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On
the winding road
into the back of beyond
July 3 – 18, 2004
************************************
Ladakh
– the name conjures images of a place where time seems to have stood still. Timeless
and magical. Remote and isolated. Forbidding and enchanting. Ethereal and
awesome. Words that inadequately describe this remote Himalayan Shangri La.
A
place studded with ancient monasteries and palaces clinging precariously to
mountainsides, deserts juxtaposed alongside sandy, gravely mountains on the one
side and snow clad peaks, rivers and lakes on the other. The
remote and inhospitable land of Ladakh has always fascinated those with a thirst
for the unusual with its extraordinary landscapes and its intriguing blend of
cultures. It seems
that God almighty has taken his time and let all his creativity flow in
sculpting the mountain faces and valleys and then enriching them with a rich,
wide palette of colours.
From
what I have read and seen of the place, Ladakh has always had a captivating
effect on me and visiting Ladakh has been a long nurtured dream. Besides, the
trip to the Kailash region in Tibet about two years back had left me asking for
more of the same. That trip has had a lasting effect on me and as I often
repeat, I would consider myself blessed should I be fortunate enough to visit
that place once again. Ladakh presents a similar environment and landscape apart
from being my dream destination for a long long time. So, when a possible
opportunity appeared on the horizon, I didn’t waste too much time in deciding
to take the trip.
The
opportunity turned out to be even more adventurous than I had imagined. There
was this group that was forming which intended to drive down all the way from
Mumbai to Ladakh. Whew !!!!! That sure sounded like an awful lot of driving. The
very mention of the trip seemed so very tiresome. But I was not to be deterred.
If there were guys that were confident enough of driving all the way, I sure
enough had the necessary confidence and enthusiasm to atleast sit through the
trip.
The
suggestion for the trip came from none other than my colleague Pitkar, who is
widely regarded as our in-house travel and photography consultant and is an
experienced traveler / trekker / mountaineer himself. Coming as it did from such
a reliable and knowledgeable source made me all the more certain that this
should be as good an opportunity as any to visit Ladakh. He seemed to have a
good regard for the main organizer and one of the main drivers for the trip too
– Ajit Marathe. After a couple of conversations I myself had with Ajit, I too
was convinced that this should be a good trip.
I
tried to whip up a commitment from Hema and Dilaara, the remaining two of the
troika that did the Kailash-Manasarovar Yatra two years back. While both were
very interested in going to Ladakh, there were concerns on the work, house and
travel mode fronts. Hema had problems with getting leave and was expecting
overseas relatives around the time of the trip. Dilaara seemed to be very
concerned and decidedly less than enthusiastic about the road travel all the
way. Finally it was Dilaara that joined me for the trip and even though we
didn’t like the idea of splitting the troika, we didn’t want to let go of
this opportunity either. After considerable amount of thought and scouting for
other options, Dilaara too consented to do the entire journey by road. So, then,
the decisions on these key issues out of the way, we got down to planning for
the trip in real earnest.
The Planning Process
Since
we were a motley bunch of travelers with nothing much more than a keen sense of
adventure and passion for travel to our credit, we tried to be as meticulous
about our travel plans as possible. Several meetings were arranged and we met up
with the rest of the group. We had quite a bunch with some chartered
accountants, bankers, a customs official, one guy from the Ministry of Tourism,
a professional photographer, a sculptor, etc etc etc. The group seemed to mingle
rather well and our pre-tour meetings too turned into rather fun evenings ahead
of the trip.
Ajit
Marathe, the main initiator was one of the ‘chaalaks’ for the trip as
was his younger brother, Anil. They brought with them their Toyota Qualis that
would be one of the vehicles for the trip. The third driver from within the
group was to be Charudatta Kolhi while the fourth driver, Shekhar was the
external help so to say, and came along with the hired Tata Sumo. The rest of
the group included Rudra Mandal and his wife Sharmistha, Sunil Nirbhavne, Sanjay
Pingle, Shreyas Khanvilkar, Vinay Patil, Sharmila Arekar, Vaishali Patil,
Mangesh Tamhane, Dilaara Mehta and yours truly. That made us 15 in all including
the driver.
The
vehicles were thoroughly tested by the drivers before we finalized the Sumo and
obviously, both the vehicles had a good round of preventive maintenance and tyre
upgrades done before we ventured to take them all the way. They were to be put
through quite a testing time during the sixteen day long trip.
Alongside
these plans were the plans for the things that needed to be carried as well as
the route and the places to be visited in Ladakh. We decided on carrying along a
number of things considering the duration of the trip and also the fact that we
could run into several obstacles like landslides etc apart from having to make
do with our own provisions in the more remote places. Accordingly, we decided to
carry 2 gas stoves along with 2 small cylinders, tea and coffee mix, instant
soup and noodle packets, some dry fruits, biscuits, snacks, and ofcourse a whole
lot of medical supplies and jerry cans for carrying fuel. We decided to put a
cap of 15 kilos of baggage per person considering the terrain that we were to
travel in, the amount of load that was to be put on the engines, the amount of
baggage that just needed to be carried and also the fact that most of the group
were photography enthusiasts and we were likely to have a significant amount of
photographic equipment.
Apart
from the discussions on the transport and provisions front, our attention was
directed to deciding the route to be taken till Manali and beyond. We decided
that we needed atleast 6 days in Ladakh and all travel had to revolve around
this requirement. Besides we needed several hours at Manali before we undertook
the more strenuous leg of the trip i.e. the Manali – Leh road. The stay at
Manali would give us time to refresh, run a preventive check on the vehicles,
refuel – the vehicles as well as the jerry cans, stock up on provisions, etc.
before moving onto the next leg. We also needed to firm up schedules for travel
within Ladakh given the vast opportunities the place presented.
Our Route
We
planned to take the route through Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Uttar
Pradesh, Punjab, Chandigarh and onto Manali from where we intended to take the
Manali-Leh highway which is supposed to be one of the more picturesque routes
into Ladakh.
The
other options for reaching Leh that we had were the routes through Shimla–Lahaul-Spiti
and the one through Srinagar-Drass–Kargil. The Manali–Leh route is the
shortest and since we were working on a tight lease where time was concerned, it
was decided that we would take the Manali–Leh route both on the onward as well
as return journey. Much as I would have liked to take atleast the Lahaul–Spiti
option if not the Kargil option, there seemed to be serious time constrains and
so we just fell in with the plan.
The
Manali–Leh route is reportedly the most popular and
spectacular approach to Ladakh. This route is open during end June to end
September when the snow on the passes along the route has melted and fresh
snowfall is yet to begin. Traversing some of the highest mountain passes,
negotiating the landslide prone roads, fighting the effects of high altitude,
driving through blistering winds and the scorching sun of high altitudes, this
485 kms Himalayan journey is surely not for the faint hearted. The route takes
us over the Rohtang la (la is the Tibetan word for pass) (3978m/13,000ft),
Keylong (3350m/11,000ft), Jispa Camps (3141m/10,300ft), Baralacha la
(4895m/16,050ft), Sarchu (4253m/13950ft), Lachalang la (5063m/16,600 ft), Pang
(4636m/15,200ft.), the 38 kms long More Plains (4706m/15,430 ft), and then
through Tanglang la, the second highest motorable road in the world
(5360m/17,580ft), Upshi (3385m/11,100 ft) and finally onto Leh (3507m/11,500ft).
This Himalayan journey is an absolute visual delight with not one moment of
boredom en route.
We
had loosely structured the travel till Ladakh keeping all options open. The only
thing planned was that we would be at Manali by forenoon on the 3rd
day. Similarly for the return leg too we had planned to leave Manali by the 3rd
last day of the trip. Between Mumbai and Manali and visa versa, we had
decided to keep things totally flexible as far as eating and night halts were
concerned. As it finally turned out, we did non-stop runs on this leg both ways
with interim halts for tea, meals and to generally stretch all those cramped
muscles. The journey between Mumbai and Manali as well as the return on the same
leg took us around 54-55 hours and was completed on the morning of the 3rd
day as initially planned but without any night halts en-route.
Ladakh – A Himalayan Shangri-La
Ladakh
is one of the most remote regions of India, and lies embedded in the mountain
world of the Karakoram in the north-west, the Himalayas in the south-west, and
the Trans-Himalayas at its core. The Indus, originating in interior Tibet, flows
through the centre of Ladakh, going further on to the western part of Pakistan. With altitudes ranging from about 9,000-ft (2750m)
at Kargil to 25,000-ft (7672m) at Saser Kangri in the Karakoram. Ladakh is a
high altitude desert that receives very little rainfall and
where temperatures can reach as low as -45 C in winter. This is India's highest inhabited region with a
very sparse population that is predominantly Buddhist.
Leh, the present
capital of Ladakh (Shey was the erstwhile capital), was once the central
meeting-point for trade caravans from Central Asia and the plains of India.
Religious ceremonies, monastic festivals, and oracles that have the power to
heal as well as divine are some of the usual features of the Ladakhi landscape.
The most visible features of Ladakh's rich cultural heritage are its ancient
monasteries most of which are built on sheer cliffs and are still actively
functioning. This is truly one of the last few places where one can experience
Tibetan Buddhism being practiced in its original form.
Ladakh
offers an exciting escape into a little known world that is not only spectacular
in terms of its majestic beauty but is also a treasure house of an exotic
culture that has withstood the passage of time. It is a place for those
passionate about the raw beauty of Mother Nature and for those who love the
sound of silence. The land offers fantastic opportunities for cultural
exploration and natural discoveries, trekking, camping or river rafting.
Visiting ancient monasteries, shopping in the quaint shops lining the streets or
taking a jeep safari into the barren high altitude desert landscapes have a
timeless feel to it. Of late, Ladakh also offers access to certain restricted
areas formerly closed to foreigners on account of their sensitive strategic
position or proximity to International borders. These areas include Drok-Pa, the
Nubra Valley, Pangong lake and Tso-Moriri lake (Rupshu valley).
A
word of caution for travelers to Ladakh, though. Ladakh is a high altitude cold
desert with low levels of atmospheric oxygen. People need to give themselves
time to acclimatize and the best way of doing that is by spending time at high
altitutes. It therefore is advisable for those flying into Leh to spend the
first two days relaxing and avoiding any kind of strenuous activity. Those
driving down will encounter acclimatization problems en-route, as did we, but
would be more or less acclimatized by the time they reach Leh. Since the region
is above 10,000 feet in most parts, most people are likely to suffer from
mountain sickness, with varying degrees of intensity since reactions differ from
person to person. The most common symptoms of altitude sickness are headache,
nausea, sleeplessness, loss of appetite, irregular breathing, breathlessness,
lassitude, lack of concentration etc. The body adapts to the lower oxygen levels
after about 36 hours and the best way to counter the effects of altitude
sickness is to drink plenty of water and avoid smoking and alcohol. If a person
has more than the normal difficulty in adapting to the lower oxygen, he should
be immediately taken to the nearest hospital and administered oxygen, though the
only real solution is to descend to a lower altitude as speedily as possible.
Ladakh – Its History, Religion and Culture
Ladakh
literally means the “land of passes”- “La” meaning pass and “Dakh”
meaning land. This is a mysterious land shrouded in myth and
legend. Much of its ancient history is known only through the mythology of its
people as its written history is of very recent origin. Known for centuries as
the 'land of passes', Ladakh was described by Fa-hian, who traveled across its
inhospitable terrain in 399 A.D., as 'The land where snow never melts and only
corn ripens'.
Ladakh's
landscape has more in common with the lunar landscape than any other place on
earth. Being in a complete rainshadow region, cut off from the monsoon clouds by
the Great Himalaya and a host of subsidiary ranges, it is a cold high altitude
desert where the wind, water from the minimal winter snows, and chemical
reactions within the rocks themselves, have carved a fantastic, sometimes
grotesque, landscape.
Ladakh
has often changed names, all of which give a good description of the conditions
prevailing in the region : Ladwags – meaning land below the mountain passes;
Bladwags – meaning land of the lama; Maryul - meaning the red country; Muah
Risb Ssor Gsum - meaning land to the west of Tibet. In the West it is sometimes
referred to as Moon country and Little Tibet. Rather a long list of names for a
rather small area of land having one of the lowest population densities in the
world. Ladakh is essentially 59,000 square kilometres of rocky desert,
apparently inhospitable mountains, a world of bewitching silence, framed in a
parallel fashion by two of the most imposing mountain ranges, the Karakorams to
the North, the Himalayas to the South.
In geological
terms, this is a young land, formed a few million years ago by the buckling and
folding of the earth's crust as the Indian sub-continent pushed with
irresistible force against the immovable mass of Asia. No wonder we find
sanddunes and salt water lakes in the region. Its basic contours, created by the
unimaginable tectonic movements, have been modified by the opposite process of
erosion, and sculpted into the form we see today by wind and water.
At
the start of the Christian era, Ladakh was no man's land. A few nomads spent the
following centuries leaving few traces on this windy land. But the Dards of
Baltistan, guided by the path of the Indus, decided to lend some touches of
green to its banks. The Mons of the Kulu Valley (Himachal Pradesh) came and
occupied the southern part of the area.
In
the 10th century, Skilde Numagan, driven out by his brother, the King of Tibet,
invaded Maryul, bringing in the Mongoloid element now predominant in the Ladakhi
population. This became the starting point of a dynasty that lasted for 8
centuries. From the middle of the 10th Century, Ladakh was an
independent kingdom, its dynasties descending from the kings of old Tibet. The
kingdom reached its zenith in the early 17th century under the famous King
Sengge Namgyal, whose rule extended across Spiti and western Tibet upto the
Mayum-La beyond the sacred sites of Mt. Kailash and Lake Manasorovar. In
1842, Wazir Zorawar Singh invaded Ladakh and since then it forms part of India.
Ladakh
was also recognised as the best trade route between Punjab and central Asia. For
centuries, caravans traversed the area carrying textiles and spices, raw silk
and carpets, dyestuffs and narcotics from Amritsar at one end to Yarkand and
Khotan at the other across numerous high altitude passes. Leh was the half-way
point and thronged with activity. Even now, as one walks through the tiny lanes
behind the mosque and looks up at Sengge Namgyal's Palace, you could be fooled
into believing that you truly are in another world in a moment suspended in
history.
For
all its seeming inaccessibility, Ladakh's position at the centre of a network of
trade routes traditionally kept it in constant touch with the outside world.
From Chinese Central Asia, the mighty Karakoram range was breached at the
Karakoram pass, a giddy 18,350 feet (5,600m). The trail from Yarkand crossed
five other passes, of which the most feared was the glacier encumbered Saser-la,
north of Nubra. Travellers from Tibet could take one of two main routes. From
the central part of the country, the Tsang-po valley, they could pass the holy
sites of Kailash-Mansarovar and reach Fartok, on a tributary of the upper Indus,
from where they followed the river down to Leh. Trade with the pashm producing
areas of western Tibet flowed by a more northerly route, taking in the village
of Rudok, a few miles into Tibet, and from there across the 18,300 feet (5,578m)
Chang-la to the Indus, and so to Leh.
The
Indus, with its source in Tibet, enters Ladakh through Chantang, the region of
the Changpah nomads. These are fiercely independent people, proud of their
wanderings in the Himalayas. Most of them are Tibetan refugees, living on the
raising of yaks, sheep and particularly goats whose wool, treated in a special
manner, takes on the magic conjured by the name pashmina, also called Cashmere.
This precious article is sold in Leh, in the Indus valley where the inhabitants,
belonging to the Tibeto-Mongoloid race have been sedentary since 13 centuries.
Baltistan, joined administratively with Ladakh for 100 years, was linked to it
either via the Indus up to its confluence with the Suru-Shingo river, and on up
to Kargil; or by the Chorbat la over the Ladakh range, the trail dropping down
to the Indus 40 km below Khalatse, and following the river up to Leh.
The
two main approaches to Ladakh from south of the Himalayas are roughly the same
as today's motor roads from Srinagar and Manali. The merchants and pilgrims who
made up the majority of travelers in the pre-modern era, traveled on foot or
horseback, taking about 16 days to reach Srinagar. That was before the wheel as
a means of transport was introduced into Ladakh, which happened only when the
Srinagar-Leh motor road was constructed as recently as the early 1960's.
The
geographical backbone of Ladakh, the Inuds Valley, particularly from Upshi down
to Khalatse, is also the region's historic heartland. All the major sites
connected with the former kingdom's dynastic history are here, starting with Leh,
the capital city since the early 17th century when Sengge Namgyal built his
nine-storey palace. A few kilometers up the Indus is Shey, the ancient capital,
with its palace and temples, their vibrantly coloured murals cleaned and
restored in the mid - 1980's. Down river, both Basgo, right on the road and
Tingmosgang, a short way up a side-valley, served as capital cities when the
country was temporarily divided into two parts in the 15th century, and both
have the remains of forts and temples dating from the period of their brief
glory. Stok, just across the river from Leh, is the village with which the
deposed royal family was compensated for the loss of its throne. Its palace
houses a museum of artifacts associated with the dynasty, and there is also a
small gompa (monastery).
The fairly
numerous lamas have always played an important role in Ladakh. During the eight
centuries of independence, the Buddhist spirit dominated everyday life. It
inspired many men and women to give up secular life. It was normal and perfectly
accepted by the Ladakhis that a king exchanges his crown for a lama's robe.
The bleakness and austerity of the landscape combined with the inaccessibility
probably contributed a lot to the development of Ladakh's unique Buddhist
culture, where generations of monks in fairy tale monasteries have developed
philosophical concepts devolving around silence and emptiness, as well as a
world renowned tradition of religous art.
The
monastic tradition is itself a result of the tradition of meditating in remote
or secluded places, common to all religions in India at the time. In Ladakh,
caves were a natural choice and the majority is associated with Buddhist yogins
who are believed to have meditated in them at certain times. Later, these became
the nuclei around which monasteries grew. At the heart of the famous Lamayuru
gompa, is the cave of Naropa, an Indian sage. His disciple was Marpa, whose
disciple in turn, was the greatest ascetic of them all - Milarepa. It bears
mentioning that modern historians are more inclined to place Naropa's hermitage
in the North of Bihar - 1500 kms to the east. Lamayuru has certainly seen better
days however.
Earlier,
in the 11th century, the Great Translator Rinchen Tsangpo came to Ladakh from
the Tibetan kingdom of Guge. To the modern world a title like the Great
Translator may seem pompous but nevertheless he is one of the most revered
figures in Ladakh, Spiti and Tibet, for it was Rinchen who translated the words
of the Sakyamuni Buddha from Sanskrit and Pali to Tibetan. In fact it is almost
certain that many works long since lost in the original Sanskrit, are well
preserved in the Tibetan translations done by Rinchen Tsangpo. It says a lot for
the Buddhist peoples of the Trans Himalaya that while they have no Great Leader
or Great Warrior, they do have a Great Translator! An incomplete set of the
scriptures, lettered with pure gold and silver, is housed in the mysterious
gompa of Shimrey.
Rinchen
Tsangpo is also credited with introducing to Ladakh and Spiti the arts of image
making, woodcarving and fresco painting. It is his disciples who built the Alchi
Choskhor, or religous enclave, now recognised as an artistic and heritage site
of global importance. Alchi represents a rare survival; it's 800-year old murals
and giant Boddhisatva figures covering every inch of wall space. Even the carved
woodwork on the exterior is in remarkably good shape, probably due to the
dessicated climate. Whereas some parts have been retouched in the 16th century,
even in the unrestored portions, the colours are as bright as if painted the day
before, the pigments preserved by the near total absence of sunlight in the
interiors. Sometime in it's history, for unknown reasons, Alchi was abandoned as
a living center of worship and this too contributed in no small measure too it's
survival. Nowadays, two monks on deputation from Likhir gompa carry out the
essential religious functions.
"Ladakh
is truly a self-sufficient land, producing all that it needs except tea",
says Major Gompertz in Magic Ladakh. This self-sufficiency is based essentially
on an economy of small agricultural communities dependent on glacial torrents,
which meet the large Himalayan rivers. Desert conditions have forced the farmers
of these celestial lands to develop unique irrigation systems. Canals draw water
from far inside the mountains to guide them towards the fields that have been
terraced to facilitate the work of the precious liquid. The Ladakhis cannot
develop the production of yak cheese as is done in Nepal for their herds are too
small. Products made from fresh milk are therefore important. Each family owns
some goats, cows and dzos (yak-cow).
Knitting,
weaving, metal
work, painting, and woodcarving are widely practised in the region while archery
and polo are the traditional sports. In summer, in the shady regions by the Indus and in
Nubra, wool is spun and winter blankets are woven. As soon as winter arrives,
the clicking of needles accompanies the gentle growl of the heating stove. The
dress of the men, a long robe of cotton or wool, the goncha, is dark, but those
of the women are veritable masterpieces in blue, red and gold. Embroidered
dresses and the ceremonial headgear, the perak, cover the hair with turquoise.
Ladakhis
celebrate their festivals with brilliant renditions of song and dance
accompanied by the blowing of horns and the clash of cymbals. The festivals are
meant to revitalise the spirit of the people and liven the long hard arduous
months of winter. Most famous among Ladakh's festivals are Cham- a masked dance
performance celebrated at the Hemis monastery. The summer festival at Lamayuru
(early July) is famous too. From the year 2000, another colourful festival has
been added to the rich cultural heritage of Ladakh - The 'Sindhu Darshan'
festival at Shey (1st to 3rd June). It aims at projecting Indus as a symbol of
India's unity and communal harmony and is also a symbolic salute to the brave
soldiers of India.
The long winding road
THANE - LEH – THANE - The Itinerary
July 3rd,
2004. Saturday - Thane (0600 hrs) to Dewas (2230 hrs) to Morena (next day 0700 hrs) –
NH3
[Via : Thane - Kalwa – Shahpur – Kasara –
Igatpuri – Nasik – Ojar – Chandwad -Garud Ghat – Purmapada – Dhule –
Shirpur - Sendhwa (MP) – Gujri – Indore -Dewas. Overnight:
Dewas – Chambal - Morena]
- Distance
covered - 1001 kms
July 4th,
2004, Sunday
- Morena (0700 hrs) to New Delhi (1800 hrs) to Bilaspur
(next day 0600 hrs) – NH3 upto Agra, NH2 Agra – New Delhi, NH1 New Delhi –
Ambala, NH22 – Ambala – joins with NH21 near Chandigarh, NH21 – from
Chandigarh
[Via : Morena – Gwalior – Dholpur – Agra – Mathura – Surajkund – Faridabad -New Delhi Overnight : New-Delhi – Panipat – Karnal – Kurukshetra – Ambala –Chandigarh – Rupnagar – Kiratpur – Swarghat – Nauni - Bilaspur ]
July 5th,
2004, Monday
- Bilaspur (0630 hrs) to Manali (1200 hrs) – NH21 upto
Manali
[Via : Bilaspur – Ghaghas – Barmana – Mandi – Aut – Bhunter – Kullu – Raison –Katrain - Manali]
July 6th,
2004, Tuesday
- Manali (0600 hrs) to Bharatpur (2130 hrs) - 202 kms
[Via : Manali
(2050m) – Gulabo – Marhi - Rohtang (3980m) – Sissu – Gondla – Tandi
– Keylong – Darcha - Jispa Camps (3142m) – Patsio - Baralachala la (4892m)
- Bharatpur] Caution
: Patsio gate closes at 1700 hrs.
July 7th,
2004, Wednesday
- Bharatpur (0800 hrs) to Upshi (2200 hrs) - 220 kms.
[Via : Bharatpur - Sarchu (4253m) - Lachalang la (5065m) - Pang (4630m) -More Plains (4703m) - Tanglang la (5360m) – Rumtse – Gya – Miru - Upshi (3384m)]
July 8th,
2004, Thursday
- Upshi (0800 hrs) to Leh (1100 hrs) (3505m) - 49 kms
[Via : Karu
– Choglamsar - Leh] [Thane to Leh – distance covered 2439 kms]
Noon - In
and around Leh - Spituk Monastery and Shanti Stupa
July 9th,
2004, Friday
- In and around Leh - Stok Palace
July 10th,
2004, Saturday
- Leh to Khardung la to Deskit & Hunder (in Nubra
Valley) to Panamik (in Shoyok Valley) 171 kms
[Via : Leh -
South Pullu - Khardung la (18380ft/5602m) - North Pullu - Khardung village –
Khalsar – Deskit – Hunder - Panamik]
Caution :
The (entry) gate at South Pullu closes at 1000 hrs. Gate at North Pullu is open
between 1300 hrs & 1430 hrs. Gate at Khalsar closes at 1600 hrs
July 11th,
2004, Sunday
- Panamik to Khardung la to Leh to Magnetic Hill to Nimmu
(Pathar Sahib Gurudwara).
[Via :
Panamik – Khalsar - Khardung Village - North Pullu - Khardung la - South Pullu
- Leh – to Pathar Sahib Gurudwara at Nimmu and Magnetic Hill]
Caution : The gate at North Pullu
is open only between 1300 hrs to 1430 hrs.
July 12th,
2004, Monday
- Leh to Chang la (5475m) to Pangong Tso (4267m) to Leh
- 280 kms round trip
July 13th,
2004, Tuesday
- In and around Leh (Shey Palace, Thikse Monastery, Hemis
Monastery) to Upshi (2100 hrs)
July 14th,
2004, Wednesday
- Upshi (0400
hrs) to Keylong (1930 hrs) - 320 kms.
[Via : Upshi – Miru – Gya –
Rumtse - Tanglang la - More Plains – Pang - Lachanglang la – Sarchu –
Bharatpur - Baralachala la - Patsio (1645 hrs) -Jispa Camps – Darcha - Keylong]
Caution :
The gate at Patsio closes at 1700 hrs.
July 15th,
2004, Thursday
- Keylong (0900 hrs) to Manali (1430 hrs) - 110kms.
Distance covered - 3736 kms.
July 16th,
2004, Friday
- Manali (0415 hrs) to New Delhi (1830 hrs) to Mathura to
Guna (next day 0730 hrs)
[Via : Manali – Katrain – Raison – Kullu – Bhunter – Aut – Mandi – Bilaspur –Swarghat – Kiratpur – Rupnagar – Chandigarh – Ambala – Kurukshetra – Karnal –NewDelhi - Mathura. Overnight : Mathura – Agra – Gwalior – Chambal - Guna]
July 17th, 2004, Saturday - Guna to Dhamnod (near MP border) (2130 hrs) to Igatpuri (next day 0600 hrs)
[Via : Guna – Roothiyan – Radgogadh – Dewas - Indore bypass – Dhamnod -Palasner (Maharashtra border). Overnight : Palasner to Igatpuri]
July 18th,
2004, Sunday
- Igatpuri (0600 hrs) to Thane (0930 hrs). Total Distance
covered - 5690 kms
Thane to
Manali - 1964
kms
Manali to
Leh -
475 kms
Around
Ladakh -
812 kms
Manali to
Thane - 2439
kms
Our Daily Safar
The
reporting time at Thane (Shreerang society) is 0400 hrs. Most have deposited
their baggage the pervious night to enable the loading of the vehicles to begin
even if someone is late. I have been unable to do this having been delayed at
office. However, Pitkar is to come to see us off and he has promised to meet me
on the highway so that I do not have much difficulty in locating the place and I
manage to reach Shreerang Society by 0430 hrs or so. Ajit, Anil, Dilaara,
Sharmila, Vaishali are already there while Shreyas and I reach almost around the
same time. The other vehicle, i.e. the Sumo is parked at Sunil's place where
Rudra & Sharmishtha have camped for the night and they come in much after
0500 hrs.
The vehicles
are loaded with Anil being the lead player here. He is atop the Qualis
apparantely well conversant with the best way possible to load the vehicles and
is giving instructions to the others too. Shekhar, the driver of the hired Sumo
is on top of the other vehicle doing the needful. It takes us a good 20-25
minutes to get the vehicles loaded to satisfaction. We have large, thick plastic
sheets to cover the baggage atop the carriers to provide protection from the
rains. The last two (side-on) seats in both the vehicles have been put to good
use with a sturdy plank resting across them. A mattress has been used over the
plank to give a makeshift bed. Those sitting in this section need to take off
shoes and sit stretched out across the seats. The space below the plank too has
been nicely utilized to deposit all the precious photographic equipment that we
are not likely to need till Manali and all the day and food packs.
We have
carried around 25+ 1 ½ and 2 litre bottles of soft drinks filled with water
between the two vehicles. These are much sturdier than the mineral water bottles
that we get and traveling, as we would be for thousands of kilometers, these
would be absolute essentials. Even later during the trip whatever water we buy,
most is transferred into these bottles as the mineral water bottles are unlikely
to take all the bumps and knocks that these bottles take. We are finally ready
around 0545 hrs but Vinay is nowhere to be seen as yet. Ajit and Anil’s
parents are around too and they along with our parents break a coconut and say a
small prayer to flag us off. Finally Vinay arrives and we are able to flag off
at 0600 hrs.
I am in the
Qualis along with Ajit (who starts off at the wheel), Anil, Dilaara, Sharmila,
Vaishali and Sanjay. As it turns out, for most of the trip we are together in
the Qualis. Somewhere along the trip we came to a conclusion that it would be
more time consuming if each time we switch and rotate seating between the two
vehicles. What with each of us having daypacks, etc., each shifting would entail
a longer halt than if we simply got back into our respective places in the
vehicles. So, that is the way it went through most of the trip except that later
on we also had Sunil with us. The several days we spent in the vehicles with
each other have finally bonded us more closely as a group. While the entire
group was together all the time other than in the vehicles, the groups that went
together in one vehicle have obviously formed a closer bonding atleast in our
case. Ofcourse, Rudra, who was for most time in the Sumo would keep coming over
to us as and when an opportunity presented itself and he was the one that got as
close as the group in the Qualis.
Our first
halt is the Maruti Temple, near the Thane Jail and then we halt at Kalwa Bridge
to break coconuts and pray for a safe journey. As we speed towards the Kasara
Ghat, a lovely mist overhangs and the surrounding mountains and the valley are
awash with recent rainfall. We are greeted with a wonderful freshness, lush
greenery and a beautiful, mysterious mistiness as we begin our journey. A
terrific beginning to what would surely be a tough journey. Most of us have not
slept properly the previous night, but there are not too many bleary eyes to be
seen; all are wide-awake and excited. We stop for tea and breakfast at a small
stall just ahead of Manas Resort at Igatpuri.
The bread-butter sandwiches have been prepared by those sitting in the
rear “sleeper coach” in the Qualis – who for this leg of the journey
happen to be Sanjay and me - and are shared between the entire group once we
break for tea.
As we
start-off after breakfast, a thick mist envelopes us and we cannot see even a
few feet ahead. For the little time that the mist is there, the place has an
ethereal look, which is accentuated by the fog lamps that both the vehicles need
to switch on in addition to the headlamps. At Nasik, our friends in the Sumo who
cannot get their CD player connected, decide that it is about time they do
something about it considering the long travel and head for repairs at a local
garage. While we are waiting for them, Anil takes out our flag and ties it to
the carrier. We have made two flags "Mumbai-Leh-Mumbai" sewn onto a
long pole to be tied to each carrier. The idea was of easy identification of the
vehicles in traffic as well as in the mountains ahead but it also got us some
rather appreciative and envious looks along with some smirks that clearly said
how could these people be so crazy. Well, we quite enjoyed all the looks we got,
excited and impressed as we ourselves were about the idea of driving all the way
from Mumbai to Ladakh and back.
As we leave
Nasik, Ojar and its grape fields behind, our surroundings undergo a drastic
change. We are moving into the interiors of Maharashtra, where the rain has not
yet reached and the lush fields give way to arid land. Passing through the towns
of Chandwad, Purmapada and crossing the famous Renuka Devi temple on the Garud
Ghat we reach Dhule by noon. Finding no place suitable for lunch we keep moving
on. The dry surroundings and the noon heat add to our woes. We finally stop for
lunch at a dhaba at Shirpur. Like
most dhabas on the highway, it boasts of a sprawling place under a tin
shed. The heat seems to multiply - with the sun bearing down on us from the tin
roof and the heat from a number of stoves behind us, thanks to the open kitchens
of dhabas ! We settle for a lunch of freshly cut salad, dal, rice,
roti, subzi. This was just the first of such meals that we, on our
multi-state drive, were destined to have for the next 15 days. The only change
perhaps was the type of vegetables that we got. However, the best part of these dhaba
meals is that apart from the sprawling space, they almost always have a stack of
Khatiaas spread out. Most of us take the opportunity as soon as we are
out of the jeeps and sprawl out on the khatiaas to stretch our cramped
limbs.
Post lunch,
as we are speeding towards the State of Madhya Pradesh, the weather changes
drastically. Near Sendhwa, the heat gives way to rain clouds and it starts
pouring. We are thrilled with this change in weather; seems like the rain has
chased right us across Maharashtra. The terrain too changes quite dramatically
and we are passing through some sandy, hilly parts. These sandy formations
remind us of what we have seen of the Chambal region while passing through there
and I believe this area, near the border of MP, is almost as notorious as
Chambal.
As we cross
the diversion for Mandu, near Gujri, it is a tempting thought to explore the
famous ruins of the Mandu palace with its lore of the poet prince Baz Bahadur
and his beautiful consort Roopmati, which is situated just 34 kms away. We have,
however, decided to take on a far more challenging task and have the several
hundred uncovered miles of our journey looming ahead and cant really afford the
luxury of en-route sightseeing.
Just ahead
of Indore we get onto a ghat section and are faced with a bad traffic jam. We
seem to have a ghat-full of diesel fumes spewing trucks and buses here and
movement is restricted to just a painful crawl. All plans of reaching Indore in
the near future are tossed straight out of the window. We encounter a rather
strange practice here - heavily loaded trucks being pulled by tractors. Seems to
be a regular thing in the region, as is apparent by the number of tractors
parked in an open ground, almost certainly waiting for customers. Another thing
that strikes us in this ghat section is that there is no concept of lane
disciple followed here. Generally, drivers on mountain roads follow strict lane
discipline but not so here. This seems to be a regular practice here perhaps
because of certain segments being very steep and trucks going up-hill not being
able to negotiate the hair pin bends on the inside, heavily loaded as they are.
This reverse lane culture happens on certain segments while on others normal
lane disciple is followed. So, in the end, we seem to be changing lanes maybe
every quarter or half a kilometer or so.
Soon it
begins to get dark but we move on and reach Dewas at about 2200 hrs. Dewas is
famous for a replica of Vaishno Devi temple located on a hill-top overlooking
the city but we sure were here at the wrong time even for a brief visit. While
we are at a petrol pump a little before Dewas, all of us take the opportunity to
call-up home. While I have carried my cell with me, most of the times along the
highways, I find that I do not get any signal. This obviously improves as and
when we approach or are in the vicinity of a large town/city but still at most
times I do face a problem with outgoing calls.
Over dinner
in Dewas, we make plans for driving through the night. I had been aware of this
possibility (rather strong one) right from the beginning when Ajit had mentioned
it to me. He had said that just he, Charuda and myself were aware of this and
that we would take it as it comes as regards the others. He had also asked me if
I was prepared to navigate through the night if we did actually drive through
and I had agreed to it. Now the rest of the group is brought upto speed and
views are sought on driving through particularly since we would be driving
through the dreaded Chambal ghati in the middle of the night. All the
group members agree and so, we are on our way. Day temperatures are rather high
in Central India making for some uncomfortable driving and traveling conditions.
Besides we also encountered heavy traffic while nearing Indore, so it makes
sense to drive through the night. We want to make up for lost time as much as
possible during the night.
Since most
of us haven't slept too well the previous night we wonder how we are going to
spend another sleepless night. It has been decided that Anil will take the wheel
soon after dinner and drive on till he is drowsy when he would wake Ajit. Sanjay
and Vinay are sitting upfront, navigating with Anil. Sanjay is an absolute live
wire and keeps up a constant chatter thus keeping others in the jeep too in the
loop. Ajit and I have retired to the sleeper coach to catch a couple of hours of
sleep before it is our turn upfront. Since the Qualis has the speakers at the
rear, we request that the music be turned down; so Sanjay, singing and
chattering away is a major help particularly so that the driver does not dose
off.
While Ajit
and I sleep, Anil has made good time through the night and by the time he pulls
over near a dhaba, we have covered a good distance. We had decided that
the driver/navigator changeover would happen before we head into the Guna –
Shivpuri belt so that we do not have any reason to stop there. Also, both the
vehicles from then on would drive in sighting distance of each other and give
indicator light flashes at regular intervals, which should be returned by the
other vehicle. This way we would make sure that all is well in both the
vehicles. The less risk we take the better. So, it is that Anil wakes us at
around 0200 - 0230 hrs as soon as he spots a dhaba. We take a cup of tea
to freshen up and then the earlier troika moves to the sleeper coach to catch a
few winks until it is time for them to take over when we are ready to hand over
in the morning.
A little
while after Ajit takes the wheel, we head into Chambal. After all the dreaded
tales that we have been hearing about the dacoits in this region, it seems
little short of absolute foolishness to be doing this drive. But as Ajit and I
chat, perhaps this may be the best time to cover this stretch since travelers at
this hour would be most unexpected and dacoits too need their beauty sleep !!!
So, what better time than at say, 3 in the morning. Add to that, we get rains.
And, some exceedingly heavy showers at that. If not the time, we are sure the
combination of time and torrential rains is as good a combination as any to
deter the dacoits. So, it is that we merrily drive on through Chambal in the wee
hours of the morning, happily humming along with the music playing on the car
stereo. By then the inmates of the sleeper coach are soundly tucked in for the
night and we take the liberty of keeping the music on.
It is quite
a thrill driving through the night on deserted country roads, everything around
eerily dark and silent, sleets of rains slashing all around and the stereo
playing some good music. The only thing that perhaps I would have liked was to
have been driving myself but with the rains and the extremely low visibility, I
am glad its not me that is at the wheel. At one time, the headlights of the car
caught a pair of eyes in the middle of the road. While I did not immediately
recognize the animal that the pair of eyes belonged to, Ajit was quick to point
out that it was a fox, which quickly scurried away from the approaching vehicle.
These are some of the small thrills that one can experience driving through the
night. I sure enjoyed it even if it meant a second more or less sleepless night
on the trot.
By around
0430 – 0500 hrs, I begin to get rather bleary eyed and drowsy. But since the
others are asleep, I decide to continue navigating till they awake. By around
0530 hrs, Ajit too is ready to give up the wheel so we once again move to the
sleeper coach and Anil and company take over. I am sleepy but do not want to
sleep now that dawn is breaking and we are passing through some villages and
towns. Its quite an experience to drive along as dawn breaks, the birds begin
their chirping and a village/town begins to come to life. I sure do not want to
miss this experience so I continue to sit and doze while taking in the scenes
outside from time to time. But gradually I fall into a short but sound sleep
before I am woken up by the sun’s rays and realize it is close to 0700 hrs
Soon we reach Morena and stop at a service station to freshen up and have a cup
of tea before moving on. We spot a couple of stalls open and order the tea being
perhaps the first ones to get the shop owners stirred up for the day.
We have
clocked 1001 kms till Morena. One decidely positive development about road
travel these days is that along with improved road conditions, we also have
improved facilities along most of the route. At most places we get good service
stations, with toilet and other facilities ranging from fairly decent to
exceedingly good. It definitely is a much-needed improvement from the earlier
days where we had to make do with some rather deplorable facilities.
Having
freshened up at the hosepipe on offer at the service station and having had our
morning cuppa and biscuits we are on our way again.
We decide to travel another couple of hours before we halt for breakfast.
Soon we approach Gwalior. We drive through town as it is stirring up to business
for the day and even this early in the day there are parts that are decidedly
congested. It is rather dusty and dirty. I had been to Gwalior earlier, on a
short tour of MP with friends. Having gone only to the tourist spots then (the
Fort etc) we didn’t really see the more crowded parts of the city. Besides
that was over a decade back and today as we enter the city via the National
Highway - NH3, what we see and pass through is rather unimpressive.
After
Gwalior, we join the NH1A for part of the way. While on the highway, we are
running parallel to a narrow-gauge rail track. Here we see the sights that
regularly adorn travel brochures that paint the picture of a rather backward but
exotic India – a narrow gauge train packed to the rafters with people spilling
out from every possible nook, window and door and also spread rather tightly
across the roof. It is the sort of sight that we city-dwellers rarely get to see
and I am rather disappointed that my camera is tucked away below the seats of
the sleeper coach. Else this would have presented a fantastic photo op.
We stop for
breakfast at a dhaba where the owner promises to whip up some aalu
parathas and dahi. We soon realize, however, that he would take a
rather long time since he has to begin by boiling the potatoes and he is working
off just the one stove, which will still take some time to get going. We move on
and find another dhaba offering the same fare. Right now this seems an
excellent option but as we go forward and each dhaba invariably offers
more of the same we soon begin to tire of the aalu parathas and dahi
routine. For now, we find it blissfully interesting, hungry as we are. Feeding
15 hungry travelers takes a while and before we head out, more than an hour has
gone by. We then decide that having had a rather good breakfast, we’d drive on
longer and take our lunch break as late as possible.
After
Dholpur, on the way to Agra, we notice a turn-off for a bypass to New Delhi.
Having gone a little ahead on the highway we turn back and get on the bypass,
but realize to our consternation that the road condition is not that great and
it is almost continuously bumpy. We halt a truck and ask him about the condition
of the road further up and he tells us that this is more of a truckers road and
we ought not to have taken this route. So, even at the cost of some wasted miles
and time, we decide to turn back again and rejoin the highway. Fortunately along
this route I do get the signal and am soon able to contact Rudra who is the one
with a cell in the other vehicle to inform them about the change in routes.
We later
realise that Sharmishtha all this while has been busy on the cell SMSing her
sister in Agra. She is glad at the change in route back to the highway since her
sister who lives in Agra has planned to come and meet her enroute, although none
of us are aware of it till we reach Agra. If we had bypassed Agra, she couldn't
have met her. Now she will be able to meet up with her sister and brother-in-law
so is rather pleased. They are waiting at a spot along our route and we stop
there for a while. They have brought along some parcels including some food and
fruits. Soon we are on our way trying to make up for time we lost along the
route due to traffic.
At Mathura
we join the NH2. Due to the heat and the heavy traffic, we make slow progress
during the day. It is only around 1600 hrs that we halt for lunch. Luckily the dhaba
we halt at, "Sharma's dhaba" does not object to our eating the veggies
brought by Sharmishtha’s sister - a box full of vatana masala
sufficient for the whole group - with his rotis. I opt just for a cup of tea as
do quite a few others. The heat and the odd time sure are not conducive to
eating, not to forget the huge breakfast we had eaten. However, some are hungry
so we do spend some time here.
As we move
on, we once again encounter heavy traffic and it takes a good hour or hour and a
half for us to exit the city. Vinay, who knows Delhi and the surrounding areas
rather well has been doing the navigation job. Once we exit the city we stop at
a vehicle repair shop since the Sumo needs some minor attention. The rest of the
group takes the opportunity to grab some cold drinks and make phone calls.
We soon move
on but just as we begin planning what to do for the night and also for dinner,
we realize once again a problem with the Sumo. It is some problem with the
headlight this time and it sure cannot be ignored. It is a bit erratic and not
wanting to take any chances we stop by at a repair shop once again.
It takes longer than expected for the problem to be solved, and we decide
to use the time to have dinner at a nearby dhaba. We order our usual dal,
rice, roti, mixed vegetable and salad.
In the
meantime, conversations have sprung up regarding when to break for the night,
where, etc, etc, etc. We would like to travel on atleast till 2230 - 2300 hrs to
make some time. However, the feeling is that if we do not halt here, the next
likely place to find decent accommodation may only be at Chandigarh and it may
be too late to get accommodation at that hour. Besides, there was the problem of
un-loading the vehicles at that late hour and again re-loading early morning. I
secretly was hoping for an all-night run once again. It surely is better than
the traffic and heat of the daytime. While we are having dinner, Ajit and
Charuda are talking of the options – after all, these decisions of halting for
the night or driving on, depended more on the drivers. In a while, Ajit yells
out to me seated at the other end of the table asking whether I was willing to
navigate this night too. Obviously, I agreed to this all too willingly. I sure
had loved the drive through the previous night and in any case I was not too
willing for a night halt of a few hours. We eat our dinner with the knowledge
that we would be driving through this night too.
By the time
we are through with dinner, the Sumo has received the necessary attention and we
are ready to hit the road once again. It is decided that the same
driver-navigator combinations would be at work this night too and in the same
order. So, in the Qualis, it is Anil at the wheel with Sanjay and Vinay
navigating up front. Ajit and I retire to the sleeper coach while the rest try
as best as they can to catch a few winks in the middle row. Am sure Sharmila and
Vaishali will not have too much trouble since they seem to doze of almost at
will with their heads finding comfortable nesting places on the nearest
shoulder.
We soon move
onto the NH1 and the road is fantastic. Anil, who just loves speeding, is
thrilled and soon he has his foot firmly pressed down on the accelerator. As I
sleep, we have driven through Panipat, Karnal, and the others have also had a
mid-night halt for tea at Kurukshetra. A little later, we pass through Ambala
and soon after join the NH22 near Chandigarh around 0130 hrs.
As we drive
through the outskirts and then through Chandigarh, it is once again Vinay who
uses his knowledge of these parts to help us navigate out of the city. We do
loose our way a couple of times and at anther time, we loose sight of the Sumo.
I keep waking up on and off with all this activity going on but have managed
some brief but sound periods of sleep. My wake-up call also coincidentally
happens to be one such reason --- we can’t spot the Sumo --- only this time it
seems far more serious. Infact Ajit has been calling out to me to wake me up so
that I could try and reach Rudra on his cell.
As I come
fully awake I realize that we are infact parked on the road leading out of
Chadigarh and have been here for sometime now with the Sumo nowhere in sight. I
try reaching Rudra on his cell but have no luck since his cell seems to be
turned off. We are all pretty annoyed at how he could do this until we realize
that perhaps his battery has run out and he has been unable to charge it. We did
have a car charger in the Qualis and Sanjay, Rudra and I took turns to charge
our cell (none of the others had any). The charger, though, had been giving some
trouble and perhaps the other 2 phones had finally run dry; guess my lithium ion
battery saved the day for me.
We are now
wide awake and contemplating what to do from here on after having been there for
the better part of 30 minutes or so. We are squatting on the side of the highway
with the rear door opened up and in the distance I spot a pair of headlights and
think it finally is the Sumo. As it draws near and pulls up, we heave a sigh of
relief and after giving Shekhar a real wash down about being so careless we
decide to move on. We are parked near a service station but that is closed at
present. Fortunately we have filled up a flask with tea at our dinner halt and
now the changeover teams in the 2 vehicles take a cup of tea and a good splash
of water to take up charge upfront.
As the
service station is shut for the night, we search for a toilet, but there is
nothing in sight. But we just need to search for a suitable place so three of us
- Dilaara, Vaishali and myself - go out in search. Seeing some trees ahead with
trucks parked nearby, we think we have found the perfect spot. Just as we go
round a truck, a dog starts barking and we back off. Almost immediately a man
leaps out of the truck and comes charging in our direction with a big stick in
hand, all set to beat us up. In his sleep-induced grogginess, he assumes we are
robbers out to rob his wares. He cannot see us clearly in the dark and all three
of us sport short hair and are wearing trousers. He is therefore, all ready to
take us on if we challenge him !!!! Even the darkness cannot hide the
ferociousness of his approach. I speak up immediately, explaining that we were
merely hunting a toilet! Our voices seem to pacify him, but we scoot before
anything untoward happens. While we return to our vehicles and relate the
incident, everyone has a nice laugh – imagine a bunch of travelers standing on
a highway at around 0200 hrs laughing away. This sure enough has suitably woken
up the driver-navigator teams of the two vehicles even better than the cup of
tea.
We are on
our way once again and soon, we leave Chandigarh behind and move towards
Kiratpur. The roads are lonely with not much else other than our vehicle in
sight. The Punjab police stop us on a couple of occasions and do a thorough
examination of our documents. They are doing their job, with all kinds of
terrorists and anti-social elements on the move; after all who would expect a
bunch of “respectable” travelers heading out into Punjab at around 3 in the
morning? At all these stops we show our documents, clarifying that both the
vehicles are privately owned and are infact, being driven by their respective
owners. Rudra and Sunil are quick to get out at every such halt and flash their
respective official Customs and ITDC identity cards to further pacify the
police. Dilaara and I too have kept our I-cards handy since these
government/government-owned organisation cards with our mug shots on them sure
have the capability of settling irksome issues. After being certain of our
identities and the earnestness of our early hour endeavor, they get quite
friendly and wish us luck in our Mumbai-Leh-Mumbai mission. Its actually a
rather nice feeling to be treated with some admiration for undertaking a journey
which most would have labeled a crazy idea.
The Punjab
police are well and smartly turned out in their crisp uniforms and look
fighting-fit. This, however, is not the case with police across all the states
that we passed earlier. For instance, earlier in the day we were stopped at the
UP border. The policeman was a portly guy, rather shabbily dressed and one of
the guys, if I recall right, was not even in uniform and was holding a large
stick much like a roadside robber. The man hinted at some bakshees etc
for letting us proceed in spite of us showing him the necessary documents and
said 'theek hai saab se baat kar lo'. When his lungi-clad saab
sauntered up to our vehicle, the value of our 'bakshees' too got limited
to a couple of tenners! I had been wrong about assuming him as a small time
robber --- he was actually the saab.
As we drive
tonight, we have to stop at a couple of places to find the right direction. This
has been pretty rare since at most times along the route we have found extremely
decent and helpful road indications. However, this night I guess this small
amount of difficulty is on account of the fact that we are passing some rather
small towns and hence at a couple of places need to find the right route.
Fortunately at most of these places we do manage to find someone, albeit after a
brief halt, to direct us towards the correct road. Else, imagine our plight
looking for directions at around 4 in the morning and that too in small towns.
Ajit and I are driving/navigating the Qualis while Charuda and Sunil/Vinay are
doing the job in the Sumo. This night the indicator light routine is being
rigidly followed and the moment we do not get a “reply” from the other end,
we halt till they catch up and then allow them to move on ahead.
As we cross
Kiratpur there is a fork on the road with one heading off to the right, and the
Sumo that is driving ahead, takes continues on the straight road. Fortunately,
even as we are speeding along, I spot the road sign at the fork just as we are
passing it and notice the road to Manali taking off to the right. We keep giving
the indicator flashes to the Sumo but to no avail. The navigators there have
obviously dozed off and Charuda missed the turnoff. We realize the indicator and
headlight flashing routine is not working and rather than wasting time, we
decide to chase the Sumo. This time too they do not respond to the honks and
indicator lights and it is finally quite a chase till we manage to catch up with
them. We have probably lost 10-15 minutes but have been saved from a much longer
delay only because I was alert enough even in the vehicle that was following.
This is precisely why we had all along been insisting on an alert and proactive
navigator who would keep track of the route apart, ofcourse from ensuring that
the driver did not doze off. If the diversion had gone unnoticed, we would have
headed to Anandpur Sahib and not to Manali and more so, we would not have found
too many Manali indicators further up and may have ended up traveling a long
distance before we realized the mistake perhaps sometime in the morning.
Travelling
by road through Western and Central India gives one an insight into the
different lifestyles of the people of that region. There is a marked difference
in the attire, the types of houses, etc. The local lingo in each part has a
different flavour with even the common Hindi being laced with the local dialect
and style of speech. The main produce is different in each place e.g. the
markets in MP were laden with a variety of mangoes while those in Delhi and
Haryana are swarming with bananas and apples. Rail travel offers an opportunity
to experience the lives and landscape of the places but road travel gives one
the additional and rare opportunity to interact with locals and pass through
thronging markets and residential areas. It is a far more upfront and personal
level of interaction and experience.
Once we get
onto the right road to Manali, we make decent time. The ghat section begins in a
short while but the roads are pretty good and fairly broad too and hence it is
not too much trouble driving. Sitting upfront gave me a good opportunity to
learn the ways of driving in the ghats. Here lane disciple is of utmost
importance and as I noticed, all the drivers be it of private vehicles or the
public buses and trucks, everyone stringently stuck to their lanes. Even the
slow moving drivers were given an extremely polite flash of the headlight and
given time to move over for the following vehicle to overtake. This is a marked
difference from driving in the cities where drivers randomly change lanes and
keep honking as if their life depended on it.
By around
0600 hrs we reach Bilaspur. Its been a nice drive through the night and we have
by-passed all the heavy vehicular traffic for a large segment of the ghats. At
Bilaspur, we take a stop for freshening up, having a cup of tea and affecting
the driver-navigator changeover. There is a neat arrangement here to trap and
channelise rainwater. The flow of the natural springs is caught and directed to
a tank at the edge of the road. There is a narrow pipe fitted to allow a
tap-like flow of water making it convenient for use not just by the locals but
also by travelers like us. After a short stopover, we are on our way once again.
Crossing the
towns of Ghaghas, Barmana we reach Mandi, the central district headquarters in
H.P. One can take a turn-off for Shimla and Manali from Mandi. We halt for
breakfast at Aut at around 0930 hrs and once again we are offered the
omnipresent aalu parathas or omelet and bread. The location of the hotel
is fantastic being just off the road with a river flowing just beyond albeit
down a steep slope and with the mountain range beyond. In the early morning sun
and with not much of a crowd around, the place is interesting and we spend time
outdoors. It’s a nice time to move around after the cramped night in the
vehicles and the breakfast whipped up followed by the tea peps up most of us.
As we move
on, we approach Bhunter, which is the nearest airport for Manali. There is a
major dam project under construction on the Parvati river here. Shawl making and
retailing is the major activity around this area and Kullu shawls are famous;
all around us we see boards advertising this fact. At Raison are located the
base camps for trekking in the Manali region. Ajit tells us that years back he
had stayed as group leader at one of the training camps at Raison. The original
camp was washed away in a cloudburst a few years back and now newer camps have
been established.
The approach
road to Manali is rather cramped and congested. My images of Manali were of a
quaint little town with one of the most scenic and beautiful roads and I take an
almost instant dislike to the crowd and noise that I am greeted with. With all
the construction activity around here, the river is murky brown and contaminated
with God alone knows how many types of pollutants. Even the forest cover has
depleted, though all is not lost. The higher mountains are still covered with
the famous deodars, though I am certain, not as thickly as before. I just hope
that steps are being taken at suitable levels to try and preserve what is left
of this and many more such hill stations in India before the advent of total and
unplanned commercialization reduces these to dirt dumps. Finally we reach Manali
a little after 12 noon. We have done this driving non-stop, apart from the meal
and tea breaks, for 55 hours through western and northern India. It has been a
tremendous experience. The main road of Manali is perhaps the only area of
action here – more like a Mall Road at other hill stations – and is
choc-o-block with tightly packed shops, restaurants, stalls, taxi stands, et al.
Dilaara and
I have booked a room each in our name at the Sagar Resorts where IDBI has an
arrangement. We split the group with 8 persons checking into the Sagar Resorts
and the rest checking into the more reasonably priced Hotel Rohtang-Manalsu that
is located just out the gate from Sagar Resorts. The location of the hotel is
fortunately away from the maddening crowd of the market place and it offers
views of the beautiful outdoors. We freshen up and after a bite to eat and a cup
of tea we head out into the market looking for T-shirts, Tibetan music CDs,
dress materials etc. For the night we all turn in early since we need to make
preparations for the early morning start the next day. From then on would begin
the harder part of the journey into the vast expanse of the Himalayas as we
traverse the high passes enroute to Leh and then further into the
lesser-explored, more remote areas of Ladakh. We are excited but at the back of
the mind is also that tiny bit of concern about how we all would fare up, how
the vehicles would stand the test of that journey and what were all the possible
travails that we could encounter.
[Via- Manali
2050m- Gulabo - Marhi - Rohtang 3980m - Sissu- Gondla - Tandi - Keylong 3349m -
Darcha - Jispa Camps 3142m - Patsio - Baralachala la 4892m - Bharatpur]
The plan is
to start early so as to cover as much of the early route to Rohtang before the
crowds begin to get onto the roads heading to the usual tourist spots. Also, we
would like to keep adequate time for all the photography enthusiasts that were
in the group and for all the halts that we were likely to be taking. It is never
advisable to plan travel for beyond 1630 – 1700 hrs in the mountains because
weather conditions can suddenly take a turn for the worse and one would be held
up on the mountain roads if this were to happen. Taking all this into
consideration we plan to meet by 0430 hrs for loading the vehicles and be on our
way by maybe 0500 hrs.
We wake up
at 0400 hrs. The hotel is too good; they have agreed to give us packed breakfast
even at that early hour. Pretty unusual for a hotel to give us packed parathas
at 0500 hrs, besides serving us bed tea at 0430 hrs. We are ready and down on
time helping with the baggage transfer from the rooms as well as with the
loading. We stand in a chain formation and pass on the luggage to the jeeps,
like in a relay. Anil gets atop the Qualis while Shekhar, the driver of the Sumo
climbs on to the Sumo arranging the luggage. As usual we have some late comers
with the last being Shreyas and Vinay who nonchalantly stroll in a few minutes
before six as if everyone else is responsible for loading and unloading their
stuff too and they need to just come and sit in the vehicle. We give them a
piece of our mind and make it clear that time schedules would need to be adhered
to, more so now that we are headed into more uncharted territory. We finally are
able to flag off by 0600 hrs a delay of nearly an hour from the time we had
planned to start.
The road to
Rohtang is scenic with a lovely mist overhanging in the valley and the deodars
rising tall from the mountain slopes. We seem to stop every few minutes for
photos, the surroundings being so beautiful and tempting. The small villages
along the route have such musical and romantic names like Gulabo and Kothi. All
along the way there are stalls where one can hire thick coats or gum boot type
shoes. We cross the bridge at Marhi where an enterprising restaurateur has
placed tables and chairs right in the middle of a gently flowing stream. Soon
after heading out of Manali, all of us loose the signals on our cells. Sanjay is
hoping for a signal from time to time since he is using the BSNL service and
BSNL is the only provider to have a service in Jammu and Kashmir. We later learn
there is local BSNL network in Leh, but phones with sim cards from outside the
state do not work there. Rudra and I, meanwhile, know for certain that from now
on, the cell would serve the purpose of the much-needed alarm clock until our
return here.
Our
breakfast halt is a short distance away on the road overlooking the Marhi camp.
I find an ideally placed rock right at the edge of the road and perch on this. I
need to be real careful sitting here coz one tiny error and I’d find myself
down in the valley several hundred feet below. It is however, a beautiful spot
giving a nice all round view in the valley below and the mountains surrounding
it. The tea prepared by Anil at Manali is still hot in the thermos and becomes a
perfect accompaniment to the parathas and bread/butter laced with lasun
chutney.
As we reach
Rohtang la, a thick mist and chilly winds greet us. Not too many photo ops here.
We spend a while outside at the pass and some try to get in some photos too for
whatever worth. Soon, however, we move on. Unlike the several other tourists
that have come here to enjoy the pleasures of the ski slopes a little distance
away from Rohtang la clad in their hired overcoats, ski suits, et al, we are
headed for destinations far far beyond. We are told just a couple of weeks back
the area was snow-bound, but there is no trace of the snow now, with just a few
small patches lying at the corner of the road.
Rohtang la
cuts through not the Great Himalayas itself but the Pir Panjal range, its
subsidiary to the south. Lahouli houses are built on the Tibetan-Ladakhi pattern
- whitewashed, flat-roofed and built out of sun-dried bricks; they stand in
clusters in the fields of the villages, which cling precariously to the mountain
slopes. Crossing over from the Rohtang pass can be a shock ... it is a sudden
transition from the verdant cedar forested slopes of the Pir Panjal range to the
bleakness of the Lahaul landscape……….a barren scree covered wilderness
surrounded by towering battlements of rock and ice.
Near Sissu
we encounter a spot where the water has over flown across the road and it is
difficult to figure out where the waterfall ends and the road begins. Crossing
the small village of Gondla we reach Tandi - the last fuelling station till Leh.
There is a board here stating the fact that this is the last petrol pump for the
next 375 kms.; there is no fuelling station between Tandi and Leh. We are
carrying 3 jerry cans of 20 liters each, which have already been filled with
diesel at Manali and tied on to the carrier along with the rest of the luggage.
We stop at Tandi to top up the fuel tanks in the two vehicles and then move on
to Keylong.
Soon after
the drive past Rohtang la, I begin feeling rather nauseous and am also nursing a
severe headache. Am not too sure it is on account of the altitude since by now
we have lost altitude compared to the altitude of Rohtang la. So, any altitude
related symptoms too should have subsided. Mine however, show no signs of a let
up. It probably is a case of acute acidity with all the erratic hours we have
been keeping and also on account of a medicine that I needed to take. Along with
this medication, it is essential to take a Digene or something but I have not
been doing so and now I guess I am about to suffer the after effects. I am
sitting in the sleeper coach for quite a distance but Vaishali has been kind
enough to repeatedly offer me her seat in the middle to help alleviate the
nausea. After a while I take her up on the offer and move ahead. I find it
difficult to even keep awake now with the anti-nausea medication that I have
taken and am forced to wake up when we halt at Keylong for lunch.
The location
of the HP tourism hotel Chandra Bagha at Keylong is fabulous. Sunil makes
arrangement for lunch at the restaurant in the hotel. Besides the regular dal,
rice, chapatti, subzi we have something new: Himachali kadi. I am
however unable to eat anything and opt instead for a bowl of soup and then
excuse myself from the table to sit outside and take in the views and atmosphere
of this beautiful place. The surroundings are just great and I use the quiet
time enjoying nature and clicking a few photos before some of the others head
out after their lunch.
We start off
immediately after lunch moving parallel to the Bhaga river. We realize how names
can be misleading. Jispa camps had sort of created an impression of a campsite
with tents and I suppose that impression was heightened by the implications of
just such a place in the travel brochures. We however see quite a few concrete
structures around and no tents ! In fact this is the last place to boast of any
type of concrete structures. It is so named because it is the base camp for
treks to most regions of Ladakh. We spot a board announcing 'there are no STD
booths for the next 350 km'; this sort of prepares us to be be cut-off from the
rest of the world for the next two days.
From now on,
I guess we would encounter only those bound for / returning from Ladakh apart
from the army guys and some locals. Quite a few foreigners cycle down this route
and most of them do it on their own some of them, all alone. We come across some
guys on motorbikes returning from Ladakh; some are solo, some traveling in pairs
and still some others in groups. We also come across a group of bikers dressed
in bright orange and yellow jackets with the word 'Deepak' emblazoned on the
back. They are returning from a successful motorbike rally from Ambala to
Khardung la (the world's highest motorable road). Most of them take care to
travel in pairs.
We try
taking fewer halts as we have to catch the 'gate' at Patsio. The army regulates
traffic in this region in a very systematic manner. Their check-post gate at the
camp at Patsio (17 kms from Darcha) closes sharp at 1700 hrs. They have to
ensure that anybody crossing Patsio reaches a camp site in day light hours and
is not stranded in the unfriendly mountains. We take an extremely brief halt for
tea at Darcha with the tiny glasses being ready before we alight from the
vehicles and we almost gulping down the tea.
As we get
back onto the road once again, we cross a small bridge across a river. Most
bridges from now on are extremely narrow affairs and there are boards
highlighting the fact that only one vehicle should be on the bridge at any point
of time. We need to wait a while before the convoy of trucks from the other side
crosses over. Each minute seems a long wait since we now have our eyes firmly
glued to our watches keeping time on the Patio gate. We begin a near countdown
to the 1700 hrs deadline – we have cut it rather fine.
The tree
line disappears totally after Darcha, which is located on the banks of a river
and the landscape now undergoes a drastic change; there are just a few
intermitted patches of green grass. Wherever there is some habitation, which is
rare, there would be small patches of fields alongside. Most of the time, it is
a barren landscape, which is nontheless breathtakingly beautiful. We have
entered the cold desert as our surroundings prove. The mountains tower around us
in a wide and rich palette of colours ranging from different hues of brown,
black, grey, purple, golden to name just a few.
The sky is a
vibrant blue with the startlingly white clouds forming a striking contract. Back
home the sky is never so blue and the clouds therefore do not make such a
striking contrast and seem to merge into one another. Here the bright white
clouds seem to be distinct from the sky having an identity, a character of their
own. The stunning sights aside, I am by now feeling decidedly awful and finding
it extremely difficult to keep awake. I also tend to miss the views from time to
time struggling as I am to keep my eyes open but the rest of the time is an
absolutely unique experience.
The terrain
is awesome. The mountainsides and sometimes mountaintops are adorned by various
formations that at times appear like castles or forts along the edge of the
mountain. One can almost decipher in great detail a number of ornate windows
jutting-out of the imaginary castle walls which seem to have some kind of
carvings or inscriptions on them. We go berserk with our cameras; everywhere
appears to be a scenic frame. It is
difficult to believe how rock solid mountains are juxtaposed against others of a
grainy, rubbly composition. Most of the time we are clicking snaps from the
moving vehicle as we are hurrying to catch the Patsio gate, which we do manage
to cross by 1630 hrs.
From now on
starts the uphill climb to Baralacha La, and the going gets tough. The low
oxygen levels stress the vehicle engines and the Sumo particularly seems hard
pressed, its exhaust spewing fumes enough to pollute this pristine region.
Meanwhile we have noticed that the jerry cans are leaking from the caps and
diesel is spilling along the side of the vehicle every time the vehicle bumps
which is all too often. I have been dozing all along due to the medication for
countering the nausea but it is finally me that points out the fact that we
could have a leak. I had been smelling diesel on and off since quite some time
but had been putting it down to an over sensitive nose and nausea-heightened
smell aversion ! But when it gets a bit too strong I decide to mention it and
take the risk of a few wasted minutes in the event of there being no leak. But I
am right as we see the left side of the jeep wet with the leaking diesel and
realise there is an immediate need for corrective measures. Anil climbs up and
finds that the lid has developed a crack. Initially we try some makeshift
arrangement by reinforcing the cap by fixing a plastic bag around it, but later
on stop for a while and transfer some diesel into the fuel tanks. With half
filled jerry cans the possibility of diesel oozing out of a cracked cap every
time we bump, would be far lower.
The weather
seems to turn harsher but to compensate, the surroundings seem to be turning
ever more beautiful. Amid all the mountains and the barren landscape just before
the climb for Baralacha la begins, we suddenly find ourselves faced with an
emerald green lake in the middle of nowhere. It lies serenely like a sparkling
jewel set in the golden mountains. This is the Suraj Tal and is considered to be
a sacred lake. It is also the source of the Bhaga River.
Baralacha la is the crossing of
the Great Himalaya, the watershed between the Indus and the Chenab. The unique 8
kilometers long Baralacha la, literally means the pass "where many roads
meet". Baralacha is one of the famous passes of Himalayan history, for here
paths from Zanskar,
Ladakh
and Lahaul meet, and over the centuries travellers have crossed in all
directions. The two great rivers of Lahaul, the Chandra and the Bhaga also arise
from the huge snowfields on opposite sides of the pass. The Chandra then does a
circuitous journey through Lahaul, picking up the waters of the Samundra Tapu
and Bara Shigri glaciers on the way,
to finally meet up with the Bhaga at Tandi - forming the celebrated Chandrabhaga
(known as the Chenab in Kashmir) – which we have already crossed enroute. The
chill winds and the altitude at the top of Baralacha la are difficult to handle
and I am feeling even worse with the nausea and headache coupled with the
medications I have been taking. We do step out for a few minutes but I do not
even make the effort of clicking any photos. The other click a few quick
pictures and then head back into the warmth of the vehicle to ensure a rather
quick getaway from the top.
There is no
habitation for miles around and as per the travel brochures we had referred to,
Sarchu (30 kms away) is the next town. Sarchu is where most travelers halt for
the night and that is where we are headed. We need to hurry since it is already
beginning to get dark and this sure is not a nice time to be over 30 kms away
from our possible night halt. We need to hurry considering that our average
speed in this terrain is about 20-22 kms an hour, unless we want to spend the
night in the jeep, which is certainly not a welcome proposition.
Compared to
the rest of us, the high altitude has hit Shekhar the most. Being disoriented he
has been sleeping almost all the time since we crossed Rohtang la, and Charuda
has been saddled with the job with driving the Sumo all the time while the
driving of the Qualis is being equally shared by Ajit and Anil. Ajit does make
an offer to go over to the Sumo to give some relief to Charuda, as Anil is more
comfortable driving the Qualis, but Charuda declines and manages quite well.
Soon after crossing Baralacha la top we encounter the firsts of our mechanical
problems with our vehicles (and as it turns out the only one) - a flat. Soon all
the guys put together their hands and change the tyre. It is difficult as the
road is not level and everyone is battling the effects of altitude to a lesser
or greater extent as also the high speed chill winds of a high altitude pass.
It is
getting late and the sun will soon set. Some passing truckers warn us about naallas
on the road ahead. As it is, reaching Sarchu is appearing increasingly difficult
and we have to contend with the flat tyre and the warnings of the the truckers
and some bikers about the difficulty in getting past the naallas. Getting
down into the valley past Baralacha la, we soon arrive at a settlement of a few
fairly large sized tents. All of them offer food-cum-bed services. The tents are
made from discarded parachutes, which are reinforced with some cloth to fill in
the sides and then mounted around a pole. They last about 2 seasons and as there
is no rainfall in the summer months of June to September, the hole at top centre
serves as a sky light.
This valley
has the most unlikeliest of names: Bharatpur. We make inquiries and find that
accommodation is available but elect to move on to Sarchu, which is just 20 kms
away. As per our plan we are to spend the night at Sarchu since that is the
place we had heard of and had accordingly planned for. Besides, an oncoming
trucker tells us that the naallas ahead can be negotiated without too
much difficulty. This gives us hope and we are looking forward to loosing some
altitude and spending the night too at a lower altitude than what Bhartpur
offered. So, we move on despite the growing darkness. By now some of us are
feeling disoriented, while some are suffering from nausea and others have
splitting headaches. About 6 to 7 kms after crossing Bharatpur, we meet a biker
who strongly advises us to turn back as the naalla is too deep and would
be risky to cross specially in the darkness. So we decide to turn back.
The decision
to turn back having been taken, we need to take another major decision – where
to turn ?? The road is extremely narrow and the valley deep on the other side;
even having come down from the pass, we still are at a considerable height.
Moreover, the edge of the road is pretty rubbly and there is the constant fear
that the gravelly ground would not provide much traction to the wheels. We gear
up for the reversing of our vehicles, taking out the wooden blocks, which we
have carried specially to use as external brakes in the event of getting caught
on a slope. Rudra, Anil and Dilaara have blocks in hand all set to place them as
and when the need arises. The vehicle needs to be backed a couple of times, with
Ajit taking one small turn at a time. Meanwhile we are unable to see the Sumo
and presume it has moved ahead to do a similar exercise. Each time Ajit moves
towards the valley, Anil and Rudra rush forward towards the front wheels to
place the blocks in line unmindful of the danger behind them - the slippery edge
and the deep valley. With great difficulty Ajit manages to reverse the Qualis
and all of us heave a sigh of relief. It is much later that Ajit tells us that
the intense concentration required while reversing the vehicle did not give him
a chance to react in any manner whatsoever. It was only after he had
successfully reversed and parked the jeep on the road that his hands gripping
the gear lever and the wheel started shaking. Charuda has meanwhile gone further
ahead and managed to find a comparatively wider spot to reverse the Sumo.
We now head
back to the Bharatpur camp hoping we are not too late and that we do manage to
find accommodation. We are in luck and we find that there is infact enough
accommodation for all of us in two separate tents. By now more vehicles are
coming in from the Manali direction as also from the Sarchu direction (at least
the ones who have managed to cross the naalla) and had we been even a few
minutes late, we perhaps may not have been quite as lucky with the accommodation
and then, God alone knows what we would have done. Perhaps, just curled up on
our seats in the vehicles and spent the night in whatever protection the
vehicles could offer against the blistering winds. Bharatpur, after all, was not
quite all the way down from a 16000+-foot mountain pass and the night could be
blistery cold.
The moment
the tents are indicated by Ajit who had gone on ahead and spoken to the owners,
we make a dash indoors. A flimsy looking curtain protects (?) the entrance to
the tent. We hire out two tents as each can accommodate up to 8 people. The
tents are rather roomy inside with the back of the tents converted into sleeping
arrangements. There is a large platform probably made of rocks or something
below that is then covered by some mattresses and quilts. There are some fairly
clean pillows and blankets too. Not bad really. The front of the tent, near the
entrance is the “restaurant” area with the family displaying and cooking
meals for travelers there and on the other side of the tent is some space for
sitting. The center is left open to place a couple of small tables to place the
food, etc and one can easily move around. Luckily our tent faces away from the
wind so that the wind howling outside hits against the back of the tent and is
fortunately not blowing directly into the tent. The wind velocity is apparent
from the tent flaps that are constantly curved in under the onslaught of the
elements.
A Nepali
couple and their cute and attentive 14 year old daughter, Sampa, own the two
tents. These tents are our saviours for the night and we quickly head in to find
our places in there. By now I am groggier and so are many others. Anil has
entered the tent and disappeared under a heap of blankets since he has been
taken by a massive bout of chills. In the vehicle too, after he got in once the
turn around for heading back towards Bharatpur was accomplished, he crashed out
in the sleeper coach tightly tucked up to fend off the cold. I put my ski jacket
over him in an effort to give him some warmth and he had seemed better. But now
as we enter the tents, he is off again. In our tent it is Ajit, Anil, Rudra,
Sharmishtha, Vaishali, Sharmila, Dilaara and myself.
We find that
the owner offers maggie soups and noodles and we order these for dinner. While
we await dinner, Rudra says he is good at a head and shoulder massage and has
offered to do it for us so as to somewhat ease the headaches we are nursing. I
am the first one to take up on the offer and the nice massage sure helps atleast
immediately. The soup is welcome but we struggle with the noodles as there is no
desire to eat, but eat we must for sustenance and energy. I particularly have a
lot of problem eating but Ajit insists that I finish off the tiny portion that I
have in my bowl and obediently I struggle through it. Everybody crowds around
the gas operated heater trying to get some much needed warmth.
There are
some truckers too eating in the tent but the owner tells us that they will move
after the meal and sleep in their trucks. We are obviously worried about the
amount of crowd we could have in the tent had the truckers already been allotted
the beds here. We meet some of the motorbike rallyists who are staying in one of
the tents. They are 125 in all, the youngest being 7 years old and the eldest
being 70 years old. Some of them are way ahead while some are probably still
behind at Sarchu. This is quite a feat they are attempting and imagine the
determination particularly of the 7 and the 70 year olds. Hats off to them.
While we are traveling in comparative comfort, ensconced in our jeeps, safe from
the blowing wind and the hot sun during the day, they are exposed to the
elements right through the day.
The truckers
we meet do this beat at least 20 times in a season i.e. in the summer months.
They tell us that we have made a wise decision in staying at Bharatpur else we
would have had to spend the night in our vehicles since crossing the naalla,
according to them, would have been impossible. In fact one of them had got wet,
helping push a Sumo that was stuck in the fast swelling naalla. And we
would have been crossing later so would have had an even fuller and faster
flowing naalla adding to the difficulties and that too after dark.
Apparently this phenomenon occurs every evening at Killing Serai after about
1600 hrs. Throughout the day, the fierce sun causes the snow on the mountain
slopes to melt and swell the streams leading to an overflow on the road. As
night progresses, the dropping temperatures re-freeze the streams and the water
level on the road reduces considerably. The best time to cross these naallas
therefore, is early morning.
Many people
in our group simply crash out. Shekhar is already half asleep, Sanjay just about
manages to stagger to the bed, Anil knocks out in no time, I am struggling to
keep my eyes open and Shreyas too is feeling disoriented. The headaches caused
by low oxygen are very different in nature: the pain comes suddenly in short
bursts and one feels as if the head is about to explode. The pain is not only in
the region of the forehead but the whole head seems to throb. A small action
like bending to tie shoelaces, etc can trigger off another bout just when you
feel there is momentary relief. I am almost certain that what I am feeling is
not just altitude related. I guess mine is a sort of combination of acute
acidity and altitude problems. That is why I am finding it so difficult to even
keep my eyes open. The last time I was at high altitudes, these were not the
symptoms I faced today. While symptoms can differ from time to time even for the
same person, I am quite sure this time it is not just altitude and that once the
acidity settles, I should be much better. I have started on an anti-acidity
tablet but for the present I feel quite knocked out.
After the
sparse meal, we try to settle into our beds. The wind is howling outside and we
sure are thankful not just for the tent but also for the fact that the opening
of our tent faces away from the direction of the wind. Its quite a tight pack on
the bed but we are not complaining since it is pretty cold. Those sleeping in
the corners have a tough time as the rock slabs are not smooth on the edges and
there are too many dents. Besides towards the ends, the mattress also tends to
taper off and do not provide too much protection from the cold slabs. Ajit has
strictly instructed all the ladies to wake up one of the guys in case we need to
go out in the middle of the night to answer nature's call. He is worried not of
the locals but of the many truckers who have halted at Bharatpur during the
night.
Knocked out
as I feel, I am rather quick to snuggle in for the night though the others seem
to have difficulty sleeping too well. Despite the sluggishness though, I cannot
ignore the stunning night sky as I step out into the blistering wind for a
while. It is absolutely spectacular with the multitude of stars. It quite
reminds us of the night we spent at Manasarovar a couple of years ago. Ofcourse,
the magic of Manasarovar was a totally different story but this was perhaps as
close as we could get in terms of the brilliance of the night sky at high
altitude. The night is clear and there being no artificial source of light, the
stars seem to shine brighter and the whole valley is shimmering in the glow from
the half-moon and the twinkling stars. And, being at perhaps over 14000 feet
(having just about descended from the 16000+ foot Baralacha la), the star-lit
sky seems to be ever so close. The only shatteringly incongruous occurance is
the occasional headlight of a parked truck and more disturbingly a slight tap of
the horn or the persistent beeping of a forgotten indicator light. Well I guess
these are harsh enough reminders that we humans have managed to disturb and
pollute the most pristine of places on Mother Earth !!!
Infact, it
happened to be just one such forgotten indicator lights that woke me up from my
slumber at around 0400 hrs. A beeping sound wakens Dilaara, who is sleeping next
to me and she assumes it is the alarm on my cell phone that is going off. She
religiously shakes me awake since I had warned her to keep an ear open for the
alarm, which there was a possibility of me missing, tucked as the cell phone was
into one of the pockets of my jacket. She dutifully does her job but then we
realize it is the beeping of the indicator light of a truck outside. Since we
are awake, we decide to go out and use the outdoor toilet facilities before the
rest of the world comes awake. While I am pulling on my shoes I feel the
rumblings of my stomach that seems to be churning and tell Dilaara to hurry up
and get ready to go out. She appears ever so slow, or so I think in the
emergency state that I am in. I make a quick dash for the tent “door” and
rush out alone and am fortunate to get outside and a little away from the tent
before I throw up.
[Via-
Bharatpur- Sarchu 4253m - Lachalang la 5065m - Pang 4630m -More Plains 4703m -
Tanglang la 5360m - Rumtse - Gya - Miru - Upshi 3384m]
After
throwing up I head back inside and hit the bed once again. This nausea sure has
made me extremely sleepy and sluggish. Unlike me to prefer a bed when we are at
a location like Bharatpur and that too in the wee hours of the morning when it
is so serene and startlingly beautiful outside. I still remember the early
mornings on the Kailash-Manasarovar trip when, sleep being difficult, we used to
love spending the early mornings outside the tent watching the dawn break on
another day. Not so here, unfortunately. Infact, later Dilaara tells me that she
and Vaishali who had headed out after me, spend some time looking for me outside
not realizing that I was back in the tent tucked up once again. After a while I
can hear most of the others moving around and making preparations to get started
for the day. I am just unable to get up and Anil keeps trying to wake me up but
to no avail. He later almost yells at me to get moving since the vehicles are
all packed up and everybody other than me is ready to move. I groggily get out
of bed feeling rather guilty that I have been sleeping while the others have
been at work loading the vehicles.
After tea
and biscuits we start at 0800 hrs. Shortly we cross the 'turn back point' of the
previous night. Seeing the deep valley with the river running through it in
broad daylight enhances the danger of our adventure last night. Soon we are at
Killing Serai. No wonder it is so named. After crossing a couple of places where
the waterfalls are overflowing across the road and further down the
mountainside, we come to a section where the stream is running right over the
road for quite some distance, even curving along with the road. It seems as if
we are driving in a river, not crossing a stream ! Since we are moving on a
downward slope, the water is rushing ahead full speed and we are driving through
this. The tar road has been washed away and it is a very bumpy and
roller-coaster ride over the many rocks and boulders through the flowing water.
Keeping control over the vehicle on such a road (whatever there is of it) is
indeed tough. Though the water level in these nallahs has reduced since
the levels of the previous night, it is by no means less and we are quick to
realise how dangerous it could have been if we had attempted to cross this
stretch last night. We would have had almost no chance of reaching Sarchu and,
being stranded, as we would have been, between Sarchu and Bharatpur, it would
have been one hell of an uncomfortable night spent in the jeeps. Things would
have been even worse had we got stuck while crossing the nallah and as
darkeness fell it would have been ever so difficult to find help. So, we would
have been on our own and would have had to try and push the vehicle out had we
had the misfortune of getting stuck here last night. Well, we’ve made a good
decision and we’ve been lucky, we realize.
We soon pass
Nakeela, which is at an altitude of 4740 m/15545 ft.
Sarchu at a comparatively lower altitude (4253 m) is located in a wide
valley. The inferences we had drawn from the travel brochure advertisements of
Sarchu is that of a fairly decent sized town. We, therefore, were expecting
atleast a few shops since we are particularly on the look out for a tyre repair
shop. But there is nothing remotely resembling a shop anywhere for miles. Sarchu
is nothing more than an assembly of several tented accommodations scattered over
a small area - some of these even describing themselves as luxury tents.
The wind is
strong and its strength is evident from the way the tents are flapping. The road
is bad and good in turns. On the way we see a group of Ibex (mountain goats)
running down the hillside in a flurry, but they are much too far to capture with
the lens. The terrain here is very
different. We see what could have been a river but the riverbed is dry with
strange formations on the high banks. It is as if huge dents have been formed in
the mountainside and there are long and deep cuts right down to the riverbed.
The mountainside looks like a row of huge long spiked wedges as if someone has
mowed away the in-between portions and left alternate portions to jut out. We
stop awhile and get some photos before moving on.
We move
onwards to Lachalang la (5065 m). Shekhar is still unwell and Charuda is
burdened with driving the Sumo, which is still spewing diesel fumes enough to
pollute the atmosphere in this wonderful region. There is also difficulty in
taking in the inclines, some of them really steep, and at time the vehicles seem
to be facing a real struggle.
As we drive
through we cross several army vehicles from time to time and the army personnel
are very friendly and helpful. Very often an army-man from Maharashtra would
stop us for a friendly chat on seeing the 'MH' number plate of our vehicles. Far
away from home, we can guess just how nice it would feel to spot a vehicle from
back home and to chat up someone from “aamcha rajya, Maharashtra”.
One such army man we meet was Kishore Salunke who subsequently is very helpful
as we wait to cross a segment of the road undergoing repairs.
The road to
Pang is under repairs and the workmen have put barricades on both sides. We
would have to wait for at least an hour before we are allowed to pass through.
It's a torture sitting in the vehicles and equally if not more of a torture to
stand out on the road what with the mid-day sun beating down mercilessly upon
us. Our skin feels hot to the touch but the wind continues to be chilly; we
continue to be amazed at the vagaries of weather in these mountain terrains. But
then, this is always the case with mountain weather and more so at higher
altitudes where the sun can be extremely harsh during the day. And, the wind can
be just as blistery the moment one is in the shade or at one of the higher
passes. We admire the men at work in these harsh conditions keeping the road in
motorable shape and making it possible for even protected city dwellers like us
to dare and venture out into these mountains. Driving through these roads and
through most of the roads later, we come to admire and appreciate the efforts of
our army even more. Just as we prepare for a long, hot wait, Salunke's army
truck passes us and he waves for us to follow him through the barricaded area
and past the barriers. But when we attempt to do so, the workmen stop us while
Salunke's vehicle sails ahead. Rudra and Sunil manage to get Salunke contacted
and we are then allowed to go through.
We stop for
lunch at Pang (4630 m) and I am still in not too good a state and not really in
a position to eat anything. Most of us almost stagger to the cluster of tents
and order food. The dal and
rice look very unappetizing so some of the others order omelet and bread while I
promptly crash out on the small seating space on offer. I sleep through the meal
and prefer to return to the jeep without even a tiny morsel to eat.
We were told
that there is an ITBP Medical center here at Pang and we go in search of it so
as to get some help for Shekhar. The on duty army doctor checks him and quickly
pronounces an extremely low level of oxygen in his blood. He administers some
oxygen to him and also gives him an injection. Both the doctors on duty Dr
Shinde and Dr Paswan are very friendly. They offer to check the oxygen level for
the entire group with the help of a tiny gadget – almost like a clip - which
is fitted over the index finger and within moments indicates the oxygen level.
The desired oxygen level should be about 70. Shekhar's is 52. All others too are
at OK levels while Anil's is the best at 103. All the while the others are in
the hospital, I have been snoozing in the jeep until Dilaara comes over to
insist that I go in and have my oxygen levels checked too.
As I go in,
Shekhar is being administered the oxygen and the doctor checks with me for the
symptoms I have been facing. After I tell him he checks my oxygen levels and we
find that I am only marginally better than Shekhar at 56. The doc however tells
me I should be fine with some intake of fluids and just gives me a couple of
tablets for the headache as well as Diamox to alleviate the effects of altitude.
He tells me to take 2 tablets a day and to take plenty of fluids. All of us have
in any case been popping the Coca 6 (the homeopathic pills to counter
breathlessness) every now and then. Each time one person – mostly Dilaara --
opens the bottle in the jeep, everyone gets a round of the medicine. Since the
army doctors will not accept any payment we offer them some eats from back home
- chalkis, bhakarwadi and lasun chutney. They advise us to get out
of the area fast and reach a lower altitude as descent is the only cure for high
altitude sickness. Besides, for some reason, they tell us that oxygen levels at
Pang are particularly low perhaps on account of the way it is located between
the mountain ranges. Without trying to find out the reasons, we decide to get
out of here as soon as possible.
Soon as I
get my oxygen levels tested, I head back out to once again begin my snoozing in
the jeep. But this time, I keep my bottle of water laced with Electral and
Glucose handy and keep sipping at it. By the time the rest of the group is out
and we are headed back out of the hospital, I have religiously sipped off about
½ litre of glucose and electral enriched water. I didn’t want to be causing
any problems to the rest of the group with my low levels of oxygen. But soon as
we get out the gate and onto the road, I need to request Ajit to stop the
vehicle and end up throwing out all the fluids that I had just taken in. This is
the third time I had thrown up all that I had taken and I am hoping that with
this my stomach gets cleared of all that is troubling it and begins to settle
down. It is quite a troublesome task to be throwing up all the time like that
apart ofcourse from the fact that my oxygen levels wouldn’t be getting any
better. As it turns out, this does really happen to be the last of such
activities for me and from now in I begin to feel better and later also manage
to take and retain a few morsels at a time.
As we move
on, we luckily find the tyre repair mechanic that we had been looking for all
this while. He wonders at us driving all the way from Bombay and laughingly asks
us "Idhar kya yeh patthar dehkne aaye hain?" Before we can
reach the lower altitude at Upshi, we still have to get past the More Plains
(4703 m) and Tanglang La (5360 m) - world's 2nd highest motorable road. The More
Plains offer a beautiful landscape - a flat plateau seemingly stretching for
miles ahead, though not as wide as the Tibetan plateaus we crossed on our trip
to Manasarovar. The More Plain is about 40-50 kms long with golden sandy
mountains all around. By the time we reach Tanglang la it is late evening. The
temperature is dropping and it is very cold at the top with the swirling chilly
wind making things even more unbearable. Taking even a few steps is difficult
and we struggle to breathe. I seem to find it all the more difficult with the
low oxygen levels and despite the fantastic photo op presented by the view of
the dipping sun setting over the Siachen ranges I find it difficult to muster
the energy to click any photos here.
It is dark
by the time we descend to Rumtse and most of us are dozing. Only Anil and Ajit
are awake. At Rumtse there are just two tents, with hardly any arrangement for
sleeping. We stop for a cup of tea and then speed on to Upshi passing towns with
strange names like Gya, Miru. The road improves as we cross some army camps. We
are surprised to see trees lining the road at Miru, especially after the barren
territory we have been passing in the last two days. As we learn later, all this
greenery is due to the efforts of the army personnel.
Reaching
Upshi (3384m), a 7-shop town at about 2200 hrs we are rather fortunate to find
accommodation. We 5 ladies get a better place - with clean mattress and
quilts/blankets. The men stay at another joint across the road. Unloading our
entire luggage we put it in a room at the men's place. By now we have got our
act together for the loading and unloading of vehicles and we are very quickly
into line for the luggage relay. The food in the dhaba is atrocious, both
dal and vegetable being unappetizing but eat we need to. Soon, after
pushing down some food, we turn in for the night as it is nearing midnight –
an ungodly hour in a tiny town like this one. We opt to keep the windows in our
room open to the elements during the night and avoid the stuffiness. The place
is great; in the distance we can make out the outlines of the mountains and feel
the chill mountain air. Definitely better than our expectations and we have a
good night's rest. We decide to plan ahead and book the place for our return
trip on the 13th July.
July
8th, 2004, Thursday. [Upshi 0800 hrs – Leh around 1200 hrs; around Leh]
Upshi
(3384 m) to Leh (3505m) 49 kms - [Via
- Karu-Choglamsar-Leh] Noon - In and around Leh- Spituk Monastery and Shanti
Stupa
In the last
two days we have traveled 424 kms from Manali. Our destination Leh is only 49 km
away from Upshi and we decide to have a relaxed start after yesterday's hectic
drive. After a breakfast of parathas (yet again !!!!) we start off at
0800 hrs. The next town, Karu, is a major military base and we manage to find an
STD booth located in an all-purpose-store selling everything possible. We are
mighty glad to be able to call up home after a long break (haven't been able to
get calls through since Manali). These are satellite phones and one has to pause
after the other person finishes speaking and we can hear our voice too echo
across the line.
Leaving
behind Karu, we move on to Leh passing through the towns of Thikse, Shey (the
erstwhile capital of Ladakh) and Choglamsar, which is dotted with many Sarson
ke khet. We stop from time to time to take some photos and our longest halt
is near the Sarson ke khet as we wait for the Sumo to catch up. The wait
gets very long so much so that after the initial irritation we begin to get
worried that they may have taken a wrong route or had a break down. Just as we
decide to drive back to take a look, we spot the vehicle.
We reach Leh
around 1100 hrs. having covered a distance of 2439 kms since setting out from
home. Thanks to Sunil we have bookings at Mahey Guest House in Leh. We ask
around for directions but since the place is on the outskirts of town, it is a
little difficult to find. Finally we find a parking place and Ajit and Sunil go
on foot to locate the hotel. They bring along a guide to show us the way back.
His name, believe it or not, is Regzine! (or perhaps Rigzin, but we prefer to
refer to him as Regzine). The hotel is more a small guesthouse and is located in
a beautiful farm away from the main town and facing the imposing snow clad
mountains. It is managed by Manjunath, popularly called Manju, who we realize
later has a lease on part of the land to run the guesthouse. The other names are
difficult to remember, but we cannot possibly forget Regzine!
The location
is so stunning that even as we begin to settle into our rooms, the first action
is to reach for our cameras to make the most of the clear day. The guesthouse
overlooks the Stok ranges to the southwest and Khargung la to the North. We can
see the Stok ranges from our room while we can see Shanti Stupa, the Japanese
temple and Khardung la looming beyond it from the entrance gate. The rooms in
Mahey Guest House are basic but comfortable and clean and the bathroom too is
clean which is a big relief. There are five double rooms as part of the main
guesthouse so ten of us move in there. The rest move to the main house occupied
by the owners and offering a room at the top to guests. This room has an even
more stunning view as it has a wider area of vision, which for us in the main
guesthouse is obstructed by the house. After a leisurely bath and a satisfying
lunch of salad, dal, rice, vegetable and chapatti we decide to set
out for Spituk Monastery and Shanti Stupa.
Leh is
located in a valley with Indus flowing through and due to the army's efforts the
place is like an oasis in the middle of a desert - a beautiful patch of green
with squares of emerald green fields lined with tall trees. It is the main town
of Ladakh and has the only airport in this region. Overlooking Leh with its
towering presence is a palace built by Sengge Namgyal in the 17th century. The
architecture of this 9-storey palace later inspired the building of the famous
Potala in Lhasa, which was built half a century later. Another palace built by
King Tashi Namgyal in the 16th century stands above it on the Namgyal Tsemo
peak.
In the
colourful bazaar at the foot of the two palaces are fascinating little shops
selling everything from semi-precious stones - lapis, corals, turquoise, tiger's
eye and pearls to fine curios and artifacts, quaint brass locks, silk scarves,
pashmina shawls and Tibetan/Himalayan music. As usual, I am drawn towards the
Tibetan shops to scout for music as well as prayer wheels. After all, I need to
live up to my tag of a "lama re-born" given by Dilaara !!! The town is
dotted with many eateries serving Tibetan, Indian (including the ubiquitous pav
bhaji) and even Continental cuisine. It is nice to just stroll around the tiny
lanes with the overhanging palaces and the surrounding mountains. Kind of an
other world charm here.
Spituk on
the other hand, has a commanding view of the Indus and Leh town including the
Leh airport. As always, monasteries and palaces are situated on a hilltop and
there are huge rough-hewn steps leading up to the top. There are 4 monasteries
at Spituk - Jokhang, Gonkhang, Tsogchen, Chikhang with the main monastery being
more than 900 yrs old. It has a
collection of exquisite thangkas and of ancient masks. One of its main
features is the chapel dedicated to Goddess Tara, with twentythree images of her
various manifestations.
From the
roof we have a bird's eye view of Leh town. The runway at the airport (3.5 km
long) seems very short from up here while a small army aircraft parked near the
hanger looks like a tiny speck in the distance. Spread out in front of us is Leh
town while to the left is the airport and runway and to the right we have some
mountain ranges. There are some peculiar formations in the mountain, formed by
the dual forces of wind and water, very much like the ones we saw at Sarchu.
Emblazoned
on mountain slopes that are smooth as silk, are army units' names, messages and
symbols. From the top of Spituk, we see one such message painted in white -
"Touch the Sky with Glory". I manage to capture this message with the
300 mm zoom at work. While at it with the large lens, I also capture the tiny
speck that is the fighter aircraft parked to one side of the runway. After a
long time spent at the Spituk monastry, we decide it is time to move on and
catch the Shanti Stupa before it gets too dark.
The Shanti
Stupa, a temple built by the Japanese, is located on a hill – yet again !!!
Anyways, for Shanti Stupa atleast there is a motorable road almost till the very
top leaving very little of climbing for us panting, oxygen starved souls on our
first day at over 10000 feet. Evening
prayer is underway at the monastery at the Stupa, with a monk beating the drum
rhythmically. The statue of Buddha here has 13 chakras around it and is very
impressive. Beyond the monastery and up a steep flight of steps is the main
temple complex looking serene in the evening light. The sun is about to set and
the sky is aglow with a beautiful orange glow.
From the top
where the main temple is, we get some fantastic views of Leh town and also of a
monastery situated across the valley on top of yet another hill. And this hill
looks sandy and crumbly; we wonder how the monastery has survived all these
years and are sure would continue to survive. Once again I get out the long lens
and get a good shot of the monastery. The Shanti Stupa is just a short distance
away from our guesthouse and Manju tells us that he climbs the steps from near
the guesthouse each morning to get to the temple in the wee hours of the
morning. It sure must be magically beautiful up here in the breaking dawn but I
can’t get myself to tell him that I would join in the next morning. I sure
lacked the confidence of taking in all those steep steps all the way to the top.
But atleast I can enjoy the little time that we have here while dusk settles on
our first day in Leh.
Soon it is
time to move on and we head back to the guesthouse. Manju was ready with a hot
cup of tea and was also making preparations for dinner. Meals here are served in
a small open area between the main guesthouse and the kitchen under a canopy
created from an old parachute. It is a lovely setting with the farm in the
immediate line of vision and the snow clad mountains in the background. The wind
is getting chilly but we do not want to waste this time in our rooms. While we
are having dinner later, Sharmila and I quietly decide that we four – the two
of us and Dilaara and Vaishali would come out later after the rest had turned in
for the night and enjoy these surroundings in a more peaceful atmosphere.
So, after
dinner, while the rest are tucked away in their rooms, we head out and sit out
in the open with the parachute shelter providing a decent protection from the
chill night air. Manju offers us a nice cup of tea and we sure are not about to
refuse that offer. He then joins in the conversation and we soon discover he has
a wealth of knowledge and information from around the country. He stays in
Ladakh during the season and moves south once the winter sets in. He bikes
around the country and he sure is widely traveled. He also informs us that he
runs a similar place at Goa and once winter sets in here, he takes his bike and
rides down to Goa and he thus has a good idea of a lot of places around Mumbai
and Goa. He tells us that he has also taken a lot of foreigners biking around
North India. This is some life he is leading !!! We sit around and chat till
around midnight. Its lovely out here and none of us wants to head back to our
beds despite the long journey and the erratic nights we have had so far.
July
9th, 2004, Friday. In and around
Leh - Stok Palace
Sunil had
come to Leh on a flying visit a couple of years back and stayed at Mahey. During
his visit he had clicked photos of the ladies of the house in their traditional
attire. Hearing us express our desire to have the same opportunity, they oblige.
We decide to have the photo-session this afternoon and visit Stok Palace in the
morning. We had decided to have breakfast at some other place; Manju felt that
maybe all our group members may not like the breakfast at the guest house as
everybody does not eat egg. But by the time we set out it is late and since we
need to be back for the photo session we decide to skip breakfast and make do
with the stuff that we are carrying and head out to the Stok palace.
Standing at
the foot of the Stok glacier, the white palace of Stok glistens in the sunlight.
Stok Palace, the home of the erstwhile royal family, built in 1822 by King
Tsewang Thondup Namgyal has seventy-seven rooms spread across four storeys. The
king was deposed by Wazir Zorawar and forced to move his residence from the
palace to the village of Stok, given to him as a jagir by the Wazir. With him
came a set of Thangkas, the sacred books of Buddhism and the crown. A huge
butter lamp burns all the year round inside the palace. The villagers too ensure
that the butter lamps in their shrines are never put out. The flame is a symbol
of faith in the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha, the holy trinity of Buddhism,
and of Buddha's enlightenment at Bodhgaya.
The present
Queen of Ladakh, Gyalmo Deskit Wangmo (Rani Parvati Devi), lives here in her
private quarters of twelve rooms. Born into a royal family of Lahual, she
married Raja Kunzang Namgyal of Ladakh in 1950. The Raja died in 1974, leaving
behind two sons and two daughters. The queen was elected to the Indian
Parliament in 1977 from Ladakh. The old caretaker of the museum seems like a
cranky old king himself with his rather regal bearing and his weathered old
face.
The word
Stok is derived from the word 'tog' or the golden ornament surmounting a stupa
within which a seed grain, the size of a pigeon's egg and a large turquoise the
size of a sheep's head are kept. There are several things of immense interest in
the museum - there are thangkas, porcelain, jade, weapons, beautiful
royal costumes, jewellery, an exquisite turquoise and coral studded head-gear
bearing about 400 turquoise stones, a pearl veil, a trumpet made of human thigh
bone and many more exquisite artifacts. Like in most monasteries we are allowed
to click photos but without the use of a flash. Inside the museum, however,
photography is prohibited. There are 2 statues in the monastery. One is of
Jachun Mila, a form of Tara Devi (with the left hand in Mudra) and the 2nd is
that of Druk Padma Karpo, the 4th Lama. Prominently displayed next to him is a
photo of the 12th Lama. Since there is a museum along with the monasteries there
is an entrance fee of Rs.45/- per head while at the other monasteries no
entrance fee charged to Indians.
We move out
onto the terrace to get a view of the surroundings. Just outside the wall, there
are several large sized stones inscribed with 'Om Mani Padme Hum' – the
sacred mantra chanted by Buddhists. We had got quite familiar with this mantra
and its chanting while in Kathmandu and later through the Tibetan music CDs that
we had picked up on the Kailash trip.
As we headed
back out and towards the vehicles, Anil suddenly notices an amazing sight and
yells out to all of us. Overhead is a rainbow formed in a perfect circle around
the sun, with all the seven colours of the vibgyor clearly visible. A rainbow is
so called as it is in the shape of a 'bow'. But here we see one in the form of a
circle, that too around noon and in bright daylight with only some clouds in the
sky but no rain whatsoever preceding the occurrence ! Its quite a sight and all
of us want to capture this on film. We are however not too sure what sort of
results we would get since we would be clicking with our lenses directly facing
the sun – infact pointing at it !! That sure went against all the rules of
good photography but who cares. We click anyways and finally when we see the
results, are not too disappointed either.
After lunch
at Mahey we are ready for the photo session with the ladies of the house. The
senior lady and her two daughters are dressed in all their finery - traditional
dresses and adorned with exquisite jewellery and head gear. Sharmila too wears
the fine robes and poses for a few photos with them. The elder daughter is
wearing a headgear adorned mainly with turquoise stones and rows of corals and
pearls at the edges similar to the one we saw in the museum this morning. This
headgear is passed on to the eldest daughter in marriage while the younger
daughters get other items of turquoise jewellery. Stones like turquoise and
corals set in pure gold have an important place in a Ladakhi woman's jewellery
box.
In the
evening we plan to go to the Hemis monastery, which is about 43 kms south of Leh.
But as we reach the outskirts of Leh, there is some sort of traffic jam or a
roadblock. Guess there is some sort of road repair work around here too. There
is a long line-up of cars ahead of us and we wisely decide to turn back because
it is already 1730 hrs and the monastery closes at 1900 hrs. Cruising past the
Indus we return to Leh town and head for the J&K tourist office where Sunil
& Rudra go in to make stay arrangements at Deskit or Panamik.
While we are waiting Sanjay expresses a desire to be able to buy a piece
of land or a house in Ladakh. Wouldn't it be wonderful to have your own holiday
home in such a heavenly place? Anil points out that you have to be born in
J&K i.e. be a local to be permitted to purchase property in Leh and that may
not be possible for any one of us until atleast our next birth.
Once the
work at the Tourism office is over and we have our bookings or atleast an
address where we should be headed to at Panamik, we head out to the market. The
German bakery in the middle of the market place seems to be a nice place and we
decide to have a cup of tea here before going out in search of interesting
curios in the quaint shops lining the market. The coffee does not disappoint us
- the cappuccino is great – though the cakes leave much to be desired. Later
we spend time making purchases - scarves, prayer bells – Ajit and Anil wanted
to buy these as gifts to take back and we end up buying almost two dozen bells
between all of us. I also look out for music – there is a large variety of
Tibetan, Himalayan, Lounge and other music available and it is quite a tough
task to pick from these. I end up hearing maybe one or two short pieces before
finalizing on the CD.
As already planned, all of us meet
at the 'Tibetan Kitchen' for dinner. We are lucky to find place for a big group
without any advance reservations as the restaurant is very popular with foreign
tourists. The food is very good and we have a welcome break
from the usual dal, rice, sabzi, roti. We try out Tibetan
cuisine viz. momos (steamed dumplings with a variety of stuffing), gyukta
(basically a soup with lots of noodles, vegetables/meat) and some regular
Chinese fare. Manju's recommendation for a good eatery has been very good
indeed. While we are at dinner, Dilaara and I, who have been looking out for
music, tell the others about it. Everyone now wants to join in with the music
purchases. We finally have a group of 10 in the 'music club' and decide that we
would pick 10 CDs and make copies of these once we are back home so that each
has one original and 9 copies. So, my job has now been widened since I have to
select that many more CDs.
Manju
has, in the meanwhile, procured the Inner line Permit for us. One can roam in
Leh town without a permit, but an Inner Line permit is required for most trips
out of Leh, since most excursions take you to border areas. The Khardung la-Nubra
trip takes us to the Pakistan border while the Pangong Tso circuit takes us to
the Chinese border. These
areas of Ladakh were formerly closed to foreigners on account of their sensitive
strategic position or proximity to international borders and have only recently
been partially opened. Movement however is limited to a number of specifically
designated circuits, and foreign visitors are allowed to go only in groups,
accompanied by a recognized/registered tour operator and the maximum time
allowed on any circuit is seven days. Permits need to be taken from the Deputy
Commissioner (head of the district administration) in Leh, but citizens of
Pakistan, Bangladesh, SriLanka and Myanmar are issued permits only with the
prior approval of the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. Foreign
diplomats and members of the United Nations and other international
organizations are required to apply for permits to the Ministry of External
Affairs, Government of India.
We have
carried passport-sized photos and ID cards (election I-Cards, our office
I-Cards, etc) for submission at the permit office but we are told Indian
citizens need not submit all these. A list of our names and addresses is enough.
Manju had taken our details the day before and has procured our permit. We are
carrying a few photo stat copies as a copy will have to be submitted at each
check-post along with details of the driver i.e. name and license number.
So, after we
are back from dinner, we make preparations for the next day's trip out to
Khardungla and Nubra. We need to sort out clothes and other essentials so that
we travel light and carry more of woollens, sleeping bags, essential provisions
and ofcourse the photographic equipment. The rest of the stuff is to be left
behind at the Mahey Guesthouse since we have decided to retain our rooms here
being away as we would just for the one night.
July 10th,
2004 Saturday. Leh to Khardung la to Deskit & Hunder (in Nubra Valley) to
Panamik (in Shoyok Valley) 171 km
[Via
- Leh - 26 kms to South Pullu - 14 kms to Khardung la 18380ft/5602m - 14 kms to
North Pullu - 42 kms to Khalsar - 22 kms to Deskit - 8 kms to Hunder - 45 kms to
Panamik and back to Leh 140 kms next day].
Today we
are bound for Khardung la, the highest motorable road (to the best of our
knowledge at that point of time; later we read that the highest motorable road
is infact across the Marasimik la, also in Ladakh which is around 300 feet
higher than the Khardungla road) in the world at 18,380 feet and then on to
Deskit in Nubra Valley & Panamik in Shoyok Valley. The
Khardung-la connects the Leh valley in the south, to the valley's of the Nubra
and the Shoyok, in the north. In fact the Khardung-la can be termed the gateway
to the Karakorum or to the land of black gravel as the name itself translates.
We need an
early start to be able to catch the check-post gate timings at various places
along the route. We need to catch the South Pullu gate for heading onto the
Khardung la before 1000 hrs. since no vehicles are permitted to enter the road
to the pass beyond that time. We start off from Mahey at 0515 hrs. but at the
edge of the town loose sight of the Sumo. As there is no sign of them for about
10 minutes, we turn back towards Mahey, but they are nowhere in sight. Presuming
they are already on the road to Khardung la, we too set off for the Beacon
Highway and soon run into Mangesh standing on the road as a scout. They had
taken a short cut out of town and not finding us on the Khardung la road, had
turned back in hunt of the Qualis!
We gain
considerable height in a short drive and from this height we have a bird's
eye-view of Leh town and can clearly see the road winding up. As we wait for the
Sumo to catch up, we take the opportunity to get a few photos in the early
morning sun. The peaks look wonderful with just the tops bathed in the soft
sunlight. Far in the distance, we can also spot the Shati Stupa and in one of
the photos from here I do manage to get that too in the frame. In a few minutes
we spot the Sumo (the distinct fluttering flag cannot be mistaken for anything
else) coming up the road.
Finally both our vehicles are on the way to Khardung la.
This route
to Nubra in earlier times formed part of the Silk Route and carried caravans for
trade to Central Asia. Khardung la is about 40 kms from Leh, but the South Pullu
Gate (14 kms from Khardung la top) has to be crossed before the 1000 hrs
deadline. The army regulates these roads and sets the gate timings. This gives
them an update at all times of the vehicles that are on the road at any point of
time since traffic is permitted only one way. With the last of the vehicle
permitted in from the South Pullu at 1000 hrs, there is enough time for the
vehicle to reach the North Pullu at the other end of the Pass by the 1300 hrs
timing set for that gate. No vehicles are permitted to come towards Leh till the
gate at the North Pullu opens at 1300 hrs. This means that apart from regulating
the vehicles on the roads, the system also helps drivers since they only have to
negotiate the narrow mountain roads without having to contend with any on-coming
traffic. We cross South Pullu well in time and reach Khardung la Top at 0800
hrs. South Pullu is at an altitude of 15,374 feet while Leh is at 11,554 ft and
Khardung la Top is at 18,380 ft.
A mention
here is absolutely essential for the tremendous amount of work that the Indian
Army puts in to build and maintain these high-altitude roads. The Border Roads
Organisation (BRO) is the unit that is responsible for this and they do an
absolutely amazing job. To build the road up to the giddy heights of 18000+ feet
is no mean feat. And, there is the constant challenge to maintain these roads
particularly in view of their proximity to the ultra-sensitive border areas of
Siachen. This road is the all-important and sensitive link between the rest of
India and the border with Pakistan. Once across the Khardung la, the border is a
mere 100 odd kilometers away and this is the road that the army constantly uses
to transport men and materials to the far-flung snowed in border regions. The
BRO builds and maintains these roads under the Project HIMANK and we see boards
of Project HIMANK at various places along the route. It is a very fitting name
for the Project, literally translating into "In the lap of Ice" (HIM
means ice and ANK means lap). The BRO also puts up nice
boards along the routes encouraging respect for nature and safety precautions
for drivers.
Reaching
Khardung la top gives all of us quite a heady feeling. We are on the world's
highest motorable road. Till now it had been a place we had read about, but
today we are standing here and many of us feel like shouting with joy, the cold
and chill winds notwithstanding.
For Ajit, Anil and Charuda it's an even greater achievement - they have,
after all, driven the jeeps all the way from sea level Mumbai to the highest
motorable road. Ajit gives a thank you kiss to his Qualis for bringing us safely
till here and wishes it good luck for the remaining journey. Our vehicles have
indeed behaved very well and not given us any trouble apart from the one flat.
One puncture over such long distances and on these types of roads is a
forgettable sort of trouble. The Sumo does give us trouble from time to time
particularly while negotiating steep slopes and keeps spewing smoke almost
regularly. But with the low oxygen levels, these minor troubles are kind of
expected.
For several
kilometers on both sides of the pass the road is pretty rough, though it is
fairly good most of the way. All along we have seen plaques kept in memory of
soldiers who have died in the course of their duty while these roads were being
constructed. One army man tells us that on an average, one army man has died for
each stretch of one kilometer of road constructed in the mountain ranges of
Ladakh. That
indeed is a very steep price for our nation. Infact at the top of Khardung la is
a plague in honour of those soldiers that have died building these roads and the
fact of one soldier lost per kilometer of road constructed is spelt out here
too.
It is
blistery at the top and all of us need to wear our jackets, hand gloves etc - in
short, get all wrapped up. We cant get much of a view of the valley from here
since it is very foggy and we hope that atleast on our return we can get some
good shots of the surroundings. We however keep clicking away to capture the
fact that we are at the highest motorable road. Almost all the photos are
clicked with the BRO plague announcing the highest motorable road as a backdrop.
There are traces of snow on the road, which has been cleared by the army
personnel but the mountain sides are laden with pristine white snow and we head
out there for a while, the cold and blistery conditions not withstanding. Within
a short while of being out at the pass and on the snow, we are half frozen and
rush to the army canteen (a tiny room) to have some tea. The Indian Army really
looks after visitors to this region. It provides free tea to all the visitors,
which is indeed a blessing in this weather. They are also selling 'Baluchas',
some sort of a sweet, for Rs.5/- per piece. The best part is that the Army has
also constructed and maintained very clean toilets even at this altitude. This
is a significant change from our earlier experiences at such heights i.e. in
Tibet, where there were almost no such facilities available even in fairly large
towns let alone at high, mountain passes.
While we are
at the top, the weather begins to clear and we do get some breathtaking views of
a long range of the Indus valley to the south and a magnificent panorama of snow
clad ridges & peaks of the Zanskar range while to the north, are visible the
awesome peaks of the Saser massif. We do get some photos but the conditions are
still too foggy to give us any really good photos. After having our fill of
clicking photos, playing in the snow, sipping on cups of hot tea we move on to
North Pullu. At each of these check-posts we have to submit a photocopy of the
Inner Line permit. There seem to be many of these check posts and we realize
that we better hunt out a "Xerox" shop as soon as we reach Deskit.
At North
Pullu again it's a round of hot tea, albeit this time from a tea stall. A tiny,
sparkling river flows with Khardung la in the background and provides us with
some more photo ops. It is nice to just stand alongside and hear the sounds of
the river and take in the breathtaking views all around. The Army is all around
here. This place is used as an acclimatization base for jawans that have just
come in to the region before they move onto the harsher terrains of the border
in the Siachen ranges. We chat up some of the soldiers and an army captain
sporting a Clint Eastwood type of hat poses for a photo for Ajit and also gives
his address. We also meet a family from Mulund who have already completed the
Pangong Tso circuit.
Since we are
to take in the Pangong Lake circuit in the next couple of days, we get chatting
with the family and get some useful info. We had been under the impression that
motor vehicles cannot reach right up to the lake and that the last 5 to 6 kms
needed to be trekked as there was no bridge over the last rivulet. This would
have necessitated an early start as the rivulet would swell with each passing
hour and would have to be crossed before the flow increased to an unmanageable
level. Our new found friend however tells us that new bridges have been
constructed and we can take our vehicles right up to the lake. This family is
one of the few Indian tourists we meet on our trip. Most of the Indians that we
see here are relatives of the army men posted in this region. Otherwise it is
mainly the foreign tourist who frequents this beautiful land.
Leaving
North Pullu behind us we move on to Khardung village and on to Khalsar (10,060
ft), the gateway to Nubra. The check-post gate here closes at 1600 hrs. From
here we drive down to Nubra valley - the sandy valley of Ladakh. The Nubra area
covers the valley of the Nubra river and that of the Shoyok both above and below
their confluence, where they meander in many shifting channels over a broad
sandy plain before flowing off to the north-west to join the Indus in Balistan.
At the confluence of the two rivers there is no dearth of water, but the sandy
soil is unsuitable for agriculture, which is limited to the mountain slopes. The
valley floor itself is covered with dense thickets of sea buckthorn - a thorny
shrub - which the villagers use for fuel and for fencing their fields, though
indeed, there is less need for this than there was in the days of the Caravan
trade with Central Asia when up to 10,000 horses a year are said to have
traversed the district. The
Shoyok, means the river of death, and this Yarkandi name was probably given it
by the Central Asian traders who littered this fantastic landscape with their
bones over the centuries.
En-route to
Nubra we cross an extremely scenic spot where there is a near dry river bed down
in the valley and at the road level we get a palette of different hued rocks and
stones. These contrasting colours provide a beautiful photo op and gives ample
proof of the range of different materials and minerals that are characteristic
of the Himalayas. The surroundings are breathtaking and unbelievable. We stop
here for a fairly long time taking in the views and getting some breathtaking
photos, before we move on to the Nubra valley.
As we near
Nubra and come down the last slope towards the valley we spot a huge sea of sand
at the base of the rocky mountain. It is rather difficult to figure it out as a
sandy stretch until we are right there coz from the distance it would be
difficult to even think of this sort of a stretch being sand. The ripples in the
sand look like waves on the surface of a gently flowing river or ripples caused
on the surface of a placid lake by a gentle breeze. We get off the vehicles to
walk around in the soft sand. It is really beautiful here – the large expanse
of sand intercepted by what looks like a thin black ribbon but is actually a
well maintained road and surrounded all around by towering mountains. The stones
lying at the edge are silky smooth and in a variety of colours - from white to a
light gray to a deep brown to a smooth shiny black. We pick up a few stones to
bring back home as souveniers and perhaps to use as some rather rare
paperweights.
We drive
into Deskit, the major town of the valley by about 1330 hrs. Our first priority
is to find a photocopier for taking copies of our Inner Line permits, as we have
to submit copies at each of the innumerable check-posts. Lunch can wait though
there are many rumbling stomachs. As we enter the town to the left is the Deskit
Monastery on a rocky spur above the village. Apparently in earlier times the
monastery was at road level but due to some attacks
by religious zealots of an invading army it was moved to a higher level to make
future attacks on it difficult. Apparently the skull of an incinerated attacker
is still preserved at the monastery. There is a large prayer wheel on the road
and this one is pretty ornate and does not have too much of a crowd so I use the
opportunity to take a couple of photos with Sharmila offering to turn it around.
These large prayer wheels are a trademark of Ladakh and there have been several
such large prayer wheels along almost every road in Leh but I have been unable
to get any photos so far. Either there are too many people offering prayers by
turning these huge wheels around or they are not as ornate as I would like them
to be for a photo or we are in a hurry to get to some place. Here there are no
such concerns so I finally get my shot of the large prayer wheels that are
characteristic of Ladakh. As we hang around, we meet Sunil's contact who
recommends the name of a hotel near the Tigger Monastery few kilometers short of
Panamik, for our stay tonight. After a brief halt herewe on towards the town.
Like in any
small town, there are young lads sitting at the town crossroads whiling away
time. We are fortunate to locate a photo-stat shop in the one-street town. As
the machine works on a generator and provides a much needed service in this
remote region the charges are a little steep - Rs 3/- per copy. There are not
many restaurants in the town. Either we head back towards the monastery to the
only decent hotel in town (Norbu Guest House) or have something at the two
eating-joints in the main street, which boasts of about 20 odd shops of all
varieties. We will need to split the group as neither of the eatery can
accommodate more than 8 persons at a time. Each has only two items on the menu -
fried rice and noodles. The rice is atrocious and the noodles passable.
While
waiting for the lunch to be ready as well as after that all of us take the
chance to phone home; we hadn't really expected to be connected in this part of
the country but being a border town I guess has its benefits. We receive a bit
of disquieting news however - Shreyas's father is unwell. Initially the
impression is that he is serious and obviously the news is very distressing to
Shreyas. After a few more calls it is clarified that though he is unwell he is
not serious. But some of us suspect that maybe Shreyas's family is not revealing
all to keep him from worrying. Being a terminally ill patient for the last two
years it is quite possible that he may be serious. Depending on the outcome of
some tests the results of which are awaited, Shreyas will decide whether to fly
to Bombay or not.
Ofcourse, to
decide to fly back to Bombay was easier said than done. It hit us then that we
were actually prisoners to this area till the next day. The North Pullu gate has
already closed for the day and would open only after 1300 hours the next day.
And, until then we would not be able to go anywhere other than be around at the
north end of the mighty Khardung la. So, return to Bombay for anybody would be
possible only the day-after tomorrow since it is not possible for anyone to
reach Leh tonight. The earliest we can reach Leh is only tomorrow evening and
the earliest flight that can be taken to Delhi would be on the morning of the
day after. Only two flights operate out of Leh daily, and both are early morning
flights - one a Jet airways flight and the other Indian Airlines. There is
almost always an element of uncertainty attached to the early morning incoming
flights on account of landing problems caused by poor visibility. Manju had told
us that Jet sends only very experienced pilots on the Leh sector and they manage
to land the aircraft even in poor weather but the IA flights turn back at the
slightest sign of cloud or mist not willing to take any chances.
From Deskit
we drive down to Hunder, which is just a few kilometers from the Pakistan
border. The drive is beautiful and takes us through a picturesque route through
the hills. I find the drive a good enough reason to be going wherever we are
while some of the others are not too pleased with what they seem to consider as
aimless driving. The main attraction here is the double-humped Bactarian camel.
A herd of these is romping in the sand dunes as we drive into Hunder. In the
olden days they were used as pack animals on the Central Asian trade routes.
During the past 50 years, they have been bred for transport purposes in Nubra;
today tourists take a camel safari into the dunes at Hunder. The huge sand dunes
here are no different from those of Jaisalmer in Rajasthan, which are at sea
level while these are at about 3000 to 4000 mts above sea level. These are
evidence of the theory that the Himalayas have emerged from what was once a sea.
A half-dry Nubra river is flowing next to the sand dunes and seems to merge into
them at some places. We try going to one of the camel camps but it's a long way
off and after driving a part of the way, we decide to turn back and head for
Panamik. We have covered about 120 kms from Leh and now its time to turn for the
hot springs of Panamik.
Crossing
the Tirit camp we move on to the Shoyok bridge and move towards the T-junction
of the roads leading to Khalsar, Deskit and Panamik. Earlier en-route to Deskit
we had asked some army officers the way to Deskit, but could not get any
answers. Turned out they were new to the area and had just arrived at Khalsar.
For the army personnel, the posting to this region is for 2 years. In the first
month, they are stationed for short spells of 4 to 5 days at increasingly higher
altitudes for acclimatization. In the event that an army man is unable to
acclimatize he is sent back to another posting at a lower altitude.
We are
allowed to drive upto Sumur, a village about 3 kms. beyond Panamik (10,610 ft),
which is the last permissible point for civilians. This was the route taken by
the trade caravans, and Panamik, the last village on this circuit, was at that
time a busy centre, the last major settlement before the caravans plunged into
the mountains of the Karakoram. Here they invariably halted for a few days to
make final preparations for getting over the mountains. There would be no
supplies, not even grazing for the animals, for about 12 days after Panamik, so
they had to carry all their provisions for that time. The Government maintained
a granary to sell food grains for the men, and even for the horses. But this
arrangement was insufficient for the amount of traffic, and the local villagers
made a killing, selling grain and fodder, and letting out their fodder-fields
for the horses to graze in. Today, Panamik is a sleepy village, its people
quietly going about their work in the fields. Though the granary is still there,
converted into a store for miscellaneous supplies, it is difficult to imagine
the village's narrow lanes congested with the bustle of the caravan traffic.
Panamik is
famous for its hot water springs that are believed to have therapeutic qualities
particularly for healing stomach ulcers and skin problems. Soon after we enter
Panamik, we make enquiries about the hot water springs but decide that we would
stop over at the Hotel and do our reservations and then move on. As it happens
the hotel we plan to spend the night in is enroute to the springs and we spend a
good half an hour outside in the vehicles while a few go indoors and do the
bookings as well as place an order for dinner. We need to inform before hand
what we would like for dinner (based on whatever is available, ofcourse) since
this is a family run establishment and does not boast of an a la carte sort of
menu. The job of reservations done, we move on.
The drive
once again is beautiful even though the road is very narrow. We are unable to
locate the hot springs initially despite driving around for a while. Sunil then
goes to seek the help of a person from a local hotel and he leads us to the 'tatopani'
i.e. the hot springs. It is quite a climb up a steep slope and as we head up, I
turn around and see a fantastic photo op – the last rays of the setting sun
over the beautiful Siachen range. The soft rays of the sun streaming through an
assortment of black and white clouds envelop the whole valley in a soft light. I
just couldn't move on without taking a few photos even if the light is fading
and am not too certain of the results I would get. As I look around for a nice
spot and take some photos, I see that most of those opting to go up to the tatopani
have already moved far ahead. I decide to stay back with Ajit at a halfway point
and enjoy the serenity of the evening instead. I have no regrets. As I learn
from the others later, the actual spring is just a trickle but it emanates hot
fumes along with the boiling water.
We head back
to the hotel after about a half hour halt at the tatopani and it is
getting rather dark by the time we get there. The Yarab Tso Hotel near the
Tigger Monastery is good & comfortable. Our accommodation is turning out
much better than our expectations – we had come all prepared to use the
sleeping bags in these far flung areas beyond the Khardung la. The setting is
very scenic. Over to the left is the Ladakh range and on the right the mighty
Karakoram range and beyond that the Siachen range. The thought that the Siachen
range is a mere 60 kms away is quite a heady one. I don’t think any of us had
actually thought quite seriously that we would be within touching distance of
the Siachen range. This is just terrific. We have a good meal at the hotel
comprising dal, rice and a Kashmiri vegetable. It's a beautiful night and
I for one am in no mood to tuck up in bed just as yet. I talk to the others and
soon we have a good 7-8 of us chatting on the verandha under the starlit sky and
with these majestic mountain ranges all around us. No one seems to want to go in
despite the fact that the compound, the verandha and the chairs are all wet and
we are unable to even sit properly. We spend a good forty-five minutes of so
before we head back in.
July
11th, 2004, Sunday. Panamik to
Khardungla to Leh to Magnetic Hill to Nimmu (Pathar Sahib Gurudwara).
[Via-
Panamik - Khalsar - Khardung Village - North Pullu - Khardung la - South Pullu -
Leh and then on to Pathar Sahib Gurudwara at Nimmu and Magnetic Hill.]
This morning
we have on offer a different breakfast - omelets and Ladakhi bread. Seems
interesting so many of us opt for it. The Ladakhi bread is a type of thick nan
baked in an earthen oven, with a lingering taste of yeast. As we have to
negotiate about 85 kms to North Pullu by 1300 hrs when the gate opens, we target
a start of 0830 hrs. considering that the normal speed on the mountain roads is
around 20 to 25 kmph. That doesn’t leave us any time to visit the nearby
monastery even though the Tourism Department official who we had befriended at
Leh keeps insisting that we do so. He is presently visiting these areas and
staying at the same hotel (it actually belongs to his niece and he had put in a
word to give us a decent discount) and spends a good half-hour explaining the
topogrphy of the place and what lies beyond those mountains that we see even as
we are all packed up to leave. It is a really interesting talk and I for one am
in no mood to leave. He also tries to convince us to visit the monastery since
according to him we had more than enough time to do so and catch the gate on
time too. We finally decide to play it safe even though he says we have enough
time for it. Besides we had thought of taking in the Magnetic Hill after getting
back to Leh so need to keep enough time. On the return we take a few halts for
photos since each time the place takes on a different charm. Today Sanjay has
suddenly taken a maun-vrat and has been keeping quiet for the past
several hours. After the first few hours we are loosing patience with him
answering only in sign language and only when Anil jokingly threatens to throw
him down the valley and we too create a ruckus he breaks his silence.
The North
Pullu gate is open from 1300 hrs to 1430 hrs. These regulations are required
considering that only one-way traffic is permitted between North & South
Pullu on the narrow and steep roads apart from enabling adequate monitoring by
the Army, this being a border road. Reaching North Pullu by about 1200 hrs, we
are well in time to queue up at the gate. Just as we park our vehicles it begins
to snow lightly and very soon turns into a blizzard. We rush to take shelter in
the small dhaba where we gulp down a couple of cups of hot tea. This
doesn’t last too long however and true to the quick changing character of
mountain weather, in about half an hour the clouds clear and the sun shines down
on the valley.
At the
designated time we join the convoy of vehicles. Over the last few days we have
come across all types of two-wheelers and four-wheelers. Besides the Military
Convoys, we have come across Marutis (including the 800), Santros, the all time-favs
Quails, Sumos, Wagon Rs etc. but while waiting for the gate to open at North
Pullu we get a veritable feast of vehicles. The start off after the gate opens
is rather sluggish with the vehicles moving in a totally disorderly manner to
move onto the Khardung la road. It takes us quite a while before we are free of
the slow moving truck traffic. By now the sun has begun scorching down on us and
as we move onto higher altitudes once again, the sunlight gets more difficult to
handle particularly since it is in the middle of the day and there is no respite
from the sun.
We reach
Khardung la in about an hour and its again time for a tea break. This time
around, the weather is clear and we are able to get some fantastic views from
the 18000+-foot height on either side. At this hour, we are more comfortable at
the pass and there is no need to be huddled into our woolens, as was the case
when we crossed yesterday when we had to contend with the blistery conditions in
the relatively early hours. As at all high altitude passes, there are the
customary prayer flags fluttering here too. We had first seen these at all the
high mountain passes while in Tibet. Here most of the prayer flags have been
tattered by the high velocity winds. Climbing atop a rocky spur Anil finds some
fairly new and bright prayer flags and gets a stream of these Tibetan flags for
all of us. Even though we are quite enjoying being out at the pass at this time
of the day, we need to move on as we plan to reach Leh early and cover the
Pathar Sahib gurudwara at Nimmu and then Magnetic Hills before getting back to
the hotel for the night.
Soon after
crossing South Pullu we encounter snowfall. It is just a mild snowfall but
snowfall all the same and for us city dwellers this is the time we look forward
to. We are quickly out of the Qualis and stand around on the road enjoying the
snowfall. Soon snowflakes spread in a thin white layer on our clothes and hair.
But soon as it had started snowing, it stops. Disappointed we troop back into
the jeep but are glad to have had the chance to experience snowfall twice today.
Moving on
these high altitude mountain roads is a totally different experiece and we
encounter several things that surely are peculiar to the Himalayas. One is the
board we see at several places warning drivers to drive carefully as the road is
sinking. Well, imagine this at over 15000-16000 feet. Certain stretches on the
road are fairly bumpy and this at most times is because of the loose rubble
beneath these that causes some parts of the roads to sink. Then there are the
stretches where we see boards warning us that these are landslide prone areas
and as we look along the slopes above, we can almost imagine the mountainside
coming sliding down so unstable does it look. We are fortunate though that we
did not have to contend with any problems. There are also some incredible
looking spots like the several we see where the road has been carved out almost
from within the rocks. On either side are jagged rocks almost in 'U' formation.
Most of these have been rather nicely christened by the BRO as 'India Gate' or 'Siachen
Togglers Gate'. The names are emblazoned boldly in white paint over the rocky
surface. Along the way, on one curve we see a rock precariously lodged at the
edge and jutting out over the valley and which looks like it is hanging there by
the slimmest of margins. In the far distance Leh appears like an oasis; a
beautiful green patch in the middle of the brown & grey mountains. Vehicles
look like specks on the winding road snaking down to the valley floor in the far
distance.
We are in
Leh by 1600 hrs and stop for tea at the German Bakery. Having sampled their
stale cakes just the day before and also sicne we are more eager to get moving
onto Nimmu we opt for a quick cup of coffee and head back. But some of the
others are hungry and need a bite to eat so by the time we are able to hit the
road again, it is past 1700 hrs We finally set off for Magnetic Hill at Nimmu,
that is located around 28 km away from Leh on the Leh - Kargil - Batalik -
Srinagar Highway. The roads here are excellent considering these are the main
access roads into Leh for the Army. There are several Army camps en-route too.
The drive is beautiful as usual and the mild evening sun gives the place a
rather surreal charm.
We reach
Magnetic hill, but have difficulty identifying the exact location. A board
proclaims the existence of the magnetic hill, a phenomenon defying gravity where
if one parks the vehicle with the gears in neutral it moves forward on its own
on the flat road. We had read about this phenomenon and also the fact that this
portion of the hill had magnetic properties that attracted metallic objects and
propelled even heavy vehicles up to a speed of 20 kmph while their engines are
switched off. Apparently Indian Air force Pilots steer clear of this hill as
years ago a chopper had crashed into it. Luckily we are not flying anywhere
around but standing on terra firma! Try as we might we cannot find the white
strips described in the board. Some
in our group suggest that they may be off the road on the mountainside. Someone
spots one faint strip on the road but cannot see the other and we can't really
figure out how to test and witness this phenomenon.
As we are
standing around trying to figure out how to go about checking this out, we spot
an Army jeep heading our way from the Leh side. Ajit quickly waves out for the
driver to stop even while Anil tries to warn him that the driver is probably a
senior Army official. The jeep stops for us nonetheless and unmindful of the
Army man's obvious senior position (there are quite a few strips on his
shoulder) we ask him for directions to the white strips. Pointing out the barely
discernible painted strips on the road he gallantly gives us a demo on the road.
Meanwhile traffic has halted on both sides, this road being a busy section with
a lot many Army personnel as well as truckers plying between Leh & Srinagar.
We too follow the instructions of the Army Commander with our vehicles and are
successful. It is simply amazing. We have our share of doubters in the group the
most obstinate of them being Shekhar who keeps insisting that there had to be a
slope else this was not possible. Trying to dispel any doubts many of us go down
on our haunches, verifying that the road is indeed flat. It really is.
By now we
have quite a clutch of vehicles on either side and we seem to be holding up
traffic like no one’s business and no one seems to mind it either. We get
bolder and wave down another passing army vehicle – this time an Army Medical
Corps vehicle - to a stop and request for a demo. Rudra goes a step further and
asks for a repeat performance so as to capture it on video. Surprisingly the
army chap obliges. Ever heard of army men taking instructions from a civilian?
The stretch between the strips is not too long – would be around 25-30 feet.
Much as we would like to keep trying out the effect of the magnet in the surface
of the earth on our vehicles, we have to leave, as every time we try it out we
seem to be holding up traffic. But nobody objects, not bothering to even honk.
They sure must be used to and tolerant of tourists like us.
Apparently
there are many spots with this phenomenon in these mountains. This afternoon on
the return from Nubra, some distance away from the Khardung village, Anil had
felt something wrong while driving on a downhill stretch. On a downward slope he
still needed to accelerate and was concerned whether there was anything wrong
with the Qualis; but then it was perfectly fine after a short spell. I happened
to be in the Sleeper coach at that time and I told him that the road did not
seem on a downward slope and was infact flat and that would explain why the
vehicle did not move smoother on the downward slope. But he insisted saying that
he was having to accelerate too much even if it was a flat road and it was
almost as if he was driving uphill. On reaching Khardung la on the return we
sought an explanation from the army officers and were told that what we had
encountered was a magnetic stretch and magnetic spots are infact scattered all
over region.
We soon move
on from the Magnetic hill and proceed towads Leh with plans to stop en-route at
the Pathar Sahib Gurudwara, located in a beautiful valley. Entering the
Gurudwara, a kind of peace descends on us. Like most religious places, it exudes
a kind of peace that is all pervasive. Going beyond the main area where the holy
Granth is placed and where the daily prayers take place we enter a smaller area
beyond. Here is a large rock that has an impression of a human form deeply
etched into it. This is the rock that Guru Nanak stopped with his back while he
sat there meditating. The story goes that there was a certain segment that
wanted to kill Guru Nanak and took an opportunity to do so and make it look like
an accident too. While Guru Nanak sat meditating at this place, a huge rock was
pushed down the slope of a high mountain across the road. But Guru Nanak, rather
than being crushed by the huge rock, didn't move from his meditative stance and
merely halted the rock with his back. The imprint of his back and head is what
we see deeply etched into the rock. We are permitted to take photos here but
unfortunately I miss out on the opportunity since I have left the camera in the
vehicle. Dilaara does take a picture but when developed we realize that her
hands have been rather unstable and the photo is shaken.
The Army has
constructed this gurudwara and also maintains it. The construction was done
after success was achieved in the 1971 war with Pakistan. Across the road is a
gate opening onto the steps leading up to the spot from where the rock was
pushed down. This place too has been constructed and maintained by the Army in
honour of the soldiers that lost their lives in this war. After paying our
respects we step out and sip on a cup of hot tea served at the gurudwara and
spend some time sitting there in the quiet of the evening. Soon the evening
prayers start and it is a beautiful setting and time to be attending these. We
indeed are fortunate. After a while we have to move on so as to reach Leh before
it gets too late.
As we step
out of the gurudwara, a beautiful sight awaits us. The setting-sun casts a
shimmering red glow over the clouds. Across the road are steps leading to the
memorial and most of us try to get as high as possible to get a good shot. I
prefer to go part of the way up and get the photo irrespective of the wires in
between sicne I am almost certain that by the time the rest reach up, the
setting would be totally different and it would be much darker. I do get off a
few quick photos but finally even the light that I had did not prove really
adequate to truly capture what we saw. The rest got even worse light by the time
they reached further up the hill to what they considered a vantage point.
Irrespective of the photos though, the setting is beautiful and surreal. It is
the time - that time of the day when day meets night - and the surreal glow on
the clouds with the mountains in the background, that make it such a wonderful
sight. We soon make our way back to Leh town and Mahey Guest house where hot
dinner awaits us.
July
12th, 2004. Monday. Leh to Chang la (5475m) to Pangong Tso (4267m) to
Leh
(280 kms round trip)
[Via Shey
& Thikse Monasteries, Chemrey, Sakti, Chang la, Tangse, Lukung]
Today we are
to take the Pangong Lake circuit. This lake, the highest salt water lake in
Asia, is around 150 kms in length and just around 7 kms across its widest. It
straddles the Indo-China (Tibet) border with 1/3rd of the lake lying
in India and the remaining 2/3rd in China. The route to Pangong goes
past the picturesque villages of Shey and Thikse, and then turns off the Indus
valley by the side-valley of Chemrey and Sakti.
We go across
the Ladakh range with the crossing of the Chang la, the third highest motorable
road (not counting for Marasimik la) at 18,000 feet / 5,475 mtrs. The Chang la,
despite its great elevation is one of the easier passes, and remains open for
much of the year even in winter, apart from periods of actual snowfall. Tangse,
just beyond the foot of the pass, has an ancient temple. But the main attraction
of this circuit obviously is the Pangong Lake, situated at 14,000 feet (4,267
m). Spangmik, the farthest point to
which foreigners are permitted, is only some seven km along the southern shore
from the head of the lake, but it affords spectacular views of the mountains of
the Changchenmo range to the north. Above Spangmik are the glaciers and
snowcapped peaks of the Pangong range. Spangmik and a scattering of other tiny
villages along the lake's southern shore are the summer homes of a scanty
population of Chang-pa, the nomadic herds people of Tibet and south-east Ladakh.
The Pangong Chnag-pa cultivate sparse crops of barley and peas in summer. It is
in winter that they unfold their rebo (tents) and take their flocks of
sheep and pashmina goats out to the distant pastures.
We decide to
get moving by 0400 – 0430 hrs knowing fully well how the melted snow causes
the streams to swell to unmanageable levels as the sun climbs. We are all ready
to leave by 0400 hrs. but face a new problem. The entrance/exit to the parking
space just opposite the Mahey where our vehicles have been parked is blocked by
another Qualis. How in the world are we going to find the owner at this
unearthly hour? Giving a new meaning to the adage, 'united we stand, divided we
fall', we put our hands and might together and finally manage to actually
physically move the errant Qualis away to make enough room to exit. Rudra takes
the lead and gives the instructions about how to go about the whole thing. So,
here we were – around 8-9 of us --- in the freezing early hours of a Leh
morning, heaving and pushing at the Qualis.
Rudra had
once seen some policemen doing this and has picked the strings rather well. He
tells us that the best way to do this is to push down on the vehicle several
times and then using that momentum lift it aside. So, he swings into action
shouting “pooosh, pooosh, pooosh ...... lift” in his Bengali tinged
English. Despite this effort and that too at this altitude, we find it rather
amusing to hear him give the instructions. But the goal is achieved --- in
several minutes of heaving and pushing, we have managed to push aside the bonnet
of the Qualis leaving enough space for our Qualis to exit. The problem now is
the Sumo, which is stacked up right ahead of the errant Qualis and has a sandy
dump up ahead making it almost impossible to make
any maneuvers at all. Ofcourse, despite all Rudra’s efforts to get us cracking
at the Sumo, we find it really difficult to push aside the heavier Sumo. So, we
spend some more time with Charuda taking the wheel at the Sumo to try and turn
it around somehow. Finally the Sumo too has nudged past the errant Qualis and we
are a satisfied lot even though it is now nearing 0500 hrs and we would have
preferred a much earlier start.
We couldn't
arrange for tea due to the early departure and it must be difficult for those
driving i.e. Ajit & Charuda, but even then we make good time and cover 70
kms in about 2 hours, passing through the towns of Shey and Thikse. Turning off
the Indus valley we pass through the valley of Chemrey. Most of us are dozing on
and off and tend to miss the fabulous views outside as dawn begins to break.
There was this one instant where I still regret not telling Ajit to stop the
vehicle for a brief while – just as we are heading out and getting onto the
main road towards Shey, I spot a weathered old man walking along the road
twirling his large prayer wheel as he chants his prayers. This was a sight I had
wanted to capture on film and bring back home. I was sitting in the sleeper
coach and I didn’t feel like causing any further delay after the delay we
already had but I still have the regrets of not getting that particular shot. Am
sure it would have been one of the very best; the character that was etched on
the weathered old face spoke volumes and I can still mentally picture that sight
albeit with a tinge of regret each time.
Our first
halt is at Zinzar (15,000 ft) where we have tea at the Army check-post. Like at
the other check-posts the service here too is free. It is about 0700 hrs and all
of us head straight into the glass cabin, seeking protection from the howling,
blistery winds. After the refreshing cup of tea we move on to tackle the steep
mountain roads towards the mighty Chang la and our next halt is at the top of
Chang la at 17800 ft. Even though this is considered one of the easier passes
remaining open even in winter, the driving conditions are not easy. The route is
interspersed with icicles hanging on the mountain wall alongside the road. There
are patches of snow on the sides, some of which have melted and the resulting
puddles on the road have again frozen into sleet making the road very slippery
and driving conditions rather difficult and risky.
The next
check-post is where the 8th Gurkha Regiment is stationed. It seems to be getting
colder and the cup of tea is indeed welcome.
Most of these army check-posts have toilet facilities ranging from decent
to fairly good. This is indeed a welcome change. On today's route the toilets
are cleaner; at this post, a small tin-cubicle serves the purpose, and,
surprisingly it is also fitted out with a tiny washbasin and a soap and towel as
well ! Leaving Chang la behind us we make our way to Darbuk where artillery
practice is on. We can hear loud booms from quite a distance away, the sound
heightened by the echo caused on account of the surrounding mountains. At the
foot of the pass is the Tangse Valley, with the Tangse River snaking through it.
As we proceed further along the river, we see a rather nice riverside resort
offering tented accommodation and boasting of a restaurant too and decide to
place an order for lunch here so as to save the ordering and preparation time on
our return.
The last
village along this route is Lukung. We try spotting the newly constructed bridge
that has made things easier for all tourists. Until last year one had to trek
the last 5 kms to the lake and cross a stream on foot. Anticipating fast flowing
streams in such places we have been carrying a sturdy long rope as a safety
measure. For quite a distance once we know we are in the near vicinity of the
lake, we keep a look out for Pangong Tso and keep mistaking every small pond or
patch of melted snow for one end of the lake. But the drive seems to go on and
on. This is quite similar to what we experienced even at Manasarovar –
distances surely are misleading in these mountains. When we finally arrive we
are faced with an awesome sight. From a distance we can see a small patch of
glittering water, which soon stretches way into the distance - a long stretch of
blue green shimmering water. Luckily we are able to drive right up to the shores
of the lake.
At 14,000 ft
(4267 m), Pangong tso is the highest salt-water lake in Asia. It is barely seven
kilometers at its widest, but is nearly 150 kms long, bisected by the
international border between India & China. The lake is virtually an inland
sea flanked by massive peaks of the Changchenmo range towering over 6500 m high
and extends almost in a straight line into Tibet. The sun being almost directly
overhead we are unable to catch the famous and often seen images of the entire
mountain range being reflected in the lake. The lake in various shades of blue,
sometimes cobalt or turquoise blue, and sea green at times, leaves us
spellbound. As always, the first activity for most of us is getting all this on
film and many of the group are seen at various places and in various postures
including lying flat on a rock to get the lake at water level. Later, as we sit
at the shores of the lake, the gentle lapping of the waves is like music to our
ears. The water is crystal clear and the pebbles clearly visible.
We settle
down a little distance away from the closest point of the lake and do not make
any effort to get to Spangmik, the farthest point to which foreigners are
permitted, even though it is only some seven kilometers along the southern
shore. We do move ahead for a while and some of the group goes even further but
we are unable to discern a proper motorable road ahead and think it best not to
venture too far out on foot considering the time constraints. Before long, the
time spent at the lake has to be cut short and we need to turn back for Leh.
We stop for
lunch as pre-planned. The table has been laid in the open next to a fast flowing
stream amidst a grassy meadow. Sometimes it feels as if the surroundings are
more than adequate to satisfy one, and hunger pangs can rather easily be ignored
if not forgotten. Ofcourse, many in the group would more likely disagree than
agree with this opinion. On our return, we befriend the Army Captain at Chang la
and he agrees to pose with us for a photo. Charuda pulls out the national flag
that he has been carrying all along and we all rib him for not taking it out
earlier, especially at Khardung la. Luckily he remembered at least now. We take
a group photo with Anil & Ajit holding it aloft in the background over the
post proclaiming Chang la as the world's 3rd highest motorable road.
On this route too the Sumo gives us trouble on uphill tracks. Once even the
Qualis stalls and Ajit asks all of us to scram out. At such times each one of us
is prompt in vacating the vehicle, dozing as we might be a minute ago, and get
ready with the blocks if necessary. Our Sumo continues to churn out black smoke,
all thanks to the rarified atmosphere.
At the turn
off for Leh we stop to confer and decide whether to visit the Hemis monastery
today or not. There is not much time left however; it is almost 1800 hrs and
Hemis Monastery closes at 1900 hrs. Last night post dinner there was a lot of
discussion and Charuda said he preferred to keep 4 days for the Manali-Thane leg
instead of the pre-planned 3 days. Though he does not say it outright, he
desires to visit a temple at Ujjain. This would mean either extending the tour
by one day or cutting down a day in Ladakh. As both Ajit and Anil are unable to
extend their leave by even one day, it had been decided to leave Leh a day
earlier i.e. tomorrow and skip the monasteries. I for one was very upset by this
development though at the time the discussion was taking place, I decided to
keep quiet about the whole thing. As it is the discussion had turned pretty hot
and also took a turn for the nasty when some members decided to pull out
trivialities from their bags of complaints and create an issue where not much
existed. But I had been thinking ever since and not liking the idea of returning
with so much unseen I thought of an alternative – staying back for a couple of
days.
Even though
a rather drastic decision, I didn’t think it would cause as much of a stir
that it finally did. After all, Dilaara and myself and maybe even Vaishali and
Sharmila had at some stage thought of taking the air/rail option till Delhi
atleast on one leg of the journey. I had spent the drive to Pangong quietly
crystallizing an alternative plan and considering the various options. Then when
everyone was engrossed in the beauty of Pangong, I dropped the bombshell to
Dilaara. As is pretty normal with her, she had a startled expression and gasp to
boot but very quickly fell in with my way of thinking. So, on the return leg, it
was two of us quietly conspiring to extend our stay; we decided that we would
talk to Sharmila and Vaishali in the evening and then tell our decision to the
rest of the group. We find that Sharmila is equally unhappy with the decision
and is more than willing to stay back. After all, we can’t be going back from
Ladakh without seeing even a single significant monastery.
Earlier it
had been decided to drop Lamayuru since it was becoming difficult to manage the
logistics of re-fuelling in case we did that trip. At that time, we all had
supported the decision, fully realising the constraints. Infact I was the one
that kept telling Ajit and Anil that we should not even consider doing that trip
since we would be cutting things a bit too fine otherwise. But now it didn’t
seem any such constraints were driving the decision and we were not prepared to
accept it lying down. Besides, we felt foregoing some places at Ladakh for a
place situated as close as Ujjain was not too sound a decision even if it meant
a visit to a famous temple. Ofcourse a temple visit would surely be good but we
feel that Ujjain is imminently more do-able than Ladakh and we could not be
considering it at the cost of cutting back on our Ladakh stay.
So,
outlining my plan, I tell Dilaara and later Sharmila and Vaishali that we could
spend a day or two in Ladakh, see the monasteries and also get some time to soak
in the place. We could even try to cover Lamayuru, which is famous as the Lunar
Region of Ladakh and then fly down to Delhi and if necessary to Bombay if we do
not get train bookings for the Delhi-Bombay leg. So, we four ladies decide to
stay back and even go ahead and ask Manju whether the rooms would be available
to us or he has another party coming in for the next couple of days. There’s
no problem on this front atleast so we go ahead and plan the rest of the things
like travel reservations, etc.
We speak
about our decision to Ajit who does seem more than a little upset about the
whole thing but at that stage does not say too much. We then go to the market
where we run into Manju and enlist his help to book seats on the flight to Delhi
on either Thursday the 15th or Friday the 16th. As the airline office at the
airport is closed we are unable to make confirmed reservations or even get
concrete information about seat availability. The agent, however, rings a few
warning bells telling us that it will be difficult if not impossible to get
bookings at such short notice as most flights out of Leh are fully booked. We
shall have to find out first thing tomorrow morning from the airline office. We
stroll back to Mahey discussing where all we could visit since we had also
picked up information regarding taxi hire and respective charges for various
places around Leh.
When we
reach Mahey however, we find that there has been a turnaround in the plans. To
accommodate our requests for seeing the monasteries, Ajit works on an
alternative plan. He offers that we all could start together tomorrow after an
early lunch, cover all the important monasteries and move onward to Upshi for
the night. That way we could be suitably positioned to take on a longer run the
next day and travel to Keylong where we could halt for the night. Onwards we
would not spend a night at Manali as planned but move to Bilaspur or Mandi so as
to have more traveling days on the plains. Under such a scenario we all can
return together. If the solution is not acceptable to us 4 girls, the others
would leave Leh early tomorrow morning. We are only too pleased to accept this
option and readily agree to their offer. Anyways, as we later admit to the
others, there is no guarantee that we would have got seats on the flight.
July
13th, 2004, Tuesday - Leh to Upshi 49 km.
[Via Shey
Palace, Thikse Monastery, Hemis Monastery].
Its my
birthday today and I am in one of the more exotic places – Leh. I want to call
home since am sure mum and dad would want me to do so as they are not in a
position to reach me. But unfortunately, they are away for a couple of days and
I am unable to reach them. Most of us spend the morning in the market place
making calls and doing some last minute shopping for bells, t-shirts etc and
head back to the Mahey around noon. Shreyas, we discover, has spotted and picked
up some exotic items - typical Tibetan brass locks in the shape of a crab and
elephant, candle stands, a painter's holder, etc. Most of us are tempted to buy
some such stuff and Rudra and Dilaara promptly troop back to market to buy the
crab-lock and candle stands.
I too have
told Dilaara to pick up a crab lock for me and she tells me that even she wants
to pick just that – after all crabby Cancerians that we both are, we would
always look for a crab !!! Dilaara does manage to get the crab locks, though it
had been difficult getting two pieces. The lady had just one piece and when
Dilaara kept requesting her that she just had to have the two crabs – meant,
incidentally for two other crabs !!! - she had gone over to her husband's shop
to find another. I discover later that the others have planned this out and this
is what I finally get as my birthday gift. Quite an exotic birthday gift I must
say – even now, people who see it at home are not able to figure out what it
exactly is and how it works. Soon it is time to get moving. After loading the
luggage we have a quick lunch. Just before departure Manju offers us our
favourite lemon tea and, refreshed, we start off at 1400 hrs.
Our first
halt is at Shey Palace, around 15 kms from Leh. Shey is the erstwhile capital of
Ladakh. Perched atop a huge rock are the royal palace and the monasteries. The
rock below is adorned in beautiful colourful murals and etchings of the Tibetan
mantras. It is quite a climb to the palace and Anil elects to stay down as he
has a BP problem. The 7.5 meter gold statue of Buddha is a picture of serenity.
One finds peace simply sitting facing the statue, looking at it. After taking in
the serenity of the place, we promptly draw our cameras to try and capture the
effect. Only much later would we know how successful have we been since it is
pretty dark inside and we are not permitted to use flash bulbs inside
monasteries. We keep clicking anyways, hoping for the best.
The old palace is almost in ruins and visitors are permitted entry only
to the monastery. From the top we get some fabulous shots of the city
resplendent in all its greenery and the canal running through the town.
Our next
halt is the Thikse Gompa (monastery), 5 km from Shey. Founded in the 15th
Century this is one of the most architecturally impressive gompa. Luckily here
the road goes right up to the monastery. Our Qualis reaches first and from the
top we see the Sumo parked on the road and all the occupants out on the road
with Charuda and one more person on their knees near the rear tyres. Suspecting
a puncture, Ajit takes the Qualis back. Turns out it's a false alarm and they
were searching for a lost screw - Charuda dropped a camera screw while stopping
for a shot of the monastery.
Meanwhile
the rest of us have proceeded inside the monastery. Surprisingly there is no
entry fee for Indians. There are two monasteries at Thikse. The older one is
almost 600 years old while the newer one was built recently i.e. about 25 years
back, depicting the future Buddha, a gigantic gold-faced ‘Buddha-to-Come’
seated in a lotus position. The crown of this statue is jewel studded and
glitters with all the precious stones twinkling in the daylight trickling into
the monastery. This is the statue on the covers of most travel brochures on
Ladakh and is almost the face of Ladakh. All around bright murals depict scenes
from Maitreya's life. This monastery seems to be better lit with large open
windows allowing natural light to stream in while in most other monasteries the
rooms are very dark though all statues being gold plated shine and light up the
interiors to some extent. In front of this statue are 3 small statues, that of a
teacher Buddha in the middle with two disciples flanking at the sides. We cross
the compound that boasts of a lovely garden full of orchids and local flowers
and go over to the older monastery. In one of the inner rooms there is a statue
with 5 heads stacked atop each other. We sure are glad that we did not go back
without seeing these monasteries – perhaps the very core of Ladakh.
We then
drive down 23 km to the Hemis Monastery, which is the largest and the richest
monastery. It was built in 1630's by Kushog Shambhu Nath and later extended by
Gyalsas Rinpochney. The Hemis Gompa represents the Drugpa Kargyouthpa School of
the great Mahanaya culture. The Gompa is a treasure house of priceless
manuscripts and exquisite thangka paintings. There are around 500
resident monks in this monastery. The annual festival of the Gompa is celebrated
on the 10th and 11th days of the 5th month of the Ladakhi lunar calendar that
falls in June/July. The 2 storeys high, jewel studded Thangka, the
largest in Ladakh, is brought out and displayed (the friendly monk tells us it
is actually only for a few hours) every 12th year i.e. in the year of the Monkey
(this year i.e. 2004 is one such year and this year the festival was celebrated
on the 29th and 30th June). The monk tells that the huge prayer hall in the open
meant for congregations gets jam packed during the festival and prior
reservations need to be made well in advance to sit in the hall during the Hemis
festival.
There are
three main monasteries at Hemis. The 1st is the main prayer hall, the
2nd boasts of a Buddha in Shayyamuni form depicting compassion in the
Buddha with a small Bodhisatva statue on its left.
The 3rd monastery is the one with Padmasambhava Guro Lakang -
a ferocious looking god. This one is in standing position and is very impressive
looking with its hands adorned by a number of
skulls sitting atop each other. The friendly lama tells us that we are in Ladakh
at the right time -- in his opinion the season is just about to end even though
the official season goes up to September. He tells us that the weather may not
remain friendly in August and very often tourists get stranded on either side.
On our way
to Upshi we see a sign announcing the fact that the road to Chang la is closed
today because of bad weather. And, in the distance, we can see thick clouds and
mist in that direction. We have been lucky in that we just finished that circuit
the previous day else we would have missed out on that too. Seems luck has
indeed favoured us. Just like Khardung la had seemed unapproachable the day
after our return from there, Chang la is unapproachable today. On the way to
Upshi we once again stop at the Army camp and visit the tiny provisions store
that offers STD facilities. The Army jawans are out playing cricket in the
fading light. Some of us head out to make calls and I once again am unable to
reach anyone at home.
We are at
Upshi by late evening. Luckily we had booked rooms on our inward journey and
quickly move in to the allotted rooms and relax a while before heading out to
the dhaba on the ground floor. The dhaba is almost on the road
with only a tiny sidewalk separating the highway and the dhaba. We use
the short ledge dividing the sidewalk and the dhaba to squat while we
await our meal. Tonight we decide
to use up the cup-o-noodles and soup packets. The cook at the dhaba burns
the hot & sour soup and we have to settle for tomato soup yet again. Seems
there is not much by way of variety for us not that we mind too much; the tomato
soup is excellent and so are the cup noodles. The person managing a dhaba
across the road gets annoyed with this fellow for agreeing to cook our soup and
heat water for our noodles. Tells him it is bad for business.
It is quite
an experience sitting there eating our meal. We are all quite relaxed
considering a large part of the trip has gone off very well indeed. Towards the
end of the meal as we sit chatting by the roadside, Sunil and Vinay disappear
for a while and return with a bar of cake and a large candle too. This is quite
something; they actually manage to get a cake even if it is a bar cake in this
place. The candle would not be too difficult to get considering the electricity
conditions in these places. I am quite touched by this effort and it is a rare
experience to be sitting almost in the middle of the road not just eating dinner
but also cutting a birthday cake. Some birthday this !!!
We have
decided not to unload the luggage considering we are looking at making a real
early getaway with a target departure time of 0400 hrs. Ofcourse it wouldn’t
be a wise thing to leave the vehicles and luggage unattended through the night
even though mountain areas are considered very safe. After all there would be
these two vehicles loaded to the gills sitting pretty much in the middle of a
highway and inviting trouble so to say. It is decided that Ajit and Sanjay would
sleep in the Qualis while Shekhar would do the same duty in the Sumo. We soon
turn in for the night and try to get some sleep considering the early start and
the long drive ahead. Covering over 300 kms in this terrain is not going to be
easy and all of us are keenly aware of this fact.
July
14th, 2004, Wednesday; Upshi (0400 hrs) to Keylong
(1930 hrs)
332 km.
[Via Upshi,
Miru, Gya, Rumtse, Tanglang la, More Plains, Pang, Lachanglang la
Sarchu (212 kms). From Sarchu 10 kms to Bharatpur - 20 kms - Barchalacha
la - 30 kms - Zingzingbar - 8 kms - Patsio -17 kms - Darcha - 7 kms - Jispa - 28
kms - Keylong].
We travel
long and hard this day. I once again take on the task of the timekeeper and set
the cell alarm for 0245 hrs and head down to the single toilet. By the time I
head back, a couple of the others are awake and by 0300 hrs all of us in our
room are up. I go across to the guys’ room to wake them and get them started.
And then, I head out to the window in our room to yell out to Ajit and Sanjay to
get stirring. Soon, the tiny lodge is a beehive of activity. For once everyone
in the group is equally serious about the time factor and we start off sharp at
0400 hrs. We have made some tea last night and filled it in the thermos. All of
us have half a cup of tea - something is better than nothing.
We are off
into the wee hours and are soon crossing Rumtse and then Tanglang la. Just as we
are descending from Tanglang la, we notice the diesel in the jerry can is
leaking and we need to stop and transfer it one of the tanks. But the pipe is in
the Sumo, which is ahead of us. We try to signal them to halt and twice there is
a good chance when the road to the valley curves and both the vehicles are
suitably placed to notice each other. But somehow no one in the Sumo notices us
gesticulating wildly from our vehicle. Ajit and Dilaara even get off and move to
the edge of the road and wave wildly at one time, but either all the Sumo
occupants are asleep or looking elsewhere. But we wonder at Shekhar too not
noticing us. As a driver, normally one tends to have an eye open in every
direction to look out for lurking hurdles. And, sound too carries easily in the
mountains especially when it is so quiet. Besides, what is the real purpose of
having two vehicles traveling together if one of the vehicles just never notices
the whereabouts of the other vehicle ? All the occupants of the Qualis are a lot
more attentive to the surroundings and alert for things happening around them.
This is a major plus – not just we are alert to what is happening around and
tend to notice things much quicker – the leaking diesel for instance – but
with all occupants alert, even the driver is more alert and vibrant. The
activity in the vehicle ensures there is no boredom and monotony for the driver.
This is perhaps the most essential part of such long drives and we fear the
occupants in the Sumo are breaking a cardinal rule not being alert to happenings
all around. Well, nothing much we can do about it, I guess.
The road
from Tanglang la to More Plains is very rough. There's hardly any tar road, most
of it being rough and uneven. On More Plateau, even though it is a tar road, it
is very bumpy. We have to hurry as the Patsio gate closes at 1700 hrs, but at
the same time our guys are not reckless. We reach Pang at about 0830 hrs and
make a brief halt for a breakfast of omelets with either rotis or our leftover
bread slices & butter. In less than an hour we are off for Sarchu. But
progress is not too rapid and once again we encounter a roadblock. The road
repair team has put up a barricade and we are worried about running behind
schedule. Some of our guys including Mangesh go across the barricade to try and
talk the BRO team into letting us through but without much luck. After all they
too have a job to do. We are at the head of the line and we settle down to what
we feel could be a pretty long wait. It is hot with the sun just overhead and we
also are beginning to feel the pressure of getting to Patsio on time. But
nothing much we can do about that.
Just as we
are casually sitting around talking, we see one of the funniest sights of the
trip – from the other side we see an ITBP (Indo Tibetan Border Police) bus
which has broken the barrier and is coming our way. And, just ahead of it is
Mangesh running, waving franctically. He is actually managing to slow the ITBP
bus down. And, all this because he feels we could make use of this break-through
by the ITBP bus and find our own way across the barricade that is down for the
time being. He is yelling out to Sunil to tell the drivers to start the vehicles
and get moving. All this time he is merrily holding up the ITBP bus whose driver
honks a couple of times but to no avail. Quite a sight this and most of us are
doubled up with laughter in the vehicles. Luckily
we don't follow his animated instructions.
Even as
Mangesh continues his frantic waving for us to cross over, an army jeep speeds
up ahead of the long line of vehicles lined up at the barricade and comes to a
halt right next to us. We are a bit upset thinking perhaps this army vehicle too
would adopt the ITBP route and it is only us civilians that are held up here.
Turns out we are very wrong here. The army captain in this vehicle has come up
in front since he is extremely annoyed with the ITBP guys for breaking the
regulations. We now are witness to yet another sight – the army captain
pulling up the ITBP guy and threatening to take strict action against him for
breaking the barriers. After this incident we keep pulling Mangesh’s leg that
he is the one that had held up the ITBP bus and didn’t allow him to get away
and was instrumental in getting him fired.
We realise
then that even an Army Major is sitting patiently with his family in the queue
behind us. Apparently he has a flight to catch at Kullu, but even then he has
not pulled rank to be able to cross fast. The ITBP bus is running behind
schedule and they were to reach a particular camp maybe a couple of hours back.
So, they too are hard pressed considering that maybe they were to relieve
another unit. But here the top guy in the unit gets a massive round of talking
down from the conscientious army captain who drove up to the front of the line
to get things sorted out. Each one had a job to do. But if vehicles keep jumping
barricades, guess the BRO would never ever be able to do the sort of job they
have been doing so fabulously in this rugged terrain. After all this activity,
we still wait on; we’ve been stuck for more than an hour and will now have to
make good time to compensate for this. The army captain is standing at the side
of the road when the barricade opens and good-naturedly returns the wave I
directed at him as we moved on.
We now speed
off in the direction of Sarchu. As most of the road from Pang to Sarchu has
already been repaired it is a smoother ride. But it deteriorates after Sarchu.
En-route we get some fabulous photo ops but most of us have nearly exhausted our
stock of film and are extremely selective in what we click. But whatever we
click has to be from the jeep – either in motion or slowed down a bit – we
cannot afford to stop, stare and click. We are at Sarchu around lunchtime, but
cannot afford to wait else we will miss the Patsio Gate and be stuck in the
middle of nowhere.
As we
approach Bharatpur, we encounter the Killing Sarai nallah where the level
of water is much higher than it was on our inward journey. Today we are crossing
it at around 1400 hrs. It does not look like any normal nallah; instead
it is more like a small river flowing right over the road and curving and
sloping as the road does. It is not like crossing a nallah but more like
driving through it. And this goes on for quite a distance and almost the entire
distance we have been unable to see the road below the water. Fortunately, we
pass through it without incident.
As we
proceed further towards Baralacha la, we seem to be crossing even more nallahs.
The road is in worse shape than just a week back when we were headed the other
way. At some places blasting has taken place in an effort to widen the road with
the result that rocks are strewn across the road. At other places seems like
there have been landslides and also the waterfalls, which were earlier mere
trickles, have now become much larger and at most places are flowing over the
road washing away part of it. We begin to wonder what the scene could be like as
we head deeper into the real monsoon months of August and September. Even though
the season is supposed to be on till atleast mid September, it seems that
driving through these roads at that time would be far more difficult i.e if one
does actually manage to pass through. The way things were, we had our doubts
whether at all vehicles would be able to do this route in late August /
September. And, we were not too far off the mark in this considering that
another colleague who aimed to travel the same route in August, didn’t get
even to Rohtang la – infact he didnt get past Kothi. This sort of activity is
obviously being caused by the melting of snow which in the day's heat, adds
volume to the smaller water bodies.
Anil has
been feeling unwell today. Even though he had kicked off for the day and taken
the wheel from Upshi, he gave it over to Ajit pretty soon since he was having
some BP problems. He handed over the wheel just after we left Tanglang la and
Ajit has been driving since then. The rough road is taking a toll on our backs
not to say what it must be doing to Ajit, his condition is similar to that of
Charuda on our inward leg.
We manage to
cross Patsio gate with just 15 minutes to spare and all of us let out a
spontaneous whoop of joy and get into a bout of cheering and complimenting for
Ajit on a job well done. The mood becomes more relaxed coz it doesn't really
matter if we reach Keylong late. We already hold reservations at the HP Tourism
hotel – we have done so from the Leh office all thanks to Sunil. We stop for
tea at Darcha near the bridge on the river. We recall how we had gulped down our
tea at this very place a week ago while we were rushing towards the good ol’
Patsio gate. This time we spend a few restful moments at the bridge in the
comfortable knowledge that we have by now covered the most difficult stretches
and could now be considered on our home run so to say. It is only after Darcha
that the tree line starts. As we approach Keylong, the number of hotels and
cottages too increases, signaling our return to the periphery of civilization.
The real civilisation shock would come tomorrow I guess.
Keylong just
110 km beyond Manali, is the newest place on the tourist circuit, still
retaining the quaintness and quietness, so very necessary for a get-away place.
Though obviously having been around all along, Keylong has only recently found
popularity on the domestic tourism circuit. As planned we stay at Hotel Chandra
Bagha, the HP tourism hotel. Perched atop a hill, the location is fabulous,
overlooking as it is the valley and the mountains across with the many
waterfalls tumbling town their sides. After the long journey we are glad to
sleep in a clean and comfortable bed and also to once again have the luxury of a
clean bathroom and running hot water.
Initially
our plan was to leave the luggage tied atop the jeeps as it would be secure in
the hotel premises. But the carrier of the Sumo has come loose and has even slid
forward a few inches. We search for a garage to get it repaired, but the garage
in this small hill-station is not equipped to handle this problem. We shall have
to get it repaired in Manali. So, we also have a fresh set of clothes while we
are here. After freshening up with the hot water on offer at the hotel, we troop
in for dinner. There is a TV in the dining hall so we get a chance to see some
of the video tapes shot by Rudra on his handy-cam. Later we step out for a short
stoll around the hotel compound. Its a nice cool night and we quite enjoy the
outdoors. The view from the room too is terrific with snow clad mountains in the
immediate line of vision.
We had
initially planned to move to Bilaspur the next day, but firstly the carrier of
the Sumo has to be repaired and secondly Charuda expresses a wish to do some
shopping in Manali, so we revert back to the original plan of staying in Manali.
So, guess we are looking at a really relaxed day tomorrow after all the long
hours of travel in the past few days as well as the travel lined up for the
subsequent few days.
July 15th,
2004,Thursday. Keylong (0900 hrs) to Manali (1430 hrs) - 110 kms.
We have a
relaxed 0900 hrs start after a good breakfast of parathas or puri bhaji. The
fuel in the Qualis is almost down to zero and our first stop is the filling
station at Tandi. The diesel from the jerry cans has been used only for the Sumo
so the Qualis now needs refuelling. Even today the road is not in a good
condition. I suppose it must be difficult to maintain roads in these
surroundings and conditions. We stop for a few minutes at Rohtang la. When we
were driving to Leh we had felt breathless at Rohtang la and the cold seemed too
much. But now after the several higher passes that we have crossed and having
spent some days at high altitudes, we have become acclimatized and Rohtang la
does not pose too much of a problem. Besides, we are at the top during bright
sunshine unlike on the way out when we were here in the early hours of the
morning. I have already discarded my shoes at Keylong and opted for a pair of
sandals. Infact, while the other tourists are all covered up in overcoats etc,
most of us are rather casually dressed and have a single pullover or something
equally light to protect us.
Post Rohtang
la the traffic – human as well as vehicular – increases. This is the
civilisation shock that I feared even when we reached Keylong yesterday. It is
similar to the shock that we had experinced when we got to Zhangmu and later
Kathmandu on our return from the pristine areas of Kailash and Manasarovar. With
innumerable vehicles parked just before the top of Rohtang la, the parking lot
looks like any at a Mumbai commercial or social hotspot during peak hours. We
encounter plenty of vehicles coming up to the pass, and hoardes of tourists
lining up for photos on the small tufts of snow on the sides of the road. The
greenery thickens as we approach Manali, with tall deodars spread all over the
mountain slopes. The lush greenery is vastly different from the sandy and rocky
mountains we have been going over the past few days. And even though
encountering the crowds once again is not all that great, the beauty of the
outskirts of Manali away from the maddening market place cannot be denied. Soon
we cross Marhi with the enterprising restaurateur having his chairs and table
still nonchalantly perched in the middle of a now faster flowing stream. From
time to time we do begin to get a signal on our cells but it is not a very
strong one and we still are unable to call.
We reach
Manali by 1430 hrs having so far covered 3251 km. Soon the beeping of the cell
phone keeps up a steady stream indicating messages dropping in. These include
messages sent several days back and also include some birthday wishes from all
those who could not reach me on the phone. It is nice to feel connected once
again and all the better to be receiving birthday greetings. Soon we are back at
the Sagar Resorts and we resort to a similar rooming pattern as on the way out.
It feels almost like home to be getting back to Sagar Resorts much like we had
felt when we’d returned to Hotel Gangjong in Kathmandu after the Kailash trip.
After lunch
at the neighbouring Hotel Rohtang-Manalsu and some tea, we set out for shopping.
Though the rest of us had not planned to do anymore shopping, we make use of
this opportunity to buy last minute gifts and some walnuts too. Years back
Kashmiri embroidered kurtas or salwar pieces were available only in wool, but
now they are available even in other fabrics more conducive to the weather back
home. Almost all of us buy a few of these and we
seem to be shop hopping to get the best ones. We also find some smart short
kurtis in the same fabric and embroidery and once agian we all end up buying
some of these. Soon it is time to wind up our shopping to have a quick dinner of
fried rice and soup at 'Moms Place' and then to rush back to Sagar Resorts and
to our packing.
Its packing
time and all of us get busy packing our bags. We have decided to load the
luggage at night itself so as to make a real early start the next morning and we
propose to enlist the security guy’s assistance in keeping an eye on the
vehicles. We create quite a stir with one of the bellboys when we call him to
set-up the extra bed in the room and then immediately tell him to take the
luggage down. His expression is comical – he is totally flummoxed. He must
have wondered whether we were off our rocker, checking-out immediately after
getting an extra bed installed in the room. Explaining the situation to him we
request him to get one more person to carry the luggage down. By the time we
finish loading the luggage it is past 2300 hrs and we have to wake up at 0300
hrs.
July
16th, 2004, Friday. Manali (0415 hrs) to New Delhi (1830 hrs) to Guna (next morn
0730 hrs)
[Via:
Manali - Katrain - Raison - Kullu - Bhunter - Aut - Panhod - Mandi- Bilaspur -
Swarghat - Kiratpur - Rupnagar - Chandigarh - Ambala - Kurukshetra - Karnal -
New Delhi - Mathura. Overnight: Mathura - Agra - Gwalior - Chambal - Guna]
Our hotel
wake-up call and reliable cell phone alarm ensure that we are up in time and on
the road by 0400 hrs. The hotel is too good, agreeing to give us bed tea even at
that unearthly hour. We loose the advantage of the early start as we get caught
in a traffic jam about 10 kms outside Manali and that too at a little later than
0500 hrs. The road is good and smooth through Kullu and Bhunter where the
nearest airport for Manali is located. We stop for tea at Aut, at the same joint
we had stopped for breakfast on our way in. We can appreciate the change in the
scenery surrounding us. In the lower regions the mountains are softer while
those at the higher altitudes were more rugged and sharper. River Beas keeps
company till Bhunter where Parvati joins it. Going downhill we soon reach the
plains of Panhod and Mandi. After the Mandi plains we cross one more ghat at
Bilaspur, i.e. the Vinayak Ghat, which is over 23 km long.
Soon we
cross over into Punjab and still have around 81 km to reach Chandigarh. Just as
we enter Punjab, traffic police stop us and sell us some reflectors, citing a
new law requiring all vehicles to display reflectors. Passing through Kiratpur
Sahib, we take the turn-off for Chandigarh. The roads in Punjab are in excellent
condition and in some segments in Ropar district the road stretches straight
ahead for miles and with a lovely tree cover on either side. After leaving the
cool environs of the mountains the heat had been bothering us, but the weather
gods are rather considerate to us and do a complete turn around. All of a
sudden, we see black clouds gather on the horizon and within a short time the
rain comes down in torrents. The drive from now on is even more beautiful. We
cruise along the well-surfaced roads with the rain-washed trees lining the
entire length and rain lashing in torrents as we speed along with some nice
music on the car stereo. After a while we come to a dry zone, but the black
clouds seem to be chasing us, not leaving our tail. We sure are happy with this
neat turn of the weather gods and are quite enjoying the drive.
Reaching
Chandigarh (Manali - Chandigarh 310 kms.) at about 1300 hrs we decide to move on
and stop for lunch only further on at the Kohinoor dhaba on the Ambala road.
Today we have some variety in the meals - some typically Punjabi fare consisting
of malai kofta, chana masala and dum aloo. Just outside of New Delhi we halt at
a place called Oasis and Kraft Bazaar, where we get some amazingly clean and
extensive toilet facilities. The place has been developed as a weekend getaway
with small cottages artistically built around a sprawling complex. Reaching New
Delhi by 1800 hrs, we do not enter the city proper but still have to contend
with some irritatingly thick and slow traffic. By the time we reach the road to
Mathura, it is 2000 hrs. Today is Ghatari Amavasya and some of the guys
wish to celebrate that ahead of the shravan month by going in for a
non-vegetarian meal but have trouble finding a dhaba willing to serve
chicken. Finally at Mathura around 2200 hrs we find one. Though the chicken
masala at Parkash Dhaba is not memorable, having a non-vegetarian meal in devbhumi
Mathura should be memorable enough.
Just like on
our inward journey we have decided to drive through the first night. The drivers
take turns to sleep in the sleeper coach. Most of us doze on and off through the
night with only the navigators keeping awake along with the chaalak. This
time we pass through Chambal in the wee hours of the morning.
July
17th, 2004, Saturday; Guna to Dhamnod (MP border) 2130 hrs to Igatpuri (next
morn 0600 hrs)
[Via: Guna -
Roothiyan - Radgogadh - Dewas - Indore bypass - Dhamnod - Palasner (Maharashtra
border). Overnight: Palasner to Igatpuri]
Most of us
doze through the night and wake up only at Guna where we stop for morning tea.
This time around our efforts to search for a good service station aren’t too
successful. Finally at about 0900 hrs at Roothiyan we find a Sulabh
Sauchalaya that is surprisingly clean. We stop at yet another Prakash Dhaba
at Radhogadh but this time for breakfast. Luckily the weather gods have so far
been good to us and we’ve not had to contend with too much heat. Here too the
good weather continues and it is quite cloudy and rainy. The road too is lovely
with greenery all around and in some places a train chugging on the railway
track running parallel to the road. We halt for lunch at Virasat Restaurant in
Dewas.
From Dewas
we take a 'U-turn' to get on to the Indore-Bhopal bypass. Shortly after stopping
for tea at Mhow, the birthplace of Dr Ambedkar, we get caught in traffic. There
seems to be no lane discipline especially at the ghat, trucks switch lanes
without regard to any traffic rules. Charuda wished to stop at Ujjain but that
would mean reaching home either late on Sunday night or on Monday morning. As no
one else is agreeable we decide to move ahead from Indore.
It is
tentatively planned to stop for the night at Maheshwar, the only place where we
can hope to find decent accommodation. There are no other tourist spots on the
way and finding a decent place to stay on the highway would be difficult. Most
of us in the Qualis are more eager to drive through the night and get to Mumbai
early the next day rather than get into the hassle of unloading and reloading
the vehicles for a few short hours of night sleep. Ofcourse, this is a decision
left to the chaalaks coz they would be the ones most affected. Ajit is
fine with the driving through but it seems Charuda has reservations – not so
much it appears with the thought of driving through, but more with the thought
that his plan has not fired. Most of us opt to keep silent on this and keep the
discussion limited to the Qualis allowing the chalaks to make the
decision.
Even to get
to Maheshwar, we would need to take a 10 km de-tour, taking a turn-off at
Dhamnod so we need to make the decision right here. Reaching Dhamnod before the
Sumo, we wait for it to catch-up. After the Sumo comes along, it is finally
decided to move ahead as Charuda is willing to go ahead and Shekhar is at the
wheel after having been rested for some hours since afternoon. Most of us are
more than happy at this decision. As the guys driving are willing, we decide to
move ahead.
We get to
the Madhya Pradesh / Maharashtra border late at night. There is a long line of
vehicles and Shekhar, at the wheel in the Sumo, uses the mud track alongside to
drive up ahead of the trucks and we in the Qualis qucikly follow. Only when we
reach the head of the line, we are stopped by the police and a drunken havaldar
tries to create some trouble for us. We realise then that this is a convoy area
and the trucks lined up are waiting for the convoy relay system to begin. We are
apologetic once we realise this and luckily for us a sensible inspector comes
along and lets us go on.
This is the
segment where the tribals are active and in an effort to stem the rampant
looting, the police of the two states have started the practice of letting
vehicles move in a convoy of 15-20 vehicles escorted by a police vehicle. This
is done at night since the looting is more intense during the hours of darkness.
The whole belt is around 50 odd kms and we need to go through 5 such convoy
relays each spread out at a distance af approximately 10 kms before we get out
on our own once again. Stopping for dinner around midnight at a small dhaba
at Palasner on the Maharashtra border, we watch as the convoy of vehicles moves
ahead at regular intervals. After a liesurely dinner of around an hour relaxing
on the khattias, watching the convoys and eating omlette-parathas
followed by a nice cup of chai, we move on and join the convoy forming on
the road in front. In a little while there are the required number of vehicles
and we move on into the dark of the night with the safety of a police vehicle up
ahead and perhaps one at the tail of the convoy. Most of us again doze off
during the night journey.
July
18th, 2004, Sunday; Igatpuri
(0600 hrs) to Thane (0930 hrs)
Passing
Nasik in the wee hours of our last day we reach Igatpuri and stop for tea. All
of us are upbeat about reaching home. The ghat section is lovely and after
crossing Kasara the local trains on the rail tracks running parallel to the road
are a sore reminder that it is going to be back to office tomorrow. Its going to
be difficult to acclimatize to office so soon. It sure will be more difficult
than acclimatizing to Ladakh - mentally that is. We drive into Thane by 0930
hrs. Anil takes the route via the Maruti temple where we pay obeisance to the
God Almighty for taking us through the journey without any incident.
Soon we are
at Shreerang unloading the luggage. Ajit and Anil’s parents are there to
receive us and so are some of their other relatives and neighbours. It sure
feels good. One of them has a camera and soon we are grouped together under the
Mumbai-Leh-Mumbai banner for a parting photo. We then spend a few minutes saying
our goodbyes and also congratulating each other on a trip well completed. Then
we go on our ways and organise our respective modes of transport to head home.
Getting Home
Despite the
long hours of travel that we have gone through I do not feel too much tiredness
when I get home. It is always a nice feeling to get back home from a long and
hard trip. We’ve come in earlier than expected and we get some welcome time at
home before we get back to the office grind from the next day. I spend the rest
of the day relaxing and un-packing. And, then in the evening, choose to take a
relaxing, hour-long walk to stretch all those cramped muscles. Despite the three
days on the road and a lot more travel without too many breaks before that, it
feels nice to get out and have a little stretch. Later would come the job of
developing the photos as also the anxiety of the results but that too is over in
the next week or so. After that all that remains are the stories and memories of
the trip which we seem to recall ever so often as the album goes around. Each
time the photo session needs to be accompanied by commnetary since much like the
sessions after the Kailash trip. After all, these are such exotic and off the
beaten track places that a commentary alongside the photo session is essential.
So, we relive the trip and soon begin thinking of another such trip. Some people
are never satisfied, are they ? Well, so be it.
Well, we
have been lucky with the weather gods on the trip. We’ve also been lucky with
the fact that we didn’t suffer any major breakdown etc during such an
intensive trip. Just how lucky we have been we realise a few short days later.
Just about two weeks after our return home heavy rainfall and floods ravage much
of western and northern India. Seeing pictures of flood-torn Nasik, Ambala,
Kullu etc. drives home the message that things can go very wrong anytime
anywhere and more so in the mountain regions that are ever so vulnerable to the
weather gods. A cloud burst near Manikaran has caused massive destruction in the
Kullu valley, washing away roads and the tunnels being constructed at the
Parvati power station. The floods from the overflowing Pareechu Lake in Tibet
have caused bridges to be torn away in the Lahual-Spiti valley and on the
Manali-Rohtang route with people getting stranded on both sides. Our friend and
colleague Dr Datar who left Bombay on the 1st of August for the same trip was
stranded for 3 days between Manali and Kothi as the bridge ahead had been washed
away. He had to finally return to Bombay from Kothi itself. We’ve been lucky
– as I said after the Kailash trip, someone up there surely loves us a
considerable bit to have made these sort of trips possible. And, I sure am
thankful for that.
Each of us
quickly settles back into the daily grind of Mumbai but trips such as these make
the interim grinds ever so acceptable. We keep in touch from time to time but as
expected, most of our interaction is restricted to the ‘Q-gang’ – that is
the occupants of the Qualis. Ofcourse, there is regular interaction with Rudra
too but then he always was more of a ‘Q-ganger’ I guess. Most of us have
swapped the customary “Hello” over the phone for “Jhule” and this seems
to make the bonding even stronger. Jhule is a term used by the Ladakhis for
perhaps every purpose of salutation including Hello, how are you, welcome, hope
we meet again.... etc etc etc. Well I for sure hope the Jhule meaning “hope we
meet again” comes true some day and I am able to visit this intruiging place
some time in the future too.