I've been meaning to write since a along time now...n most importantly BECUZ I M A LEH -DAKH RETURN BABY!!!!! :D THATS RIGHT! :D... But guess what, inspite of sucha a legendary trip, i haven't even posted pictures of my trip nor did i mention about it anywhere in my blog!
Juz dunno how to start...n if my words would do justice to the awesomeness of the trip. See im stuck again.
The thing is...once i start writing n replaying all those moments, i'd rather relive them than jot them down, I bet i'd laugh more n type less once i start. I still remember every detail. But its best i don't test my memory any further n do the honors! :D
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. lolz i didn't think about takin this trip as much as im thinkin right now.
06 Oct, 12...11am
[I'm pretty mind fucked right now and instead of rambling about how that bucking fitch has shown her true colors i'd rather write about the good things in life. This will no doubt change my mood. N sorry for using foul words in sucha beautiful post, but she deserves even more!]
I could start by takin only the trip days in context, but there's alot more that needs to b narrated- how this trip happened. How the whole universe conspired to make this happen! :D
Its been my dream to go to leh, even b4 3 idiots released, just after Manuj came back from his trip n i saw one pic of his with pangong Tso in the background..I WAS BOWLED! Ever since then, i wanted to go there. That has become my only focus in life...only destination...rest all was blurred out like i was wearing blinkers! This was in 2010
Next yr i tried contacting tour groups for the same. I was so excited when Hiral gave me this link of yuvashakti himalayas and saw that they're organising a trip to LEH-DAKH for 15 GODDAMNED DAYS!...I jumped outta joy...n i was suspended in the air when i found out that they had misplaned their trip cuz their trip coincided with Ganesh Chaturthi!...My dreams shattered. I tried searching for other options and i stumbled upon this amazing post of Yatin. http://www.bcmtouring.com/forum/travelogues-north-india-f61/only-place-god-surely-created-ladakh-t18549-7/
His post had detailed description of each day and mind blowing pictures to keep it consistently interesting! Then there was no looking back, i read the post religiously everyday (in installments since i didn't have time to read the whole thing in one shot) and jotted down all the 'places' and route i need to consider in my trip. Now that piece of paper contained a part of my amazing life! I carried it with me everyday for 1.5 yrs! (It didn't solve any purpose, i juz kept it with my cause my house is a 100th level freaking maze! And like public places, once i lose my thing, my family is not responsible for my belonging it seems...ESP. MY BELONGINGS! :|. Hmmm so coming back, I looked forward to next yr. This was 2011
And you know what my revised dream was! To be at the pangong lake...n as the clock strikes midnite on 26th July (my bday), i'd be there, staring into the starry sky, maybe witness alil moonlight dance on the shimmery waters of this blue marvel...thinking of ...
2012 came and as we all know, the world is gonna end this year, atleast i'd luv to believe so. I had to do things that i didn't all this while, I took up a job that i wasnt even confident about BUT my mantra for this year is FUCK FEAR!...i don't care...it can't be worst than dying..n we're anyway goin to die...Toh kar lo jo karna hai jee lo apni zindagi :D But duffer me, when the visiting season was at its peak, i forgot about it. And suddenly when i realized my bday is juz 15 days away, i started hunting for groups again. All were already booked. I tried till the last day of their start date!...by 28th july, i realized all grps r done with their plans, if i want it in september, i will have to get a huge grp of ppl for them to go start organizing a separate trip. YA RIGHT! if i had a grp y the eff wud i come to u!..but i tried...Hiral again to the rescue, suggested that i create n event on fb n invite ppl..that i did. But it was on a VERY short notice. I doubted if anybody would turn up. Fuck actually turning up, only two ppl joined the godamned event! :(( Lolz i hope my prospective employers don't c this... ;))
Damn! My colleague is playing my favourite song..HOSANA...i wonder how come i missed out on this on my trip. This song gives me goosebumps!..everytime! It actually makes me happy, brings a genuine smile on my face!..Its so fresh and so romantic. Perfect for a long drive.
K Back! I was desperate, just the thought of postponing it to next year was very unsettling. Kuch toh karna hia...told everybody i could. Invited random ppl, except ppl i had asked in the beginning of the yr. 'NO's frm ppl i know was like takin an arrow to the knee. I didn't wanna jinx it with the negative ans. So i was careful about who im asking. Nothing worked. Dejected, i gave up.
And one fine day, i was leaving office, outside oasis, Shauvik Sir outta the blue asks me about my leh trip (rmmbr i told everybody about this!?) and suddenly...I felt soooooo disappointed in myself...for giving up on my dream so easily. Others disappoint me, im ok...but when i do...its the worst feeling ever! :(
N then the almost dead dream was pumped to life. I started my search again. THANK GOD for bringing me to this site : www.devilsonwheels.com. I got every bit of information one needs to go to leh, stay, visit and enjoy! From the routes, to bus/tax services ..their latest rates..discounts!..medication to literally makin customized itinerary as per visitor's (juz any random visitor can ask him for help, n he's there with the same zest for everyone!..cud be more but never less!) His name is Dheeraj Sharma. I was determined to go, so i didn't hesitate to ask him if he knows any groups or if he's going...N he suggested that i go alone! Its the safest place on the earth with the friendliest ppl u cud ever meet!
The same day, early morning my colleague who's pretty sensible, suggested go alone. And dheeraj tellin me the same thing the same, i took this as god's omen..n the rest is...His-Story!!! :D
After that the way things have worked for me!- I got a call frm my dad that bro wants us to visit him in delhi...to show us around....That was a perfect excuse to get permission frm my family to go to leh FROM DELHI...sounds less far away:P) my bosses had to go to the STATES for 10 days! Now the catch was, i didn't talk about my trip to my boss cuz i wasn't sure till they had already left. N i was so sure that she's gonna reject my leaves..not just that..but also yell at me for going at sucha short notice (5 days notice for 15 days off!!) But i still sent her n sms n email. N later the hr came to me asking if i had applied for sum leaves...they're approved! My happiness knew no bounds! Just a day before that, i spoke to bhali (sister of bholi) about this trip and how nervous i was about the whole thing. she looked at me n listened..like she's really sensing my desperation. She looked at me with those beautiful crystal brown eyes all the while i was talkin about this venture. And when i was done, i already felt relieved that everything's gonna be alright! It did!...Even after i came back frm the trip n i told her how helpful she's been, she looked all calm n listening. Otherwise she juz wudn't stay at one place! Always leaping on me!
...Leaves approved, All pending work DONE :D :D, informed my dad about it...got his OK too:D :D booked the flight to srinagar frm delhi (asked my bro to do it...which i regret doing :/] cuz i didn't want to waste my precious days in only n only traveling. Honestly even after the first 3, i wasn't absolutely sure until i booked my flight.
So my trip began :D
Day 1-3.
A Day in train to delhi. A bunch of young lads n ladies from SIES college. Reached my bro's home, pretty gud it was...rested the whole day and next day went to red fort with my parents alil bit chappal shopping in chandani chowk and came back home. Next day, out with my bro n parents- saw the lotus temple. Sky was looking amazing. Picture perfect! then went to akshardham :D :D The 2 hrs tour was worth seeing :D N luvd the movie. Then the musical fountain :D. Went to india gate, n like a baby my dad got lost...lolz n then found him...n then my bro tuk a drive around raj bhavan? where all the embassys stay. By the time we reached home, it was 1am. Next day was my flight at 6.25am. I started quickly packing my handbag (rest all was set) n avoided all my dad's questions regarding my trip ;)
(16th Oct, 1.14pm)
And haha, the most awaited day is here! 9th Sept, 12:
I woke up at 5am. Airport just 10 mins away from my bro's place. Bro has a car. My bags were packed and i don't take time to get ready but as usual my mom/dad were after me with their 'FLIGHT MISS HO JAYEGI KYA KARRI HAI!'. Woke my bro up. Left at 5.20am.
I was pretty cool in a sense i wasn't feeling no intuition what-so-ever!!! Matlab i wanted to know how's it gonna be...good/bad...i juz cudn't anticipate...completely silent my intuition was. Lols that in itself wasn't a gud sign. My bro drived n then realized he's taken the wrong lane. So instead of going to the domestic airport, he went straight ahead i don't rmmbr where! turned around after a long time to again get lost! After 15 mins i began to lose my cool n thought some sermon wud make him take this seriously becuz there's no time for his freaking stupid trail n errors!
I reachd the airport at 5.50am. Ran my way to the check in counter. Showed my eticket, the guy says the flight system is closed ma'am. I ignored that, cuz c'mon i still had 35 mins in hand, n asked him, but i'd still get to board the flight right? With a perplexed look, he asked me to go to the first counter n enquire. I did..."The flight is closed ma'am, you're late, you can't board the flight now." I was like hain??? But the flight won't fly for nother 30 mins! I'm sorry ma'am, u should be here at least 45 mins before...n he said that i missed the flight n very conviniently asked me to buy another ticket. I was still not takin this seriously, i thought he's some linkin road ka seller that i'd bargain with him n convince him to get me a ticket. BTW this was my second flight of my life N VERY FIRST, ALONE.
Around 6.10-15 i sensed the seriousness of this prob, now out of helplessness i pleaded him to get me my boarding ticket. Non stop Calls from my bro, instructing me what to do, then frm my bhabhi who herself is n airhostess...I tried all the tactics, i demanded him to let me speak to the manager but to no avail..i tried to cry but honestly i still wasn't convinced IM GOING TO MISS MY FLIGHT! Slowly and vaguely, the truth sunk in. It was 6.20 already, i gave up and asked him if i can get my money back or any concession on the new ticket. NOPE. Very good.
The guy assisted me to go out, asked me where i live n was surprised when i told him 'Mahipalpur' which is juz 10 mins away n still i was late. He was kinda cute..as in sweet. But i was mad at him for not letting me in, so at the gate when the security asked Kya hua madam, wapus kyu aaye...i said INHONE MERI FLIGHT MISS KARA DI!...He smiled, taking it as a joke, n i didn't smile back and walked away :P :P
I had made up my mind that this is not a good sign, i better not take this trip at all...but hahahahaha My bro was worried dat NEHAL was waiting for me at Srinagar airport~! She'd be stranded if i didn't go :P Infact, i even thot of taking the same flight next day which wud have never happened outta regret, money n time passed! My bro insisted that i take the next flight and he wouldn't take the money for the first flight (which i had promised to pay him) The next flight costed me 1 thousand more, one day, and extra expenses to stay at Srinagar now (becuz i wudn't get taxi for leh this late). My next flight was at 11.25am, bought the tickets (still crying) and then he took me to some place to eat PARATHAS ?!! n Sweet lime juice to make up??!! Lolz...n then dropped me off at the airport again at 8am.
Did some tp at the airport, made sum calls at srinagar taxi stand. There wasn't much i could do. The first immediate flight after my arrival at gate no. 7 was going to LEH! there were 2 monks sitting there. I was happy to see them. N suddenly it struck me...lolz if i had to buy another ticket y didn't i buy it to leh directly!!! The view of Himalayas from the flight is unforgettable, they say. But nah, i tuk srinagar for a reason, wanted to cover the whole circuit. Then a flight to Bangalore, then a flight to pune, then i don't know and THEN came the auspicious mahurat.
[18th Oct]
Got into the flight, sat beside a guy with long hair (indian) married to a firang...taking care of his cute!!!!! baby...i tried to ignore cuz i didn't knw how to play..clicked sum pix of the clouds...didn't come out gud...tried to sleep in those 1.5 hrs. Atlast landed in srinagar airport...pilot announced the temp is -7 degrees, i was expecting it to be VERY cold...n i step out ...It was raining! I was wearing a sweater for obvious reasons..n that sweater was getting wet at 7 degree celcius...almost ran to collect my bag and since it was takin alotta time, THANKFULLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! thankfully found a stall of houseboats right before the exit!..went there to inquire and a very friendly and helpful jammu uncle helped me choose a stay for me. Started with Rs. 400, u have no idea how much i was relieved lukin at the rates!...he tried selling me expensive ones..but i didn't plan to stay here..i juz needed a roof for a nite..THATS IT! He guided me to take a jk bus to jk tourism taxi stand n then a guy will drop me to my houseboat! :D Waited for almost 2 hrs for the bus to move cuz he didn't get enuf passengers. Meanwhile found 4 frndly ppl (one jammu, one ladakhi lady, an old couple from HP) in the bus. They wer quite impressed that i'm doing this..ahem...jammu guy even said that im like one of those discovery channel hosts who go and venture into unknown territories. Well this was my first time, so unknown it was for me :P :D. I derived alil bit of relief frm his appreciation and we talked n talked till the bus was full. The houseboat guy was waiting for me at the depot and i asked him about the taxis next day, Private is gonna be hell costly 12k-14k, share leave at 6am. And i left for the houseboat. It was DIRTY~ not unclean from inside, but the whole structure and Dal lake looked like some dirty nala of Mumbai. My houseboat was floating on that cooda kachra! I was so disappointed. Thankfully, that guy also had other options n showed me the luxury houseboat..which was really nice :D Location wise better than the last but not that great but HONESTLY WHY DO I CARE..i juz need a gud clean stay. Agreed at Rs. 600 against 1000. Talked to his father (who was the owner and also had a carpet business in mumbai...No wonder the whole houseboat was decorated with beautiful red carpets!..it was clean, bathroom was clean, flush worked very well...blankets wer warm and cozy...the house was so big..perfect for a family...i actually wished i had come with someone i cud share it with) and off i went to sleep.Asked uncle to wake me up for dinner (go out n eat) at 7 not before that, it was already dark then. I was suprised that there was this whole row of dhabas that serve PURE VEG in jammu (maybe becuz of vaishnodevi??) Ate and came back to get lost n fail to locate where exactly my houseboat is! U have no idea how much i panicked but sumhow managed to spot it! :D I realized that uncle is going to stay in the same houseboat..lolz it was weird but he ws gonna sleep in the hall, n i had my own big bedroom. There was this lil helper (aged 12-15) who slept with him. Initially i was alil hesitant, but later seemed harmless and genuine.
10th Oct, 12 (Frm Srinagar to Leh)
Got up next day, tuk a nice hot water bath, and left for the taxi stand. When his son brought me to the houseboat, he tuk a rik n asked me to pay the driver 30. When his father came to leave me (n take his chutta 600 bucks) he made me walk, becuz it was actually 10 mins away! Found out most of the taxis to Leh had already left, the one that was left was perhaps the last one. Luckily it ws a LEH taxi jk10 (Thanks to www.devilsonwheels.com, a traveller shared that leh taxis charge less..srinagar is jk01-02, jk 06 for kargil). Paid 1500 against the usual 1800.
At the taxi stand, i found this guy frm jammu who also wanted to go to leh. His name, i don't rmmbr :( He was alike a PROFESSIONAL GUIDE TO ME! He'd shifted to leh for his BSNL job juz 1-2 yrs ago, n he knew all the stories..every nook and corner of not just leh, the route leading to leh. He told us stories about kargil war, how civilians (including him) also voluntarily participated...how it scared the shit out of them. And the stories of Pathar Saheb n alot more, he basically couldn't keep quiet, wanted to impress the girl from 'Mumbai' who had the guts to come alone :P with all his knowledge. I know, m acting alil too pricey, but that was one of the reasons too, apart frm pouncing on the opportunity to SHARE knowledge. There were other 3 people who later joined us and ended our wait. I conquered the front seat for obvious reasons, and jammu guy & himchal middle aged man (engineer) tuk the window seats of the mid row, there was this young jammu lad (rajput) who sat behind.. thanks to me! He wanted to take the front seat so that he could smoke, but BOSS i came first :P...so he had to take the last row, and there was another guy who got down at kargil, we ddin't even get acquainted. Our final driver who ws taking us to leh was Namgyal. Before him, a driver dropped his trip to leh cuz 1. he cudn't find enuf passengers. 2. the road was bad. 3. It was already 8am! He found us another driver and guaranteed that he will definitely go. Well sorry to disappoint 'YOU' sir, that wasn't the case. Even namgyal had almost opted out when god..MY SWEETHEART :D sent these 3 guys outta nowhere to our rescue. And we FINALLLLLLLY...finally! left :D at 9.15am
Halted for breakfast for alil bit at sonmarg, that place is a beauty. On the way i could see snow clad mountains, in front of me, on the sides, behind! Oh. My. God. Looking at them all my doubts had drowned and i knew THIS is the place to be. I'm at last glad i'm here :D From that moment, till i reached leh, i was genuinely SMILING. You know, that peaceful, contentful smile?!..:)
[22 Oct]
I was eagerly waiting to be at the world's coldest place DRASS, as the milestone announced drass begins, i put my hand outta the window to experience the 'cold'. I looked at my driver n said ' N You call this cold'?? He said..hehe just wait ma'am, keep ur hand that way for nother 5 mins n u'll know. I didn't know but yes it did get colder outside the comfort of our QUALIS. When i asked him to stop by this beautiful pale blue clear river thats been flowing parallel to our road, it did feel the chill....Just being there was heaven, tho i got down to take pix, i really felt no urge to capture the unusually colored mountains in a perfectly light blue clear sky at the backdrop
[31st Oct]
We left for Kargil, had a tough time finding a vegetarian hotel...let along veg food any hotel that would serve food because we reached there past lunch time...n usually they serve yak meat :(. The place stinks with yak meat. If it weren't for its strategic location in the 1999 war, this place would have never made a mark in our minds for an obvious reason- No reason at all. I went to the war memorial, saw the totila hill...huge salute to the soldiers and civilians for their bravery and determination.
[3rd Nov]
It was already 5ish, crossed the beautiful and unusual mountains of NAMKILA. I literally hawed at the beauty of something so barren n brown hills yet so spectacular! I turned back and answered _ji's earlier question: Why are you going to leh?? for seeing just the mountains?!!?...And i said: That's y!
Yes they were all just mountains that you've never seen before! It was dark and we crossed patthar saheb, confluence of nimmu ..some of the reasons y i chose this route! Lolz...i was too overwhelmed with what i saw to brood over what i couldn't. We at last reached the magnetic field, i was so happy that at least this is something i wont' have to miss becuz of dark. But dammit! IT JUZ DIDN'T WORK!...lolz namgyal even reversed to show me the effect, turned the engine off, but it didn't budge. He said the pull was too strong BELOW THE CAR to allow it to move any further. LOLZ one more popat.
Reached leh :D it was 11pm, i hadn't done no advance hotel booking. Namgyal said by this time all the registrations would have closed down. Ji offered to stay at his place (when we stopped to eat dinner) and he even made arrangements for dinner, but lols that HP guy...he's such n idiot, earlier he agreed to stay...for a second even i agreed..which was wayyyyyyyyyy wierd for me...n then when Ji got down n asked us to come..he denied...It was sad..it was rude..Ji seemed disappointed. But HP guy seemed pretty confident that he'll find a stay very easily. So we left him and moved ahead. Then namgyal breaks its to us, who'd been giving us assurance that he'll find something for us, that its pretty difficult to find a stay at this time!! Lols, u dunno our apathy...but then being a ladakhi..he said don't worry, if u find nothing u can stay at my place. At last he took us to Hotel Siachen! After several continuous loud bangs on the door, two short, one fat and other kind of a midget (tho not very short) came out. Namgyal started talkin to them, asking if we can stay. They said they'll take Rs. 500 minimum. HP being a smudge on being a man, stood at the car n i went to bargain.I convinced them that anyway its half a day..n if they dont take us anyway they won't earn anything, so its better he takes 300 and let us in. After alil bit of meek no nos, they let us in!...What a relief :D :D
Next day i woke up at 8 got ready went straight to the owner of the hotel for getting the permits ready though i knew i could do it all by myself but i honestly didn't want to go through alot of hassles so i was ready to pay that extra '100' more! YA thats it :D so total came around 400. He said the permits will be ready by 12 or 1am. PERMITS DONE. Now the most important thing! Look for taxi to nubra valley!!! I asked the local taxi drivers. All said it needs to be done through agency, otherwise iwil have to hire the whole taxi which will cost me not less than 6k OR find a group that is ready to share. I went to the agency. Thankfully a guy helped me find one. Its crazy that i don't rmmbr the name of ppl involved nor the name of the agency. Its been 2 months!..Lolz..anyway so it was adventure something and a sweet short lean ladakhi guy, who was running his own business of travel agency, making shared taxi reservations, organising treks and trips.I think his name was Antok
[26th April, 2013]
It was him and one of his friends (partners) who was actually a student in jammu, but came to leh during season time. Travel agencies r a HIT among the locales there during peak season- great source of easy income. He asked what i do and stuff, i think i lied to him saying that im a student, but then he said he 'also' wanted to be a writer (i was a copywriter then) so i think i may have told him that im a fresher. Maybe. In the meanwhile, a chai wali came along and they ordered a 'namkeen chai' for me but it never came to me (was it something i said angered them?? :P) We talked a lil about places good for acclimatization n seemed quite impressed with my knowledge. He was suggesting i go to pangong becuz he had reservations available for next day, i said nope n explained y. I had to go to nubra first. (tho it was juz a start of my trip, i knew i will have to suffer if i don't take precautions). He gave me his number and told me he'd let me know if there is someone. Well he did say there is one traveller, but i needed 4 to get my share to 1800 (which dheeraj had rightly updated about the fares)
I also inquired if Antok knew any good cheap safe guest houses and he called his acquaintance and arranged a room for me! I went to see it, it was close to the agency, the surroundings were nice unlyk hotel siachen (well hotel siachen was strategically located at the main gate). There were colorful pretty flowers in the veranda, open spaces, tall trees and one could clearly gaze into the mountains miles away. And guess what! She offered me that house for Rs. 200!! I told her i will have to go back to get my luggage here, will come back in the evening. Inspite of such a wonderful deal, i still went on to find other guest rooms which were listed by dheeraj, i went changspa lane, the asia guesthouse and few more, from there i could see shanti stupa at the moutain top. It was so close, but as i treaded some 100 mtrs further, i was already gasping for air. I drank water, kept the cam in my bag, took small steps, but the effects where showing. I stopped at a restaurant hoping some food will give me some energy. Food wasn't the reason tho. By the time i came back, the food i ordered was cold and i took all my time to eat and ponder over whats next. Fried rice made me feel heavy. I dropped the plan to shanti stupa & off i went to my hotel siachen. But then i saw leh palace on the way :P
Well this i had to see, there were alot of places i thought of covering on my buffer days and the very first day itself i waste in hotel hunting which i didn't even need! Distance wise, leh palace is just 10 mins walk uphill. But a mumbaikar-who's lived at sea-level all her life- now in leh on her first day-wise it took me half hr to climb up! And it wasn't even that great! Yeah, the view from the balcony, i could see the himalayas, dark blue with frosted tips, and the heavenly walks of clouds passing through them. Offo, i sat there for quite sometime :) And there was one more spectacular thing i saw! It was evening time, so i could literally see the golden light dancing in the gust of wind! I could see layers and curves of sand and light! I still get goosebumps thinking of it.
There was one more place 'Sankar gompa' which could be reached in half hr's time, well that would give u a fair idea how much time I would have taken! So i dropped the plan instantly n used my superzoom to see whats it all about. Smart, aint i?? :P Descend was equally stressful, but i met this cute chap (did i talk about the dogs in leh! THEY'RE HUGGY BEARS) they're huge, with lots of fur! husky-like eyes n really big lices, i'd rather call them makkhio ki rani! On my way back to hotel siachen, i got lost twice, saw a church n mosque but cudnt figure were my hotel is. By the time i reached my hotel, i was exhausted had a terrible head ache, no SCOPE for switching places now! Ordered tea and went to my room & slept with no idea of what i'm going to do tomorrow. Still hadn't received call from antok confirming the trip to nubra. Suddenly i get a thud on my door, it was antok's call on the receptionist mobile. Btw he wasn't a receptionist, a helper maybe. He helped me a great deal for communicating with travel agencies or even my family over the fone. He lent me his fone and didn't even charge me for it! Its sad that i didn't even offer him money...what was i thinking??? Hmmm maybe becuz i asked ppl to call back. Anyway, so antok says there is one guy who's ready to go with me! (r u kidding me, anybody wud be ready to go with me, i need more ppl was the problem!) He told me it wud cost around 3k with two of us. I turned it down in no time. He insisted alot but i didn't budge, 3k was outta question mate! And i told him let me know if u find at least one more person. That would have come around 2200. In the night, he called back to confirm 3 people for nubra trip! HELL YES BABY! I'm going to nubra tomorrow!!! :D :D I slept with a headache, belching the whole night. :P
