Ladakh

My friend Venky's awesome account on his trip to Manali, Ladakh etc

It’s 7 in the morning. My last day of travel back to Bombay. It has been over a month since I left the place. Originally planned a 15 day trip, but as my mind would have it became a 1 month adventure. To sum up the trip, it was a month of meeting new people, making great friends, experiencing unbelievable landscapes, doing a fair bit of photography (something I had never done before), all giving me immense happiness and highs of all kinds. I had been thinking of this trip for a while now. Either I didn’t have the money or the time or a lot of times the inclination to make the move. I guess I’m an impulsive guy and the term “planning” seems scary and rarely works.

Delhi

So I finally set out by Rajdhani and reached Delhi. The AC in the train gave me no idea of what I was going to face at Delhi station. “HEAT” I had never ever faced in my life, coming from Bombay, which is not a cool place by any standard. Delhi was like an oven waiting to be cooled down by expected rain which never happened in my 2 days there. Meeting my friend Nattu is always great. We went out for dinner and must say, food rocks in Delhi, especially the Rogan Josh, Mutton Masala and Butter Chicken that I had there. You can’t get that taste in Bombay.

So all set, my friend dropped me to the bus stand and I took the local bus to Manali as the deluxe would only leave 4 hours later. It was a slightly cramped bus with leg space being a luxury. But I was quite alright with it since I was fresh into my trip. Met this guy from Bilaspur in the bus and had a couple of beers with him. He invited me to his place, but I didn’t want to break my journey.

Entry to Manali (the dream starts)

It was 6.30 AM, the bus stopped at this place called Mandi. I had taken a short nap and woke up at this place. It was like waking up to a dream. The cemented structures I saw till now were all replaced by lovely colorful wooden structures. The green hills were laced with designer clouds, coming from the extreme heat all the way, this was bliss. The drive from Mandi to Manali was breathtaking to say the least. It was something I had never seen or experienced before. The mountains, cloud shapes, the waterfalls, the river running parallel to the road all through, it was like entering heaven from hell (Delhi). This was the entry to the endless heaven I was to experience for the next month and a half. The land scape was mindboggling with the cold fresh air, the pine trees on mountains, small connecting bridges…beautiful. This lovely stretch of 3 hours converged at Manali bus stand. From there I took a rick to old Manali and found this beautiful guest house with a balcony and a view with hills on all sides.

Old Manali

I felt like a tourist in some part of Israel. Felt a little strange there initially as I saw no Indian tourists there. Got into this guest house called Karan cottage which had a great view. I had initially planned to stay there for 2-4 days and then head to Leh but the place grew on me and I ended up staying there for 14 days. This place was also the start of the many good friends I made all along the trip. There were 2 French guys in the same guest house I hung around with. They had some great music on their Ipod. I met this girl, guitar player, singer with whom I shared a very special friendship. The time spent with her was incredible to say the least. Manali was a chill out zone for me. On some days I used to go to restaurant, have different kinds of tea and play chess with some guys from Israel for hours together.

Did a bit of travel. Went to this place called Rohtang pass which was my first experience with snow. I had to share a guide there with a Punjabi couple who were on their honeymoon. Their camera stopped working and I became their photographer for the day. Later in the night, when I was on bed in my room suddenly I felt the height of Rohtang. I was also amused with myself thinking about the enthusiasm with which I was clicking photographs for the honeymoon couple. I couldn’t believe it.

Days passed by in Manali, chilling, listening to music, jammimg up with this pal of mine. I heard some of the most amazing bird sounds ever. Some lovely singing birds as well. After 14 days there, I decided to head to Leh for an experience that would have a long lasting effect.

So I had to catch the bus to Leh at 6.00 in the morning. I woke up only at 6, it was 6.30 by the time I could reach the bus stand. Obviously the bus had already left. So I took a rick in the hope that I would catch up with it ahead. We almost reached a point beyond which ricks weren’t allowed. We spotted the bus moving about 60 metres higher than where we were. This was when the rick driver pulled out his weapon, “The Whistle”, rather the more apt word “Seeti”. It was the loudest and most effective sound I heard for a while. The bus driver looked down, saw us and stopped immediately. So, after about 45 mins and Rs.200/- I got the bus.

Drive to Leh

The drive from Manali to Leh was breathtaking. It is a very important part of the whole Leh experience. As the bus moves away from Manali, green pine tree covered mountains are slowly replaced by barren ones. I had never imagined barren could be so beautiful. Magenta, red, green colored mountains, purple stones on some of them…unbelievable. It is a 2 day trip. The bus stopped at this place called Sarchu in the night. So, you crash in tents and continue the journey the next day.

It is an amazing place. Actually, I am going to fall short of adjectives to define Ladakh. Sarchu at night feels like the moon. I had never seen stars, so full of them, shooting stars ever before. It is what you call a really starry cold night. And Sarchu the next morning was even more unbelievable. It is the best morning I have ever seen, I don’t know whether I will ever see. The landscape was something else.

The journey continued the next day. You go through the Taglangla pass which is the second highest motorable road in the world 17,582 feet. But you don’t really feel the height as such because the overall landscape is so wide as well. The journey continued with anything and everything hitting me with its beauty. One of the unbelievable of the unbelievable sights was this lake which had a color of its own and had these purple stones in some parts under the water. So, the water looked purple in some sections. I was getting psyched.

I stopped clicking photos after a point because anything and everything was so beautiful. You could go on and on and on…I decided, I should just sit back and enjoy the beauty but ya, some sights were too good to resist, so I got very very selective with my photography.

After 2 days of experiencing exhilarating beauty the bus reached Leh. I was not tired one bit. The beauty all through the journey kept me really fresh. Of course, during the journey there were people in the bus suffering from altitude sickness. Two girls from China came all the way up to Sarchu and took the first cab they found and went back to Manali after one day of traveling. They just couldn’t handle the altitude.

Ladakh - The Natural Wonder

The drive made me believe that Ladakh is a natural wonder. Something so beautiful, I think it’s a gift to mankind. I reached this place called Changspa with some friends I made in the bus, a Spanish couple especially were the best of friends I made in the whole trip. Checked out various guesthouses and finally got one. As I was walking I could see these mighty barren hills in the background showing their enormity, giving me a feeling of nothingness. Amazing…

Pangong Lake

It really is very difficult to write or talk about certain experiences, feelings one experiences, happiness, can these things be moulded into words. I don’t know. Maybe I am not good at it. Ecstacy, Shock, Happiness, Elevation, Excitement are some of the words I can think of when Pangong lake comes into the picture. I was looking at sharing the jeep for Pangong. It was getting a little difficult because the vehicles were already booked for days and that is the only way to get there. I must say, I have been very lucky all through the trip. Somehow, always met lovely people and at the right time as well, as in this case I almost thought I wouldn’t make it to the lake as I couldn’t get a jeep for almost 4 days. Then, one day I went to one of the travel offices and there was this group of 11 Israelis and one Austrian who were also planning to go there. So, they offered me to join them and I was like, yes. The Austrian was especially more than happy as he finally had someone speak in English all the time rather than just listen to Hebrew and not really understand it.

So, we set off one morning in 2 jeeps to Pangong Lake. It is a 4 hour drive from Leh. I must say I was with a lovely bunch of people, really sweet and accommodating. The first sight of the lake was Wow! I t was a lovely blue colored lake with mountains on all sides. So,we had to find a place to put up the tents. You have to pay the villagers some money for that. Bargaining is a part of the whole process. Then wood had to be arranged for fire. You are not supposed to pick up wood yourself; you have to buy it from the villagers.

So, you bargain again and settle at a price, finally with the required shopping done, we were all tired by then, but the main work of putting up tents, cooking food had to be done. We found a place close to the lake. So, while men put up tents, women took care of cooking food. We got some great news there. These were small tents. Each tent was for 2 persons. Since there was 12 of us, we were to have six of them. We were given 2 and the rest was supposed to come in another jeep which never turned up and we were to stay there overnight. So, six people in a tent meant for two!!! Well, that was quite a tough thought to digest, but the practicality of it was to hit us later.

So, we put up the 2 tents and the women cooked some great spaghetti and stuff. This was my first experience of not living in a guesthouse. It was hard work, but great fun. I learnt a lot from it. And the whole day’s work and chaos fizzled down to this one beautiful evening, I wouldn’t forget for the rest of my life.

The lake is surrounded by mountains all around. The ones behind are all snow capped and the ones in front are the barren ones. The evening color in the sky was going berserk with Senile cloud shapes. Each mountain had a different sky color above it, thus making itself glow in a different shade. This was a wide palette of colors, mountains, cloud shapes, the blue lake, etc etc. I must say sitting down all alone in front of the lake, clicking some pictures and just enjoying the beauty, getting absorbed in it made me wonder about this natural marvel. I t was a different planet and I was in a different plane. I can very much relate this feeling to a line from one of Sting’s songs that goes “My insanity scans the horizon in the land of the darkening sky”. Immense Happiness is what I felt inside. I don’t think I have ever been that “Happy” in life. I do get quite emotional when I talk of Pangong because the joy it gave me was something else. I don’t think I can explain anything further. It is difficult to talk about it. The place is beyond words or photographs. It is a spiritual experience…

By late evening, the wind started going mad, so we had a tough time managing the tents. The wood we bought had to be used to hold them it was freezing and also raining. So, we had to get into the tent. There we were six of us in each of them. Initially it was fun but as time went by it got really uncomfortable. Couldn’t go out either as it was raining and freezing. So we decided there was no point in trying to sleep with one person’s hand on another’s head, somebody else’s leg on my head and all that. So we played the guitar through the night which kind of eased things a bit. Then at 4 in the morning after it stopped raining, we lit the wood outside. Finally we could stretch our bodies. And then towards sunrise we got engrossed in some natural beauty. Then towards the afternoon, the next day suddenly around 30-40 horses came with their herdsman who wore very interesting outfits galloping on the banks of the lake next to our tents. It was like a movie shot. The whole scene looked like a film Beauuuutiful… We left the place a little later and got back to Leh. All in all it was the experience in the whole trip.

Leh

I also went for a bike ride with some friends in Leh. Once we saw some monks play football. So we stopped by and joined them. It was fun. It was also tough playing the game at that height, considering I have no physical activity in Bombay anyway. These are the lovely little things you always take back and the thought of it puts a smile on my face. Feels good…Also met this excellent flamenco guitar player I jammed with. That was fun. It was a nice combination of his flying speed and my harmony and blues approach. He wanted me to stay back and do some gigs with him in Leh but I had to move on. I had already extended my stay there.

Leh to Dharmshala (McLeod Ganj)

After spending 12 good days in Ladakh, it was time to start finding my way back to Bombay. Of course there was one final stop left. I planned to go to Dharmshala (McLeod Ganj).I had to catch the jeep to Manali at 2 in the morning. I hadn’t booked a cab to the jeepstand. So, I walked from my guesthouse with my backpack,guitar for 45 minutes. It was raining, there was no electricity, I didn’t have a torch, I could see nothing. I almost lost my way in the dark. The walk was eerie to say the least which is what made it exciting.

The jeep started at 2.00 AM only to stop at 3.00 AM for 7 hours as the road was blocked due to landslides caused by rain. It was a tough journey back to Manali, as I got the back seat in the jeep. The road was very bumpy and my ass was bearing the brunt of it. As the jeep entered Manali, the barren mountains were slowly getting replaced by green pine trees. After a 36 hour bump ride, the jeep finally reached Manali at 4.00 in the evening. I wanted to move straight to McLeod Ganj, so I took the bus to Macloid in an hours time. So after a 36 hr journey from Leh, it was time to travel another 12 hrs by bus. The drive was beautiful. It was in a way, nice to get back to greenery, the flowing river running parallel to the road, lush mountains in the background and the hilly road ahead. After almost 2 and a half days of tough travel from Leh, this was a nice soother of sorts.

Dharmshala (McLeod Ganj)

Reached Macloid Ganj at 4 in the morning. Met this English guy in the bus who knew the place. So we went to this village called Baksu, 2 kms up and stayed in a guesthouse on the hill. Got drunk one evening and god knows how we trekked back to the room. Had another session the next day with him and the locals with some, rather lots and lots of local wine. That was fun and the best part about the wine was that there was no hangover the next day.

There was one funny incident when we reached Baksu. It was raining, there was no electricity, could see nothing without a torch and we had to find the guesthouse. There was a Danish couple we met there who were also looking for a room. So, they joined us in the hunt. The Danish guy was weird. He kept insisting that we switch off the torch and get used to natural light. “NATURAL LIGHT”!!!???? I don’t know what he was on. He then called his girlfriend and told us she had great eyesight in the dark and that she would help us find a guesthouse. Poor girl, she kept tripping every now and then and had to invariably end up using the torch.

I stayed 4 days in Baksu. It was lovely and has a vibe of its own.. But must say after Leh, natural beauty has its own meaning. It tends to nullify the beauty of any other place. Of course every place is different and u need time to stay a few days to actually get the feel and culture of the place.

This was my last stop in a little more than a month long trip after which I took a bus to Delhi and then got to Bombay. It took me a while to get back in the grove. Of course I was to leave in 10 days for a friends wedding, so I decided, now that I am in travel mode, I would do a trip to South India as well. All in all a fantastic experience. A trip where I made great friends from all around the world and experienced natural beauty. The walk from the guesthouse in Leh to the jeep stand, trekking back high to the room in Baksu were edgy, thus memorable experiences. I almost felt like a different person at times. I was interacting a lot more, lot of energy bustling, unlike what I am or was in Bombay. I hope to carry this mode forward here in my everyday life.

Based on my experiences, there are a few important things I realized:

a) There is no point in trying to cover too many places in a short span of time.

b) To enjoy any place, you need to stay for a few days, coz the place grows on you, and you get into the culture of the place, meet interesting people.

c) Traveling alone is an experience by itself. It is totally different from traveling with friends. You tend to observe a lot more, interact with people a lot more, make new friends, and travel with them as well. You have the choice to remain in your own space or hang around with people, something you don’t really have when you travel with friends from your hometown. Basically, too much familiarity. Though I set off alone from Bombay, I wasn’t really alone. I had the company of interesting people all through.

d) Be as open about a place. I think I learnt a lot and enjoyed each place by finding things my own way. Books like the lonely planet are great guides but don’t swear by it so much that you stop finding things for yourself. It is the unexpected I experienced that would last in my memory more than the expected. That is the thrill of traveling.

Photos

Venky on Orkut

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