the Leh flight was in the early morning at 6:15. Interestingly majority of the flights to Leh are in the early morning. Overnight we decided to stay back in the Airport itself since we had only four hours  to check into the hotel and start back. We found it unreasonable to head out of the  Airport and come back for the check-in very early in the morning. Since our first day in Ladakh was for complete acclimatization we did not bother much about sleepless night. Hence we stayed back at wonderful Delhi T3. Airport had enough pool lounge chairs where we could lie down for sometime before the next flight. Except me and Sumant, others had a fair amount of sleep while we were exploring video editing on Mac for Sumant's new Handy-cam. We were the night-watchmen as well.

View of the Mighty Himalayan Mountains from the sky !!

Journey to Leh :

Day 1 : Leh - Arrival and Acclimatization

 

   It was the perfect landing but not so perfect weather when we landed. It was heavily overcast, cold and windy.  Though we had to rest completely the whole day, we were bit worried if the weather continues to remain the same for the remaining days. Since there wasn't much we could do, we just hoped that weather will be allright next day. Our travel agent had made all the arrangements for  picking us up.  We loaded all our luggage's and headed straight to our hotel. In such a cold weather we were given a very warm welcome at the hotel in Ladakhi style that made our first impression the best one.

Welcome board outside the Airport

Ladakhi Style Welcome at the Hotel

View of Shanti Stupa from the Hotel

Panoramic View of Leh from the Hotel terrace in the below video:

  

Day 2 - Leh -Thiksey-Druk Lotus School-Shey-Stok. Visit to the Monasteries - The Living Heritage of Buddhism.

  Clouds had receeded and the morning Sun had beautifully illuminated the Himalayan mountains.  Looking at the beautiful sky, we came out of our tension on the weather since the first day in Leh was completely overcast. Also to our surprise,  morning Sunrise wasn't having any vibrant hues that we see in other parts of the country.  Later we realized its the elevation that suppresses these hues of the sunrise and sunset. So it was the perfect day to begin our journey in Leh. Second days itinerary predominantly  had visits to the famous monasteries around Leh. 

  After the amazing bed tea and the sumptuous breakfast, our journey to explore the wonderland started. The journey itself was mesmerizing as we passed by and the clear blue sky speckled with clouds enhanced the contrast between the green, barren and the blue sky. 
  

Beautiful Morning on the Day2

Amazing View of the Thiksey Monastery.

Beautiful Buddha Statue at Thiksey

 Beautiful Prayer Wheels seen at the monasteries.

  After experiencing the beautiful Thiksey Monastery and getting the blessings from Buddha the almighty, our next visit was to the famous Three idiots Druk White Lotus School. This school was featured in a Cisco Systems "HumanNetwork" advertisement as well as the Aamir Khan's movie 3 Idiots.

School where 3-Idiots Movie Was Shot

   It was Aamir Khan who made this school popular through his film 3 Idiots, in which he plays the lovable character Rancho aka Phunsukh Wangdu. Below one is the coffee shop in memory of Rancho.

In memory of Rancho...!!

Chortens in Ladakh. You will see innumerable Chortens in Ladakh !!

  These lovely Chortens(Stupa's) one can spot at every few meter distance in Ladakh. Many of the Chortens are constructed in Tibetian Style. As per Tibetian Buddhism, there are 8 different type of Chortens which refers different stages in Buddha's Life. The basic structure of a Chorten consist of a square foundation symbolizing the earth, a dome symbolizing water, and thirteen tapering steps of enlightenment symbolizing the element of fire. These steps lead to a stylized parasol, the symbol of wind, which is topped in the ethereal sphere by the well-known ‘twin-symbol’ uniting sun and moon, which is the shimmering crown of the Chorten.

Shey Palace

Shey Palace - This is the second Monastery that we visited on Day2. This Gompa is located around 15kms South of from Leh on the Leh - Manali route.

 View from the Shey Palace: Its filled with adventurous spots , scenic landscapes, snow capped peaks, lofty mountain ranges, picturesque dense lush green forests, dazzling deserts,serene flowing rivers all mesmerized and provided us with awesome sights.










Stok palace houses a fine private museum, which is open to the public.

Stok Palace

View from the Stok Palace

  As the day was coming to an end we walked around the streets of Leh Bazaar[Bazaar in map] and Tibetian Refuge Market. Our spouses were really excited with this. Initially we shopped for some apricots and few hair sticks. Lady at the shop gave a wonderful demo of using the hair stick properly. At the Tibetian Refugee market, there were Pashmina shawls, stoles, other Pashmina wool garments, handmade woolen socks, gloves, caps and sweaters. We shopped for sweaters and yak wool shawls. Tibetan handicraft items including prayer wheels, Buddhist masks and Thangka paintings can be purchased in Ladakh. Tibetan silver jewellery and traditional Ladakhi jewellery are also popular with tourists. One can do good bargaining  at the Tibetian Shops.
  As it got darker, temperature started dropping rapidly and it was getting really colder. Everyone got a bite of the chilling cold of Ladakh. After the shopping we headed straight to Hotel. Amazing soup at the hotel really made us feel better. After the heavy dinner, I and Sumant went to the terrace to enhance our night photography and videography skills. As it was  bright full moon night, capture was amazing. I did some star-trail photography as well. Unfortunately we couldn't withstand the chilling cold weather for longer. We called it a day and got back to our room. 
  Overall it was an amazing second day at Ladakh. Weather gods showed mercy on us and we enjoyed every bit of it. Here is the summary of the days events.

Visit to Thiksey/Lotus School/Shey/Stok : 

 


Day 3 - Leh- Hall of Fame - Indus - Moonland - Lamayuru - Alchi - Likir - Magnetic Hill. Journey through the breathtaking Mountainscapes of Ladakh.

   When we woke up, Sun was amazing and the climate was much much better the previous day. There was not even a single speck of black cloud in the sky.  Amazing blue skies did hypnotize us. As per our original itinerary had only visit to Alchi-Likir-Magnetic Hill. We tweaked it a bit and added Lamayuru which is around 130Kms towards west of Leh on the NH1. We had to shell out little bit extra for the same. Many of the blogs had mentioned Lamayuru a must visit place. Hence without much of thought we negotiated with our travel agent and started our third days itinerary. Our hotel manager too had given us a clue that this journey will offer you some of the breathtaking landscapes that you had never seen before. That made us feel much excited and got into our Xylo with our commander Geylson along with all the photo and video shooting gears.
  Our first stop was at the Hall of Fame which showcases history about Ladakh its culture. Also it had tributes to some of the brave soldiers who martyred  while protecting us and our country.

Beautiful View of Shanthi Stupa in the early morning

                 Hall of Fame

 Confluence(Sangam) of Indus and Zanskar 

Into the Horizon

   This journey had some of the amazing landscape covered with naked mountains and the breathtaking valleys. 

NH1 - Highway to The Heaven... Ladakh !!

Moonland

Moonland

View of the Lamayuru Monastery !

Amazing Paintings  inside Lamayuru

Stupa in Lamayuru Gompa

Indus Gushing through the Valley

Likir Monastery

Magnetic Hill !

     Our commander Geylson gave us a nice demo of this gravity defying phenomenon with his Xylo. It was one of the unbelievable experience for all of us.

   At the end of the day 3 we could see the exhaustion on everyones face since we had a packed itinerary. But the drive through the Ladakh roads completely masked our exhaustion instead we were lot rejuvenated as we witnessed the breathtaking Valleys and Landscapes which is seen only in Ladakh. Weather too was amazing throughout the day. Again it was wonderful journey into the mountains and valleys of Ladakh. 

Here is the Video proceedings for the Day 3. 
 

Day 4 & 5 - Leh - Nubra Valley - Leh. Journey through the Highest Motorable Road in the World.

  With the visits to most of the Monasteries and the Breathtaking valleys completed in the first two days, next leg of our was to Nubra Valley situated around 135Kms from Leh towards the North-East region of Ladakh.  Nubra valley is situated between the  Karakoram Ranges and Himalayan Ranges on the Northern Part of Ladakh.  Nubra is a picturesque green valley situated alongside river Nubra and Shyok which makes it an agriculture wonderland. Another unique thing about Nubra is that you will get to see a Desert, River flowing besides the desert and Snow covered mountain all at the same place. Apart from the fact that Nubra is an amazing place to visit, what excited us was the journey to Nubra that traverses through the worlds highest motorable road Khardung-La situated at the height of 18,380ft (5606m). Weather was amazing in the morning hence without  wasting much time we all packed our luggage's and started our journey. We also made sure that enough warm clothes are packed in our bags since our stay was in the tent. In the previous night another group at the hotel suggested us to carry Oxygen Cylinder for an emergency since they were stuck at the Khardung-La for almost 4 Hrs due to bad weather. Our Hotel had an emergency cylinder and manager said they do rent it out. I guess most of the Hotels do maintain Oxygen Cylinder in Leh. To be on the safer side we decided to carry the Cylinder after negotiating for a reasonable rent. With full faith on our tour commander Geylson we started our journey to Nubra.

Journey to Nubra via Khardung-La : Khardung La is situated 39 km by road from Leh. It was one of the breathtaking and heart stopping journey we ever witnessed. I think the journey is not for the faint hearted. We used to constantly keep our commander Geylson in check of the speed. Slightest mistake we all would have vanished into the Himalayan Valleys forever. We could spot remains of army trucks and vehicles that had fallen off the cliff.

   

 Road To Khardung-La

Mesmerizing Beauty of the Snow capped peaks in the backdrop.

At the Highest Motorable Road in the World. Feel on top of the World !!

View of the Highest Motorable Road !!

Khardung-La to Nubra: After spending good amount of time playing with snow and capturing every bit of it on our lenses, we started our journey to Nubra. As we descended, climate started getting better and better since Nubra is at lower altitude compared to Leh. Journey started getting amazing once the Shyok river started flowing along side. As always in Ladkah, each and every short distance of travel gave us a glimpse of altogether newer and newer landscapes which we enjoyed to the fullest. Though cameras could capture only limited pictures and videos of these infinite landscapes, but the image it imprinted on our memories are unforgettable. We could spot rare Himalayan animals mainly Yaks and Marmots en route.

Himalayan Yaks

  

Marmot...!!

Beautiful Landscape

Shyok River flowing alongside the road !!

Maitreya Buddha at Diskit Monastery !

  

Double Humped Camel Ride. Unique to Nubra !!

   
                                       Sand Dunes of Nubra, @Hunder

  We had wonderful time at the Camel Safari and on the Sand Dunes. Then we headed to our most awaited tent stay at "Organic Retreat Camp" as it was getting dark.  Staying in the tent when the outside temperature was almost in lower single digits must have been one of the craziest idea, but everyone was waiting for this thrilling experience. We felt amazed as we entered the camp when we were greeted by lush greenery after the four days of journey through the absolute barren yet amazing mountainscapes of Ladakh!! There were apricot trees, apple trees, cabbage plants, spinach plants etc etc along with tiny streams of water flowing inside the camp.

Organic Retreat Camp, Nubra

One of the Most Memorable experience @Nubra was the Camp fire and Dance Masti

  
After having a overnight blast at Nubra, early morning we spent some amount of time inside the organic camps to capture some of the wonderful moments. Then we started our journey back to Leh. Again the return journey too was wonderful as we rode through the pristine valleys. 

Had a wonderful time at this small Glacier near North Pullu on the way back.

Mok Mok Shop at North Pullu was the main highlight of our return journey.

    It was around ~11-11:30 AM as we reached North Pullu[3 in map] wherein you can find couple of restaurants. Beyond this there are no good restaurants till Leh. One that caught our attention was the MOK MOK Shop which had dishes MOK MOK Veg/Non Veg. Since it was something we never heard of before, we thought of trying out. It was just besides the Army Camp and we could see few Army men as well. We placed an order for couple of plates. Only drawback of this restaurant is that there is no restroom here. Hence our spouses had to try the other restaurant which allows tourists to use restrooms only if you buy some food which is very common in Ladakh. Once we received our order, to our surprise it was the Chinese Mo Mo ;) which is very common in Ladakh. Nevertheless it was very tasty and we all enjoyed it. Soon we realized that over a period of time MOK MOK only has turned to Mo Mo !! Mok Mok actually originates from Tibet.
  After having yummy and tasty Mok Mok's, we headed straight to Leh without much stoppage in between. We reached around 2:30 in the afternoon to our Hotel. With a small nap, we went to Leh Bazaar to finish our majority of the shopping. Close to 90% of our shopping was completed on Day5 which included Buddha statues, prayer wheels, shawls, sweaters etc. Tibetian refugee camp has all these items for you to bargain for a best price.

Captures of our return journey to Leh.




Day 6 & 7 - Leh - Pangong - Leh. Climax of our Trip!!

   Though it may be somewhat injustice to say that its the climax of our trip since we were never let down by any of the places that we visited in Ladakh. Every place was unique in its own beauty. Nevertheless as we were nearing  last leg of our Ladakh tour, so technically it happens to be the climax. As like Nubra, we packed enough warms clothes and started our juorney to Pangong-Tso. Route to Pangong traverses through Chang-La, the third highest motorable road in the world. Again route to Chang-La was picturesque and equally breathtaking.

Road to Pangong-Tso

DakThok Gompa

ZigZag Road Towards Chang-La

Breathtaking Roads

Amazing View of The Himalayan Mountains near Chang-La !!

At the Chang-La Top. The 3rd Highest Motorable Road in the World

                  Journey To Chang-La :

                                          

Temple at the Chang-La Top and a Restaurant.

     At the Chang-La top there is a Chang-La Baba(Lord Shiva) temple blessing the people guarding our Nation and the travelers though the Chang-La. We had our share of blessing from Lord Shiva too. Interestingly you are allowed to go inside the temple with your shoes on, mainly because of  freezing cold. You will be surprised initially but to protect your feet you need to keep the shoes on. At the cafeteria we had Meggi (Its Maggi pronounced so in Ladakh) and hot tea for a quick respite from freezing cold. Unfortunately restrooms are very very poorly maintained! If you don't have any other option you can give a try otherwise you better avoid. Pangong-Tso is only hour and a half long journey from Chang-La. 
   

   
   As we proceeded towards Pangong-Tso, these innumerable quotes made it  really a memorable one. We enjoyed each one of these. Really thought provoking ones.
   It was close to 2 in the afternoon  when  we started getting the glimpse of Pangong-Tso. Lake was appearing light bluish in color amidst the barren mountains from where we got first glimpse of one of the most awaited attraction of Ladakh, the Pangong-Tso.

First glimpse of Pangong-Tso Lake.

  As we approached Pangong-Tso, it was around 2:30PM. We finished check-in formalities only in couple of minutes. All aspects were well taken care by our travel agents hence check-in was a very smooth affair. We had to just select the tents and move-in with our back-packs that's all. At the camp site weather was really on the harsher side. Temperature was around -5°C  and the gushy winds made it really unbearable.  With such a strong winds around the camp site we got a feeling that our tents would definitely blown away anytime.

 Pangong-Tso :

   This is one of the largest salt water lakes and appears like a celestial lake surrounded by barren mountains. Lake is around  130Km long and the International border through the lake divides it between India and China. One fourth belongs to India and rest belongs to China. Color of the lake is amalgamation of varied shades of blue, purple and green which keeps changing depending on the movement of Sun. We had a heavenly feeling at Pangong-Tso. It's one of its kind of a experience and one will definitely appreciate this marvelous creation of  Mother Earth!! Please take a look at the below pictures. I couldn't get appropriate caption for these images. All the adjectives in the dictionary aren't sufficient !!

3 Idiots Movie Climax was shot here.

At our Camp Site ... It was an amazing experience under Harshest Weather !!

   Finally, we had a dose of Oxygen to make ourselves comfortable. 

 Since we had rented the Oxygen cylinder we thought of making use of it. Though we didn't feel the absolute necessity of the same. We had to pay the rent even it was not used. Hence we experimented with the cylinder that we  carried along with us. Interestingly we started feeling better  after getting some oxygen in such a cold weather.

Panaromic View of Pangong-Tso

Live capture of the Amazing Pangong-Tso.       

                                           

    It was out of the world experience for all of us at Pangong-Tso. Photos and videos here might give readers of this blog some idea about the Pangong-Tso, but the  experience that we had while at the lake is beyond any explanation. Harsh weather could not hinder us in any way from enjoying the mesmerizing beauty of Pangong-Tso. We spent enough time at the lake without missing any of the details of its hypnotizing beauty.
    Though none of us wanted to leave this place at any cost, but we had to do it with a heavy heart heart as our trip was nearly coming to an end. We had another 24Hrs before our return flight to Bangalore. Moreover we had some pending shopping to complete. Meanwhile I caught severe cold and it was increasingly uncomfortable for me to stay any longer. Others too had some kind of uneasy feeling. On return we stopped at a place called Karu [4 in Map] for lunch. There were quite a few eating out options at Karu.
 In the evening we headed straight to Leh bazaar to finish all the pending shopping. We shopped for Buddha statues, Prayer Wheels, Shawls, Sweaters, T-Shirts etc.
    One of the last destination of our trip was Shanti Stupa located around 3Kms from our Hotel. We used to get beautiful view of Shanti Stupa from our Hotel. Unfortunately it was missing in our itinerary which we realized only after reaching Leh. We negotiated with our commander Geylson for a nominal amount for the drive to Stupa. It was almost 8 in the night and in that chilling weather we had a brief visit to Stupa.  It was amazing and also we could get a beautiful view of the Leh City as well.

   Beautiful view of the Shanti Stupa in the Night 

Some of the items that we shopped in Ladakh.

Day 8 - Leh - Delhi - Bangalore.  

      Overnight, with much of hesitation we packed our bags as it was only 12 hrs left for our return journey!! Our return flight was at 11:00AM. However at  around 6AM, our sleep was suddenly disturbed by loud thunder followed by sound of some objects falling on the window panes. To our surprise it was the beautiful snowfall outside!! We forgot our sleep completely and came out of our rooms and tried to enjoy every bit of it. In few minutes we could see fields getting covered with snow. Though the snow fall lasted only for 10-15 minutes, but everyone felt elated as we witnessed snow fall for the first time in our life. Also it was heavily overcast weather outside. As we were enjoying the snow, we got a  text on our mobiles for the flight postponement. It made us bit anxious and yet happy simultaneously. Anxious because this postponement could have an impact on our return journey. Happy because we got couple of more hours to spend in Ladakh. We decided to spend those additional hours for some  last minute shopping. By 11AM climate got better and no further postponement messages from the airline. With the heavy heart we left for airport to catch return flight. Again we were very thankful for the highly unpredictable Ladakh climate since it gave an opportunity for us to witness the snowfall. 

Beautiful Snowfall on the fields

   

Best dressed Ladakhi Lady at the Bazaar.

  

   With the snowfall we had an all round experience in Ladakh. That concluded our amazing tour of Ladakh in a memorable way. With the infinite memory of the beautiful Ladakhi monasteries, high passes, lakes and its amazing people imprinted on our brains, we headed to airport for the return journey. The eight days we spent in Ladakh was once in a lifetime experience which helped us to witness some of the never seen before and never imagined mountainscapes of the beautiful Himalayan Ranges. Everyone left Ladakh with the feeling of returning to this amazing place once again.

Few Other Highlights of our Trip:

•    We got to hear some of the excellent and very soothing Ladakhi music during our travel. It was from the album "Samlo" which our commander Gelyson had it in his collection. We did buy a CD of this album and along with one more Ladakhi music CD.
•    Very good vegetarian food throughout our journey. No problems with the food at all.
•    We received a very good hospitality at all the places we had stayed. At Pangong we were provided with hot water bags which helped us for having a decent sleep in the very very harsh weather.
•    None of us had any severe health issues. Except for common cold and little bit of uneasiness towards the end due to extreme weather.
•    Last but not the least, our tour commander Geylson made our journey really a memorable one.

 Picture Slideshow