LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT
Resolutions, I guess, are meant to be broken. But if there was one resolution I desperately want to keep, it was that of making an annual pilgrimage to Ladakh. It was love at first sight.
The flight into Leh, the capital of Ladakh, is an unforgettable experience - the great Himalayan, Zanskar, Ladakh and the Karakoram. This is the highest inhabited region in India and the River Indus with its tributaries, slice their way through the ranges.
Situated at almost 14,256 feet, Pangong Lake is the world’s highest saltwater lake. The lake itself is almost 150 km long with just one third of it in India, the other 100km extending into Tibet, (now belonging to China).
The 160 km journey from Leh to Pangong is an experience by itself. Here we came across what would be our highest pass in the entire journey – Chang La @ 17,800 feet
We were getting closer and closer to the Indo-China border and as a direct testimony to that fact we had to get through multiple check points and army posts. Every now and then, right out of the blue we’d come across endearing scenes of the army jawans playing cricket or going about their lives like they would on a regular sunny day. Believe you me, it was anything but! The cold was biting to say the least - and this was during the day, I shudder to think what the nights must be like. I must say I have a new found respect for our Army – for the first time I’m getting to see them up close and see what they have to go through in terms of sheer isolation, weather conditions etc – all of it just so ordinary citizens like me can lead ‘safe’ lives. Very humbling.
Even more endearing is that all of them were absolutely delighted to see some Indian faces- I’m guessing that’s a rare enough sight for them - and we ended making quite a few friends along the way.
On to the final stretch : The roads started getting from bad to worse to non-existing and judging by the traffic, we were the only ones headed in the direction of Pangong.
The first glimpse: Whenever there is an ocean nearby, I have a habit of looking out for that ‘first glimpse. I love doing that and the first flash of the lake did not disappoint. In the distance we saw what seemed to be a burst of blue and I knew we were going to come across something real special.
After what seems like an eternity on a journey to nowhere – you are face to face with the lake.
Again, like many things this marvelous region has to offer, this is definitely one of those things that you have to see for yourself to truly experience it.
It’s simply outstanding. By the time we reached the lake, it was late afternoon and the color was a deep shade of aquamarine. A color I’ve never seen on any lake. creating a magical mirror for the multi-colored mountains around. The water seems a deep blue close up; green from a little distance away and pure silver the further it is away from you. All the adjectives in the English language will still not do the place justice.
We drove all along the lake - literally up to the end of the Indian side. Beyond this point was no-man’s land and 25 km down the lake was Tibet! On a clear day, apparently you can look straight into the Chinese border post.
managed to get whatever shots we could with Then we spent a few more hours by the lake, and began our journey back to Leh.
In general, I’m trying to observe a policy of not coming back to a place if I have already seen it ( there is so much more to see in this world!), but I know Pangong is a place I’d love to come back to and spend more time here. I left the place feeling quite unsatiated at the same time, feeling incredibly lucky to have had an opportunity to visit a place so extraordinary.
On our way back there was land slide @ Changla pass. It was 9 .00 p.m. pitch dark & freezing . We were all stuck! Stuck at a height of 17,800 feet. Freaked, scared, numb that’s all we could feel!
Nearly after 2 hours, our driver got some help from the Indian Army. Most of us were in tears cause it was almost impossible to cross the landslide, valley to our right & a huge slab of the mountain which we had to cross. The army literally carried all of us on the other side . We safely reached the other side , now the question arises of how do we get out of here , out cars were on the other side & no damn network on anybody cell phones to call for a vehicle .I got a idea that why not 2-3 of us could walk a bit & we might get lucky ..Anyway waiting there we were just getting worried by each passing second. Voila 2 steps ahead & network .The driver called for a car which arrived @ 11.30, we finally got back to leh @ 3 in the morning.
Alchi, located 70 kilometres west of Leh, close to the Leh-Srinagar Highway, is the jewel among Central Ladakh’s religious sites, even though nobody regularly worships here. Nestling besides a bend in the Indus, it has an extraordinary wealth of ancient wall paintings and wood sculptures, preserved for over nine centuries inside five tiny mud-walled temples. The two oldest buildings in
The second largest town in Ladakh marks the mid point of the journey from Srinagar to Leh. Kargil was once at the cross roads of a network of trade routes that led to kashmir, Baltistan, Afghanistan, Central Asia and Tibet. We passed by the Vijaypath , that was a memorial constructed for our jawan who lost their lives in the Kargil war. You will not be able to control your tears! They have written the entire history & each of their names. It’s a huge piece of land & the LOC is located just 10 kms away. The army was so happy to see us. They said that nobody comes to see this & that they were grateful. I felt very hurt that how could anyone miss this site.
We bought a few souvenirs & left. When we left on of the jawans said with teary eyes that he remembered his family very much & that he missed them too much.
This was so touching, that I decided that I am never going to say a word against our Indian defense because they have left everything back for our safety, only for our safety !
To sum it up , I think this place is to die for , I can never forget the experience.We wree not a part of any tour , my dad planned it all by himself .It is not a regular deal to vist a place like this , it is risky but ITS ALL WORTH IT!
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