Sparkling Jewel of Ladakh

There’s one more special place I would like to share with you. I call this place the sparkling jewel of Ladakh.

But first, let me set the scene.

It was cold. Mainly because we woke up to leave for Pangong Lake at 6am. It was also dark at first, but the journey ahead was long so we all agreed it was good to set off early.

The roads were winding and bumpy. We had to ascend to Changla Pass and get to the other side of it. Thereafter, it was miles and miles of brown, semi-frozen landscape. All in all, the journey wasn’t as comfortable as we expected it to be because of the cold-bumpy combination. The journey would take about 5 hours, the driver had said, so we braced ourselves to tahan (Malay word meaning to endure) for that duration.

After what seemed like eternity, the driver stopped the car and pointed into the distance. There, peeking out between two mountain slopes, was a little triangle of bright blue, like a piece of sapphire glimmering against the dull dry stony grey-brown land. A signboard informed us that this sighting was ‘The first view of Pangong Lake’. I felt that way you feel when you sense a glimmer of hope in a dire situation.

Pangong Lake came into full view shortly. It was mesmerising. We had wondered to ourselves whether the lake would be frozen as it was situated at about 14,000 feet above sea level. Plus, we had already witnessed frozen streams and ponds along the way.

Thankfully, only the edges of the lake were frozen, and it was for the most part still it’s beautiful blue self.

Photo credit: Juxxtapose

It was still cold but we were excited enough to be distracted from that now. The place was almost secluded, save a restaurant that was still open. I think the guesthouse there was already closed for the winter. This meant we had the place to ourselves. We took a ton of photos, skipped rocks over the surface of the lake, spied on where Tibet was on the opposite end of the lake, and basically felt comfortable being our silly selves.

If you get too engrossed in the beauty of it all, you might think you were in New Zealand. Until you see these colourful flags –  a little reminder of where you actually are.

Photo credit: Juxxtapose

The driver pointed Tibet out for us – the furthest, bluest mountain in the picture below. The waters, as you can see, were crystal clear, possibly the clearest, most sparkling I’ve seen.

Photo credit: Juxxtapose

When we finally dragged ourselves away and returned to the car, we saw that a few cars had arrived. Our early arrival had meant that we missed even the little crowd that would be there during this off-peak season. Was it worth the early start, the extra cold because of the early start, and the long journey? I asked the hubs on our way back. Yes, he said. I agreed.

The Highs and Lows of the Silk Route

If you haven’t read about how we stumbled upon this fall/winter experience, you’ve gotta read that first.

Read it? Good. Now you know how we got here and I can tell you about what we did next.

The third thing we learnt about Leh and the Ladakh region was that the people there are extremely friendly and hospitable. The hotel staff told us to call the reception anytime around the clock for help upon learning that we were feeling a bit unwell from the high altitude. He even followed up the next day asking how we were. After being fully and comfortably acclimatised, we were ready to head for higher ground.

Our plan was to stay a night in Nubra Valley. To get there, we would have to drive through the mountains, over a pass called the Khardungla pass, widely touted as the highest motorable road in the world. As we traveled along, the landscape changed from wide sandy plains to rocky slopes, then little pockets of snow started appearing amongst the rocks. Soon, snow filled almost every available bit of ground on both sides of the car.

Photo credit: Juxxtapose

When we reached the lofty 18,380 feet, we stopped for photos and a toilet break. The moment I stepped out of the car, an icy breeze hit me, I knew I definitely needed the toilet break. Like, now. So we headed straight for the toilets. Parts of the road had become frozen to ice, and so in a bid to avoid slipping, I chose to step on the part with snow instead… and that’s how my feet ended up in a 20 cm deep layer of snow (I’ve never wanted to pee more). The toilets were less toilets and more row of cubicle huts with holes in the grounds and open windows overlooking the grand snowscape. I would have enjoyed the view more if I weren’t so cold and slowly losing feeling in my feet.

By the time we walked back, I felt like I was walking on two blocks of ice. So I quickly warmed them up a little in the car before we continued taking in the sights. From the other end of the road, towards the direction we were heading, the range of snow-capped mountains seemed to go on and on…

Photo credit: Juxxtapose

I’ve read that in the peak season, it would be crowded here in Khardungla pass, with many rushing to squeeze in a picture with the sign and the views. But as we later found out, the road to Nubra Valley would be closed for winter in 2 days, so we were really traveling during as off-peak a season as it could. The road closes in November and only opens again in June, when the throngs of tourists would be back for the summer.

Next was the long windy descent to Nubra Valley which sits at 10,000 feet, lower than Leh itself. We breathed easy and I felt relieved. We stopped at a guesthouse to drop our overnight bags and grab some hot black tea (which seems like a staple here). Most guesthouses were closed for the year, in fact, we were the only ones staying over that day. The kind owner apologised for the lack of heating and running water because of the time of the year. According to him, further along the year, they would themselves have to get their water supply from a communal well.

Our day wasn’t even close to being over. Next we sped over to the sand dunes just beyond Diskit (the town we were at) to catch a glimpse of the Bactrian camels. These camels were born to habitat harsh desert-like conditions with extreme temperatures of -40 to 40 degrees celsius. They were also used for transport along the ancient Silk Route, which used to run in part, along Nubra Valley.

Photo credit: Juxxtapose

Okay, we did more than catch a glimpse. How could we resist? They looked absolutely adorable and the space between their humps looked like a rather comfy spot. To top it all off, the backdrop looked amazingly surreal. It was like we were riding into a painting.

Photo credit: Juxxtapose

Cheeky, camera-ready camel lounging in the cool weather with his friends. Rides were going at Rs200 per person – very worth it, in fact, it is cheap for the experience. Never thought I would ride a camel twice in a single month. This experience trumps the other, hands down.

Still reeling from the camel experience, we had lunch and ascended to Diskit Monastery for a visit. This might be my favourite monastery visit. For one, the views of Nubra Valley from the monastery were spectacular.

Photo credit: Juxxtapose

You can see the valley stretching out into the horizon. Even if you aren’t into monasteries, this place makes the books just based on its views. The monastery itself felt like a quaint village in itself, with narrow cobbled alleyways and steep steps. It was quiet (probably because it’s off-peak for tourists) and a perfect place for meditation. If I ever wanted to be alone and feel at one with nature and quiet, this would definitely be the place.

Photo credit: Juxxtapose

We stayed the night and drove back to same way to Leh the next morning. But along with us came beautiful memories of the place. I would recommend Nubra Valley to anyone planning a trip to India. For sure.

Our Accidental Fall/Winter Encounter

I don’t know why it did not occur to us that Leh and its environs would be dressed in its autumn best, on the verge of winter. I checked the weather forecast, both on my iPhone’s weather app and through a brief google search. It said highest 18 degrees celcius, lowest 8, or something like that. And somehow, that didn’t sound so cold… right? Thankfully, being the tropical creatures we are, we packed excessive layers in case we felt too cold. And I’m glad we did.

The first thing we learnt about Leh is that the weather forecast doesn’t seem accurate. The day before we flew there, we checked the temperature again on iOS and google, and it said 26 degree celsius. Right, I’m sure it is.

I took a snapshot of it to prove how crazy the weather app looked. 28 degrees and then 13 in the next?

That being said, as we flew over the Himalayas and we saw the snow-capped peaks, I don’t know why it never occurred to us that we would encounter snow in the Himalayas which incidentally also boasts the highest mountain in the world!!  When we saw the snow, which was beautiful by the way, and heard the captain announce a ground temperature of 2 degrees celsius at 10 in the morning, we got worried.

Photo credit: Juxxtapose

The next thing we quickly learnt, was that there was no cell service for the India Vodafone pre-paid SIM cards that we were using. Only the hubs’ work phone, serviced by Aircel received mobile coverage in Leh, albeit still no 3G network. Upon further research while huddled in an internet cafe, we found out that mobile network was only available for BSNL and Aircel post-paid cards.

Our first day in Leh itself was an acclimatisation day. Due to its altitude of 11,500 ft, all vistors are advised to allocate at least 24 hrs at the same altitude doing light activities. A few hours after we arrived, we felt the onset of migrain-like headaches and waves of nausea. We were also ‘acclimatising’ to the cold especially since the heater in our room wasn’t working well. When we got tired and decided to sleep a little, we kept waking up feeling like we were gasping for air. I remember wondering how we were going to survive the next 5 days. True story.

Thankfully, things got way better the next day. We had sightseeing planned at places at roughly the same altitude. We saw the point where the great Indus river and the Zanskar river came together. No white water rafting though, because it was too cold.

Photo credit: Juxxtapose

Shivering and perching at the edge of the mountain road, I looked out and listened hard. Nothing. Utter silence. I make it sound like it’s a bad thing. But the near-deafening silence made me feel like everything was at peace and that everything was okay. It is this feel of seclusion that probably makes the place attractive to many who want to escape the hustle and bustle of modern life. And it is probably also the best kind of place you would want to isolate yourself for meditation. Which leads me to our visit to our first monastery – Alchi Monastery.

Photo credit: Juxxtapose

Trees proudly showed off their brilliant yellow and orange hues. We followed an old monk with a bunch of keys around the compound while he unlocked the doors of each temple in turn for us to have a look around.

Photo credit: Juxxtapose

No photos were allowed in the temples so I will try my best to do them justice with my words. The temples varied in sizes. The largest one consisted of a larger area upon entry and smaller rooms with statues of Buddha in the them. Like the smaller ones with only a statue in the middle of the room, its stone walls were covered from ceiling to floor with old paintings of Buddha and depiction of stories of good versus evil. It was unlike anything I’ve seen so far in my travels. Not even in Singapore where we have Buddhist temples.

The entire place overlooked the mountain range and its tranquility was of the kind that would be near-impossible to find in the city. Even as I close my eyes to listen now, I can hear the soft humming of generators, the occasional honks of vehicles, and my neighbours moving about in their apartments. This realisation convinces me of the charm the Ladakh region has that continually draws herds of visitors every summer.

To be continued…