Lovely Ladakh

Snow capped mountains, sparkling rivers, salt water lakes as big as oceans, lush green valleys and vast deserts full of white sand dunes…which is the place that has such geographical diversity? There is only one answer: ‘La-dakh’ – which literally means the region of high passes. Unlike Disneyworld where you can get artificial snow, take a roller coaster ride and you can raft in manmade rapids in a single day, Ladakh is pure work of Mother Nature.  It is situated between the two tallest mountain ranges of the world namely- the Himalayas and Karakoram. To add to the beauty there is the Zanskar range on the southern side.

Before the journey

Having brought up at sea-level Mumbai my life has been quite straightforward and easy. Now in Bangalore, I am blessed with 24 hour supply of bore well water but i was itching to test the pure mineral water of the Himalayas. While living in the cities basic necessities like water, air, electricity, daily supplies of milk & vegetables are always taken for granted. I don’t even dream about wars happening at the border or terrorists crossing the mountains and entering India. When a lone Kashmiri vendor knocks at the door to sell beautifully embroidered dress materials, i promptly close the door without even looking at the cloth materials. I hardly make any attempt to know about their poverty and insecurity. However, while i was packing for the trip, Kashmir valley was going out of control and curfew was being enforced. An element of fear was gripping my mind. I even checked with Isha Tours if the tour was being cancelled. I must thank them as i was assured that we were not really entering the main parts of Srinagar.

I also had worries of motion and altitude sicknesses which went away slowly by following advice given by my astronomer friend Dr. Varsha Chitnis( a Doctor of heavenly bodies but also equally knowledgeable about human bodies!)  who works at the observatory in Hanle. For the past three years, i have been amazed by the pictures taken by cousin Hitendra Sinkar who regularly visits these mountains. To top it all, the last scene in the Bollywood hit film 3 Idiots (which is shot at Pangong Lake) was the biggest motivation in visiting Leh. 

A night at Nagin Lake


We stayed at a Shikara (houseboat) on the Nagin Lake on the first evening. After lunch, we went for a boat-ride through a small canoe covered with beautiful canopy. The boat had a nice, big cushioned seat and on which we could lie down leisurely and enjoy the calmness around.

There were small houses and shops surrounding the lovely lake full of water lilies and lotuses. The villages were quiet that evening, little i could imagine that a week later there would be so much violence in the valley! As we were passing through the alleys of the lake- all I could see was poverty. Several shops were closed that day. Naked kids were diving in ice-cold water and their little sisters were begging for bakshis. What striked me was that the beautiful Kashmir ki Kalis  (Kashmiri ladies) were pedaling their own canoes filled with fodder and firewood. We saw the sun setting on the beautiful Dal lake and full moon rising from behind the green mountains.The arrangements inside the houseboat appeared like relics of colonial times. There was a small library full of books left by visitors.

Leh to Kargil 

The next day started with a curfew in Srinagar but we were unaffected by it. We began our long journey by a swanky Tavera jeep with driver Zakir Hussain whom we lovingly called ‘Ustad’ as he was too good in driving just like his namesake Tabla artiste. I owe this trip to him, as he took us safely through all the highs and lows of journey. He was an extremely patient and careful driver with a pleasant smile.

Luckily, we managed to attend the Vijay Diwas function at Kargil Memorial. It was a solemn occasion to pay homage to the martyrs of Kargil. There was a musical parade followed by lighting of flames on the surrounding mountains later in the evening. The whole event churned me from within and made me think about the lives of the soldiers and their families. At the same time, I felt assured that our border is safe! We reached the hotel late that night but i could hardly sleep that night. The next day as we were traveling towards Leh we saw holes made by gunshots on the shutters of shops. All those shops were abandoned now and i could not see much activity there.

Passes and Rivers

On the Srinagar-Kargil way, we passed the tough Zozilla pass. It was our first experience of high altitude and worse road condition. The beauty of colorful mountains was breath-taking the drive was a difficult one. But our Ustadji managed it dexterously. At that point, I was convinced that he would take anywhere safely.

Zozilla opens for one way drive at specific times and is controlled by Army Jawans.  Later in the week, we traveled through Chag-la (around 17600 ft) while going to Pangong lake and Khardung-la (18380 ft) while traveling to Diskit.  Khardung-la was considered the highest motor able pass until some even higher roads were developed in Tibet by China.

One has to be extremely conscious while breathing when you travel through these passes. One tends to get excited by the thought of reaching the summit and if you don’t take deep breaths you are likely to have head-aches and vomiting. Slow acclimatization is necessary. My hubby-Vinay had trouble soon after Changa-la and for the rest of the day he was feeling so tired and flushed that he decided to stay back in Leh. Of course, he wanted to enjoy the solitude and he did some cycling in the city the next day. Also, another senior gentleman from our group had to be given oxygen after Chang-la.

For me and my 12 year old boy-Kabir- the tablets for motion sickness, camphor sachets given by Isha tours worked just fine. Also, avoiding the temptation to jump out of the jeep as soon as you reach the summit helped.

The aqua marine Pangong lake, is a salt water lake a height of around 14000 feet. There were hardly any hotels there. There were a few temporary tents put up just for summer that served chai and Maggie noodles. A third of this lake is in India and the rest is in China. The drive to Pangong was extremely tiring but it was rewarding.

All through the journey, the music of the rivers was constantly followed us. In Srinagar it was Jhelum, on way to Kargil it was Suru. The top view of the confluence of Zanskar and Indus was amazing! One could see the mixing of two colors. In Leh, we saw Indus from the top of the mountains and we touched it at Sindhu-Ghat. From Kanyakumari and Sindhu river- south vs. north- I realized that i had been to both the tips of the subcontinent. I was thrilled by that thought!

Om Mani Padme Hum

After we left Kargil, we started getting glimpses of Buddhist influence. Almost every village starts with ‘Gompas’ – places of worship and monasteries. Of all the monasteries, Thiksey- which is on the banks of Sindhu was the most beautiful one (the picture is given below).  Hemis monastery has a very good museum and Thiksey had a beautiful 40 ft high statue of Padmsambhava Buddha. Monks were chanting ‘Om Mani Padme Hum’ which means ‘Hail the jewel in the lotus’.

All these monasteries are well maintained and the 2000 year old history of Buddhism is well preserved.

Going Solo and The Smiling Buddha at Diskit

On the last two days, me and Kabir moved on to Khardunga-La and Diskit and Vinay stayed back at Leh. This time i was determined not to fall sick on the so called ‘highest motorable pass’, i actually managed to breathe properly using the camphor lockets*. We reached the last point civilians could visit and beyond that point it was the road to Siachen glacier and Pakistan.

Nubra valley is at a lower altitude and had very pleasant weather. We enjoyed the double hump camel ride on the vast sand dunes of that desert. The mountains of Ladakh are mostly barren but surprisingly on the way to desert you see a tiny oasis full of mustard field.

At the day break, while Kabir was fast asleep i left alone at around 5:30 am. The whole village was extremely calm and the only music that i could hear was of white-water streams gushing through alleys around the hotels and Gompas and a few birds chirping.  I could see the yellow sun rising from behind the towering statue of Buddha. The glistening, golden face of Buddha had half-opened eyes and a mysterious smile…a powerful smile that took away all my fears and anxieties.  I returned relaxed and rejuvenated-ready for the future challenges of city life.

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Special thanks to the author Janet Rizvi for writing such an informative book

LADAKH Crossroads of High Asia. I recommend it to everyone who plans to travel to Ladakh

 Khardung-La at 18380 ft must have been the highest drivable road at some time. Now there are even higher roads in Tibet.

* Isha tours had given us while sachets of camphor tablets which proved useful in thin air.