LEH TRIP

Day 1–

Started from home at 5.45pm. Flight 301 to Delhi started at 7.00pm. Reached Delhi at 9.50am and using Domestic transfer route did the security check. There was a big line for security check and the process is painfully slow and only one counter was open while more than hundred people standing in line for security check. Huge chaos there but finally managed to do it in about 15 minutes. The next flight 603 to Srinagar at 10.00am from Gate 45 and it is a long distance from security check area. After reaching Boarding gate realized that we have left our camera bag in the security area. Requested Jet Airways senior person to help. He made my wife and son wait at the gate and telling me to rush to security area to get the bag and promised that he will ensure that we board the flight after getting the bag. Ran like PT Usha to security and the CRPF people were really helpful. Finally managed to get the bag and ran back to Gate 45 to broad the flight. Reached Srinagar at 11.30am. Before landing we could see the snow clad mountains on both sides.
Srinagar provided a beautiful view from top. Our driver Mr. Rashid was waiting in the exit gate to receive us. We drove to University to meet our old friend Prof. Shafi. The drive to University took about one hour. The road has been bad in the city and most local commercial vehicles plying in the city produced more pollution and smoke. Met Prof. Shafi and he invited us to the University canteen to have some kebabs and tea. It was very tasty and we enjoyed the food. After spending about one hour with Prof. Shafi, we started to drive towards Sonmarg. From Srinagar we drove towards Ganderbal to move towards Sonmarg. From Ganderbal, river Sind with very clean water was flowing from glaciers the river flows along the Leh Highway. On our way stopped for buying dry fruits in Kangan village and allowed our driver to have food. Good quality Kesar was not available.
Reached our Hotel CZara on Leh Highway before Sonmarg at about 4.30pm. The hotel is a small unit located in front of river Sind. The sound of glowing water can be heard from the room and from our room we can see the snow capped mountains and the stream flowing out from the glaciers and falling on Sind River. The view from the room was fantastic. The hotel is located in a secluded place far away from Sonmarg town. Totally peaceful. Phones were working. Vodafone had inter change service with Aircel and phones were working. Hotel is owned by a German national who has constructed the hotel on a land given by a local person who works in the hotel. The German lady has not visited the place after the hotel was constructed. She has really chosen a good place. Had tea. In the evening it started drizzling and suddenly temperature dropped and became very cold. Electricity was available at 6.00pm. Dinner was simple, egg curry and roti. Retired at 9.00pm. No electricity from 10.00pm to 5.00pm

Day 2–

Got up early at about 5.00am and took few snaps as the previous day’s rain has cleared the sky and mountains with snow covered peaks around the hotel were clearly visible. Morning was very beautiful with birds chirping in the trees around the hotel. Sound of Flowing water in the River was having a calming effect on mind. Our second floor room 205 provided perfect setting for the river and mountain view. Hot water was not available in the room. Looked for the boys to get some hot water for taking bath and preparing for our trip to Kargil. We started from hotel after having light breakfast and reached Sonmarg town at about 8.39am. We were informed that the vehicles are only allowed to come from Kargil side and Sonmarg side vehicles will be allowed to go towards Kargil after 12noon.
We had some tea in Narinder Punjab Dhaba in front of Taxi stand and enquired about a trip to Thajawas glaciers. We had to hire a taxi for 800 bucks to reach the place from where we have to take a horse ride to reach the foothill of glaciers and river bed. The views were stunning as the clear sky made the mountain peaks really awesome. Tall pine trees at the foothill and river bed made a stunning sight all around. We hired three horses – Bahadur, Raja and Chhanu by paying Rs.1500 to take us to the glacier area. The horses were well trained to take tourists near the glaciers. After reaching snow area, we hired three sledges for Rs.2500 to take us uphill on snow. It was an amazing experience to ride the sledge. Had a gala of a time. We were only tourists at that time. After finishing our sledge ride, we took back the horses to the taxi point and riding back to the Taxi stand. It was almost 11.30am. The views at Sonmarg is something you do not get in other places. The small place is surrounded by snow capped mountains and lot of pine trees. At about 12noon, vehicles were allowed to move towards Kargil. The road journey provided one of the most fascinating sights with changing landscapes. On our way, the traffic stopped at many places by army movement as well as by local traffic police. Very inefficient management and made the journey to test your patience.
The nature provided astonishing views from both sides. Batalik from top looked fabulous – located on river bed and surrounded by greenery of tall pine trees growing on the banks of the flowing river Sindhu and tall mountain range with their snow tops. Natalie is the place from where the Amarnath Yatra helicopter service starts. At many places on our way we could see army barracks and armed personnel guarding the area. We entered Zojjila pass at about 2.00pm. The pass is the most difficult road with flowing water from melting glaciers in most places and making the movement really slow. Road condition is not very safe to travel as the road is not yet stable after opening in May second week. It seems the road would be better after July when most glaciers melt. In many places we have to pass through road cut out of 40 feet snow on both sides. The pass took us about 1.5hours to cross. We saw the Zero point which is a good tourist attraction. It is like Rotang Pass near Manali.
We saw good number of tourists enjoying in the snow and riding sledges. We moved on and reached the entry point for Ladakh Autonomous Region where we have to register our vehicle. The entry point has an army cantonment with lot of vehicle movement. After finishing the formalities we started driving towards Dras. On our left the River Sindhu was flowing with ferocity and we moved with speed as road was little better. The landscape started changing as snow mountains started giving way to rugged grey mountains with little or no snow. We reached Dras at about 4.00pm and had our lunch with rice and paneer kadai. Very bad but had little choice. On our way stopped to visit Kargil War Memorial. The army sepoy Mr. Chetri explained in brief the history of Kargil war of May-July 1999 and how our soldiers fought with valour. Indian army suffered 539 deaths. We crossed the point where Sindhu river running from Leh side and Sindhu river flowing from Sonmarg side meet and a third one is formed and flowing to Pakistan. We drove towards Kargil and reached our Hotel DZojjila at about 6.00pm. Took rest for the night with light dinner. The drive from Sonmarg to Kargil was a wonderful experience and it will remain in our memory for ever .

Day 3–

We got the information that road to Zsnskar is just open two days ago and not yet stabilized. We were advised to skip the visit to Zanskar. We decided that we should go halfway to Rangdom which is about 120km from Kargil. We started from hotel at 8.15am with our driver Musa. Sonam Angdash who arranged our entire transport for Leh trip also joined us. The road moves along the Suru River with lot of greenery on both sides of the road. We reached Sankoo after about one hour. Sankoo is the last point on this route from where you can buy some provisions from the road. The place is surrounded by snow clad mountains in one side and rugged mountains in the other side. After Sankoo, the good road ends and driving becomes slower. The villages along the road had only Shia Muslims. Since it was an Id day as informed by our driver, ladies wore colourful dresses with humans over their heads and walking in groups towards the local mosque. We crossed many villages, Srinagar University Ladakh campus, many army barracks on our way.
The road is passing through magnificent views from both sides of the road. Suru River follows the road sometimes on left and sometimes on right. The road had been carved out of many mountains. Slowly climbing upward and passing through snow on both sides of the road. Sometimes snow is more 15 feet. There are many snow natural bridges over the Suru River connecting two mountains. The weather was beautiful and sunny but the height brought chill wind. The road till Parachik is okay as Parachik is the last village on the road after which no vegetation or greenery could be seen. Climbing up we could reach almost the top of the snow mountains at about 13000 ft. We saw many Mammots on our way and took few snaps of them. After Parachik the road becomes very difficult as there are many landslides on our way. The distance between Parachik and Rangdom is 28km and takes more than 2 hours. The road is difficult to drive but the scenery around the road is awesome. We reached Rangdom at about 2.45pm. The clouds covered the highest peak Nunkun and we could not see it properly. The Rangdom is a flat land with Suru River flowing and surrounded by snow clad mountains. The monastery could be seen from the road. The place is a small one with few hutments and does not have proper accommodation and food. We checked into JK Govt Alpine accommodation there and by requesting the guard there we could manage to get the VIP room to stay. Food was rajma rice and egg curry. Lot of snow in the compound. The water is very scarce and not available in the room. One bucket of water was provided in the bath room. Being a sunny day, day light was there till 8pm. After having milk and chapati retired to bed. Very cold in the evening. Could not sleep at all due cold and headache.

Day 4–

The weather changed dramatically in the early morning and started snowing. Our plan of driving 35km to see drung darang glacier at Penzila was cancelled as bad weather could make the road not motor-able for our return to Kargil. The place does not telephone facilities. The clouds have covered the entire place and the village huts were not properly visible. We started for Kargil at 7.45am and the road was really bad to drive. Continuos snowing has made the drive difficult. Snowfall continued till Parachik. After Raprachik, it was raining a bit. We reached DZojila hotel at 2.00pm and checked into the same room 207. Hot water was not available. In the evening went to see the market and bought few provisions. Bought some Kebabs from the market. Dinner at Hotel.

Day 5–

Raining a bit in the morning. Had breakfast at about 7.30am and got ready for our onward journey for Leh. Started from hotel at 8.30am. The road was little bumpy at times. Large army convoy was passing by. The Sindhu River was steadily flowing along side the road. The snow clad mountains gave way to grey mountains without much of vegetation on it. Our First stop was at Mulbek where Maitreya Budha statue has been carved out in the stone. It was really windy and we spent 15 minutes to see the ministry there. Road after Mulbek became smooth and easy to drive. The landscape remained more or less same with less and less vegetation. In some small pockets, we could see a group of hutments called villages with green patch. With lot of difficulties, poplar trees and willow trees have been planted around water sources coming out of melting snow from some snow mountains nearby. We climbed Namika La which is about 12185 ft above sea level. The windy climate did not allow us to stop for more than 2-3 minutes.
We drove on to cross Futola pass which is about 13500 ft above sea level. Our next destination was Lamayuru which has a beautiful monastery. Lamayuru is a small village with little bit of vegetation all around. We have to take a detour of about 3km to reach the monastery. It has a big Budha statue (golden) outside the main monastery. We had earlier planned to stay at Lamayuru for the night but decided against the same as we were not tired and road condition was good to drive. We had our lunch in the cafe attached to the Monastery and started for Alchi. We reached Alchi to see one of oldest monasteries of Leh. There is a long walk to reach the monastery surrounded by lot of trees – mostly poplar and apricot. Apricot is one if the main vegetation in this area. Alchi is a small place and we need to take a detour from
Main road crossing the bridge over the river. Alchi is a model village and has a school at the entrance of the area. Lot of children playing around the school compound. After spending some time in the monastery we drove back to the main highway. We reached Liker village which looked more developed with lot of commerce. Unlike other villages being situated at quite a distract from the main highway, thus village is on the main road and hence many vehicles stop for provisions and snacks. Lot of shops on the road selling Salgam and apricot. We visited the monastery in Liker. We purchased some apricot from the roadside stall. Our driver new most of the people here and someone invited our driver for a marriage giving him an invitation card.
Our next stop was at Khaltsi to see the flowing river and beautiful coloured mountain tops. No snow in the surrounding. Our driver belonged to this area and he requested if we could visit his house in Nurla village on our way for tea. We agreed readily as it would give us some walking exercise and for meeting new people. We walked to his house and spent some time with his wife who prepared tea for us. They had a beautiful house with kitchen being the main sitting area. We had similar experience in Kaza in Himachal Pradesh. After saying goodbye to his wife, we started our journey towards Leh as we had to drive for about 80km more. On our way we could see large army areas but few villages. We stopped at Magnetic Hill to experience a scientific phenomena. The car was slowly being pulled back towards the mountain at the back. Then we stopped at Guru Pathar Sahib Gurudwara to visit the shrine and pray there. Had some tea and bundi in the langer. Our next stop was War Memorial Hall of Fame near Leh city, the place closes at 7pm and we had about 10 minutes to visit the place. We could not buy any souvenir as the place was getting closed for the day. It was a really good place to visit to know about our army and their great service to the nation. We reached Hotel Chube at about 7.30pm. Had dinner at hotel Lamayuru in the market area. Started raining. It rained during the night and the weather became bad for us.

Day 6–

The weather was bad as it was raining and become more chilly. We decided to take rest in the hotel in the morning and start local city tour only after rain stops. Thankfully rains stopped after 12noon and we started for Leh palace. The palace is a ruin and very badly managed. Entry fee is 5/- per Indian and 100 for foreigners. We climbed many floors to reach the top and took some pictures. We could see the city from top as well as the Stok Kangri mountain range clearly. Our next destination was Stupa. We took some pictures here. It is the tallest Stupa in Ladakh region and very well maintained. Had two temples attached to the stupa. The city can be seen well from the stupa. The Khardungla pass can also be clearly seen from stupa. After spending sometime here we returned to have our lunch at Summer Harvest. Roamed around the market area to buy few stuffs like oxygen, medicines, warm clothes, souvenirs, etc. returned to hotel at about 4.30pm. The weather has cleared now and looks like the place is going to have a sunny day tomorrow

Day 7–

The weather has cleared out fully and blue sky is fully visible. We plan to start for Nubra after breakfast. We got information from our driver that due to heavy snowfall, the road to Nubra has been closed for last two days and not likely to open today. We thought of going to Pangong area instead of Nubra. Our driver Sonam started calling up Control Rooms at South Pulu and Leh as well as his friends going towards Nubra to find out about latest situation. He got the info from his friends that road is likely to open in the morning for one way travel to Nubra and the outbound traffic from Nubra will be allowed to move to Leh after 2pm. Without wasting much time we packed our bags and started our drive to Nubra at about 8.15am. The journey to Nubra valley is through snow clad mountain ranges of Nubra range. We started out ascent slowly and found large number vehicles moving towards Nubra as yesterday’s vehicles for Nubra have also joined the travel. After climbing up about 12000 ft we reached The first entry point, South Pulu, from where we have get the entry permit to travel. It is about 18km from Leh. The place is full of snow. We took snaps and played with snow for some time.

Then we moved towards Khardungla pass. The journey was bumpy and the vehicles stopped many times on the road due to heavy traffic and few vehicles who were possibly returning from Khardungla. As we approached Khardungla pass, vehicles stopped almost for 20 minutes at about 18000 ft. We were told by people on the Hotel to spend very less time at Khardungla but the situation made us to face the reality. We reached Khardungla point (18380 ft) at about 11.30am and spent few minutes for photographs and started our descent to North Pulu. We observed the thick snow everywhere and it was a pleasure to drive through the snow. The water drops have created sharp glass sticks like objects hanging from snow on both sides of the road. We reached North Pulu at about 12.30pm and made our permit to travel to Nubra. The road to Nubra valley is good as it is used mainly by army for its movement. We saw a large army barrack at North Pulu. Large number of vehicles were waiting for their journey to Leh which is likely to start at 2pm.

The experience of traveling through the highest motor able road on earth has been a fascinating experience. It was awesome because of last two days’ heavy snowfall. The army has cleared the thick snow for traffic movement. It was a life time experience to visit Khardungla pass highest point. We decided to stop for tea at the highest point at the time of return from Nubra valley. After crossing North Pulu entry point, we started our descent towards Nubra valley. Crossed many small villages including Khardung village with little green patches on our way before reaching Khalsar for lunch. This is a small village with an army unit stationed here and has few road side restaurants for food At about 1.30pm. This is the place where most tourists stop for lunch when they come from Leh. We had our lunch of egg fried rice and Paneer Kadai suggested by the lady of the hotel.

We moved forwards and wanted visit Panamik hot water spring. We had to take detour from main road to Diskit and crossed the Shayok River bridge near the Y road to go towards Pramanik which is about 36km from the bridge. The hanging old bridge is a main connection points towards Siachen glacier and maintained by military. A new bridge is under construction here. Photography is strictly prohibited and military personnel were watching with binoculars. First we reached Sumoor which is 16km from the bridge. It is small village with a tiny monastery. The villagers have planted lot of poplar and willow trees on both sides of the road and some amount of cultivation can be seen around the village. Few guest houses and home stays are available. Yarab hotel is the oldest home stay here. Then we drove towards Pamanik hot spring which is about 16km from Sumoor village. The road is good to travel and we reached the place at about 2.30pm. The hot spring is a very tiny line of water flow coming out of a rock base and the village office has made bath rooms for both gents and ladies separately. The spring water is collected in a man made pond and then supplied to bath rooms. The place is not well managed. After spending some time there, we started to drive towards Hunder valley. The road is very good to drive along the Sayok River. We saw many army units on our way and at one place we saw a vary large army establishment. Our driver being an ex-army man informed us that it had 36 units under the establishment. We saw many army schools on our way for local children with boarding facility.

We reached Diskit town at about 5.00pm. It is a district head quarter with minimum facilities. The place has a monastery with a large Budha statue outside the monastery. We drove towards Hunder valley. After few minutes we could see sand dunes and deserts along with the mountains. People were enjoying camel safari. We entered the village Hunder and reached Olgok resort at about 5.30pm. Hunder is a small village but has large number of hotels and home stay options as it is a good tourist destination due to sand dunes Checked into the room 5 of the resort. The place is a small unit with only 7 rooms. The owners are extremely warm people and helpful. Room was comfortable. The place gets limited electricity from 7.30pm to 5am only. We met some travelers who have come using difficult Sayok River road as they were not allowed to take Khardungla pass road as they reached South Pulu late. Dinner at about 9pm. Vegetable curry and Dal with rice. Custard for pudding. Retired to bed at about 9pm after a really exciting day full of awesome experience.

Day 8–

We decided to drive to Turtuk village after breakfast. Turtuk is an important village as it was part of Pakistan and in 1974 the area was annexed by India under a land swap. On our way we saw many large army units with big airstrips for military operation. We saw few army flights taking off from the airstrip. Turtuk is a village about 82km from Hunder after crossing Chalunka village. The last village is Tyakshi after which army does not permit any people to cross. There are only three small villages after the army outpost at Tyakshi village and army only allows those villagers to walk through restricted area. The army unit Gurkha Ridge looks after the area. The army people we met at the gate were very nice Gurkha people. They explained that the border is only 5km from the entry point. There are few army units stationed at both sides of mountain tops for taking care of the border with back up support. The only snow mountain up looking the outpost belongs to Pakistan and during last Kargil war, the area received lot of bombing. However, there is ceasefire now. We had tea and samosa in a stall named Chachu tea stall. We met few people from the local villagers. Then Chachu offered to take us to the river bed and show us both India and Pakistan area posts from distance.

We walked through wheat fields as well as winter shelters (where villagers take shelter during winter coming from top). He showed the white marks where Pakistan bombing hit mountains. We saw Pakistan side very clearly. We walked back to the main road drive towards Turtuk village. The village is a unique place and the Sayok river divides the village into two parts. There is a hanging bridge over the river that connects both sides of the village. There are few home stay options in the village. The place is surrounded by mountains on all sides – some snow clad and some grey ones. The village has large number of apricot trees and every house has them in their court yards. We climbed the bridge to walk towards left side of the village. The village has narrow road separating houses of villagers. We walked inside the village till the end and searched for apricot to buy. All shops are closed and we did not get Kishir to eat in any of the eating places. It is a type of pancake which is a famous eatable from Turtuk. We met a group of Bengali tourists who have purchased almost all apricots of the village. They guided us to go to a place where they have got the apricot. The house informed us that it is over and suggested to visit another place to find out if they have supplies. A group of little girls guided us to the house of one Mohd Idris. The guy told us that he has walnut which we purchases (1kg) but not apricot as he has sold out his stocks. However, with lot of persuasion he led us to another house in the village and enquires if they have apricot to sell. We could get 2.5kg of apricot from the lady. After our successful purchase it was almost 2.30pm and wanted to return as it is a three hours drive to Hunder. On our way, we encountered a mild sand storm.

We reached Hunder sand dunes at about 5.30pm and took a camel ride on the sand dunes. The camel owner informed us that due to a land slide in K-top, the road is closed for traffic coming from Leh. The land slide has taken down a vehicle with three tourists. It was noticed by an alert motor cycle rider who noticed the missing vehicle which was following him. The traffic going to Leh would be diverted through difficult Sayok River road. After our camel ride and with a heavy heart we returned to hotel and tried to gather information about the possible scenario tomorrow for our onward journey to Leh. In the mean time, our hosts have shifted us to a bigger family room for our comfort. Our driver, Sonam, assured us that he would gather all possible information before starting. Our hotel owner also tried to gather as much information as possible. Some guests who had left in the morning have called up enquiring about their return to hotel for the night. Finally they did not return till 10.00pm and hopefully they had driven to their next destinations.

Day 9 –

 morning is cloudy. Weather is getting slowly cleared. The information about the route is little sketchy. The owner told us that the Avalanche has taken life of two people (mother and son) and two people including the driver survived and rescued by army. Our driver called up the control room and his brother who is in a driving duty with an army officer visiting this side of the planet. He informed that the road through Khardungla pass is not likely to open and we should taken the difficult Sayok River route to reach Leh. We started from hotel at about 8.35am and drove towards Diskit. Visited Diskit monastery which has s big Budha statue overlooking the village and valley. We spent some time taking photographs there and drove towards Khalsar for more information, in Khalsar we purchased few provisions and got the information from other drivers that the road through Khardungla pass is closed today. We have to take Sayok River road. We started our journey and first point is Agham village. The road condition is really bad as most of the places are stone falling areas. The road is carved out of unstable rugged grey mountains and running parallel to Sayok River bed. Continuously ricks fall in the road and hit the vehicles passing through. The road is generally not used for travel. At many places there is no road and we have to drive over stone patches. After Agham, the road divides into two parts and we have to take Sayok River direction. After sometime we reached the river bed where we found non existent road and we have to drive over boulders for a long stretch. People traveling in Innova vehicle have to get down and walk. Since we had a xylo we were inside the car. On our way, we did not find a single village or any sign of vegetation. After struggling for sometime we reached Durbuck at about 12.30pm where the road divides into two parts – one takes to Pangong Tso and the other to Leh which is about 100km from here through Chang La. We had some tea and food and little rest after the arduous drive through Sayok River. The road through Chang La is a steep climb to reach the top 17688ft level. We crossed Chang La after taking few snaps at the top. The road is initially through rugged mountains at about 14000 plus height. There are patches of snow. Once we reached about 16000ft, the thick snow cover started to appear and it remained till Zingrail which is about 16km from the top. After we crossed the pass we landed in Karu – the place where road is divided between Manali and Leh. Then we reached village Serthi and crossed the Hemis monastery area. We stopped at White Lotus School which is famous for 3 idiots. We went to the shooting point. The school is a beautiful place which has 700 children. All class rooms/houses are named after important mountain passes of Ladakh region. We purchased some souvenirs from the visitor center. The school has a huge monastery. Then we stopped at Thiksay monastery and visited the temple. Entry fee is 30 per person. It was built in 1640. It has a huge Future Budha statue (Maitreya) inside main temple. We spent some time here and took snaps and listened the explanation of the Lama. There are large stairs to climb to reach the top floor of the temple. After finishing our tour of monastery, we went to the restaurant to have some soup. Then we stopped at Shay Palace to take few snaps. It is a ruin and belonged to the king of Ladakh. We drove towards Leh city and reached our hotel at about 7.30pm. Dinner at Kashmir wazwan restaurant.

Day 10–

Started from hotel at 8.30pm and weather is good. We stopped at Hemis Monastery to visit the temple. The entry fee is Rs.50 per person. The Hemis is a large monastery and we saw Lamas were practicing dance and preparing for ensuing Hemis festival. We took the Changla Pass and reached Tangste at about 1.30pm. As usual Chang La was full of snow and we had a smooth travel to reach Durbuck. Stopped at Tangste for tea. Most places were closed and we did not have option of having food here. We had some provisions with us which we used for survival. We drove towards Pangong Tso. Lot of army units on our way. The road is continuously between two mountains and very few snow mountains. We saw many wild asses on our way. We also saw few Marmots. One Marmot was resting on top of a large rock. Took few snaps. Saw few migratory birds on our way. One particular stretch was more like a desert with lot of sand around. Before 4km there is a point of First View of Pangong Lake. The first view of the blue coloured water lake is a life time experience for us. We were excited to see the first view of the lake. Took few snaps. Our hotel is in Lukung area which is at the start of the Lake. We reached the hotel Pangong Inn at about 3.15pm. No electricity and no hot water in the bath room. After checking in we went to have hot tea and some Pakora. Went to the Lake to have s look at the shooting point. Took rest for some time and at about 6.00pm we started for Spagmik which is about 7km from Lukung. On our way we went to the shooting point of 3 idiots. Spent some time there and took few snaps. Returned to hotel at about 8.15pm after having dinner at a road side stall near out hotel

Day 11–

Morning is cloudy and sky is overcast. The colour of Pangong Lake has changed as there was no blue sky which got reflected in water making it emerald blue. We started from Hotel at about 7.30am for Hanle. Had breakfast at 3idiot restaurant. As there will be no restaurants on our way, we decided to have some packed lunch from 3idiots restaurants at Pangong. We drive towards Spagmik and did not have luck with STD phone call. We drove on and crossed Man and Marek Villages. The Road passes on the bank of the Lake for a very long distance – after almost 30km, the Lake takes a L shape and moved towards China. The lake has 40% in India and rest is in China. The name is also Chinese. We saw many army posts and bunkers on our way. We reached Chinsul – a distance of 50km after almost 3 hours. The road is bad as there is no concrete road but only boulders in which road has been carved out. We did not see any vehicle on our way. We reached the Checkpost and showed our permit to move further. There is no vegetation nearby but only rugged mountains on both sides. Small hamlets come at times but mostly for shepherds.

We reached a War Memorial which has been created for 1962 war heroes – 114 soldiers of Kumaon Unit of Army who lost their life fighting Chinese in the war. The road is almost on a flat surface for a very long distance with Hanle river flowing side by side. We could see China border from a distance. The driver told us where the usual flag meetings are held between two armies. We reached Loma Bend check post and showed our permit to travel towards Hanle. The ITBP officers were very nice to us and after checking our permit allowed us to travel forward. From here Hanle is 60km. The road is through mountain passes called ChangThang and the place is known as Chang Thang Valley. The Valley is more of a desert with small green patches in between. We could see sand dunes everywhere. At long distance near the foothills of mountains on our right side we could see Shepherds were busy with their animals. On left no sign of vegetation and life as the mountains are covered with sand. We parked our car close to River near village Rongo for having our lunch.

Our driver Sonam talked to some village women in Ladakhi languages asking if they can give us some tea. The women readily agreed and we moved towards village Rongo taking a little detour from main road. We had tea and talked to village people as well as some children. The two women who served us tea are from Alchi and Saspol near Leh but posted here for their jobs. It was an amazing experience to share their hospitality. The village has a primary school and a small monastery. We met few Lamas. On our way we saw many wild asses grazing on green areas. We saw many migratory birds as well as many black necked cranes. Took some photographs. We drove towards Hanle through a good road but full of sand as the road is passing through a desert. We could see mini sand storms all around. The place after Rongo is not inhabited till Hanle mainly because if harsh conditions. We reached Hanle Monastery and offered our prayer there.

We reached Hanle village at about 3.15pm and checked into Padma Hkne stay as it is the only available place to stay in Zhanke village. The monastery has a guest house but we decided to stay at Padma because of recommendation of our driver who knows the owner well. The room has an attached bath. The owner and his brother have moved to Leh due to sudden death of their father and left his brother-in-law to manage the place. The place is good and food is okay. After getting freshened up we decided to drive to the Observatory Indian Institute of Astrophysics. It was an amazing experience to see the huge Chandra telescope to study the sky by our scientists remotely from Hoskote, Bangalore. The local officer explained us the functioning of the telescope and showed us some videos. We returned to the hotel at about 6pm and dinner was served at 8.00pmand retired to bed by 9.00pm.

Day 12–

Breakfast at 7.30am. The sky is little overcast and we decided to start from Hanle at 9.00am to Tso Moriri. We have to drive through desert and rugged mountain ranges and witnessed mild sand storms. We crossed Rongo in about 1 hour and reached Loma Bend for clearance from ITBP. The road at Loma bend divided into two – one going to Pangong side which we used at the time of coming and the other is going to Tso Moriri through Mahe Bridge. We crossed Muth village and then stopped at Nyoma to visit a senior secondary school as a co-passenger we picked up from Hanle wanted to meet his daughter who is studying in the school. We met the principal of the school who happened to be from Nurla village from where our driver hails. The school has 210 students and 19 teachers and caters to only 9-12 standard free of cost. Most children belong to Nomadic families and it is a co-Ed school with free boarding provided by the Government.

The weather was windy and we saw many army posts including air strips and helipads. We drove towards Mahe and reached the place at about 11.30am. We obtained permission to visit ChangThang Valley to see the hot springs. It is about 22km from Mahe bridge and the road is very good as it leads to Leh and army uses the same very frequently. The hot spring is something to see. Near the river there are many pits from where the hot water is bubbling. At one place we saw the large hot spring ( when we reached it was an ordinary stone pit without any water and after some time the large pit was full of water with bubbling hot) where water gets completely sucked out after few minutes and the place becomes a stone pit. It was an amazing experience to watch the phenomena. We recorded a video. Our co-passenger got down here as he wanted to go to Leh. We drove back to Mahe bridge as we wanted to go to Tso Moriri. The road to Karzok (Tso Moriri) is really bad as it is only boulders over which you have to drive. On our way we encountered snow fall. We reached Sumdo where the road divided into two – one goes to Leh through TakLakLang La and the other goes to Karzok. We stopped for tea in a road side restaurant as it started to snow heavily. On our way to Sumdo we saw a large hoard of Ibex (mountain goats) and took snaps. As the snowing became mild we started to drive towards Karzok. The road has been really bad. We saw the small lake before the Main lake. We reached Karzok at about 3.15pm and took permit from the ITBP. The place is badly developed. Only two brick mortar hotels and rest are camps. Very few tourists here. After checking in, had some tea and went out to see the lake from the highest point in Karzok. Returned to hotel at 6.00pm. Had dinner and went to bed. Very cold in night and required heavy blankets. Did not have sound sleep.

Day 13–

Breakfast at 8.30am and started from Karzok at 9.00am. Sky was overcast and cloudy. Snow fall in between. Drove past Rongo and reached Sumdo and made a call at local PCO as mobile networks do not work. The road from Sumdo to the start of Paklango La is really bad and drive is through desert and mountains. On our way from Sumdo, we saw the Puga hot spring from the road. We crossed Taklangla pass which is the second highest pass after Kardungla. The road for this pass has been really good as it is connected to Mansli Leh highway from Tso Kar. The Tsokarlake is a white lake as the name stands for. We saw fed wild dogs and took snaps. Stopped at TsoKar for tea. Met few bikers from Bangalore who have stayed overnight at Tso Kar. Crossed the pass (40km) from pass Taklangla at about 1.00pm. Drove to Rumtse for hot Maggie. Drove through Upsi, Karu and Thiksay and reached Shey palace. A good climb to reach the palace which is nothing but a ruin. There is a monastery with a huge Buddha statue in gold and silver. Took few snaps and came to Sindhu Darshanghat. Not a great place. Drove to hotel and reached there at 4.30pm. Dinner at Lamayuru restaurant and purchased few provisions for next day’s journey. Retired to bed at 9.00pm.

Day 14–

Started for airport at 6.30am and reached there at 6.45am. GoAir flight. The staff looks after both landing and departure. He had gone for the flight take off and hence waited in line for check-in for more than 30 minutes