How I got Leh'd Part Two (7 August to 9 August 2014)

7th August: The day broke a bit late for us. The view from the room was astonishing. The far away snow clad mountains were inviting me for a trek... but...

My health was much better than yesterday so we freshened fast and left for site seeing.  We hired moped from another guy who had a shop right opposite our guest house.  Stanzin Tolden is a friendly young lad from a small village 80 km from Leh. We also asked Stanzin to arrange for a shared taxi to Pangong Tso next day. He let us the moped which already had a bit of fuel in it. Yet, we filled additional fuel worth Rs. 300. And sped fast to Spituk. On the way, we checked Hall of Fame, which is open till 7 PM every day.   

Spituk Gompa is said to be the traditional seat of HH Dalai Lama(s). So, I actually wanted to walk from Leh. We had to be careful with utilization of time hence chose to ride the moped. On our way, we saw a group of cyclists pedalling all the way to Spituk. (I was so jealous.)

After Spituk, we decided to head more towards west. On the way, an army officer stopped us. I was a bit tensed as my driving license was misplaced right before this trip and very shamelessly I had forgotten my PAN Card at the Hotel at Manali. They had stopped us to drink some “Abhishek” water. That rose flavored water-sherbet was much needed at that point of the day. Then, at the turn ahead the Army has put a hoarding of “Indus View”. The river looked brilliant from this point.

A few kilometres ahead of this is a gurudwara – Guru Pather Sahib. When we got there, it was well past lunch time but langhar was open as it always is. The officers of the Army Unit which takes care of this Gurudwara were everywhere.  After a long time, I was at a gurudwara. After praying, I headed towards the Langar Hall. They serve with so much respect that you can’t resist eating at a langhar.

It was early afternoon and we made our way to Hall of Fame. This museum – exhibition of achievements and gallantry of Army left me spell-bound. The stories of valour and heroism, the engineering miracles... Hats off to Indian Army. 

One wall post caught my attention and I was speechless. It was a post from October 2011; Indian Army had facilitated a Formula One car run at Khardung La, the highest Motorable Pass. OMG!!! They are fabulous, best in the world perhaps.  Another Army Unit is Border Roads Organization (BRO) ,  they call themselves “Mountain Tamers”. Trust me, they are “THE Mountain Tamers”. They had won a fan for themselves way back in July 2009, this time the fan became a die hard one.  

Post this, we returned to Leh. Praj was a bit tired, so she decided to head back to the guesthouse and after dropping her I decided to ride towards East.  First I rode to Thiksey Gompa. The Thiksey Monastery houses a Maitreya Statue of 12 meters height.  The serenity at Thiksey Gompa helped me gain control of myself again. (It was about time.) After seeing other halls, finally I went to see the Maitreya. The beauty of this statue is beyond words. 

From Thiksey, I went to Shey Palace and Monastery. Once upon a time, Shey was a royal home. Now, it houses only the Buddha Statue which is like 3 storeys high.  There isn’t  much to see here. I wanted to see the palace, but there were only ruins.

I climbed a bit but when I saw the mountain top still far away, I settled for what I had achieved so far.

Shanti Stupa 

When I returned, Praj was waiting for me. As advised by Stanzin, we went to Shanti Stupa in evening. The glitter sparkling all over Leh reminded me of my first sight of Simla city. It was probably not the right time, but I missed my dad.

When we were returning the bike, Stanzin informed us that he had arranged for the shared taxi the next day. So, that was great news for a heavenly evening.  We also requested him to get us shared taxis to Nubra Valley and Tso Moriri as well. We informed him, we wanted to go rafting as well. Again the dinner time at Woodland. (We rarely ate at any other place.)   

We were damn excited for next day... We were going to Pangong Tso.   

8th August: The day began too early for a late riser in me. We got into Innova and went ahead in city, first one to be picked up was Heiko, a German fellow. Later, it was Rohith from Varangal and Lalit Banglore. So a troop of 5 set for a drive to Pangong. Our driver, Zulfi was also a cute young boy.

At Karu, we took our first break for tea & breakfast. Aloo paratha served with Rajma and curd was something perfect on a morning like this. Now on our way to Pangong, we drove past Serthy, where BRO houses their oldest office.

Now, I was feeling something... Oops... I forgot my motion sickness tablet... So it was clear that entire day I am going to be in bad shape. “Sorry guys” is all I could think of...  

Soon we were at Chang La.  This pass is also well above than 5000 mtrs.  Me and Praj were discussing about Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS)...  Was it AMS or was it Motion Sickness... I don’t know... But whatever it was, it was killing my joy...

Rohith, Lalit and Prajakta tried their hand at DJing on the way. They also roped in Heiko in playing songs from his cell.

Few kilometres away we were near Pangong Tso. The first glimpse of this lake was like a trailer of a box office hit movie. We were on the road that runs on the bank of this lake. I almost begged to Zulfibhai,

“Please please let me drive. May be just for a kilometre, but please let me drive.” 

And... He actually stopped the car at a point, turned to me and asked,” Are you sure you want to drive?” What else I could have asked for on that day.  I got my first ever chance to drive in the Himalayas. I was so happy, so proud... The mighty Himalayas said they have accepted me as theirs... This was THE DAY of my life. It is like my life has changed forever. I belong somewhere... I belong to the Himalayas. I belong to someone... ... I belong to the Himalayas.

Now, we were at the bank of the Pangong Tso. This lake is like mini high altitude sea. We drove further, and now the shooting point.  Finally, we are near the water. It was so peaceful, perhaps it was the effect of yesterday’s visit to Thiksey. I felt so calm, at a moment I was scared to handle my inner peace.

All of us had some special photo sessions. Time flew fast. In a blink, it was lunch time.  We went to a nearby shack and had food. It was probably best cup of coffee I ever had.  Rohith also tried his hand at driving in Himalayas on our way to the shack.

Zulfibhai is one skilled driver, I must say. He drove with so much care yet with good speed. Soon we were back in Leh. Once at Stanzin’s office, we inquired if five of us could do go rafting next day.  He was arranging for Nubra Valley for Praj and me.  We requested if we could back out. It was a bad thing yet  we requested.  Praj told me that if he is unable to manage, we will have to go to Nubra valley. I was ok with this as I sincerely did not want any bad business name for this kind guy.

At 8:30, the dinner table at Woodlands (Yes, again at Woodlands), my phone rang... Seeing Stanzin’s number, I was nervous. It was like my school results were being declared. I answered and without any games he informed I have managed the thing and you can go rafting the next day. (Seriously, this was my day.)

Post dinner, we all retired to our respective guest houses. I was so excited for next day’s rafting trip that I even dreamt about it.

9th August: It was a happy morning for this late riser. We got into the bus, I already had taken my motion sickness tablet. I was a bit dizzy, but since the Himalayas had accepted me just previous day, it was a good drive.

We drove past the Gurudwara, then the magnetic hill, then the confluence of Zanskar and Indus at Nimmu.  Now, the Zanskar river on our left side. That patch of river which we would be rafting. Rohith had his eyes fixed on the river. I was still dizzy.

Then, some 2 hours later we reached Chilling. Changed into wetsuits and attended the briefing by our instructor. There was a elderly French couple, the man kept translating the instructions for his lady. The love of this couple was very touching.  All you need is perhaps the hand to hold when you are old.

So the rafts were allotted, we were given a separate raft. Rafting through Zanskar, a high altitude Himalayan river itself is an achievement. Again the peace... Like I am finding pieces of my heart and joining them back... Like nothing ever happened. 

At places the river flows with such a pace that you think you are going to fall out of raft. At times, the flow is so peaceful that you can view the banks, the road on the banks... There weren’t marbles but for a split second I felt I was at Bedaghat on a coracle ride. This lasted for 25 kms, we were rafting for some 4 hours before we got to the confluence.

Now, the Indus River. Rafting in Indus was a herculean task. The River has a slow pace, winds were flowing in reverse direction. We could see our camp nearby yet   it took long 30 minutes for us to raft there.

Once at camp, we changed, and had some real good food. On our way back, the bus was quiet as almost everyone was really tired. But at Magnetic hill, I requested our driver to stop for few minutes. I got couple of snaps and we were back on our way to Leh.

Five of us decided to have a dinner, for a change at some different place. This restaurant was chosen by Rohith and Lalit.

On the way, Praj looked for some T-shirts. And I was still excited cause we were going to Nubra valley the next day.  The camel with two hunches (Bactrian Camel) kept chasing a Formula One car in the Sand at Khardung La  all night.