Leh-Ladakh
The beginning 🚂
The journey began on April 15, 2024, from Delhi.
There where 4 of us, Me, Fazil ( my college friend, we whent to Sikkim together ) and two of his friends Abhilal ( Lallu ) and Rimnas.
We traveled to Delhi by train, and from there, we took a flight to Leh.
Luckly we got a window seat in the flight ( Thanks to the Indigo crew ❤️ )
The view before landing in Leh is amazing, gliding above the Himalayas and viewing it from above was breathtaking.
Leh 🛬
We landed in Leh around 1:30 PM.
Eventhough it was a small airport, the view surrounding the airport was just amazing.
First thing that caught my eye as I onboarded was the beautiful mountain ranges surrounding the airport 😍.
Leh is about 11,500 feet above sea level, so the air was thin, and we had to take a few more breaths to adjust to the altitude.
But it was okay, not as bad as I expected.
We collected our luggage and headed to our hotel by taxi.
We've already booked a dormitory in Leh before landing.
On our way to the dormitory, I could see the beautiful mountain ranges.
One thing that caught my eye was how the houses were built, I could see houses used mud bricks and clay and mud plaster for the walls.
Because in Kerala, where I'm from, most of the houses are built with bricks and concrete, with white paint on the walls. So it was a new thing for me.
The traditional houses blend in with the landscape very well, the earthy, light colors blend in with the surrounding mountains beautifully.
I also noticed only a handful of trees, mostly willow and poplar. It was my first time seeing them, and even they had that same earthy tone to them 😆.
Then we reached the dormitory, and we checked in.
The place was nice, and the bed was comfy.
It was a three-storey building with a stair case leading to the top floor. Up there, there was a small open balcony and a restaurant.
Tourists coming to leh need rest for 1 day to adjust to the altitude.
The funny thing is, even if the air was little thin, I was not feeling any symptoms or tiredness because of the altitude.
I thought to my self, "I've already been to Sikkim, so I should be able to adjust to the altitude."
After settling in, with all the excitement, me and my friend ran to the top floor to have a look at the view 🙂.
My god, during the run to the top floor, we both suddenly felt dizzy and nauseous. We were honestly lucky we didn't faint right there 😅.
So we understood that we needed to rest for a day to adjust to the altitude 🙂.
Sightseeing
Next day, we were planning to do sightseeing in Leh.
The dormitory guys also had Bike rental service, so we took a bike and went sightseeing.
One important thing is that you must check the bike properly before renting it. We took a full video of the bike before taking it out, just to be safe.
Some of the bikes were in pretty bad condition. I rode and tested two or three bikes before finally settling on a Royal Enfield Himalayan, few had flat tyres, and some had bent handlebars.
So yeah, make sure you check everything before renting a bike in Leh. It can save you a lot of trouble later.
We started the ride around 10 AM.
I didn't had a glove, so I bought one from a shop nearby.
Then we went to a restaurant to eat something.
Then we headed to Leh War Museum.
The museum was near Leh, I think it was about 15-20 km away from Leh.
It was build for honoring the soldiers who fought for the country in the Kargil War.
We also met and spoke to some soldiers who were from Kerala there.
Then we headed to Spituk monastery.
We had to walk for some time to reach the monastery at the top of the hill.
After reaching the top, the view was amazing, we could see a panoramic view of all the surrounding mountains.
There was a small military air strip nearby, we could see helicopters taking off and buzzing above us.
On our way, we stopped at a place called Magnetic Hill.
GPT said this,
At a marked spot, if you stop your vehicle, switch off the engine, and leave it in neutral, it appears to roll uphill. Pretty wild to watch the first time 😄
Is it real magnetism?
Nope. There's no magnetic force pulling vehicles.
It's an optical illusion caused by the surrounding landscape.
The road actually has a slight downward gradient, but the hills and horizon trick your eyes into thinking it's uphill.
We where told the same thing by the locals, but we didn't know what to look for 😆.
We took some pics from there and went to the next spot 🙃.
Next was Sangam point, this is where the Indus and Zanskar rivers meet.
Indus greenish/blue in color, but Zanskar is brownish in color, Zanskar River flows into the Indus River and continue as Indus.
While driving I could feel cold air piercing through my jacket 😅, the glove I bought from Leh was also not helping much 😅.
The sheer size of the mountains was overwhelming, on each turn I could see a new mountain range, more beautiful than the previous one 😍
Then we get back to Leh, and went to Leh Palace.
The palace on a hilltop, looking over the city of Leh is a stunning view.
Next was Shanti Stupa 🪷
Next we whent to our Dorm.
We met two new guys there, one military person who was on a vacation, and another guy from Kashmir who was a journalist.
There was a protest going on in Leh led by Sonam Wangchuk, an engineer and activist, calling for the protection of Ladakh's land, culture, and fragile Himalayan ecology after the region became a Union Territory.
He's best known for Ice Stupa an ingenious, low-cost artificial glacier that stores winter water as ice and releases it during spring, helping farmers in Ladakh adapt to water scarcity.
The reporter was in Leh for covering the protest.
Ice Stupas where far away from leh, so we couldn't visit them.
We chatted with the military person and the journalist for some time about the protest, how government is handling it, and the situation in general.
Then we went to bed, because we had to leave early the next day.
We booked a private car for the journey, with a driver, the guy said he'll be in the dormitory in the morning.
One thing that was running on my mind was the Khardungla Pass, because if the weather was bad, we might not be able to cross it, and it would delay our trip, and we might need to skip some places in the itinerary.
So as I was hoping for a pleasant weather at Khardungla Pass, so that we can cross it 🙂
The Journey
Next day we started early, 7 / 8 AM I think, driver ( I honestly dont remember his name 🙂 ) was already there, we headed to explore.
As we climbed up the road, we could see the beauty of the mountains.
The road was narrow, and was filled with snow mixed with the mud from the going cars 🙃.
For our luck, the weather was good, and we could cross the Khardungla Pass.
There was a photo point at Khardungla, the driver stopped there for 10 mins, staying at that altitude ( 17,500 feet ) with that much of cold air was not recommended, so we took some pics and got back to the car 😅.
When we where taking the pictures at the photo point, a dog came to us, and sat next to us, we took some pics of it 😅.
This was our car.
Then we where climbing down to our next destination, Diskit village.
We stopped at a place where we could see a beautiful view of Shyok River.
Next we stopped at a small shop, and had some food 🙃.
One thing that really caught my curiosity was how drivers drove around stupas
Even when there was a perfectly clear road, if a stupa stood in the middle or on the side, drivers would slow down and go around it clockwise. Sometimes, the path around it wasn't even a proper road, just a muddy, uneven trail.
Often these were not grand or decorative ones, but small structures, often made of mud, sometimes barely half the height of a man.
I asked our driver out of curiosity,
Why do they drive around the stupas? He said it's a like a prayer, and it act as spiritual guardians for them.
When we went, the Shyok River did'nt had much water, so people where driving through the riverbed 😅.
The ride was bumpy, but it was a different experience.
See the rocks 👇
Diskit Monastery, the largest and oldest Buddhist monastery in Nubra Valley
We didn't spend much time there, since it was getting dark and we had one more place to visit.
On our way to Nubra Valley
As you can see, the landscape is littrally a cold desert. We walked on the sand dunes for a while.
Another attraction was the double hump camels ( Bactrian camels ), descendants of the ancient Silk Route caravans 🐫
FUN FACT: Bactrian camels can drink brackish or salty water and still stay hydrated.
Then we stayed at a home stay for the night. It was good, with cozy blankets and a comfy bed.
It was also the appricot blossom season, and they had a small orchard in the backyard, the blossoms were so beautiful.
Next day we went to Pangong Tso lake.
We woke up early and went to the lake, on our way to the lake 😇 👇
We where lucky to see some deers on our way to the lake. Once they saw us, they ran away 🙃.
The road was surrouned by hudge rocks ready to fell down any moment.
We reached the lake, we could see the lake from the car, but it was frozen.
On our way back, we came across a stretch of golden-yellow turf, with bumps, and a narrow stream flowing through it.
It was beautiful, so we stopped there for a while.
We where on the return journey to leh after it.
One thing you'll definitely notice while travelling in boder roads of India is the "BRO" - Border Roads Organisation.
They are responsible for maintaining the roads in the border regions.
And the funny part? BRO's warning signs 😆, I also saw the same thing on my last trip to Sikkim, same BRO 😆
Hilariously dramatic, the signboards are full on meme material, but with a touch of seriousness.
We were climbing back the mountain, and we need to reach Leh before the roads get closed due to snow.
The military was removing the snow from the roads, so that the vehicles can pass.
We also got some meals from a military post, there where some festival celebrations going on, so they where giving sweets and food to the travelers ❤️.
We reached leh before dark 😮💨
Before going to the dormitory, we went to Sonam Wangchuk, he was doing the protest like I mentioned before near the Leh market.
We went to see him, because he was protesting for the people of Leh, for protecting their culture and environment, with all the time we spend in Leh, it no longer felt like a distant issue.
It felt personal.
After having a conversation with him, we went to the dormitory to rest for the night.
Next Day
We woke up early because we planned to go sightseeing in Bikes.
We went to Shey Palace, there was a construction going on the outside, but once we stepped inside, everything changed.
Within the palace complex, there's also a monastery, it was quiet, still, and deeply peaceful.
The thing I love about Monasteries is the peacefulness they have, no distractions, no noise, just the sound of the wind and the birds.
We sat there for a while. A song was playing softly in the background, barely audible, yet just enough to keep us company.
ALL IS WELL
Then we went to "Rancho's Wall",
If you have seen the movie 3 Idiots, you will know what I'm talking about.
What many people don't realize is that this isn't just a movie spot.
It's actually a real school - Druk White Lotus School.
We could see kids playing in the ground, we waved at them, and they waved back 😆
Next was Thiksey Monastery
The view was amazing, from a distance it looked like white blocks stacked on top of each other with a red and yellow block at the top of the mountain.
We also went to Hemis Monastery, where I met this monk ( I forgot his namw 🙂 ).
We talked about Karma, Reincarnation, and the cycle of life, he was a very deep thinker and philosopher, with a great perspective on life.
The time was well spent, and I left the monastery with a lot of thoughts.
