A trip to 10,000 ft and beyond! - A story of bonding with minds, mountains and monasteries

Chapter-1: The start

Well! Finally, they came! The consequences! Hard at you! Making you grounded, feeling defeated, but the fire and joy keep you going, craving for more, the adrenaline rush. Always a next time, better prepared…..

We are talking about our journey in mountain city Leh and other regions in Ladakh.?

Mesmerizing, incredible, breathtaking, scary, beautiful...and lots of?emotions!!

Ladakh's roads, bare and snow-clad mountains, blue sky, sparkling lakes, panoramic views, Buddhist stupas, and ancient places make you live your entire life.?The natural and mesmerizing natural landscape will always keep you on your toes.?

The journey to Leh was smooth and easy. It was made possible by an operational sky route with a direct connection to Leh. One of the highest tarmac and airports not only in India but globally. An engineering feat.

The sunshine struck us as soon as we kissed the Ladakh soil. So delighted! No signs of fatigue, no signs of sickness, no breathing issues. Simply exuberance.?

What a fantastic start. Quick check-ins.?Wi-Fi provided. Meeting concluded in a jiffy!

The dawn came, and we were all in shoes for our conquest. Oops, the shoe sole gave away another reason to get to the local market. A good 30 minutes walk past closed shops, a few Israeli restaurants, clear water drains.?Apparently, a lot of tourist from Israel land here. The COVID situation changed that. We were also aware of the same and decided to take precautions (or may be didn't really follow them)

Then came the cold in the night, catching us off guard. Off to hotel, not before decent shopping is done, the first day. We bought local souvenirs, warm clothing and other gifts from local market. There are very nice shops, several of them are run by women. You can also bargain a bit. Ladakh is also famous for its apricot and its oil. A pair of shoes bought, a pair of shoes lost. Dinner served, Punjabi style. We were truly shocked. After all, we all expected to devour local cuisine. A dream was broken.?

The night wasn't good for a couple of us. There was no option left other than to visit the hospital the next morning before we continue our onward journey.?

We saw a board (see picture) in the hospital after the customary fee deposit (which was significantly less than what we have to pay in larger cities). Wisdom descended on us and we were promptly reminded of our huge knowledge gap even before we flew here.

We experienced our first lesson.?Never come to this part of India without adhering to medical advices and a preferred health check up. Doctors were kind to give a gentle briefing.?We were all advised to take the medicines for the next three days.?

Chapter-2: Journey onwards,?

The majority of the roads in Leh are of high quality. Thanks to BRO (Border Roads Organisation). An actual joy ride, riding pillion with two daring, intelligent, and thoughtful drivers (see picture below)

Here we were, all photography. The child in us is jumping on !!?

We had two bikes and an SUV for our 1st part of the Journey. We carried on a bike trip to couple of Monasteries and to the Magnetic Hills. It was kissing the winds and I rode pillion to my friend, who incidentally was on his first proper driving on a bullet motorbike.

A snapshot of Magnetic hill

A special mention of a great fall but no major injuries. Felt like a milestone achieved. No reels, though.?

On the health front, Still no respite from sickness for one of us. But sometimes, brave people are stubborn too and fortune favours the brave, but only when you learn to take care of yourself and show humility to nature

Anyways, there has to be a mention of the culinary spread we were exposed to at the Hotel in Leh. Full of North India and no experience of local cuisines.?That was quite disappointing. Chole bature! Who would have imagined getting this overhyped North Indian dish in breakfast?

Maybe screening and selecting a hotel is a good choice before you embark on a trip to Leh. (This was our Second lesson)

We scrambled for a tour travel agency banner. A customary practice. Fortunately, it wasn't printed, as someone pointed out, so we moved on.?

Our good companion, Salman

A good rapport with your driver and, in general, with locals is the key to your peace of mind.\Ours was a superman, with probably the fear lobes cut off from brain cells. True to his contemporary in Bollywood, Salman but without the Khan. A proper guide, samaritan, and an absolute rockstar. Someone who made our journey truly memorable with caveats, though. In the photo below, Salman (right) poses with author, Pinaki and on the top of his SUV.

Salman was very cordial and entertaining. He never complained except when we were too engrossed in our photo sessions and ignored his call for being on time.

Salman was kind enough to give us a small discount on the overall price as well as get a tour of local city and Leh palace (to one of the authors) once the larger group left later. ?

The next stop was at the highest motorable road in the world, situated at 17582 feet, Khardung La pass where it was mandatory for a group photo as proof to our visit here. We had to wait for our sweet turn for this and bring in a humble tourist.

Few photo sessions, everything was checked as per extant reels and FB protocols.??

You would notice that the photo is slightly cropped at the top, resulting from rush scenes at the famous spot, and with only a few seconds to get a clear snap. Everyone was excited to be at the pinnacle of the world. Some of us had hot chocolate at the local café which charged a bomb (a little unfair but understandable considering the locale). There is also an SBI bank ATM, a medical center, and restrooms. The landscape was similar to a blanket of ice on the otherwise bare mountains.

It should be noted that proper anti-skid gear and oxygen supply are necessities in this part of the world. We learned it the hard way (The third lesson).?

Chapter-3: River Rafting and Monasteries

We went rafting in the waters of Nimo on way to Alchi as part of our package. The waters were clear, cold, and beaming with confidence. We were all put up in suits designed to keep us warm. We had to get our bodies adjusted inside them with some effort, zip them up and trust them to work. After a short safety training on expected things and the discipline required inside the waters, we started our river journey. My friends had more courage than me to jump in when the calling came from our boat navigator. And even after several persistent calls to join them and an adrenaline rush, some remained adamant and stayed over the board, including us, the narrators. What a miss! My heart said, but my mind was on the other side, happy to tide over that small struggle. The lesson number four, rivers make you humble! We came out conquerors and happily posed for selfies and photos

Ladakh has several famous monasteries; among them, Alchi stands out for its array of smaller monasteries inside the complex. The complex is well maintained, and you can see paintings several centuries old with teachings of Buddha engraved on the walls. It is designed in Tibetan style.?It is also among very few monasteries which survived several attacks being in the way of Silk route.

The Indus river flows just behind the Alchi monastery, which presents a magnificent view of the river, mountains and sunlight.

A second monastery we visited was the Diskit Gompa, situated on a hill with scenic views of villages around it. It is one of the key tourist places near Nubra valley and is included in almost every itinerary for Ladakh. The place gives you calmness and composure with openness and a substantial sitting Buddha statue. We received both of them to lose them in the evening. That was fun and frustrating too!

The night after rafting and monastery was a stay in Nubra valley.

Gender equality is essential, both for social and cultural contexts. Here we are, bumped into an all-business background girl gang from Gujarat. Very sporting. Caring and compassionate too. Mind you, all from the land of Khakras, the phapras, etc., Very kind-hearted indeed. You can't help but fall in love with them. Adore them. Yet, the sense of togetherness gives way to detachment. Could this be a start of a friendship or just a passing wind? Things happen—some stay.?

The following day, we got to experience a ride on double back camels imported from Middle East Asia. The camels were a family. Post the ride. We were given the gift of soothing our backs !!!

No signs of the most sought Yak. The closest we got was stoles and socks made of yak wool. Another dream busted.?

The experience of travel from Nubra to Pangong was just ecstasy. It was like flowing in the middle of mountains with great roads for a major part of the journey. Our car pilot also thought the same and flew our Mahindra Xylo.

Chapter-4: Flying luggage(s)

The journey onwards to our final destination was nothing less than a ride of a lifetime with roads running along narrow gorges, high mountains, dangerous curves, and constructions for the majority of the part. Our chauffeur aptly navigated through all these infrastructural constraints. We kept flying inside the cab occasionally, with the maximum brunt borne by persons sitting at the back seats. Then came the moment! As we came to flatlands, our enthusiastic navigator stepped on the accelerator after an hour of cautious (but not slow) driving, trying to navigate a softer turn, behold! The luggage flew out of their shackles, and off they went, and we were half a km before we realized that something was missing. We were saved for the day as the luggage were right there on the foothill and not on the other side (which would have been the end of precious warmers and stuff).

Chapter-5: The final destination

Our designated point arrived after four hours of the arduous journey. The air was chilling, winds were high, and we got to our tents. There was a water problem. Someone from the previous batch might have emptied our water quota to the drains! The food was better. Thrilled by the lake and our friends from Gujarat, we resumed our party evening and even strolled out for a walk at the dead of the night. We felt a certain calmness inside with the river flowing beside us.

Pangong, probably the most sought-after destination of tourists. We were here at our final destination.?

The Pangong lake is also the frontier of China and India. The lake is salty and rain-fed. The sunlight glitters on the water, making it a scene to capture on your device. The lakeside was very clear and clean. The best time for photography is at daybreak and twilight. The nights were full of high chilling winds (advisable to take adequate protection of throats, ears, eyes, head, hands and feet- here we go with our lesson number five).

The night was spent with loads of music, fun, drinks, and Gujarati snacks. The next morning it was a re-union of Delhi and Gujarat once again with shutters, boomerangs, poses with the customary goodbyes.

Chapter-6: All is Well but not strictly

The Ladakh tour is not complete without a visit to the Rancho School. It is a different entity from DIAL by Sonam Wangchuk. The shooting of a famous film “3 idiots” took place. The famous ‘bum seats” provide an opportunity to take a memory.

We dared our thirst with ice cream shakes which was instrumental in bringing the health ills later.

Chapter-7: A Micro Conclusion

Overall, the Ladakh trip was a test of mental and physical strength, of compassion and trust and of making yourself full of humility. These were major pillars during the trip and stood a testimony of our group surviving the journey, albeit with some terms and conditions.

Many members of the team suffered several health issues post travel and required professional medical interventions due to the harsh climate and arduous journey. It was felt that the trip to Ladakh should be planned to provide space for adequate acclimatization and patience for covering all the amazing places. In other words, the plan should be to spread out the journey rather to rush places (Lesson six).

Entrance to the Leh Palace shown above and a panoramic view of Leh from Leh Palace below

This article was jointly written by two contrasting persons, Sachin and Pinaki who took two months to deal with the trip hangover.?

The authors heartily acknowledge every member of the team for their perspectives on life, food, relationships, health and well being during the journey which inspired this article. The authors sincerely believe that readers would enjoy and also be mindful of the health and safety precautions to be considered during a trip to Ladakh region.

The article was written to share travel experiences and some key lessons learnt during the journey for those plan to visit the magnificent and marvelous Ladakh