Single woman traveller - first solo trip ever - LADAKH
Single woman traveller - first solo trip ever - LADAKH
Dear IMers,
It was the first week of August and I had booked a seat with a touring company for a 10 day trip to Ladakh. A week down the line and I was told that owing to the fact that the stipulated number of 10 people had not registered, the trip was cancelled.
I was so bummed - here I was with enough time on my hands and a cancelled trip. On 9-August, I was casually surfing the net searching on Ladakh. I knew nothing about IndiaMike and I accidently came across a post by errorinu (A short trip to Leh Ladakh..). That was the start - 9hours of straight surfing (which is a record for me as 1/2hr is the maximum I can spend surfing) and I was confident I could do the trip on my own.
Below is an account of my trip (it is a tad too long, do forgive me). Thank you IndiaMike for providing most of the inputs.
Day1 (20-Aug): Bangalore to Delhi to Manali - Bangalore to Delhi by flight. Caught the 6.30pm HPTDC (Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation) bus to Simla (Rs.990).
Day2 (21-Aug): Manali - Reached Manali at 9.30am. Had booked a room for a day at the Beas Hotel run by HPTDC
. The room I was first shown was at the basement and was awful. At an added Rs200, was given a room on the 1st floor. This one looked good, but after 10 minutes in it, I could smell stale air. The place had not been aired out since ages! (Room Cost/day - Rs.800). Took a shower, had breakfast - had aloo paranthas(really bad - do not even go there) and very good coffee. Slept till 2pm. Got ready and walked the 2 minutes to the bus stand. All autowallahs will give you a Manali tour. Mine charged me Rs.250 for a 3hour trip to Vashist Temple, Hadimba Temple, Shiv Temple and Manu Temple. This was my first time in Manali - I liked the place. Manu Temple and the bookstore down the road from Manu Temple (name??) did it for me. The books are overpriced - the owner said that the proceeds go to charity, so why not? I bought Janet Rizvi's 'Crossroads of high Asia’(Rs.330). It was around 5pm and my little trip around Manali was complete. I was starved by then - asked the autowallah to drop me off at Johnson's bar and cafe. I finished off a whole plate of 'Spicy trout masala with basmati rice'. There was side of vegetable and apple salad and mashed palak. It was excellent, yumm really (im a big foodie, so there will be loads of references to all the food I ate 
. Price Rs.340 which was my most expensive meal for the entire trip but well worth it.
It was almost 6pm by the time I was done eating. I had seen a poster that the film Kaminey was being shown at Picadilly Theatre. So I took an auto to reach there and bought a corner seat gold class ticket (Rs.100) for the 6pm show and actually watched the movie alone. Again, loved it - double and triple crossing and a craft well attempted by the director. There was a deliberate attempt me thinks at copying the kill bill tune towards the end.
Day3 (22-Aug): Manali to Keylong - Boarded the 11am HPTDC bus from Manali to Leh (Rs.1800). A shared taxi will cost Rs.800 to Rs.1200 and a HRTC (Himachal Pradesh Road Transport Corporation) bus will cost you Rs.500 to Rs.700. HPTDC is for tourism promotion so the driver will stop at all passes and wherever else you want him to stop. HRTC is a transport bus and the driver will have no time to listen to your whims and fancies as he has a deadline to make. The HPTDC bus was well maintained and as for everyone the choice was between doing a cannonball run and taking a 2 day bus trip - I chose the latter. The bus was in a very good condition. Our driver, an ex-armyman who had driven medicine supplies to Kargil knew the roads well. I am in awe of the landscape - firstly how it changes from green hills towards Manali to barren or snow capped mountains. After Rohtang pass and especially the second day, the landscape changes every 10 minutes. The shape of the mountains, the way the rivers - Chandrabhaga and Vyas flow through through the valleys – bountiful beauty. Night Stay at tents in Hotel Chandrabhaga in Keylong. The food at Hotel Chandrabhaga was good - simple roti, sabzi, daal and chawaal. The night halt in the tents was bad - I did not sleep a wink and neither did anyone on the bus owing to the unbearable cold.
Day4 (23-Aug): Keylong to Leh - Started for Leh at 4.30am! Again the journey and the views were awesome. One of the nicest views was from Zing Zing bar. After Sarchu around 40km before Pang our bus broke down. Problem with gear box - the driver was unable to put it in 2nd gear. A 1/2 hour later a HRTC bus passed by. Our driver asked him to stop and take all of us to Pang. He said he would get the bus ready and pick us from there. On reaching Pang, the HRTC driver told us that it was doubtful the bus would get repaired the same day and it was best if we rode with him to Leh. After much deliberation, I decided to board the HRTC bus to Leh - most of us did the same while around 8 people stayed back at Pang and waited for our bus. So when I left Pang, all I had was my purse with money and other important documents in it and my sweater and a shawl! Till Pang I had no problem at all. After an hour in the HRTC bus, I started feeling nauseous. I do not know if I should blame the driver for his rash driving, the food at Pang or AMS. Reached Leh at 9.30pm. I had met a couple from Mumbai in our bus - we decided to stay at Khan Manzil hotel in Zangsti. It is located right opposite Leh palace which I could see from my bedroom window. Khan Manzil is 10 minutes walk from market area and for road and 5 minutes to Changspa. I got a good double room for Rs.300 a day. Choose the rooms to your left after you get off the staircase. The ones to the right get too hot during the day and are much smaller. Gonchok is very helpful – he will arrange to get your permits(Rs. 130 + Rs.30 / day – so if you apply for a permit for 5 days – he charges Rs 250 after a Rs.30 discount. Alternately you could get it done at the DC’s office yourself), arrange for taxis and generally help you with everything. Manjit, the cook on the other hand is a TV addict. The first 3 days he atleast bothered to come out of his room and give us our room keys. After that he could not care less. The best thing would be to check in to a hotel for a day and then look around the next. August has relatively low tourist inflow and there is no dearth of available rooms.
Day5 (24-Aug): Choglamsar, Sindhu Darshan, Thiksey, Stakna – The Dalai Lama was in Leh and was to address the people for 4 days(22-Aug to 25Aug).I had to go see the Dalai Lama. The taxi driver from yesterday had told us that there would be huge traffic going towards Choglamsar( the Dalai Lama has a beautiful house there and next to it was the venue). Hence I left Khan Manzil at 6.30am. Thought of catching a bus to cover the 8kms to Choglamsar but they were already full, so teamed up with 2 foreigners and took a cab (Rs.100 each). The promised traffic was there. The sight was really humbling - hundreds of people were either driving or walking to see the Dalai Lama. People of all ages carrying along umbrellas and floor mats and the older ones with a prayer wheel or beads. It took us a good 45 minutes to reach the venue. There was an enclosure close to the podium made for foreigners and non-ladakhi Indians. I got a good spot and waited for the Dalai Lama to arrive. My first glimpse of the Dalai Lama was when he walked in at 8.30am sharp. I do feel blessed that I got a chance to see such a revered person. The sermon began at 9am. For the 1/2 hr in between, some monks went on arguing about something - I had no clue what was happening - sounded fun though. The Dalai Lama spoke about the Hinayana and Mahayana sects of Buddhism and its various interpretations among other things. Listened for 2 hours and then walked to Sindhu darshan - touched the Indus River for first time - lovely! The Indus is a beautiful green and yes the water was cold. Then I caught a bus to Thiksey (Rs.10). The monastery is just beautiful (I am handicapped when it comes to using adjectives as you will come to know) and houses the most number of monks. Altough it was to open at 1.30pm, since all the lhamas(monks) were at Choglamsar, the monastery was opened only around 2.15pm. I met a guy from Delhi who was also travelling alone. The 3 storey Buddha is a sight to see. Every gompa (monastery) I went to, I was amazed as to how the painters/sculptures got the eyes of the buddha right each time. Almost all Buddha statues/paintings in Ladakh have the southeast Asian influence. They look nothing like the stone buddha I had grown up seeing in social science textbooks. All gompas have photos of the Dalai Lama and the Head lhama at a mimimum. Some have photos of the karmapa. It was almost 4pm and I was as usual starved. We had lunch at Chamba Restaurant . located within Thiksey gompa premises. Highly recommended. Both the Thupka (noodle soup) and Chaguti (boiled vegetables and plain momos in soup) were yumm! Meal for two Rs.170. We then caught a local bus and went to Stakna which is 6kms from Thiksey on the other side of the Indus. Another beautiful gompa which as all gompas go was built on a hillock. This gompa has 3 statues dedicated to the past, present (Sakyamuni) and future buddha. The lhama there had travelled to Nepal, Delhi, Dharamsala and Bodhgaya. Most Lhamas have travelled to a good number of other monasteries. Sat by the Indus till 6pm when we caught the last bus back to Leh. Stakna is the last stop for regular buses plying south of Leh. If you need to reach Hemis - there is a bus from Leh at 3.30pm. Went to Leh new bus stand and there was no sign of our HPTDC bus. Three days in the same clothes and believe me I was not feeling too elated. I bought a salwar top for Rs.200 cause the HPTDC official told me the bus would reach earliest the next evening. Dinner at Lamayuru Restaurant - butter roti, mushroom something and kadai paneer - yumm! Meal for 2 - Rs. 172. Reached the hotel and made some trip plans for taxi sharing with the couple I had met on the HPTDC bus. Next day we were off to Alchi.
Day6 (25-Aug): Likir, Alchi - Left at 9.30am for Likir and Alchi. (Total taxi fare – Rs.1470 ) Altough Lamayuru (127 kmfrom Leh in the same direction) is supposed to be beautiful, we decided to skip it which suited me fine as I do not like to just see places for the heck of it. A more relaxed travel is what I like. Likir is 62km to the west of Leh and Alchi is 70km in the same direction. On the way, stopped at Nimo – the sangam of Indus (Singhey Khabab) and Zanskar - what a sight! The narrow green of the Indus merging with the wider brown of the Zanskar to make to narrow brown Indus which will eventually flow into Pakistan. Reached Likir around 11.30am - a stunning 25ft gold covered Buddha in the open. This gompa is also called the Klu Khhyil or water spirits gompa. You can see some lovely chortens (stupas from behind the Buddha statue). For people who want to do Likir and Alchi by bus - you can catch the 6am bus to Kargil, get off on the highway and walk around 5kms to Likir gompa. This is an easy walk, just make sure you have your water, hat and sunglasses. Altough Likir to Alchi is around 8kms - it did not look like an easy walk as one has to walk till Saspol bridge cross over and walk to Alchi Gompa. It looked more like 12 kms to me. From Alchi, the return bus to Leh is around(Please check the bus timings at visitladakh.com) 4pm. I was starved (again!!) so we decided to have lunch before seeing the gompa. We had lunch in a restaurant right opposite the bus stand. Good food - dal, chawal and sabzi. (Rs.230 for 3). This is one thing that is always ready. When we were travelling I got tired of eating dal, chawal so did my best to try Ladakhi and other cuisines in Leh. Alchi gompa does have an old world ethereal feel to it. The Kashmiri paintings are wonderful. I wish I understood Buddhism and what each of the 5 temples signified. When we came out of the Manjushri temple the gatekeeper told us that because we had been there, all our sins till date were washed off. If only!! Behind the gompa, there is a path to walk down to the Indus – spent some time there. I have a connection with all water bodies – be it lakes, rivers or the seas, hence I can never miss a chance to spend time with them. I would suggest if one has time, stay overnight at Sum-Tseg camps run by the monastery. The double bedded tent accommodation with shared bathrooms cost Rs250/ night. On your way back to Leh via Alchi do look out for the lovely apricot and apple orchards. All the trees were loaded with fruits. They really are a pretty sight. 2 days in Leh and everywhere I was met by empty streets and villages. The whole of Ladakh was travelling to see the Dalai Lama and what was fascinating was that most people made it to the sermons all 4 days. No one was forced to go, but everyone wanted to be there. On the way back from Alchi, we saw truckloads of people returning home – even though there was space inside the bus – most youngsters and children preferred to sit atop the bus . Ladakhi people by nature are super friendly – Juley is the magic word – use it for everything – hi, thank you, welcome, bye. Back to Leh by 3.30pm. Washed up and slept till 6pm. Went to Shanti Stupa – a gift from Japan, to view the sunset, (Taxi Rs.100) but were a little late for that. The view of Leh city from here is amazing. We spent some time there and then walked down to the New Bus stand. Just as we entered the bus stand at around 8pm, our much awaited HPTDC also arrived. What a joy! 2 days without luggage and man was I thrilled. I did learn an important lesson though – pack less – you really need just half the stuff that you pack. I must mention here that HPTDC refunded Rs.200 (that was charged by the HRTC conductor for the ride from Pang to Leh) + Rs.100 (they did not tell us why..goodwill maybe?). All was good – not a single person lost their luggage even those that were left inside the bus. The luggage in the dickey we were anyways confident we would get. Had dinner at Punjab Pure Vegetarian. Everything was dripping in butter, but the methi was a bit too bitter for me. Would not recommend it. Meal for 3 – Rs.170.
Day7 (26-Aug): Pangong Tso – Left for Pangong at 6.45am (Total taxi fare – Rs. 4386. The taxi union rate is Rs. 5160. Most agents will give you 10% to 15% off) as against the 6am we had aimed for, no thanks to me for getting up late. It took around 15 minutes for the remaining 3 people to spit out their anger. Apologies. To go to Pangong lake, which is to the South-east, we pass by the same route as that of Thiksey. Stopped at Karu for breakfast. Bread butter jam toast and tea. (Rs. 40 per person). We were discussing various places all of us have had visited and fighting over which was more beautiful when one of the people in our taxi said a beautiful thing. He simply said ‘everything is beautiful’. I have heard this a million times, but this is the first time it did make sense. Why compare – just enjoy the beauty of each place. There were beautiful paddy fields on the way to Zingral just before Changla Pass. I got obsessed with the paddy fields in Ladakh. Having had no clue that there was so much vegetation in the area. No small title to hold for the Indus. She is the mother of civilization after all. Changla was awesome and cold. The army (only reason I have not mentioned them till now is because I cannot stop gushing about them) gives people complementary Kehwa (Kashmiri tea) and biscuits. Man that one really served as a welcome drink. The armyman on duty( sorry for having not asked your name) was very friendly and gave some insights on the work they do. Along the way we saw herds of sheep, goat, donkeys , beautiful horses and yes the famous yak. Reached Pangong at 1pm. The first glimpse was amazing and then we were lucky – it was a bright sunny day – Pangong had every shade of blue most prominent being peacock blue and some shades of green. After taking the customary photos – I just lied down by the lake taking in the magic of nature. Skipped the drive to the top to view a larger portion of the lake. Well spent 1 hour. Left around 2pm. Pagal naala had more water than just an hour ago. Stopped at Tangste for lunch. Trashi our sweet driver (who wears a safety pin for a earring in just one ear – obviously no one has told him it could get septic or he knows but his sense of fashion takes precedence over hygiene). It was a small ladakhi house with the traditional low seats and loads of teacups and flasks stacked in a rack at the corner of the room. Again roti, dal, chawal and sabzi (Rs. 70 per head). Good food – not oily. There is a beautiful monastery perched on a mountain in Tangste – you can see it while driving to Pangong. I thought I would take a snap on the way back – bad idea. Lesson – If you find something click worthy – click it! Another thing. There was little girl called Sushma who was serving us food. She spoke good hindi. A person from our group asked her ‘how come you speak such good hindi?’. Pat came the reply ‘main India ki huun’. She did not say this with anger or vehemence just a sense of assertion. Lesson – stop discriminating against your own. On the way back we fell back on army hospitality again and had the hot Kehwa tea, met the same armyman whose courtesy had not diminished a bit, thanked him profusely, shook hands with the pride of our nation and started off. There was a drizzle of a snowfall near Changla – very pretty. Got to Leh by 7pm. Decided to walk around a bit. Checked out the rafting rates. Walked more. Had dinner at Golden Dragon. Bad food. The fried rice was bearable, but the vegetable curry (forgot name) and lemon chicken were yuck! (Rs 380 for 2). Avoid it. The delhi guy had called and said he would join in for rafting, so called the agent (Himalayan something in Changspa – very friendly person) and booked for 2 people from Phey to Nimo (Rs. 900 each including pickup and drop at Leh and lunch)
Day8 (27-Aug): Chilling to Nimo rafting, Spituk – Reached the pickup spot for rafting at 8.45am. The guy told us that there was a slight change in plans. Apparently the 3 people who were to join us for the rafting had opted out. So we would be joining another group rafting from Chilling to Nimo. Best thing that could have happened. For everyone, even if it is your first time rafting – opt for Chilling to Nimo. Phey to Nimo is along the Indus – which is narrow and interspersed with stones. Chilling to Nimo (25 kms – 2.5 hrs), on the other hand is along the wider and more wild Zanskar. There were two level 3 rapids – called Chilling and Soot – awesome! The Zanskar has formed deep gorges around it and is a sight to behold. Small caves were formed in many places. At one point our raft with 8 of us went almost 70 degrees – lovely! Dal, Chawal, sabzi (again!) at Nimo. A word on the instructor – Kushal - he looked like a little kid – but man did the kid know how to handle big boats. He was from Rishikesh and was very entertaining and even explained the science behind some rafting techniques. When he said he was from Rishikesh, I said that’s the best place to raft. He retorted – ‘every river is beautiful, every river is different’. What happened to the lesson I had learnt just the previous day on not comparing places? Whenever I go rafting, at the end I like to just jump into the water and float down for a bit. I had hoped to do the same here also. Only hitch being the Zanskar was freezing cold. Our instructor told me it was ok – I could jump in for no longer than 3 minutes to avoid hypothermia. So jump in I did or rather after seeing me in a state of indecision, Kushal just pushed me in. Totally worth it. Started for Leh around 4.30pm. After dropping off the rafting gear at Phey, we reached the airport around 5.30pm. Since there was still time, we got off at the main road and walked up to Spituk Gompa. Finally at a huge flat enclosure next to the gompa I saw a stone Buddha – beautiful!! The eyes again were perfect and man was it serene place. Spituk Gompa itself is beautiful. This gompa had a lot of hindu influence with an avatar of goddess Kali and one of Vishnu among other idols. The Lhama said it was built in 11AD. It a huge gompa with various pathways. The main temple and the courtyard are beautiful. Sad that there were no festivals at this time of the year. If you sit on the top step at the courtyard, you can see the Indus river flowing behind. Since they were closing up, we went back to the enclosure where the stone Buddha statue was and just laid down and started back just before it got dark. Good decision. We got down to the main road and there were 4 army choppers circling the airport. On the way down you get a good view of the runway – the weak hearted need not see it as it is really short. I had not taken my camera this day – wish I find a picture of the Buddha on the net. Asked for a lift from every vehicle that passed by and finally a maruti van stopped – the taxi was giving a lift to workers. (Rs. 10). I was surprised to find workers from Bihar everywhere. Someone called them the ‘the real Buddhas’ – have no idea what that means – need to find out. Dinner at Leh View Restaurant. Highly recommended – for ambience, food and service. Had Mutton momos, hot and sour soup and American chopsuey and Kehwa tea. (Rs 230 for 2). The Kehwa tea was yumm – it had sliced almonds in it. The waiter was extremely patient and happy to help.
Day9 (28-Aug): Leh Discovery – This was a day set aside for myself. In the morning, I had planned to go to Khardungla (Total taxi fare – Rs.1200 ).My mistake, forgot to collect permit from Trashi. He had gone to Nubra which I had decided to skip. I spent the whole morning walking around Chaangspa. Changspa is beautiful – even though it is a little far from town, I think it is a great place to stay in. The guesthouses looked good. Filled water at Dzomsa - my bit to save plastic. (Rs.7). You can save money too as a litre of bottled water definitely costs more than Rs.7. Gave some clothes for laundry (Rs. 70 per kg). They wash your dirty trek bags too. Had seabuckthorn juice. (Rs.8 / glass) I loved it. Later in the evening, I had apricot juice – must say I prefer just eating the fruit. The juice did not do it for me. Apple juice of course is super! (Rs. 70 for a big bottle). I went to the Mahabodhi center at Changspa and bought loads of books on Buddhism, Vipassana, Ashoka, etc. Met an obnoxious yoga instructor. He was speaking so nicely to an Israeli couple. While the lady at the desk was making my bill, I asked him ‘What kind of yoga do you teach’ and he replied ‘Amit Yoga’. Sorry I asked. Visited the Ecology Center and Women’s alliance center(did not find any tangkas as was mentioned by someone, but decided to come back another day at 3pm and watch the video ‘Ancient Futures’). It was 1pm and I was hungry. I bought a Kashmiri roti at Zangsti near Khan Manzil (Rs.5) and boy – this is the best roti ever!!!! A family of 5 was sitting in this approximately 8x8 ft size room and making the best rotis – maida – no oil and cooked in a tandoor. Do not miss this one. You can eat it as is but I had it with a slice of cheddar cheese. I ended up eating another 4-5 rotis while in Leh. Slept till 5pm and then the couple and me started walking in the market area and fort road. Went to Soma Gompa – nice courtyard. The Buddhist Tangka Center has beautiful tangkas. At first glance I fell in love with a red and mustard-gold one. I knew this was it, but as things go it was way too pricey for me. Bought lots of purses and wallets to gift friends. Dinner at Summer Harvest – yumm yummy umm – the waiter did have a bit of an attitude – but if I get worried about people throwing their weight around then I will be the one losing out on good food and that I cannot afford to do We had fried vegetable momos(Rs.70) and cheese koythes (Rs.80). Koytha is a momo like – one side fried and one side steamed. Both were yumm – If you go to Leh you have to go to Summer Harvest. Foodie or not – you will love the food. Ambience is good too.
Day10 (29-Aug): Tso Moriri - 1 – Left for Tso Moriri at 6.30am (Total taxi fare – Rs. 7000 including driver charges for extra day) – I did not cause any delay this time. We were stopped at Choglamsar by the ITBP (Indo Tibetan Border Police) as the Dalai Lama was flying out of Leh. He usually comes once a year for 10 days to Leh. He was to pass by on the way from his house to the airport. People had lined up all along. There is a book titled ‘Is Dalai Lama a feudal lord?’ I don’t know the answer. From what I saw I do know that all the people had come to see him on their own accord. And it was not only the poor people who believed in him – people of all classes did. We had butter tea while we waited for the convoy to pass. With due respect – I hated it! After ½ hour, the convoy started. I saw the Dalai Lama again and it made me happy. There was a convoy of around 25 vehicles including an ambulance. A word on the ITBP – I don’t know what their jurisdiction or role is but they are very friendly soldiers, always ready with a smile. The journey was amazing – so many colours – I did not expect this at all. Brown, green, yellow, red and even purple mountains near Kiari. My obsession with paddy fields was rewarded – saw lovely paddy fields at Himya and Kidmung. The BRO (Border Road Organization) was laying roads – so traffic was stopped for another ½ hour. Lot of vehicles, mostly army trucks had piled up. For most of the route to Tso Moriri, The Indus is with you, so one doesn’t have to guess what I did. Yes, I sat by the Indus again. Our movement was by now hampered owing to all the piled up trucks. Luckily at Kidmung, the army vehicles were all stopped as they prefer to move in a single convoy. You will rarely see army trucks in isolation. Looked like all the material was for the Kiari base. Kiari is one of the hugest army bases I have seen in Ladakh. It is so well maintained and looks like a model village. The road signs by the BRO along the road to Pangong are of course witty and extremely well written. But I liked the road signs on the way to Tso Moriri better. These looked more like the work of the army. (Who am I to differentiate them? A sign said ‘Army hain jahan jahan, BRO hain vahan vahan’ ). The one I liked best – ‘Paradise lies in the shadow of the sword’). And one more which was written out in stones at the army base at Kiari – ‘Any Task, Any Place, Any Time, The Tougher The Better’. We had lunch at Chumathang (dal, etc….again!!..Rs.50/person) – avoidable. But it’s a 240km journey and one has to eat. There are very few villages on the way so Chumathang could be your only hope. There is a small lake before Tso Moriri (don’t know name) which is nice. The scenery is so beautiful, I found myself being utterly jealous of John Steinbeck. Loving your motherland is one thing, but to be able to translate that love into written words, one has to be blessed. The way he describes the Salinas brings the valley alive into one’s imagination. Around 3 kms to Tso Moriri we saw many pyo (mongoose like animals). There were beautiful blue and white birds there too (need to find out name). And then we arrived!! Tso Moriri is beautiful – an understatement. It is almost like it does not want to be found – hidden and loving it. It is at a height of 15000ft and you do not feel it – neither during the drive as there are no great heights to cross or at the lake. In fact the whole stretch of land looks like a huge plateau. The sun was at its shining best and so was nature. There were alternate shades of blue and green in the water with the blue sky on one side and the perfectly green fields on the other. A lovely rainbow with all seven distinct colors had also formed. Spellbound! After bargaining, we got huts for Rs.1500 inclusive of dinner and breakfast. All camps there are called Tso Moriri – we stayed at the one right behind the army base. The rest of the camps are a little further ahead after Korzok Village. We liked the place so much decided to stay back an extra day. It started raining that evening. Dal,etc…for dinner. There was canned rasagolla – bearable. One thing to mention about Tso Moriri. We took the jeep to one corner of the lake – you need to cross the bridge after all the camps and ride till the last point. It looked like a small ocean – there were little waves being formed. Nature!!
Day11 (30-Aug): Tso Moriri - 2 - This day as it so happened, the sun was out for just 3 hours from 10am to 1pm. Skipped breakfast, went to the Korzok Monastery – it has some beautiful paintings of protectors and some lovely statues of the previous Dalai Lamas, Tara, etc. Korzok village has a board outside calling it a model village – it is anything but. I spent the rest of the day reading my book – ‘Mystic River’. The first instance wherein I had seen the movie, liked it and then read the book. The movie has done complete justice to the book and stayed true to it. It is about a murder mystery with psychological undertones and a great insight into human psyche. Since it was just 3 of us for lunch – we had ordered Chinese – fried rice and noodles. (Rs.300 as lunch was included in menu). Was ok. Dinner was better – the allo sabzi cooked in mustard oil was really good and so was the vegetable pulav. For dessert, we had fruit salad. Finished by book by 10pm. Despite the cold, I slept well both days as I had both blankets for myself added to the one I had brought along.
Day12 (31-Aug): Tso Moriri - 3, Leh shopping – Got yumm aloo paranth and pickle for breakfast and left for Leh at 7.15am. Saw some Changpa tribes who had settled down for a bit. As it gets colder, they will move down to the plains. Stopped again at Chumathang – this time to see some hot springs. Chumthang again is a badly maintained village. The hot springs have medicinal properties. There is a board for a hydrotherapy center – not sure if it is operational. Trashi our driver made good time. We stopped to see the Dalai Lama’s house – it is really beautiful with a huge garden full of varied colored flowers and then stopped at the Mahabodhi center at Choglamsar. It has a lovely Buddha statue by an umbrella. Arrived in Leh by 2.45pm. I quickly dropped my luggage in my room and got a drop to the Women’s alliance center to watch the video ‘Ancient Futures’. The filming was great and I do not think this is the right forum to comment on its content. At 5pm, started on walk around Leh again – never tired of it. Got 1 CD of Buddhist chants – ‘Chants of Tibet’ which has ‘Om Mani Padme Hum’ and 1 DVD – ‘Kundun’. The six syllables(split Mani and Padme into 2 each) purify pride, jealousy, desire, prejudice, possessiveness and hatred. Kundun is the story of how the Dalai Lama was chosen and his childhood and how he reached India. I just watched it yesterday. It is directed by Martin Scorsese and I am unsure what to make of it. Ate roadside Kashmiri mutton – 5 pieces of mutton kebab barbecued and served with a small piece of thin roti and onions (Rs.5) – yumm – all meat lovers should try this. Went back to my Buddhist Tangka Center to bargain on the Tangka I had seen earlier. The guy – a nepali who had come down to work for 4 months in Leh came to Rs.6500 from Rs9000. There are a lot of Nepalis working in Leh – they move around the country based on the season – Leh, Goa, Dehradun, etc. I should have just bought it – I had budgeted Rs.5000 as I didn’t plan to buy anything else. Somehow did not feel right and settled for a bottle green ‘ Wheel of life’ tangka that was within my budget. Ate again at Summer Harvest – Fried Vegetable Momos (Rs.70), garlic naan (Rs.25) and Kashmiri Mutton Roghan Ghosh (Rs.70). The momos were again good, garlic naan very good, but the roghan ghosh took the cake. The curry was unbelievably tasty and although I could not bite into the mutton, I came out happy. Again do not miss Summer Harvest. We got the same waiter again and he was good to us this time.
Day13 (1-Sep): Ladakh Festival – My last day in Leh. After a lot of confusion as to what time the procession as part of the Ladakh Festival inauguration was to start – I found out it was at 10am. Had yumm breakfast at Gesmo bakery and restaurant. Extremely tasty fresh mango milkshake, Tomato cheese sandwich, fried egg and hash browns (really pieces of boiled potato with spices) (Rs. 90). Totally worth it! Spent almost an hour at Ladakh Book Store and bought 2 books – one on Dalai Lama and another a novel by Ben Okri. When I got down, loads of locals and tourists had already lined up to watch the procession. I found a place for myself and settled down. Procession started around 10.15am – it was short one and beautiful. The locals from different regions in ladakh paraded in their traditional clothes. I liked the ‘Perak’ or headgear made using turquoise stones and the gladiator-like looking guy who was along with the ‘king and queen’. Walked along with the people to the polo grounds (man I wish I had stayed back to see the polo matches the next day). The ceremony was inaugurated by union minister for tourism – Kumari Selja. She spoke well and joined in some dancing too. Nice ceremony which ended at 1pm. More strolling, kashmiri roti, sleep, fried cheese potato momos and sorig tea at Tenzin Dickey Vegetarian Tibetan Kitchen (Rs. 90). The momos were highly recommended on the net. I found them so-so. The sorig tea pales in comparison with Kashmiri Kehwa tea. Got Schezwan chicken fried rice and spicy sauce packed from Dreamland Restaurant (Rs. 75). This was excellent especially the sauce – Had this for dinner and breakfast the next day
Day14 (2-Sep): Leh to Bangalore, Srinagar visit – My Air India flight to Srinagar was to leave Leh at 08.50am. Owing to a delay, we left at 9.45am. Thanks Trashi for dropping me to the airport. Reached Srinagar at 10.30am. I thought we would fly below the clouds but that was the case for only 5 minutes. Great view till then. I did not get a Leh to Delhi direct flight so had to do Leh-Srinagar-Delhi-Bangalore. Had checked in my luggage till Bangalore. Since I had 3 hours in Srinagar, after filling the H1N1 forms, I got a taxi to go to Dal Lake and 2 gardens at the pre paid taxi stand( make sure they put your name and the taxi number on the receipt). Cost-Rs.1200. If you only want to see Dal Lake it will cost you Rs.1000. There were army men every 100m but they were not intimidating. I remember my trip to Jammu (on the way to Vaishnodevi) – I was totally intimated by the presence of so many police and armymen, mainly owing to multiple checkpoints. Here there was only 1 checkpoint on the way to Chashmeshahi gardens as it was on the way to Raj Bhavan(governor’s residence). The gardens were beautiful – Chashmeshahi and Nishant. Both places I was asked to take photos in kashmiri dresses. The guy showed me an album and said ‘ek dum gora bana doonga- kashmiri ki tarah’
Ate the seeds of the lotus found in dal lake – yumm! Dal lake of course is beautiful. Again I feel blessed and lucky I could actually see it. Owing to the rains, The lake was covered in algae – but the process of cleaning up had already started. It was time to leave for the airport. All along I had this itchy feeling and after suppressing it for a loooong time, I asked the driver – Sajjad – who was friendly and spoke very nicely to take me to carpet store. I mean how can I be in Kashmir and not even see a carpet store? 
No guesses here – yes I did buy a small carpet – a lovely white and blue one which I will use as a wall hanging. Wazwan was out of the question, I could not even eat phirni as it was ramzaam and most people keep roza which meant no food till sunset. Hurried back to the airport. All flights were delayed as there was a VIP situation in Delhi (all flights were delayed there). Missed my Delhi To Bangalore flight which was at 4.30pm. Air India staff were very helpful and put those of us who had missed our flights on the next plane. Our luggage was also routed accordingly. In Bangalore by 11pm. My favourite place in the world. I can and do travel as much as I can, but that thing I feel when I get home is unexplainable. My sister picked me up and there was my much loved ‘chitranna’ or lemon rice waiting for me. Lemon Rice with fried peanuts and curd(man – did I miss curd) is my comfort food. I am home!
Not sure if anyone has bothered to read this whole post, but I would like to thank IndiaMike again for having made it possible for me to go on my first solo trip. I met so many nice people –armymen, Ladakhis, non-Ladakhis working there, Indian tourists, foreign tourists – it was amazing. A huge salute to each and every person in the Indian Army, BRO, ITBP, GREF (General Reserve Engineer Force) - no matter where they are posted. I met 2 kannadiga armymen at the Srinagar airport and I was more happier than them to hear someone speak Kannada after just 2 weeks, I can imagine what coming home must mean to them.
Food and accommodation in Ladakh is cheap. Travel is what will pinch your pocket. How you travel from your city to leh and back is totally dependent on you. Travel within Ladakh is what has to be managed and that can be easily done by opting for local bus service to nearby places and shared taxis to the rest. Shared taxis are easy to find – almost everywhere one can find advertisements with dates and destinations and number of people required. Just reach there.
For the girls who want to travel alone, I do not know about other places, but it is really easy to travel in Ladakh alone. It is a very safe place. Do your homework well, be aware, trust your instinct and travel light. Ladakh or anywhere else, respect Mother Nature and do your bit to preserve her.
No words or pictures can justify the beauty of Ladakh, you have to experience it yourself.
It was the first week of August and I had booked a seat with a touring company for a 10 day trip to Ladakh. A week down the line and I was told that owing to the fact that the stipulated number of 10 people had not registered, the trip was cancelled.
I was so bummed - here I was with enough time on my hands and a cancelled trip. On 9-August, I was casually surfing the net searching on Ladakh. I knew nothing about IndiaMike and I accidently came across a post by errorinu (A short trip to Leh Ladakh..). That was the start - 9hours of straight surfing (which is a record for me as 1/2hr is the maximum I can spend surfing) and I was confident I could do the trip on my own.
Below is an account of my trip (it is a tad too long, do forgive me). Thank you IndiaMike for providing most of the inputs.
Day1 (20-Aug): Bangalore to Delhi to Manali - Bangalore to Delhi by flight. Caught the 6.30pm HPTDC (Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation) bus to Simla (Rs.990).
Day2 (21-Aug): Manali - Reached Manali at 9.30am. Had booked a room for a day at the Beas Hotel run by HPTDC
. The room I was first shown was at the basement and was awful. At an added Rs200, was given a room on the 1st floor. This one looked good, but after 10 minutes in it, I could smell stale air. The place had not been aired out since ages! (Room Cost/day - Rs.800). Took a shower, had breakfast - had aloo paranthas(really bad - do not even go there) and very good coffee. Slept till 2pm. Got ready and walked the 2 minutes to the bus stand. All autowallahs will give you a Manali tour. Mine charged me Rs.250 for a 3hour trip to Vashist Temple, Hadimba Temple, Shiv Temple and Manu Temple. This was my first time in Manali - I liked the place. Manu Temple and the bookstore down the road from Manu Temple (name??) did it for me. The books are overpriced - the owner said that the proceeds go to charity, so why not? I bought Janet Rizvi's 'Crossroads of high Asia’(Rs.330). It was around 5pm and my little trip around Manali was complete. I was starved by then - asked the autowallah to drop me off at Johnson's bar and cafe. I finished off a whole plate of 'Spicy trout masala with basmati rice'. There was side of vegetable and apple salad and mashed palak. It was excellent, yumm really (im a big foodie, so there will be loads of references to all the food I ate . Price Rs.340 which was my most expensive meal for the entire trip but well worth it. It was almost 6pm by the time I was done eating. I had seen a poster that the film Kaminey was being shown at Picadilly Theatre. So I took an auto to reach there and bought a corner seat gold class ticket (Rs.100) for the 6pm show and actually watched the movie alone. Again, loved it - double and triple crossing and a craft well attempted by the director. There was a deliberate attempt me thinks at copying the kill bill tune towards the end. Day3 (22-Aug): Manali to Keylong - Boarded the 11am HPTDC bus from Manali to Leh (Rs.1800). A shared taxi will cost Rs.800 to Rs.1200 and a HRTC (Himachal Pradesh Road Transport Corporation) bus will cost you Rs.500 to Rs.700. HPTDC is for tourism promotion so the driver will stop at all passes and wherever else you want him to stop. HRTC is a transport bus and the driver will have no time to listen to your whims and fancies as he has a deadline to make. The HPTDC bus was well maintained and as for everyone the choice was between doing a cannonball run and taking a 2 day bus trip - I chose the latter. The bus was in a very good condition. Our driver, an ex-armyman who had driven medicine supplies to Kargil knew the roads well. I am in awe of the landscape - firstly how it changes from green hills towards Manali to barren or snow capped mountains. After Rohtang pass and especially the second day, the landscape changes every 10 minutes. The shape of the mountains, the way the rivers - Chandrabhaga and Vyas flow through through the valleys – bountiful beauty. Night Stay at tents in Hotel Chandrabhaga in Keylong. The food at Hotel Chandrabhaga was good - simple roti, sabzi, daal and chawaal. The night halt in the tents was bad - I did not sleep a wink and neither did anyone on the bus owing to the unbearable cold.
Day4 (23-Aug): Keylong to Leh - Started for Leh at 4.30am! Again the journey and the views were awesome. One of the nicest views was from Zing Zing bar. After Sarchu around 40km before Pang our bus broke down. Problem with gear box - the driver was unable to put it in 2nd gear. A 1/2 hour later a HRTC bus passed by. Our driver asked him to stop and take all of us to Pang. He said he would get the bus ready and pick us from there. On reaching Pang, the HRTC driver told us that it was doubtful the bus would get repaired the same day and it was best if we rode with him to Leh. After much deliberation, I decided to board the HRTC bus to Leh - most of us did the same while around 8 people stayed back at Pang and waited for our bus. So when I left Pang, all I had was my purse with money and other important documents in it and my sweater and a shawl! Till Pang I had no problem at all. After an hour in the HRTC bus, I started feeling nauseous. I do not know if I should blame the driver for his rash driving, the food at Pang or AMS. Reached Leh at 9.30pm. I had met a couple from Mumbai in our bus - we decided to stay at Khan Manzil hotel in Zangsti. It is located right opposite Leh palace which I could see from my bedroom window. Khan Manzil is 10 minutes walk from market area and for road and 5 minutes to Changspa. I got a good double room for Rs.300 a day. Choose the rooms to your left after you get off the staircase. The ones to the right get too hot during the day and are much smaller. Gonchok is very helpful – he will arrange to get your permits(Rs. 130 + Rs.30 / day – so if you apply for a permit for 5 days – he charges Rs 250 after a Rs.30 discount. Alternately you could get it done at the DC’s office yourself), arrange for taxis and generally help you with everything. Manjit, the cook on the other hand is a TV addict. The first 3 days he atleast bothered to come out of his room and give us our room keys. After that he could not care less. The best thing would be to check in to a hotel for a day and then look around the next. August has relatively low tourist inflow and there is no dearth of available rooms.
Day5 (24-Aug): Choglamsar, Sindhu Darshan, Thiksey, Stakna – The Dalai Lama was in Leh and was to address the people for 4 days(22-Aug to 25Aug).I had to go see the Dalai Lama. The taxi driver from yesterday had told us that there would be huge traffic going towards Choglamsar( the Dalai Lama has a beautiful house there and next to it was the venue). Hence I left Khan Manzil at 6.30am. Thought of catching a bus to cover the 8kms to Choglamsar but they were already full, so teamed up with 2 foreigners and took a cab (Rs.100 each). The promised traffic was there. The sight was really humbling - hundreds of people were either driving or walking to see the Dalai Lama. People of all ages carrying along umbrellas and floor mats and the older ones with a prayer wheel or beads. It took us a good 45 minutes to reach the venue. There was an enclosure close to the podium made for foreigners and non-ladakhi Indians. I got a good spot and waited for the Dalai Lama to arrive. My first glimpse of the Dalai Lama was when he walked in at 8.30am sharp. I do feel blessed that I got a chance to see such a revered person. The sermon began at 9am. For the 1/2 hr in between, some monks went on arguing about something - I had no clue what was happening - sounded fun though. The Dalai Lama spoke about the Hinayana and Mahayana sects of Buddhism and its various interpretations among other things. Listened for 2 hours and then walked to Sindhu darshan - touched the Indus River for first time - lovely! The Indus is a beautiful green and yes the water was cold. Then I caught a bus to Thiksey (Rs.10). The monastery is just beautiful (I am handicapped when it comes to using adjectives as you will come to know) and houses the most number of monks. Altough it was to open at 1.30pm, since all the lhamas(monks) were at Choglamsar, the monastery was opened only around 2.15pm. I met a guy from Delhi who was also travelling alone. The 3 storey Buddha is a sight to see. Every gompa (monastery) I went to, I was amazed as to how the painters/sculptures got the eyes of the buddha right each time. Almost all Buddha statues/paintings in Ladakh have the southeast Asian influence. They look nothing like the stone buddha I had grown up seeing in social science textbooks. All gompas have photos of the Dalai Lama and the Head lhama at a mimimum. Some have photos of the karmapa. It was almost 4pm and I was as usual starved. We had lunch at Chamba Restaurant
. located within Thiksey gompa premises. Highly recommended. Both the Thupka (noodle soup) and Chaguti (boiled vegetables and plain momos in soup) were yumm! Meal for two Rs.170. We then caught a local bus and went to Stakna which is 6kms from Thiksey on the other side of the Indus. Another beautiful gompa which as all gompas go was built on a hillock. This gompa has 3 statues dedicated to the past, present (Sakyamuni) and future buddha. The lhama there had travelled to Nepal, Delhi, Dharamsala and Bodhgaya. Most Lhamas have travelled to a good number of other monasteries. Sat by the Indus till 6pm when we caught the last bus back to Leh. Stakna is the last stop for regular buses plying south of Leh. If you need to reach Hemis - there is a bus from Leh at 3.30pm. Went to Leh new bus stand and there was no sign of our HPTDC bus. Three days in the same clothes and believe me I was not feeling too elated. I bought a salwar top for Rs.200 cause the HPTDC official told me the bus would reach earliest the next evening. Dinner at Lamayuru Restaurant - butter roti, mushroom something and kadai paneer - yumm! Meal for 2 - Rs. 172. Reached the hotel and made some trip plans for taxi sharing with the couple I had met on the HPTDC bus. Next day we were off to Alchi.Day6 (25-Aug): Likir, Alchi - Left at 9.30am for Likir and Alchi. (Total taxi fare – Rs.1470 ) Altough Lamayuru (127 kmfrom Leh in the same direction) is supposed to be beautiful, we decided to skip it which suited me fine as I do not like to just see places for the heck of it. A more relaxed travel is what I like. Likir is 62km to the west of Leh and Alchi is 70km in the same direction. On the way, stopped at Nimo – the sangam of Indus (Singhey Khabab) and Zanskar - what a sight! The narrow green of the Indus merging with the wider brown of the Zanskar to make to narrow brown Indus which will eventually flow into Pakistan. Reached Likir around 11.30am - a stunning 25ft gold covered Buddha in the open. This gompa is also called the Klu Khhyil or water spirits gompa. You can see some lovely chortens (stupas from behind the Buddha statue). For people who want to do Likir and Alchi by bus - you can catch the 6am bus to Kargil, get off on the highway and walk around 5kms to Likir gompa. This is an easy walk, just make sure you have your water, hat and sunglasses. Altough Likir to Alchi is around 8kms - it did not look like an easy walk as one has to walk till Saspol bridge cross over and walk to Alchi Gompa. It looked more like 12 kms to me. From Alchi, the return bus to Leh is around(Please check the bus timings at visitladakh.com) 4pm. I was starved (again!!) so we decided to have lunch before seeing the gompa. We had lunch in a restaurant right opposite the bus stand. Good food - dal, chawal and sabzi. (Rs.230 for 3). This is one thing that is always ready. When we were travelling I got tired of eating dal, chawal so did my best to try Ladakhi and other cuisines in Leh. Alchi gompa does have an old world ethereal feel to it. The Kashmiri paintings are wonderful. I wish I understood Buddhism and what each of the 5 temples signified. When we came out of the Manjushri temple the gatekeeper told us that because we had been there, all our sins till date were washed off. If only!! Behind the gompa, there is a path to walk down to the Indus – spent some time there. I have a connection with all water bodies – be it lakes, rivers or the seas, hence I can never miss a chance to spend time with them. I would suggest if one has time, stay overnight at Sum-Tseg camps run by the monastery. The double bedded tent accommodation with shared bathrooms cost Rs250/ night. On your way back to Leh via Alchi do look out for the lovely apricot and apple orchards. All the trees were loaded with fruits. They really are a pretty sight. 2 days in Leh and everywhere I was met by empty streets and villages. The whole of Ladakh was travelling to see the Dalai Lama and what was fascinating was that most people made it to the sermons all 4 days. No one was forced to go, but everyone wanted to be there. On the way back from Alchi, we saw truckloads of people returning home – even though there was space inside the bus – most youngsters and children preferred to sit atop the bus
. Ladakhi people by nature are super friendly – Juley is the magic word – use it for everything – hi, thank you, welcome, bye. Back to Leh by 3.30pm. Washed up and slept till 6pm. Went to Shanti Stupa – a gift from Japan, to view the sunset, (Taxi Rs.100) but were a little late for that. The view of Leh city from here is amazing. We spent some time there and then walked down to the New Bus stand. Just as we entered the bus stand at around 8pm, our much awaited HPTDC also arrived. What a joy! 2 days without luggage and man was I thrilled. I did learn an important lesson though – pack less – you really need just half the stuff that you pack. I must mention here that HPTDC refunded Rs.200 (that was charged by the HRTC conductor for the ride from Pang to Leh) + Rs.100 (they did not tell us why..goodwill maybe?). All was good – not a single person lost their luggage even those that were left inside the bus. The luggage in the dickey we were anyways confident we would get. Had dinner at Punjab Pure Vegetarian. Everything was dripping in butter, but the methi was a bit too bitter for me. Would not recommend it. Meal for 3 – Rs.170.Day7 (26-Aug): Pangong Tso – Left for Pangong at 6.45am (Total taxi fare – Rs. 4386. The taxi union rate is Rs. 5160. Most agents will give you 10% to 15% off) as against the 6am we had aimed for, no thanks to me for getting up late. It took around 15 minutes for the remaining 3 people to spit out their anger. Apologies. To go to Pangong lake, which is to the South-east, we pass by the same route as that of Thiksey. Stopped at Karu for breakfast. Bread butter jam toast and tea. (Rs. 40 per person). We were discussing various places all of us have had visited and fighting over which was more beautiful when one of the people in our taxi said a beautiful thing. He simply said ‘everything is beautiful’. I have heard this a million times, but this is the first time it did make sense. Why compare – just enjoy the beauty of each place. There were beautiful paddy fields on the way to Zingral just before Changla Pass. I got obsessed with the paddy fields in Ladakh. Having had no clue that there was so much vegetation in the area. No small title to hold for the Indus. She is the mother of civilization after all. Changla was awesome and cold. The army (only reason I have not mentioned them till now is because I cannot stop gushing about them) gives people complementary Kehwa (Kashmiri tea) and biscuits. Man that one really served as a welcome drink. The armyman on duty( sorry for having not asked your name) was very friendly and gave some insights on the work they do. Along the way we saw herds of sheep, goat, donkeys , beautiful horses and yes the famous yak. Reached Pangong at 1pm. The first glimpse was amazing and then we were lucky – it was a bright sunny day – Pangong had every shade of blue most prominent being peacock blue and some shades of green. After taking the customary photos – I just lied down by the lake taking in the magic of nature. Skipped the drive to the top to view a larger portion of the lake. Well spent 1 hour. Left around 2pm. Pagal naala had more water than just an hour ago. Stopped at Tangste for lunch. Trashi our sweet driver (who wears a safety pin for a earring in just one ear – obviously no one has told him it could get septic or he knows but his sense of fashion takes precedence over hygiene). It was a small ladakhi house with the traditional low seats and loads of teacups and flasks stacked in a rack at the corner of the room. Again roti, dal, chawal and sabzi (Rs. 70 per head). Good food – not oily. There is a beautiful monastery perched on a mountain in Tangste – you can see it while driving to Pangong. I thought I would take a snap on the way back – bad idea. Lesson – If you find something click worthy – click it! Another thing. There was little girl called Sushma who was serving us food. She spoke good hindi. A person from our group asked her ‘how come you speak such good hindi?’. Pat came the reply ‘main India ki huun’. She did not say this with anger or vehemence just a sense of assertion. Lesson – stop discriminating against your own. On the way back we fell back on army hospitality again and had the hot Kehwa tea, met the same armyman whose courtesy had not diminished a bit, thanked him profusely, shook hands with the pride of our nation and started off. There was a drizzle of a snowfall near Changla – very pretty. Got to Leh by 7pm. Decided to walk around a bit. Checked out the rafting rates. Walked more. Had dinner at Golden Dragon. Bad food. The fried rice was bearable, but the vegetable curry (forgot name) and lemon chicken were yuck! (Rs 380 for 2). Avoid it. The delhi guy had called and said he would join in for rafting, so called the agent (Himalayan something in Changspa – very friendly person) and booked for 2 people from Phey to Nimo (Rs. 900 each including pickup and drop at Leh and lunch)
Day8 (27-Aug): Chilling to Nimo rafting, Spituk – Reached the pickup spot for rafting at 8.45am. The guy told us that there was a slight change in plans. Apparently the 3 people who were to join us for the rafting had opted out. So we would be joining another group rafting from Chilling to Nimo. Best thing that could have happened. For everyone, even if it is your first time rafting – opt for Chilling to Nimo. Phey to Nimo is along the Indus – which is narrow and interspersed with stones. Chilling to Nimo (25 kms – 2.5 hrs), on the other hand is along the wider and more wild Zanskar. There were two level 3 rapids – called Chilling and Soot – awesome! The Zanskar has formed deep gorges around it and is a sight to behold. Small caves were formed in many places. At one point our raft with 8 of us went almost 70 degrees – lovely! Dal, Chawal, sabzi (again!) at Nimo. A word on the instructor – Kushal - he looked like a little kid – but man did the kid know how to handle big boats. He was from Rishikesh and was very entertaining and even explained the science behind some rafting techniques. When he said he was from Rishikesh, I said that’s the best place to raft. He retorted – ‘every river is beautiful, every river is different’. What happened to the lesson I had learnt just the previous day on not comparing places? Whenever I go rafting, at the end I like to just jump into the water and float down for a bit. I had hoped to do the same here also. Only hitch being the Zanskar was freezing cold. Our instructor told me it was ok – I could jump in for no longer than 3 minutes to avoid hypothermia. So jump in I did or rather after seeing me in a state of indecision, Kushal just pushed me in. Totally worth it. Started for Leh around 4.30pm. After dropping off the rafting gear at Phey, we reached the airport around 5.30pm. Since there was still time, we got off at the main road and walked up to Spituk Gompa. Finally at a huge flat enclosure next to the gompa I saw a stone Buddha – beautiful!! The eyes again were perfect and man was it serene place. Spituk Gompa itself is beautiful. This gompa had a lot of hindu influence with an avatar of goddess Kali and one of Vishnu among other idols. The Lhama said it was built in 11AD. It a huge gompa with various pathways. The main temple and the courtyard are beautiful. Sad that there were no festivals at this time of the year. If you sit on the top step at the courtyard, you can see the Indus river flowing behind. Since they were closing up, we went back to the enclosure where the stone Buddha statue was and just laid down and started back just before it got dark. Good decision. We got down to the main road and there were 4 army choppers circling the airport. On the way down you get a good view of the runway – the weak hearted need not see it as it is really short. I had not taken my camera this day – wish I find a picture of the Buddha on the net. Asked for a lift from every vehicle that passed by and finally a maruti van stopped – the taxi was giving a lift to workers. (Rs. 10). I was surprised to find workers from Bihar everywhere. Someone called them the ‘the real Buddhas’ – have no idea what that means – need to find out. Dinner at Leh View Restaurant.
Highly recommended – for ambience, food and service. Had Mutton momos, hot and sour soup and American chopsuey and Kehwa tea. (Rs 230 for 2). The Kehwa tea was yumm – it had sliced almonds in it. The waiter was extremely patient and happy to help.Day9 (28-Aug): Leh Discovery – This was a day set aside for myself. In the morning, I had planned to go to Khardungla (Total taxi fare – Rs.1200 ).My mistake, forgot to collect permit from Trashi. He had gone to Nubra which I had decided to skip. I spent the whole morning walking around Chaangspa. Changspa is beautiful – even though it is a little far from town, I think it is a great place to stay in. The guesthouses looked good. Filled water at Dzomsa - my bit to save plastic. (Rs.7). You can save money too as a litre of bottled water definitely costs more than Rs.7. Gave some clothes for laundry (Rs. 70 per kg). They wash your dirty trek bags too. Had seabuckthorn juice. (Rs.8 / glass) I loved it. Later in the evening, I had apricot juice – must say I prefer just eating the fruit. The juice did not do it for me. Apple juice of course is super! (Rs. 70 for a big bottle). I went to the Mahabodhi center at Changspa and bought loads of books on Buddhism, Vipassana, Ashoka, etc. Met an obnoxious yoga instructor. He was speaking so nicely to an Israeli couple. While the lady at the desk was making my bill, I asked him ‘What kind of yoga do you teach’ and he replied ‘Amit Yoga’. Sorry I asked. Visited the Ecology Center and Women’s alliance center(did not find any tangkas as was mentioned by someone, but decided to come back another day at 3pm and watch the video ‘Ancient Futures’). It was 1pm and I was hungry. I bought a Kashmiri roti at Zangsti near Khan Manzil (Rs.5) and boy – this is the best roti ever!!!! A family of 5 was sitting in this approximately 8x8 ft size room and making the best rotis – maida – no oil and cooked in a tandoor. Do not miss this one. You can eat it as is but I had it with a slice of cheddar cheese. I ended up eating another 4-5 rotis while in Leh. Slept till 5pm and then the couple and me started walking in the market area and fort road. Went to Soma Gompa – nice courtyard. The Buddhist Tangka Center has beautiful tangkas. At first glance I fell in love with a red and mustard-gold one. I knew this was it, but as things go it was way too pricey for me. Bought lots of purses and wallets to gift friends. Dinner at Summer Harvest – yumm yummy umm – the waiter did have a bit of an attitude – but if I get worried about people throwing their weight around then I will be the one losing out on good food and that I cannot afford to do We had fried vegetable momos(Rs.70) and cheese koythes (Rs.80). Koytha is a momo like – one side fried and one side steamed. Both were yumm – If you go to Leh you have to go to Summer Harvest.
Foodie or not – you will love the food. Ambience is good too.Day10 (29-Aug): Tso Moriri - 1 – Left for Tso Moriri at 6.30am (Total taxi fare – Rs. 7000 including driver charges for extra day) – I did not cause any delay this time. We were stopped at Choglamsar by the ITBP (Indo Tibetan Border Police) as the Dalai Lama was flying out of Leh. He usually comes once a year for 10 days to Leh. He was to pass by on the way from his house to the airport. People had lined up all along. There is a book titled ‘Is Dalai Lama a feudal lord?’ I don’t know the answer. From what I saw I do know that all the people had come to see him on their own accord. And it was not only the poor people who believed in him – people of all classes did. We had butter tea while we waited for the convoy to pass. With due respect – I hated it! After ½ hour, the convoy started. I saw the Dalai Lama again and it made me happy. There was a convoy of around 25 vehicles including an ambulance. A word on the ITBP – I don’t know what their jurisdiction or role is but they are very friendly soldiers, always ready with a smile. The journey was amazing – so many colours – I did not expect this at all. Brown, green, yellow, red and even purple mountains near Kiari. My obsession with paddy fields was rewarded – saw lovely paddy fields at Himya and Kidmung. The BRO (Border Road Organization) was laying roads – so traffic was stopped for another ½ hour. Lot of vehicles, mostly army trucks had piled up. For most of the route to Tso Moriri, The Indus is with you, so one doesn’t have to guess what I did. Yes, I sat by the Indus again. Our movement was by now hampered owing to all the piled up trucks. Luckily at Kidmung, the army vehicles were all stopped as they prefer to move in a single convoy. You will rarely see army trucks in isolation. Looked like all the material was for the Kiari base. Kiari is one of the hugest army bases I have seen in Ladakh. It is so well maintained and looks like a model village. The road signs by the BRO along the road to Pangong are of course witty and extremely well written. But I liked the road signs on the way to Tso Moriri better. These looked more like the work of the army. (Who am I to differentiate them? A sign said ‘Army hain jahan jahan, BRO hain vahan vahan’ ). The one I liked best – ‘Paradise lies in the shadow of the sword’). And one more which was written out in stones at the army base at Kiari – ‘Any Task, Any Place, Any Time, The Tougher The Better’. We had lunch at Chumathang (dal, etc….again!!..Rs.50/person) – avoidable. But it’s a 240km journey and one has to eat. There are very few villages on the way so Chumathang could be your only hope. There is a small lake before Tso Moriri (don’t know name) which is nice. The scenery is so beautiful, I found myself being utterly jealous of John Steinbeck. Loving your motherland is one thing, but to be able to translate that love into written words, one has to be blessed. The way he describes the Salinas brings the valley alive into one’s imagination. Around 3 kms to Tso Moriri we saw many pyo (mongoose like animals). There were beautiful blue and white birds there too (need to find out name). And then we arrived!! Tso Moriri is beautiful – an understatement. It is almost like it does not want to be found – hidden and loving it. It is at a height of 15000ft and you do not feel it – neither during the drive as there are no great heights to cross or at the lake. In fact the whole stretch of land looks like a huge plateau. The sun was at its shining best and so was nature. There were alternate shades of blue and green in the water with the blue sky on one side and the perfectly green fields on the other. A lovely rainbow with all seven distinct colors had also formed. Spellbound! After bargaining, we got huts for Rs.1500 inclusive of dinner and breakfast. All camps there are called Tso Moriri – we stayed at the one right behind the army base. The rest of the camps are a little further ahead after Korzok Village. We liked the place so much decided to stay back an extra day. It started raining that evening. Dal,etc…for dinner. There was canned rasagolla – bearable. One thing to mention about Tso Moriri. We took the jeep to one corner of the lake – you need to cross the bridge after all the camps and ride till the last point. It looked like a small ocean – there were little waves being formed. Nature!!
Day11 (30-Aug): Tso Moriri - 2 - This day as it so happened, the sun was out for just 3 hours from 10am to 1pm. Skipped breakfast, went to the Korzok Monastery – it has some beautiful paintings of protectors and some lovely statues of the previous Dalai Lamas, Tara, etc. Korzok village has a board outside calling it a model village – it is anything but. I spent the rest of the day reading my book – ‘Mystic River’. The first instance wherein I had seen the movie, liked it and then read the book. The movie has done complete justice to the book and stayed true to it. It is about a murder mystery with psychological undertones and a great insight into human psyche. Since it was just 3 of us for lunch – we had ordered Chinese – fried rice and noodles. (Rs.300 as lunch was included in menu). Was ok. Dinner was better – the allo sabzi cooked in mustard oil was really good and so was the vegetable pulav. For dessert, we had fruit salad. Finished by book by 10pm. Despite the cold, I slept well both days as I had both blankets for myself added to the one I had brought along.
Day12 (31-Aug): Tso Moriri - 3, Leh shopping – Got yumm aloo paranth and pickle for breakfast and left for Leh at 7.15am. Saw some Changpa tribes who had settled down for a bit. As it gets colder, they will move down to the plains. Stopped again at Chumathang – this time to see some hot springs. Chumthang again is a badly maintained village. The hot springs have medicinal properties. There is a board for a hydrotherapy center – not sure if it is operational. Trashi our driver made good time. We stopped to see the Dalai Lama’s house – it is really beautiful with a huge garden full of varied colored flowers and then stopped at the Mahabodhi center at Choglamsar. It has a lovely Buddha statue by an umbrella. Arrived in Leh by 2.45pm. I quickly dropped my luggage in my room and got a drop to the Women’s alliance center to watch the video ‘Ancient Futures’. The filming was great and I do not think this is the right forum to comment on its content. At 5pm, started on walk around Leh again – never tired of it. Got 1 CD of Buddhist chants – ‘Chants of Tibet’ which has ‘Om Mani Padme Hum’ and 1 DVD – ‘Kundun’. The six syllables(split Mani and Padme into 2 each) purify pride, jealousy, desire, prejudice, possessiveness and hatred. Kundun is the story of how the Dalai Lama was chosen and his childhood and how he reached India. I just watched it yesterday. It is directed by Martin Scorsese and I am unsure what to make of it. Ate roadside Kashmiri mutton – 5 pieces of mutton kebab barbecued and served with a small piece of thin roti and onions (Rs.5) – yumm – all meat lovers should try this. Went back to my Buddhist Tangka Center to bargain on the Tangka I had seen earlier. The guy – a nepali who had come down to work for 4 months in Leh came to Rs.6500 from Rs9000. There are a lot of Nepalis working in Leh – they move around the country based on the season – Leh, Goa, Dehradun, etc. I should have just bought it – I had budgeted Rs.5000 as I didn’t plan to buy anything else. Somehow did not feel right and settled for a bottle green ‘ Wheel of life’ tangka that was within my budget. Ate again at Summer Harvest – Fried Vegetable Momos (Rs.70), garlic naan (Rs.25) and Kashmiri Mutton Roghan Ghosh (Rs.70). The momos were again good, garlic naan very good, but the roghan ghosh took the cake. The curry was unbelievably tasty and although I could not bite into the mutton, I came out happy. Again do not miss Summer Harvest. We got the same waiter again and he was good to us this time.
Day13 (1-Sep): Ladakh Festival – My last day in Leh. After a lot of confusion as to what time the procession as part of the Ladakh Festival inauguration was to start – I found out it was at 10am. Had yumm breakfast at Gesmo bakery and restaurant. Extremely tasty fresh mango milkshake, Tomato cheese sandwich, fried egg and hash browns (really pieces of boiled potato with spices) (Rs. 90). Totally worth it! Spent almost an hour at Ladakh Book Store and bought 2 books – one on Dalai Lama and another a novel by Ben Okri. When I got down, loads of locals and tourists had already lined up to watch the procession. I found a place for myself and settled down. Procession started around 10.15am – it was short one and beautiful. The locals from different regions in ladakh paraded in their traditional clothes. I liked the ‘Perak’ or headgear made using turquoise stones and the gladiator-like looking guy who was along with the ‘king and queen’. Walked along with the people to the polo grounds (man I wish I had stayed back to see the polo matches the next day). The ceremony was inaugurated by union minister for tourism – Kumari Selja. She spoke well and joined in some dancing too. Nice ceremony which ended at 1pm. More strolling, kashmiri roti, sleep, fried cheese potato momos and sorig tea at Tenzin Dickey Vegetarian Tibetan Kitchen (Rs. 90). The momos were highly recommended on the net. I found them so-so. The sorig tea pales in comparison with Kashmiri Kehwa tea. Got Schezwan chicken fried rice and spicy sauce packed from Dreamland Restaurant
(Rs. 75). This was excellent especially the sauce – Had this for dinner and breakfast the next dayDay14 (2-Sep): Leh to Bangalore, Srinagar visit – My Air India flight to Srinagar was to leave Leh at 08.50am. Owing to a delay, we left at 9.45am. Thanks Trashi for dropping me to the airport. Reached Srinagar at 10.30am. I thought we would fly below the clouds but that was the case for only 5 minutes. Great view till then. I did not get a Leh to Delhi direct flight so had to do Leh-Srinagar-Delhi-Bangalore. Had checked in my luggage till Bangalore. Since I had 3 hours in Srinagar, after filling the H1N1 forms, I got a taxi to go to Dal Lake and 2 gardens at the pre paid taxi stand( make sure they put your name and the taxi number on the receipt). Cost-Rs.1200. If you only want to see Dal Lake it will cost you Rs.1000. There were army men every 100m but they were not intimidating. I remember my trip to Jammu (on the way to Vaishnodevi) – I was totally intimated by the presence of so many police and armymen, mainly owing to multiple checkpoints. Here there was only 1 checkpoint on the way to Chashmeshahi gardens as it was on the way to Raj Bhavan(governor’s residence). The gardens were beautiful – Chashmeshahi and Nishant. Both places I was asked to take photos in kashmiri dresses. The guy showed me an album and said ‘ek dum gora bana doonga- kashmiri ki tarah’
Ate the seeds of the lotus found in dal lake – yumm! Dal lake of course is beautiful. Again I feel blessed and lucky I could actually see it. Owing to the rains, The lake was covered in algae – but the process of cleaning up had already started. It was time to leave for the airport. All along I had this itchy feeling and after suppressing it for a loooong time, I asked the driver – Sajjad – who was friendly and spoke very nicely to take me to carpet store. I mean how can I be in Kashmir and not even see a carpet store? No guesses here – yes I did buy a small carpet – a lovely white and blue one which I will use as a wall hanging. Wazwan was out of the question, I could not even eat phirni as it was ramzaam and most people keep roza which meant no food till sunset. Hurried back to the airport. All flights were delayed as there was a VIP situation in Delhi (all flights were delayed there). Missed my Delhi To Bangalore flight which was at 4.30pm. Air India staff were very helpful and put those of us who had missed our flights on the next plane. Our luggage was also routed accordingly. In Bangalore by 11pm. My favourite place in the world. I can and do travel as much as I can, but that thing I feel when I get home is unexplainable. My sister picked me up and there was my much loved ‘chitranna’ or lemon rice waiting for me. Lemon Rice with fried peanuts and curd(man – did I miss curd) is my comfort food. I am home!Not sure if anyone has bothered to read this whole post, but I would like to thank IndiaMike again for having made it possible for me to go on my first solo trip. I met so many nice people –armymen, Ladakhis, non-Ladakhis working there, Indian tourists, foreign tourists – it was amazing. A huge salute to each and every person in the Indian Army, BRO, ITBP, GREF (General Reserve Engineer Force) - no matter where they are posted. I met 2 kannadiga armymen at the Srinagar airport and I was more happier than them to hear someone speak Kannada after just 2 weeks, I can imagine what coming home must mean to them.
Food and accommodation in Ladakh is cheap. Travel is what will pinch your pocket. How you travel from your city to leh and back is totally dependent on you. Travel within Ladakh is what has to be managed and that can be easily done by opting for local bus service to nearby places and shared taxis to the rest. Shared taxis are easy to find – almost everywhere one can find advertisements with dates and destinations and number of people required. Just reach there.
For the girls who want to travel alone, I do not know about other places, but it is really easy to travel in Ladakh alone. It is a very safe place. Do your homework well, be aware, trust your instinct and travel light. Ladakh or anywhere else, respect Mother Nature and do your bit to preserve her.
No words or pictures can justify the beauty of Ladakh, you have to experience it yourself.
#2 
Sep 5th, 2009, 16:01 Sair Kar Duniya Ki Galib , Jindagani Fir Kahan ...
- Join Date:
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Pictures somewhere?
Welcome! well done Sis! Proof that no-one really needs a tour group except those who are too frightened to go there in the first place; blundering about on your own is invariably more fun.
Hi mridula,
photos at http://www.flickr.com/photos/42276891@N08/
Please click on 'Ladakh New' photo set - have placed them in order.
photos at http://www.flickr.com/photos/42276891@N08/
Please click on 'Ladakh New' photo set - have placed them in order.
Excellent read. Read every word, ok may have missed a couple or so! Thank you for sharing your wonderful experience, you are a brave girl. I hope to be there in 10 days or so (my second visit).
Thank you for sharing your wonderful experience, you are a brave girl. I hope to be there in 10 days or so (my second visit). ..Amazing..
Hi Leapfrog..
You bravo...
Went thru your detailed posting & itz too good as well informitive. Definitely it will help a lot others while planning their trip. I am amazed about the photos especially Tso Moriri..
Jay
You bravo...
Went thru your detailed posting & itz too good as well informitive. Definitely it will help a lot others while planning their trip. I am amazed about the photos especially Tso Moriri..
Jay
Some people actually read my post!! yea!! thank u thank u
I had gathered lot of information before my trip. So sharing. Hope it helps.
The post that started it for me:
A Short Trip to Leh - Ladakh ( Budget Travel)
HPTDC website - for info on buses from Delhi to Manali and Manali to Leh and back and HPTDC hotels in Manali.
I booked from the Bangalore office - faced no problems.
http://hptdc.nic.in/trans.htm
If you need to halt in Delhi, you could try YMCA - I have not stayed there but looks good from outside
http://www.newdelhiymca.org/tourist-hostel-tariff.htm
For Leh Road status: Manali to Leh and Srinagar to Leh
http://leh.nic.in/
Bus Tmings within Ladakh
http://hotelsinladakh.com/images/Sum...20Timings1.pdf
Buses from Leh to Pangong Tso - every Thursday and Sunday. Return by same bus the next day. Need to book 1 day in advance
Buses from Leh to Khardungla - every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Return is a problem as bus moves on to Nubra. Will have to try luck with other travllers. Please note - Khardungla is closed on Mondays.
Buses from Leh to Tso Moriri - every10th, 20th and 30th of the month. Return by same bus the next day. Need to book 1 day in advance. I was in Tso Moriri on 30th and know for a fact that this bus did indeed make it.
Buses from Leh to Alchi, Likir - daily at 6am (bus to Kargil). For return, same day or next - please check the bus timings
Buses from Leh to Shey, Thiksey, Stakna - daily at regular intervals with maximum of 1hr between 2 buses. Return - last bus from Stakna is at
For current taxi rates:
taxi rates in Leh
For added days, read the last sheet. As mentioned you can bargain on the said rates upto a maximum of 15%. Even if you get 10%, it should be a good deal.
From information on gompas in Ladakh
http://www.buddhist-temples.com/budd...astery/ladakh/
For Hotels in Leh - you will get list of registered hotels, their class and tariff. Note this may not strictly apply in all cases.
http://www.jktourism.org/ladakh/stay/tariff.htm
Restaurants in Leh - its a small place - you will find all restaurants either on fort road or market area or nearby. Of course I had only tea in a hotel in Changspa, so no hotels from there are mentioned.
Summer Harvest
Gesmo Restaurant and Bakery
Dreamland Restaurant
Lamayuru Restaurant
Tenzing Dickey Tibetan Kitchen
Leh View Restaurant
Dzomsa - for filling water and laundry - both in fort road and in Changspa
Kashmiri Roti
Kashmiri Mutton kebabs
Other than the usual places, you could visit
Gurudwara Pathar Sahib, Magnetic Point, Leh War Museum (on the way to Alchi)
Kali Temple, Sindhu Darshan, The Dalai Lama's residence on the way to Shey, Thiksey, Hemis.
Mahabodhi Center(Changspa and Choglamsar).
Some important numbers:
Taxi Union: 01982 252723
Spalsh adventures: 252870
Leh tourist Office - 253462
Bus Operator - 252792
Tso Moriri Bus - 252085
Tourist Reception Center - 252094/252297
I had gathered lot of information before my trip. So sharing. Hope it helps.
The post that started it for me:
A Short Trip to Leh - Ladakh ( Budget Travel)
HPTDC website - for info on buses from Delhi to Manali and Manali to Leh and back and HPTDC hotels in Manali.
I booked from the Bangalore office - faced no problems.
http://hptdc.nic.in/trans.htm
If you need to halt in Delhi, you could try YMCA - I have not stayed there but looks good from outside
http://www.newdelhiymca.org/tourist-hostel-tariff.htm
For Leh Road status: Manali to Leh and Srinagar to Leh
http://leh.nic.in/
Bus Tmings within Ladakh
http://hotelsinladakh.com/images/Sum...20Timings1.pdf
Buses from Leh to Pangong Tso - every Thursday and Sunday. Return by same bus the next day. Need to book 1 day in advance
Buses from Leh to Khardungla - every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Return is a problem as bus moves on to Nubra. Will have to try luck with other travllers. Please note - Khardungla is closed on Mondays.
Buses from Leh to Tso Moriri - every10th, 20th and 30th of the month. Return by same bus the next day. Need to book 1 day in advance. I was in Tso Moriri on 30th and know for a fact that this bus did indeed make it.
Buses from Leh to Alchi, Likir - daily at 6am (bus to Kargil). For return, same day or next - please check the bus timings
Buses from Leh to Shey, Thiksey, Stakna - daily at regular intervals with maximum of 1hr between 2 buses. Return - last bus from Stakna is at
For current taxi rates:
taxi rates in Leh
For added days, read the last sheet. As mentioned you can bargain on the said rates upto a maximum of 15%. Even if you get 10%, it should be a good deal.
From information on gompas in Ladakh
http://www.buddhist-temples.com/budd...astery/ladakh/
For Hotels in Leh - you will get list of registered hotels, their class and tariff. Note this may not strictly apply in all cases.
http://www.jktourism.org/ladakh/stay/tariff.htm
Restaurants in Leh - its a small place - you will find all restaurants either on fort road or market area or nearby
. Of course I had only tea in a hotel in Changspa, so no hotels from there are mentioned.Summer Harvest
Gesmo Restaurant and Bakery
Dreamland Restaurant
Lamayuru Restaurant
Tenzing Dickey Tibetan Kitchen
Leh View Restaurant
Dzomsa - for filling water and laundry - both in fort road and in Changspa
Kashmiri Roti
Kashmiri Mutton kebabs
Other than the usual places, you could visit
Gurudwara Pathar Sahib, Magnetic Point, Leh War Museum (on the way to Alchi)
Kali Temple, Sindhu Darshan, The Dalai Lama's residence on the way to Shey, Thiksey, Hemis.
Mahabodhi Center(Changspa and Choglamsar).
Some important numbers:
Taxi Union: 01982 252723
Spalsh adventures: 252870
Leh tourist Office - 253462
Bus Operator - 252792
Tso Moriri Bus - 252085
Tourist Reception Center - 252094/252297
Hi Leap
I liked your attitude helping other IMers in return of owing to this website as u were also gained lot of information prior to your trip.
One great thing in this IM is really people are so freindly & 2-3trips I have made successfully after having utmost accurate feedbacks from each one of IMers. Every IMers are doing commendable job.
After reading your posting really I have amazed myself that a single woman can go so far in search of nature beauty without depending on anybody. Itz something great feel.
Infact I tried sending a private message where it was disabled for the reasons better known to yourself. Is that was yourself in the photo 'my mom forced me to here' ?
Jay
I liked your attitude helping other IMers in return of owing to this website as u were also gained lot of information prior to your trip.
One great thing in this IM is really people are so freindly & 2-3trips I have made successfully after having utmost accurate feedbacks from each one of IMers. Every IMers are doing commendable job.
After reading your posting really I have amazed myself that a single woman can go so far in search of nature beauty without depending on anybody. Itz something great feel.
Infact I tried sending a private message where it was disabled for the reasons better known to yourself. Is that was yourself in the photo 'my mom forced me to here' ?
Jay
You just inspired me to do the same.. I was planning to go with few friends in Sep 25 week.. It seems they might not be able to make it. I think I'm gonna follow in your footsteps and do it alone now..
Thanks
Thanks
Wonderful read , and lot of useful info the follow up post . One word of caution concerning the leh.nic.in road status thoough (sorry , Jamyang-la ) : it´s basically never updated between the official road opening and final closure. Manali-Leh was re-opened today after a four day break , which was the second time it was closed in September : never shown.
You´ll find road updates on my blog below.
You´ll find road updates on my blog below.
Sorry for the late reply.
Thanks Jayanna No that is not me - but that girl looked so terribly bored ..
epidaetia - it will be loads of fun and quiet easy to manage on your own. Let me know if you need any help - I can give you my contact details.
Thanks Vistet..
Thanks Jayanna
No that is not me - but that girl looked so terribly bored ..epidaetia - it will be loads of fun and quiet easy to manage on your own. Let me know if you need any help - I can give you my contact details.
Thanks Vistet..
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