Ladakh!

The Mountain says - see my height!
I say - see my morale...
The mountain vanishes!!

This one is special. And it really is! Because this time it was not just another drive. This time it wasn’t about getting cozy at some exotic location on the name of vacation. This time, the definition of “fun” was changed. All that happened is generally wound up in one word called “Adventure”. But believe me, It can not be defined in one word, its something that not "just another guy" can experience.


27 june, 2010: 12:25 am. It starts

Started off in PT’s sweety (Hyundai santro), stopped at VM’s house. We picked up the third mad angle (VM) and drove fast through the empty roads of Delhi towards the Karnaal highway. Went past through the black roads, and to our surprise, PT’s CD system refused to accept the 5 CDs that we wrote in last 1-1:30 hrs before leaving. Now left with only the old “Bhoole bisre geet” and of course some rock hard music (Gurrrr…..). Munching the munchies PT had got, I drove through the first beautiful rays of the orange ball in sky, nearing Chandigarh. Then VM took over further, had our breakfast at the worst dhaba just after kiratpur. All of us were pretty cool as the plan was to just halt at Manali for the day and start from there the next day. But this cool feeling was short lived as Sonia Gandhi had to visit Rohtang the next day for some inauguration of a tunnel, and of we stayed there, then we would be stuck in Manali for the next two days. So we rushed fast to reach Manali and thought of crossing Rohtang the same day. We landed at Manali at around 2:30 pm and after a quick refreshment and lunch-pack, left the place in an hour. All the roads were equipped with policemen for the security arrangements of the next day… the way to Rohtang, is the worst one ever that can be imagined. And the clouds and the fog made it a zero visibility path. PT somehow managed to pass the deadly pass, and we ran out of the car after reaching Rohtang pass like curious little children. The wind was chilly, and the view made us scream  .

Then we passed the concrete less path and passed gramphoo. I had only visited this far on the leh highway on my last trip to chandertaal. So after this, everything was new . It was 7:30 pm and the sun was settling down, and we drove through a bit worried as it was not going to be easy in the dark in those least traveled areas of the himalayas. The dark prevailed and we crossed 2 scary waterfalls that had washed away the road and nothing was visible in water at night. Whenever we had to cross a waterfall, VM and me used to come out of the car and crossed it on foot. PT only drove the car so that it didn’t get stuck anywhere. I, VM drenched our shoes in 3-4 degrees of temperature and I got scared to get sick at just the start of the trip. But PT kept cheering us up only. Nearly after 10:30pm, we reached Keylong, after nearly 22 hours of drive. We all had some good food, talked to people. Me and VM kept our drenched shoes before the room heater. After a very very long day, all crashed on the bed.

28 june 2010 : White sheet
A lazy morning, the sun shone at its best, snow peaks could be seen around from the hotel. After PT got the car fixed (some problem with the alternator belt), we got the tank full as there was no petrol pump from Tandi till Leh (365 kms). The plan was to reach Sarchu before night. So we started, but got a flat tire within half an hour of our start. We changed the tire (well I did it for the first time ever) and started off again.

Crossed some waterfalls that were flowing across the road, the water was super chilled.

The vegetation had almost vanished and all that could be seen were the barren mountains standing tall. Then reached Baralacha La, and believe me, the place is no less than heaven. The top of the hill, with only thick white sheet of snow all around till the sight can go. Our eyes were not even able to sustain the white light reflecting from the snow. All the guys were extremely overwhelmed by the beauty. Clicked some super awesomely fantastic pics there .


Then crossed the road which had the height of snow sheet equal or more than the height of two cars one over the other on both the sides at places. Crossed a violent water stream, where a truck splashed water all over me. Again, drenched shoes and wet me! Around 10 kms before Sarchu, a water stream has washed away everything that could be there by the name of a road, and there were stuck, trucks and big cars like tata sumo.

So we guys, in our tiny car, chose to stay back till the reduced flow of water could let us pass. Unfortunately, we started waiting at around 5pm and kept on waiting. The water never came low and we had to stay there. We decided not to go back to zing-zing-bar, around 10 kms back. The most horrific night that we went through (till then only, mind you), the temperature outside could make the blood in veins freeze. All three were stuck in the small car, with PT and VM in the front seats and me struggling on the back seat. I Got severe headache and got irritated so much that decided never to listen to PT for such treacherous trips (ehh..again!).

29 june : Still in the car
The morning came, we were still stuck in the suffocating car. PT and me got out to check the water, only a small stream was at full flow now, but it could still block a car like ours. So we decided to go back a few kms to find some solution, but then in the way found some more locales coming in small cars. So we moved back in a hope. There another guy in a santro took control of our car and with added efforts from us, the car got past the stream. Pheww! 14 hrs to cross barely 50 meters! Then we reached Sarchu at around 8 am. Till then, me and VM were severely under the affect of Acute Mountain Sickness. Heavy head and nausea. We somehow had breakfast and moved past. After a few kms, a BRO board said, “Welcome to the Paradise of India”.

After that, we crossed Nakeela, Lachulungla and reached Pang at around 1 pm. I was totally down with headache and gave up driving just before Pang, then my dead body lied on the back seat. After Pang, came the Moore plains, a wide open and flat stretch with only sand all around. We envied the SUVs enjoying and wandering on their off-road drives. The mountains could be seen far away in all directions. Sunny weather and clear blue sky garnished the beauty. Even with my headache, I could not resist to open the windows and click & capture the immense beauty. The scene reminded of some Hollywood movie location. My head felt light and healthy.

After that, we crossed TanglangLa, the world’s second highest pass (5360 meters). Then crossed Upshi, Karu (the place when most of the scenes of movie Lakshya were shot) and reached Leh at around 6:30 pm. Reaching Leh was an achievement, that made us forget all the hardships altogether!
Leh is the headquarter of Ladakh region, and is surrounded by barren mountains from all the sides. The beauty of Leh lies in the multicultural crowd seen around here, the cuisines, the cozy weather. Courtesy VM, we stayed in the Leh forest guest house, got familiar again with some basic leisures like brushing out teeth, taking a bath ;), and had dinner at PT’s favorite Himalayan Café 

30th june: Snow, greens and desert
The morning was late, we had our breakfast again at the same place. And by the time we got the permits to visit KhardungLa, Pangong Tso , it was 1 pm. Then started off to reach KhardungLa. The path seemed dangerous, as the traffic due to tourists as well as the trucks and army convoys is heavy on this highway. Passing the crappy road, we reached KhardungLa at around 4 pm. KhardungLa is the snow laden pass at the height of 18380 Ft. The valley from there could be seen covered with thick snow. There was a small sky blue segment of water that could be seen very far in the snow.

Then we somehow crossed the washed out, snow covered, silt prominent path with the poor car bearing the brunt of the nature. After North pullu, the road was quite well maintained. In the way, surprisingly Red colored rocks were seen. Seeing my heavy headache, PT tried to strike the topic of relationships, girls and all. All three went seriously engrossed in that, and in these discussions, we descended the mountain :D. There we witnessed the beauty of a patch of greenery in nowhere in the dessert in Nubra Valley. PT got high in spirits. After traveling a couple of kilometers, came the cold sand desert. In the sand we came out of the car and stared jumping, clicked some crazy pictures. I broke my new sunglasses (ehh..).




There was a heavy sand storm going around, and in those heavy winds, we drove on the straight flat road to reach Hunder at 7:30 pm. Again, courtesy VM, we had one comfortable and exotic stay of our trip in the forest rest house of Hunder. Watched the movie Haseena Maan jayegi curled up in the blankets and had delicious food made by Mr. Caretaker there.

1st July: Camels in the desert
The three soldiers got ready early in the morning and left for the sand dunes (yes ! Sand dunes in Himalayas). There we reached for the camel safari on the double-hump camels. These camels are special, as there is a story that these were left in India by the businessmen that made trips on the Silk route from Mongolia. There we enjoyed the safari in the vast space of sand dunes. A foreigner gentleman misjudged PT with a terrorist by his appearance (cap and a black bandana tied across the face).

Then we left for Leh. There we had to wait at North Pullu for some time as all the traffic had been stopped for some army convoy. After that, again crossed the treacherous path till and after KhardungLa, with some stupid bikers playing with their lives and overtaking the car several times. The only difference this time was that my headache had been cured . VM took control of the wheel and landed us in Leh in no time . The hungry monsters had their evening “lunch” at golden dragon which took ages in fulfilling the order. We girls did some shopping there in Leh and had nice dinner at open garden Café.

2nd july : The three idiots

In a disciplined manner (these unforgiving mountains teach you discipline) ,we all got ready by 6:30 am to get going. Today’s mission was to visit Pangong Tso. We wished our beloved K2 for his birthday while going. For Pangong, the way is through a fork at Karu. After passing that, the ascent started and we reached ChangLa at 9:00 am, had the “free coffee” served by our army soldiers. By that time, the ice on the road had just begun to melt. Moreover, a light snow fall had also started so it was a bit dangerous to drive with the snow flakes on the wind screen and the road. However, we moved on and had our first view of Pangong just before 12 noon. Parked our car at a calm spot by the bank of the lake by 12 noon.

Pangong Tso is a salt water lake at a height of about 4350 meters. 134 kms long with 60% of it in China. And yeah, it is THAT lake where the final scenes of the movie “3 Idiots” were shot. The movie has increased its popularity many folds and PT just didn’t like the fact. There were a hell lot of tourists enjoying the immense beauty of the blue water. Pelicans were flying around with brown hills in the background. The mesmerizing view was worth a million captures. After having our lunch there, we started back towards Leh. The milestone read “New Delhi 1200Kms”!

We drove back very fast and listened to PT’s CD that had the cheapest ever bollywood songs (“tum to thehre pardesi”song in background>.

3rd July : A day Off
To PT’s horror, VM and I, decided to take a day off!! We got up late, got ready very late. Roamed around on the streets of Leh, bought souvenirs, T-shirts, had breakfast as well as Lunch (surprisingly for the first time!!). But the night was really exciting. In the fabulous garden café, on a projected large screen, with European fans all around, we watched the Argentina vs Germany world cup match. Germany thrashed Argentina (4-0) in all fronts mercilessly and with each goal, the fans cheered loudly. The delicious food and booze was just the thing needed. A day that actually felt like a Holiday!

4th july : Last but definitely not the least
In the morning at around 8:30, we kissed Leh our final good bye. Today’s destination – Tso Moriri. On the way to Chumthang, the road was pretty good. And not only in terms of concrete, but the view also. River Indus was flowing by the side of the road for nearly 100 kms. And there was hardly any vehicle crossing us from the opposite side. So the drive was quite “Bindaas”.

We hit chumthang at 1230 and enjoyed our brunch as well as the hot water springs. After chumthang, the road……. Oh sorry, there was no road. Just boulders, then a vast vast green ground where driving was so fun, there were no boundaries! Just an open plain and an insane driver. After that, the torturing way was there for about 30 kms till Tso Moriri.
Tso moriri is the largest of the high altitude lakes (4595 meters) in the trans-himalayan region. On one side of it is a small village Korzok right in the lap of the mountains. The snow peaks are the source of water for this lake.


We stayed in the beautiful and super comfy tents very near to the lake.

After getting a bit fresh, we ran towards the lake like little children. There I could see, from one end to the other of the lake, several colors of nature – blue, grey, black, green, white, golden, silver, brown. VM got so engrossed in the beauty that he went on and on very far in the greens there. We all agreed to the fact that this was the most beautiful and peaceful destination of the whole trip! Overwhelmed by the vastness of the nature, and feeling like a tiny little molecule against all this, my stupid poet came out and wrote some lines (please don't mind):

It feels like conquering the crown,
No darkness, a perpetual dawn..
How sharp is the blue, out of grey,
No exaggeration to the colors I found..
So tiny is our cluttering growl,
Under this stillness, this calmness, no foul......
It feels complete,
And I have conquered the crown!

After coming back to our tent, we had our dinner in the cozy dinning tent of the facility, listened to the crazy stories of the adventures of the in charge there (Mr. Getshu Korzok), his encounter with Amir Khan and many more. We slept well in the warm beds of the exotic tent. Next day we had to start back for Delhi. But still there was a lot to come.

5th july: The reverse gear

After capturing in our eyes the blue beauty of the lake, we started back towards Sarchu at 7 am.
Reached Tso Kar, an extremely salty lake, at 10 am. The huge amount of salt could be seen deposited all around the lake from a kilometer (The debate is still on about whether it was salt or snow!). Then we again strayed back on the path for about 20 kms as we missed a ‘Y’ and again started ascending towards TanglangLa. Realizing the mistake, we came back and reached Pang in the afternoon after getting the car extremely tortured in the sand of the Moore plains. The plains didn’t seem so fascinating now somehow. There we had lunch at PT and VM’s favorite girl’s dhaba ;). The weather was terrible. The rain that started on this day, didn’t stop for the next 4 days. Reached Sarchu at around 430 pm. There we stayed in a tent just before Sarchu. Shared our experience with a group of bikers following almost the same itinerary as of ours. We played cards for many many hours. PT enjoyed an indoor game for the first time. It kept on raining and we slept with the sound of raindrops coming from inches away.

6th july : The longest day

A lot happened on this day. And even now I wonder how so many things could turn bad in a single day and still we survived! The description of this day goes like this:

1. 7 am, just before the start. The only key of the car got left inside with the car locked. I got panicked and frustrated. But then the cab drivers there helped us to open the door somehow and get the key. Then we started.
2. Just passed Sarchu, got 3 kms away. PT realized that we had forgotten a bag in the tent. Then again came back, picked the bag, got the tires air checked at Sarchu. Everything was fine.
3. Again crossed Sarchu. But again stood the same water stream in front of us that made us sleep at night in the car. We came out of the car to assess the situation. And I noticed that a front tire was punctured. Still we didn’t go back and crossed the stream with the puncture tire. In the rain, at 4-5 degrees of temperature. We jacked up the car and changed the tire somehow with the spare one. Only to realize that the spare one was already punctured. Such a horror! Then we decided to go back to Sarchu, to drive 10 kms on a punctured tire, with the rain still making each moment uneasy.
4. The car gave up after going 4 kms back, when the rim of the tires started making sounds. Then we tried a hell lot to get the car parked at a plain surface only to again detach the tire from the car. This time, three guys were hardly able to jack up the car and unscrew the tire. Our palms got bruised and we could not breathe properly! Then we started waiting, stranded in rain in the strange mountains. A truck passed by after some time. I jumped into it and took both the punctured tires to Sarchu. Got them fixed at a hefty price, took a lift back in a tata sumo towards the car. There for the final time we reattached the tire to the car.
5. Hoping that nothing will go bad now, the three shivering souls moved forward. But nature wasn’t happy yet. There was a oil tanker lying on the road just before Baralacha pass. As a result, a heavy traffic jam was there. In addition, a heavy snow fall started, that started covering everything into snow, and the road went white. Then after an hour or so, we passed Baralacha somehow. The car was slipping and moving like a toy on the snow. Baralacha didn’t seem beautiful this time.
6. Crossing numerous jams, we reached Keylong at around 5 pm. But, the mission was to reach Manali. There we made the biggest mistake! None of us was willing to stop and wait for the next day at all! We started off towards Manali in the evening. It was still 120 kms away. In the way, I got our car stuck in ankle deep mud silt. I cam out and got my foot submerged in the silt. VM also followed. PT took the wheel but still could not get through. The tires started skidding badly in the muddy slush. To our rescue, came a cavalcade of SUVs. The driver of the first car was driving a beastly Red Pajero. He gave our toy a push from behind and got it out so easily. Only to leave the poor santro with ugly dents.
7. There we got to know that “Pagal-nala” had gone wild and stopped the traffic fully going towards Manali. But still there was an alternate way for small cars. So we took the extremely narrow road. Now hopes were high that we’ll cross Rohtang.
8. The visibility had gone almost to zero when we crossed Gramphoo. But still we kept on moving. All six eyes were on the road and we kept on moving slowly and calmly. After moving away for another two kms, to out horror, we found a big SUV stuck in silt. There was just no way to cross it. Again both of us came out with torches to examine the condition. Then we tried hard, got out feet again drenched in the snowy water + mud. PT somehow crossed the deadly stretch in complete darkness.
9. This all came of no use, when a passing by car driver informed us about a landslide after Rohtang. No car could pass to Manali and about 70 cars were stuck at Rohtang in near zero temperature. We finally gave up against the will of God and came back to gramphoo. There we slept in a hut (in PT’s words, a “Khopcha”), only 4 feet high. PT finally said the magical words that sounded like , “I am over with adventure!” We Tried to sleep somehow in our sleeping bags. In the wet and windy hut.

Manali was still 70 kms away.

7th july : So close to death

Morning was there. It was still raining. I was hopelessly feeling low. So was the crew. All woke up at 6 in a hope to live………….
It was 10 am and still the bloody rain gave us no respite. By 10:30 am, we finally decided to move. Believe me! This was the toughest stretch of the whole 3000 kms in 12 days. There was small car, boulders, totally washed away road, and stones instead of a road. The rain and stones were not letting the car move at all. I don’t know about others, but I got extremely scared and everything moved in front of eyes like a flash back, like these were the last moments of my life! Once I came out and tried to get the car out of the ankle deep wet mud, got my feet frozen and was unable to move them at all.
I would like to specially mention the bravery that PT showed, in spite of his weak and ill condition, he threw the car into the boulders all the way, the car bounced on the boulders and crossed them!
Then we reached the landslide site. The stones were falling from hundreds of feet above us and had left nothing that we could call a road. PT again accurately took away the car from there. A heavy stone nearly the size of half the car fell just after 2-3 minutes when the car passed the site!! Finally after so many deadly hurdles, we reached Manali in the evening. Then VM convinced us to call it a day. We decided to stay there and not to move further to Delhi. Had a good meal and slept totally relaxed.

8th july : God! Not over yet!
Now!! Everyone in the world knows (sorry of the exaggeration) that the way from Manali to Delhi is a pleasant fast paced ride. But, It wasn’t over yet. The highway at Ambala had been messed up by the rain and it was impossible to go through that way. So a detour had to be taken after Chandigarh. I don’t know what villages we passed. VM’s excellent Punjabi helped us enquire the locals for the right way. We touched the highway back after Ambala after crossing numerous rice fields. Finally we had our ritual of having the lavish final meal of the trip at Haveli near Karnal.

We reached Delhi, and the sight of civilization, the same crowded roads, red lights, vehicles honking deafening horns, the usual chaos, didn’t seem bad for once. After all, we had crossed the deadly hurdles of Nature and reached home sweet home .
I remember one hoarding on the road side that said, “Inconvenience is deeply regretted!”