My Ladakh Adventures

It’s been about two weeks since I came back from the Leh, but I am still stuck in the vacation mode. It was nice to be unreachable. No phone. No internet. Just your thoughts to keep you company. Mundane office things have lost the little lustre they had before. This trip helped me in a lot of ways. It helped me clear my mind and not obsess about the usual stuff. I dint have to listen to my parents complain about my indifference, my room mates’ weird antics, my maids lament, my rather incessant chatter of my friends. I loved it.

I did not do the traditional trekking/cycling/biking trip. It was a driving trip. Pretty lame but I am not into adventure sports. It was a photography trip. I was there to take pictures and soak in the atmosphere, which I did without partaking in any of those adrenalin rides (I almost tried cycling but I chickened out in the end). I have been planning this trip for the past three year albeit unsuccessfully, so this time I went ahead and booked the tickets as soon as we had a plan.

I had two people for company, PG who is the quintessential planner and one her insti friends. Her friend turned out to be a Modi fanatic. I have never met a person of my age who was not apathetic towards Indian politics and here is this guy who talked about the quagmire that is Indian politics non-stop. It was entertaining and educational because I don’t know shit about any of these things that he was talking about. It was not my usual fare, but I loved this trip because of those differences.

The trip in itself was pretty hectic, here’s our schedule.

Day 1: Leh

We landed in Leh around 10 in the morning. I couldn’t believe that the trip was happening until I saw the mountains from the flight. I was almost sure that this trip would get scrapped till the day before (expect the worst and whatever comes your way would feel better: that’s my philosophy).

We went directly to the hotel and were literally pushed into our rooms in the name of altitude sickness. We took a light nap and went about to hunt for a good Tibetan restaurant because it’s all about the food for me! We did not find a good place but got familiar with the layout of the town. It was a sleepy town with more foreigners than Indians. And so many junk jewellery stores! But I was too out of breath to even look at all the glittering baubles.

Shanti stupa was the first thing on our long list of places to see. I was never too much into Buddhism but this place has a sense of stillness attached to it. I loved the wind blowing around and the sight of the snow-capped mountains on every turn.

Day 2: Leh- Alchi -Leh (Sham Valley)

The second day was a trip to Alchi which was an old monastery. The great part about these day trips was that the drive was as beautiful as the destination. We were crossing mountains and valleys to get to this place which was perched on top a mountain with a river flowing below. The good thing about travelling with photographers is that you don’t have to worry when you want to stop the vehicle if you see a good view.

We were too excited from the drive that we dint care about the altitude sickness part. We wanted to explore the city. We went about from one Tibetan refugee market to another in search of a turquoise tea pot (which PG had to have). On route we found this little coffee shop called the open hand café where we ended up staying for almost two hours just sipping coffee and tasting all the pastries lined up.

Day 3,4: Nubra 

Nubra Valley is a cold desert according to Wiki. Now, I assumed that means that I had to pack a lot of winter-wear. Sadly, no one told me that it would be boiling hot. I had to peel layer after layer by the time we reached there. It was just the three of us who were brave (==stupid) enough to walk across the desert, the rest of the people were happy just hanging by the camels.

But, we headed to this organic nature retreat which was in the middle of an apple orchard so it was all good. We had a nice hammock under an apple tree and unlimited supply of coffee. I lazed around the whole day and night enjoying the quiet and plucking apples from the trees and eating them right off.

Day 5,6: Pangong and around

This was the best part of the trip for me. I have heard about Pangong from every person who has ever been to the Ladakh. They can’t seem to stop gushing about how awesome it is. The first sight of the lake and I was in love with the surroundings. There is this picturesque lake that is surrounded by mountains with tents dotting on the river bed.

I was in awe. I just put my camera down and stared and stared. The view doesn’t seem to be real. The sounds of water flowing doesn’t feel real. It would be the best place to shoot faery in True Blood (that’s saying something).

PG wanted to walk for a while but I dint want to move, I had the perfect seat on the banks to enjoy the view. So, I lay there for almost hour thinking about nothing and everything. I don’t remember the last time when I stopped thinking/analysing/assessing everything around me.  

And the best part, it was finally cold as in I was chattering non-stop cold. I was wearing two sweaters and a jacket on my jeans in between two heavy blankets and was still feeling cold. I loved the feeling. I miss winters. I missed the feel of the cold wind blowing on your face that numbs you to everything else.

I sat in front of tents and sipped insane amounts of hot coffee while enjoying the view. I took bath in water so cold I couldn’t feel my scalp. It felt nice. It felt of a catharsis in a way, I left the negative feelings there and came back more balanced. No, I am not looking at cute kitten pictures but I am not listening to Anathema non-stop so I think I am getting there.

Day 7,8,9: Leh- Keylong-Manali-Chandigarh
This was the last day in Leh for us. I dint even notice that a week has passed by. I was too busy gazing at the mountains that I forgot about my real life. I dint feel like thinking about my stupid office problems.

The drive back to Manali did just that. It eased us back into real life. As the altitude lowered so did the euphoria. I was getting back to my usual hyper self by the time I got back to Manali that night. And talking to people did not help either. It was just reminding me of my mundane soulless existence and it was making me maudlin. I dint feel like walking around the city because there were too many people around me. So, instead we stuffed ourselves with awesome Punjabi food and watched crappy Hindi movies.

The trip was better than anything I had ever imagined. I am so going back again but this time I would be trekking (ok, I will at least try). Maybe it was the company or the surrounding or the mountains but I felt renewed after this trip. I was dead tired but it was so totally worth it.