Ladakh - Tso Moriri

This was the day when we would begin our tour of Leh’s prominent lakes. Our first stop was Tso Moriri. We began by stopping at Indus ghat, where there is a small structure on the banks of the Indus River. The drive was hot and a bit boring once we got used to the brown mountains, repeated ad infinitum. The music was none too good. I had grabbed a few assorted English CDs from my collection of ‘I don’t care if these CDs get damaged’. Madonna’s American Pie began the series and we wound our way past Pretty Woman and so on. Sandeep had earlier suggested that perhaps I should call the CDs ‘done to death’ in honour of the clichéd stuff. Pointing out that I was the only one who had got along any CDs did not help. Neither Sandeep nor Aswath understood Hindi music, so the Kishore Kumar and Lata Mangeskar were ignored. There was a suggestion that perhaps the duo should buy an I-Trip in Leh for my IPod. Sachin grinned and pointed out that the Leh man normally cannot afford an I-Trip and it would be unlikely we would find one. By the time we were done with the squabbling, Chumathang and lunch had arrived. Chumathang has hot springs to its credit, but since we were running late and would be seeing some in Panamik later on, we decided to push on.

I dozed the rest of the time till Priya exclaimed ‘wow, look at the lake the colour of copper sulphate’. The vivid colours in the region were exploring long forgotten words to describe colours. It was indeed beautiful and blue but not our destination, Tso Moriri about 260 kms from Leh. The road was deteriorating. We finally pulled into a campsite called ‘Nomadic Life Camps’ at five thirty. The camp was packed to the brim. We were given slightly worn tents right at the end.

We immediately set out for the lake, not wanting to lose daylight. The lake had looked a promising Cobalt blue as we had driven down. It became better as we walked closer. The mountains were glinting red in the last of the sunlight. The lake’s blue was richer than ever. The contrast was so mindblowing, it felt like a ten year old had painted a picture and pinned it to the sky. We sat mesmerized till it began to get dark. If only, we had made it slightly earlier..

Dinner was a rip-off with a big R. I had been warned that given how remote the area is, food is expensive in the campsite. We were infact carrying cup-o-noodles and theplas. But in the gradually creeping cold, no one was in a mood to eat anything but hot food. So we ate rice, dal, sabzi and French fries at 250 Rs a head. The mess boy chatted with us and told us that he was on leave from the army and would be going back to Siachen shortly for a three year posting. Tso Moriri was cold. We could not imagine how cold Siachen could get.

I donned two t shirts, a jacket, another jacket, two pants, two socks, a cap, my gloves and got under the two blankets. It still felt a bit cold. I slept in patches, listening to noises outside my tent. Priya had it worse, being able to distinguish the sounds of animals outside. And we found out the next day that the guys had it the worst of all since the outer plastic layer in their tent had ripped off. A draft had kept them up for most of the night.

Ladakh - Hemis, Thikse, Shey and Stok

The plan was to leave at 8.30 after breakfast at 8 a.m. It was 8.45 before the guys could manage to get into the dining cum TV hall of our guesthouse. The Man Friday, Mohan, took everyone’s orders (choice was omelette and toast or toast). Our travel agent, Qayoom had arrived with a brand new Innova to give us a send-off. We munched on breakfast, drank our tea and finally ventured onto the roads at 9.30. Clearly, days which involved very early mornings would be bit of a challenge.

Abdul, the teenager who had accompanied us the previous day was also the guide for the day. At our first stop, Hemis, we realised that while Abdul was enthusiastic, he knew zilch about what lay inside the monastery. We walked around the partially dilapidated building and took snaps. It was at the Hemis museum that we got some insight into the way Tibetan Buddhism was organised. The monk in charge of the entry fee informed us that there are four primary orders of Tibetan Buddhism. The Dalai Lama heads the Geluspa sect. The Hemis monastery belonged to the Drukpa order, whose top gun was called Skatsang Raza. Founded in the 16th century, Hemis’s Skatsang Razas had been fairly active in seeking help of the local rulers and other sects to add to the monastery buildings.

The museum had been cobbled together with various exhibits that had been found in the monastery. There were rows upon rows of cooking utensils. One of them proclaimed ‘a twin pot – rare piece’, suggesting vaguely that the rest of the pieces would be found in your average kitchen. Then there was a lovely Thangka (art on cloth) depicting ‘Sidharth contesting to win his bird’. It was Sandeep who realised that Sidhartha was actually contesting for his bride – clearly a more important historical event than Buddha’s ornithogical/hunting interest.

After Hemis, we headed to Thikse. This was better maintained than Hemis. But we still had no clue how many avatars the Buddha had, or what was Guru Rinpoche’s role in the general scheme of things. Finally a monk in one of the rooms informed us that we were looking at a giant statue of the future Buddha – Maitreya.

The previous night’s excesses had upset Aswath’s gentle gastric systems and he decided to consult the in-house doc at Thikse, who turned out to be a practioner of traditional medicine. He took Aswath’s pulse and nodded his head gravely in the manner of Bollywood doctors announcing that the hero’s unwed sister was pregnant. He then prescribed a few pills. Despite our healthy sceptism of non-Western medicine, Aswath did get better.

The next stop was the old ruins of the Shey Palace. The Namgyal dynasty had ascended throne in the 16th century. Then around the 18th century they were deposed. The current generation of the erstwhile rulers, lived in the newer and more exciting Stok Palace. The guards at the Stok Palace opened various rooms containing royal jewellery. A group of Rajasthani men who were also visiting, immediately began to loudly proclaim that the jewellery in Rajasthan was much prettier and you had to come there to see what palaces looked like. Clearly, for some people, travel is a way of reaffirming that you already live in the best place in the world.

Stok Palace had a lovely café on one of the roofs. We ordered tea and muffins and sat down to enjoy the absolutely ravishing views.

Leh’s bright skies and brown mountains were really beginning to grow on us.

After the authentic repast of the past day, we decide to locate ‘Pumpernickel’ a much publicised German bakery. Leh is full of them. Unfortunately for us, after quite a search, we were told that Pumpernickel had shut down. Disappointed, we ate at Gesmo, which was not bad either.

Ladakh - The journey begins

The flight to Leh was at 5 a.m. I had instructed everybody to aim for seats on the left side of the flight, to get the best Himalayan views. So I was quite thrilled when we did get the seats. Of course, at this point, I did not realise I would fall into a deep slumber, disturbed only by the pilot announcing that we would be landing shortly. I managed to catch a few clouds floating over the desert and the barren mountains. Part of the reason for this somnolence was the night spent trying to sleep in the glaring lights of Delhi’s departure lounge. Such an early flight meant I would have to disturb the friends I was staying with at 2 a.m. to let me out and find me a cab. Given that they are sleep deprived parents of new born twins, the easier option was to just join the rest of the gang for a night stay at the airport.

The rest of the gang comprised unknown faces. Sachin and Priya are long-term friends and travel companions who did not know each other. Priya’s cousins, Sandeep and Aswath were introduced over a 3.40 a.m. tea at the airport. None of us looked too wakeful and I think my insane chatter in an effort to stay awake marked me down as a severe case of verbal diarrhoea. Luckily, Sandeep took over that mantle after the first couple of days.

We had all been warned about High Altitude Sickness upon landing in Leh and had been sincerely popping in Diamox. Exhaustion, sleeplessness and probably the altitude caught up with us and we slept for pretty much most of the day. It was evening, before we decided to plunge headlong into acclimisation by walking up to Shanthi Stupa, a Japanese funded construction perched on the top of 510 steps.

Wheezing like old women, all of us slowly made our way to the top. There were many unscheduled stops, apparently to admire the scenery, but mostly to catch our breath. Priya and I caught up on all the minute gossip we had missed sharing over phone, and the guys overhead parts of it while feigning utter disregard for such ‘useless information’.

Leh is not an easy place. One would expect that any place at an altitude of 14000 feet in the Himalayas would be green and pretty. Instead, as the world’s coldest desert (I think Mongolia is the only other one), it is stark, barren and quite sudden in the way its parched slopes fall away to endless gorges. The thin atmosphere ensures that the sun shines bright in the day, nearly burning you on good days. The 6 inches of annual rainfall means hardly any moisture in the air to keep the peaches and cream complexion glowing. We all knew that despite our huge supply of lotions and chapsticks we would look like dried prunes at the end of the stay.

Luckily the sun was coming down by the time we descended from our Stupa, and we sauntered through some of the main streets of Leh before dinner at the (very subtly named) Himalayan Restaurant.

Sandeep and Aswath could barely contain their excitement at the authentic local food in our menu. Fifteen minutes later our table was swamped with momos, cheese kothays and thupkas. Which was just as well, because once we stepped out of Leh, our food options became severely limited to Chowmein, fried rice and dal-chawal. Clearly the locals did not eat the authentic local food in other parts of Ladakh.

Ladakh - Fact Sheet

When to go – July and August have the best weather. Though they are also the peak tourist seasons and hence require flight and hotel bookings to be done atleast a month in advance.

How to get there – (a) fly to Leh (b) fly to Srinagar and travel by road to Leh (c) travel from Manali to Leh. This route was voted the best road journey in India by Outlook Traveller’s mag. We took option (a) and flew down (Note – sit on the left side of the plane for the best views)

Stay and travel – Get in touch with a travel agent who will fix up your itinerary, book your stay, fix your jeep and get your permits for places that require one. We used Plan Himalayas (good guys) run by Abdul Qayoom – 94198 15333

High Altitude Sickness – Yeah, it exists. We all took Diamox as per our travel agent’s reco. Then happily climbed Shanti Stupa on the evening we landed, travelled to a couple of monasteries the next day. On day 4, I had the mother of all headaches. More diamox and plenty of water helped solve the problem. Met several people who had to be given oxygen. Note – (a) take Diamox after consulting with your travel agent/doc (b) take rest on the first day and do some mild travelling on the next. High Altitude sickness does not dramatically hit you when you land. It creeps up on you unawares, usually in the first 36 hours. (c) drink plenty of water. I don’t know how it helps, but it really really helps.

Weather – is very strange. It was hot in the day for most part. It was cold enough in the night to wear thermals in some places. So – (a) carry long sleeved cotton clothes for the day. Keep a jacket handy in case the weather suddenly drops (b) carry woollens for the night (c) gather up all your sunscreen, chapsticks and moisturiser and then go out and buy somewhere (I finished a big jar of Nivea Crème in just ten days). It is really dry (d) pack your cap and sunglasses.

Other stuff to carry – (a) Money. Credit cards not popular. Saw only one ATM in Leh (b) bedsheets/sleeping bags - most places had quilts that definitely made me want to put another layer between me and it (c) mineral water. Usually available everywhere, but sometimes the road trips are long and you are so dehydrated your consumption goes up (d) food is not great in some places. Carry along ready – to – eat foods if you are very particular. In Tso Moriri and Tso Kar, food is served in the camps where you stay at ridiculously high prices (250 Rs for a meal of dal, rice, French fries and veggies). If you are on a budget, better to carry food along for these days (e) wet wipes – some places too cold to even wash your face (f) torch lights – most places switch off electricity in the nights (g) lots of music CDs if you are on a road trip (h) eye drops and nasal drops. Eyes tend to water if you remove your sunglasses. Noses get blocked because of the desert dust.

Random stuff to remember – (a) Take guides for monasteries. (b) non-veg food not too good. Only veg food available outside of Leh. (c) hand baggage not allowed in the return flight from Leh. Only cameras or women’s purses allowed.

What to do – We did a road trip since it was the first time for all of us. Treks are also recommended though walking in this altitude would require some acclimatisation. Broad categories of places to visit – (a) lakes – Tso Moriri is the most stunning of all. And has a stunning array of birds in and around it. Tso Kar is a stop over on the way to Leh from Tso Moriri. Pangong is however the most popular since part of it falls into Tibet and everyone loves to say that they saw China. (b) Monasteries – unless you have a good context of Buddhism, most of them are wasted trips without a guide. Hemis was a bit dilapidated but had a good museum (with some excellent bloopers – later on that). Thikse, Lamayaru all feel the same without a guide. Shey Palace was again dilapidated. Stok Palace is where the current generation of the deposed Royal family lives. Some interesting exhibits available. Very nice rooftop café there. Alchi was awesome even without a guide but do get one (c) valleys – we saw Nubra. Stunning place. Did not make it to Dah-Anu which is a cradle of Indo-Iranian faces (d) white water rafting and cycling - did not do these but plenty of opportunities available

To shop – usual touristy emporiums run by Kashmiris exist. Pashmina sweaters and shawls are famous and require some shopping around. Tons of Tibetan Refugee markets where you can pick up curios. I also liked the normal shops in Leh’s main market where the populace of Leh shops. Some decently priced smart sweaters and clothes available if you can fit into small clothes.

Recommended reads – Ok, I really did not read any books but wish I had read something on Tantric Buddhism. Carry literature on Ladakh birds. It is good fun to identify some of them. Bookshops in Leh have decent stock of books on Ladakh if you are particular.

Post holiday blues

Being back from a long and awesome holiday is the perfect recipe for getting post-holiday blues. It has been less than twenty four hours since I stepped back into Mumbai from the pristine mountains of Ladakh. I am already choking at the idea of going back to work, getting my house organised, sorting out my mail and reconnecting with the outside world.

Ah, what fun it is to have no clue if your government survived or not. And to find out two days later at a remote town called Tangste where the waiters kindly interrupt their watching of ‘KavyAnjali’ soap on Star Utsav to update us on national affairs.

Imagine bursting into spasms of laughter. Having to hold your stomach since your side is aching. And at what would be considered a silly joke in normal life.

Just hanging around in the middle of a cold desert while your driver patiently stalks a black necked crane for half an hour with your camera. And then comes back and sheepishly informs you that he forgot to put the camera in zoom mode. When you have nothing to do and nowhere to go, time really does not matter.

Stopping at roadside streams to wade through the icy cold water, running down steep sand dunes, drinking endless cups of tea, having bumpy rides on Bactrian camels, waking up at six every morning and not being cranky from lack of sleep, looking at the Tso Moriri lake and wondering exactly how nature managed to achieve that particular blue of the waters and the red of the barren mountains.

You wonder how your motley gang of five will get along, everyone not having met atleast one person in the gang before. Then things just fall into place and countless hours are spent in cracking wise remarks, berating each others taste in music, fighting about who will sit in the last seat at the back, swapping stories about life back home, getting tons of information on tea, cars, cameras and then suddenly bursting into spasms of laughter…

I love it when life temporarily presses a pause button and just lets you be. And sweetly throws you with a bunch of people, who for all their madness are just the type you wanted to be with.