The Ladhak Series: Palaces and Monasteries

What’s in a place, if it does not have a history to uncover? Ladhak does not disappoint you in any sense. The Palaces and the monasteries are two aspects of the state that can amaze and wow you, as well as help you understand the Ladhaki culture and history.

.
Ladhak has predominantly 3 main palaces- The Leh palace, the Shey Palace and the Stok palace. And all of them are very much unlike the others palaces in grandeur from Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka. These Palaces are simple in terms of architecture and beauty. The only aspect that differentiates the palaces with the ordinary household in Ladakh is the size of the building, for example the Leh palace which is 9 storey large and still remains the largest structure in Ladakh.

.
The Namgyal family which currently resides in the Stok palace, has been ruling the province of Ladakh since the 15th century and has played a vital role in spread of Buddhism in the region. There were Mughal and Sikh intrusions in the past, however with the passage of time the practice of preaching and following Buddhism has just grew stronger.

.
The monastery or the Gompa mean Solitary place. The Gompa’s are the centre of worship where the lamas (monks) go about with their duties, presumably oblivious of the crowd of sightseers. The most famous of the monasteries are the Thiksey, Hemis, Lamayaru and Alchi. These Monasteries give you a sense of calm and I indeed felt so when I visited the Spituk Monastery.

.
I have travelled across many destinations in the recent past and am making a genuine effort to know culture and history of the land. An easy way to do so it to read a book to relate what you have seen. I would suggest a book by Janet Rizvi – Ladakh: Crossroads of High Asia. A genuine effort to help us understand Ladhak in its entirety i.e. people, history and culture.

.
I travelled across numerous lands in search of calm and peace, but eventually returned back home to find them both within.

The Ladakh Series: PangongSo Lake

My dear friend Murali has been really happy man these days. His last post on my blog has brought an unnoticed writer into limelight. So he insisted on writing another article, which seems to be the only way to Sucess. Lol. Kidding folks....

............................

Pangongso Lake By Murali rajan

After spending a day wandering around Leh, we started out for “the lake”… with Lotus bhai at the helm and Jitendra Singh Ji by his side, we left by 8, late by more than a hour… risking the cliché, the song for the day was from 3 idiots, which I believe, made land of numerous passes and the lake a must visit place… the terrain changed immediately on exiting leh, winding roads, slowly and steadily we climbed…
.
en route to Pangong Tso lies the third highest motorable road in the world… The Chang La, standing tall at an astonishing 17,590 ft (5360m)… as we moved on towards the pass, the landscape changes from green fields and dusty hills to all white mountains demarcated by electric (or telephone) lines… thick blankets of snow adorning the sides of NH 1D welcomed us… a small temple, couple of army shacks, few loos, a yellow sign and lots of prayer flags, all beautifully framed in pure white… our defense personnel was extremely hospitable to all… serving hot tea (herbal as well)… a lifesaver for many in pretty cold locale… the temp it seems had touched 5 deg below zero early morning… that is cold… we had been warned not to stay up there for more than half an hour and to drink loads of water, as altitude and thin air could cause headache and nausea on the way down… lack of time explained why the shutterbugs were buzzing around… however, I felt that, for most travelers, the snow seemed to create the flutter rather than the pass… everyone was running around in the snow… throwing snow balls… somebody had made a snow man as well… very good one… complete with a red cap and a carrot nose… seemed to come right out of calvin & hobbes strip…
.
we were soon on the way down through the town of dubruk… there seemed to be very few climbs after the biggy… the roads were great with amazing views to leave anyone dazed and dreamy… Tangtse was the next town and the only town in the way… lunch time… the hotel (unfortunately, none of us remember the name of the place, but there are very few places anyways to eat and stay) threw us a surprise… in the hallway were pictures of the hotel owner with the stars of 3 idiots… aamir, madhavan, sharman and saif (oh, he is not in the movie, but kareena is, but couldn’t find any pics of hers) all of them nicely framed… guess the star value rubbed off on the prices as well (only slightly more expensive than the eateries on the Jammu- Srinagar – Leh route)…
.
the road takes us through many wildlife protected areas in ladakh… yaks and horses roamed freely, but the star of the day was marmots… cute little animals, belonging to the rodent family, they prefer high altitudes… found them chilling out in the sun…seems that these rodents hibernate through the entire winter… cool…
.
finally, we laid eyes on the bluish green waters of the one of the world’s highest salt water lake… the colours seemed to change every time u looked at it… another 20 min and we were at the edge of the lake… it was a sight for sore eyes… the lake just did not seems to end… snow capped mountains on both sides… clear blue skies… and lots and lots of bar headed goose… but then the shutter bugs complained… there are only a few shots to take and that is it… ha ha… it didn’t matter… the silence is like music… gives u a high… damn good one ;-)
.
we had not booked anyplace to stay… all the places were booked, but one tent owner did take us in for nights stay and food at his house… got just what we wanted, however some kind of training would be required to tackle the ladakhi toilets… there was one room for us with a lot of beds on the floor and some thick blankets… the room had glass windows and wooden roofing… once settled into the our new pad, we headed to the lake shore… the place was getting cold and we put on all the possible warm clothing that we could… the lake shore had other ideas… as warned our host, the winds started blowing, and suddenly cold was killing… the trip or rather trek back to the room was rather painful… nightfall and time for campfire… soaked up all the heat that we could under the starry skies… diamonds all around complemented by golden silence… probably only the cold kept us firmly rooted to the ground… our host cooked some wonderful food, hot hot food… seemed like icing on the cake on a marvelous day…

The Ladkah Series: Leh- Destination One

Our long journey of 3 days finally ceased with our destination Leh. Tired but excited we seeped in the Army accommodation guest house. The next 6 days, gave me an opportunity to get a feel of Leh, which in fact was quite unlike the picture I had in mind.

.
The city of Leh is the capital of the Ladakh province and situated at the banks of Indus. Leh is located about 475 kms from Srinagar and 450kms from Manali, the two most preferred cities to travel to the destination. The travel to Leh has been as wonderful journey and as good as the destination. For benefit of all, I would like to reiterate the fact that ladakh is a province and Leh is the capital city. I often missed this point and would use the term Leh ladakh quite naively. The Ladakh province in itself is a part of the J&K state and in fact in the Himalayan region often addressed as Jammu, Kashmir and ladakh state. A point, we in the rest of India often miss out. People often wonder how Ladakh, a predominantly Buddhist habitat would be a part of Jammu (Hindu base) and Kashmir (Muslim base) state. The history goes that the Namgyal, the rulers of Ladakh were defeated by Ranjit Singh, the king of Kashmir and as a part of an agreement; Ladakh became an integral part of J&K. The people of ladakh have still not come in terms with this fact and internally still within crave for their own identity.

.
Coming back to Leh, I often visualized when detailing our trip, how the city of leh would be. Pictures of a very sparsely populated city with not much accommodation and food facilities would often come to my mind. But I guess globalization has caught us everywhere and Leh isn’t spared either. Leh, like any other tourist centers has what you ask for- the Hotels, the restaurants and the shopping Centers (malls may soon come up). So folks who plan to do a Leh trip without a package tour can do so with any hesitation and can get accommodations ranging from Homestay (Rs 200/- onwards) to luxury hotels.

.
An important question, that arises out when planning for a Leh trip is - what do we visit in Leh. Being the capital city of the erstwhile ruler, makes Leh quite an accessible place, with most of Palaces and Monasteries build around the city. One can visit all the 3 palaces- Shey, Leh and Stok along with monasteries – Thiksey (15 km), Spituk (7 kms), Leh and Shanti Stupa, in a single day tour. One can go shopping specifically around the Tibetan market for precious stone, dry fruits and clothes. Mind you, the cost of goods is slightly higher in Leh due to transportation cost that is involved. Adventure sports needs a mention with Rafting, rock climbing and cycling being conducted in packages. We had the opportunity of rafting (Grade 3) in the Zanskar River and it was a wonderful experience. The package included transportation sans lunch for Rs.800/-. One can do a mix of cycling and rafting for a day’s package of Rs.1500/- that would include lunch.

.
When in Leh eat what the ladhaki’s eat, ie the rice, dal, sabji and roti. Yes, this indeed is the staple food of the people which being a contradiction to them being having a close food habit with the Chinese and Tibetan counterparts. However the famous restaurants in Leh serve predominantly Chinese food. A few to mention are - Tibetan Kitchen (My take), Summer Harvest, and Chopstick and Dreamland. I would also suggest that one visits the German Bakery (Nothing to do with the Pune branch) for some nice coffee and cakes. The shopping center and the restaurants are all situated in a market place and at walkable distance to one another.

.
Finally, a point of advice - when you touch base Leh, you may find it nice and warm, but as the day progresses to nights, you may experience headache and weakness. A two days rest is highly recommended with a constant need to sip plenty of water. Start your day early and rest well into the night and you shall enjoy every moment of this Ladakhi expedition. Amen.

The Ladakh Series: To Leh Via Zozilla

I was Pondering how i would wind up the Photoselection process this week and as well as write atleast an article on the ladakh series. I had soon identified my solution in Murali-my colleague, roomie and good buddy who also accompanied me to ladakh. I convinced him that writing an article for my blog would make him famous. It worked.lol.

.....................

The Jammu- Leh travel thru Murali Rajan

The Aii Jat Express dropped us at Jammu 2 hours late... fresh though from a luxurious second AC travel, we searched out for options to reach Leh. Finally one sardar approached us and bellowed “where to...?” a few minutes later, we were in a innova careening through the streets of Jammu, under the guidance of Tiger aka D S... tiger was to drop us at Leh in couple of days time. Once out of Jammu, the beauty of this place began to reveal itself...on the climbs to Srinagar, the landscape changed dramatically and just as we wanted, all in gorgeous green (news of argentina’s destruction of Korea added to the glee)...but the most terrific moment of the day came after we crossed the 2.5 km Jawahar Tunnel. The first sight of the magnificent snow capped Himalayas caught us all in awe... just mind numbing experience... we sat all the way to Srinagar grinning in quiet satisfaction...

.
At first light, we set out again... breakfast by the Jhelum river, feasting on some sumptuous aloo parathas and puri bhaji, we were luving it...

.

“Gar firdaus zamin hasto, Hami asto, Hami asto, Hami asto ...”

.

Kashmir is truly a land of extraordinary beauty... lush green meadows, snow capped mountains, frothing rivers... truly a spectacle to behold... we hit the first pass of the many to cross at Zozilla pass...the route also held the war memorial for the war of ’99... the war was fought on the mountains of Tiger Hill, Kargil and the Tololing Range... we stopped for lunch at Drass which is the second coldest inhabited region in the world (Siberia hold the record), and set forth for Kargil, where we initially planned to stay... a tiny little town with a bustling market awaited us... had the first taste of namkeen tea from Kargil which Dilip loved... however since we had reached very early, we decided to leave for Mulbekh... the local tourist office confirmed that a guest house was available... we hit the roads immediately to reach Mulbekh before sundown. The beautiful village with the guest house bordering the farmland... it was deadly cold that night, lit up a campfire though... and thanks to ali bhais hospitality, we slept like logs...

.
We left mulbekh at half past seven in the morning; hit some bad road patches before we reached Fotu La, the highest point on the Srinagar Leh Route. We had our first sight of a monastery at Lamayaru... the Alchi monastery was also on the way, but since both required detour from the main road, we decided to skip them both... Lunch at Basgo was our last stop and we eagerly looked forward to reaching Leh... well into the third day in innova, a nice warm room with a good bed beckoned us... MES accommodation, thanks to mahima, Chang La was just what the doctor prescribed..

The Ladhak Series :Day Zero- The Deadly Run…..

We (Murali and Self) were excited and looking forward for our trip to ladakh. We were scheduled to fly at 6.45 pm from Pune airport to Delhi and then catch a train to Jammu from the Delhi old station. We had a gap of 1.45 hrs to cover up the distance between airport and station, which seems quite reasonable with the help of the Delhi Metro.

.
Abhi dropped us at 5.30 pm at the Pune airport and we were pleased to see the Indian Airline flight on schedule. We comfortably checked in and boarded the flight at 6.40 pm. All seems on track.

.
But surprise, surprise. The flight scheduled to depart at 6.45 only departs at 7.25 pm, i.e. a loss of 40 min and we could touch base Delhi airport only by 10 pm. No way, can we now reach on time at Delhi station by 10.30pm to catch the scheduled train. We still rushed out (thank god, we hadn’t checked in our luggage), caught a cab and let him know that we needed to zoom off. We did not realize that we had jumped into “a sheep in wolf’s clothing” The cab was a CNG vehicle and was not capable of zooming past the 50 Kmph mark even on the empty eight lane super highways of the capital. Holy shit we screamed and seeing even bikes overtaking us, helplessly said to our self “Allz is well”.

.
Dilip & Mahima had been waiting for long at the station and they informed us that the train was running behind the schedule. The Hope brightened. But our CNG cabwala was convinced that no way we could get to the station in 30 mins. Infact he wasn’t even making an effort. He even stopped for a Gas fill. But Dilip kept calling us, keeping our hopes alive and kicking.

.
At 11 pm we touchbased the Delhi Old station. As we stepped in the train blew its horn and arrived elegantly at the station as if she was just waiting our arrival. It was a scene just like the Hindi Filmi movie, but unbelievingly true. Maybe somebody somewhere was praying for us. However we didn’t have to run and hop to the compartment, as the sweet train decided it would halt for another hour at the Delhi Station.

.
I couldn’t have asked for a better and exciting start to this journey. Just before a dozed off in the comfortable two tier Ac compartment of the train, my heart beat fast and politely said to me “Kahani abhi katm nahi huan hain dost”…………..The Journey had just began.

.

P.S: With the Manali Leh highway blocked, we were not left with any option but to take the Srinagar-Leh highway on both the counts.

Off for a While....

I have a dream. All of us have a dream. People dream of wealth, joy, happiness and Offcourse vacations. The Couples dream of Paris, the Vacationers dream of Europe, the Oldies dream of the State's and the Singles dream of Bangkok. I dream too. I have always dreamt of Ladakh.

.

I had promised myself last year, when i had just returned from my bagpacking stint in Uttaranchal, that same time next year, i gonna land myself in the Mountains of Ladakh. I see myself fulfiling my dream. The 16th of June 2010, along with Murs, Baba and Mahima, I start my 11 days trip to " The land of numerous Passes". And off course accompanying us will be my camera kit ( Canon 1000D, 18-55,55-250) and a new babe, the gorgeous, the beautiful and the elegant (did I fgrt to mention the " Expensive"?) Canon 10-22mm wide angle lens.

.

The Journey starts from Pune- Delhi-Manali-Sarchu-leh-Nubra-leh-Pangong-Leh-Kargil-Srinagar and Back. Sound exciting isnt it. But there is a catch to the plan. The Manali Leh highways isnt open yet and BRO isnt sure of it too. But then whats life without a sense of mystery. So folks pray for me. Pray for my dreams. Luv.S.
.
“Dreams are illustrations... from the book your soul is writing about you.”

Shitty Bored.....

I havent been doing much these days. I aint reading a book, nor playing tennis, nor doing Photography, or anything interesting. And the suprising part being that my Office isnt keeping me busy too....

So what am i doing i ask myself?

I am reading a little, flirting a little, playing a little and enjoying a little. Isn't that enough i ask me? Isn't a bit by bit making up for the whole. No i guess!!!

.

M Bored to death. Why do i of death so much these dayz.

The 100th Post

Life they say is a drama, where every protagonist has a script custom designed for him. A script; you are completely unaware of and written by someone up there. Some scenes require you to meet specific people every day, who never influence you and sometimes some people only once, who infact change the course of your life. I say, isn’t this an Irony…….

.
I have been influenced, loved, hated and been dismissed by many. At each stage of my life, with each scene I deliver, I have been confident of predicting the next one. But gosh, every time I am convinced of the script, Bang Bang - a new twist with vivid turns is embedded in my script. I say, Aint I lost yet again…..

.
Such is the uncertainty of life that if people now ask me what I plan for the future, I stare back at them with convincingly blank look. Yes, I am best being blank. Blank against planning, blank against being prepared for my next scene and just blank against my future.

.
I say, let me live life as it comes. Let me extempore my journey as it comes……

.
“Life is a culmination of Happiness, Sadness, Awe, Anger and Peace. All packed in a single drama, whose show begins at the birth and ends only with your existence”

.

P.S: Thank You all for sticking here for the last 3 years. Its been a pleasant journey so far and i am sure, the future holds lotsa more suprises. So stick On....

Cant be Transparent......

Ask anyone who knows me and all of them will tell you just one thing- that I am extremely a cute fella. However they also say that i look cute and simple only on the first impression. And once people know me, they loudly proclaim that i am a Devil In Disguise.

Is this the reason, this fellas are staring at me? But this was the first time we met. Could they have seen me in and Out. Could they have done that?

Food for Thought...

Our reason for sheer hardwork and slough is mere Food. But over a period the factor has taken a backseat and other luxuries in life have just popped out. But anyways notthing is as good as good food. And Nothing can beat Moms food.

Mom- I luv you and ofcourse your delicious food.

The Suspicious Creature

Once upon a time, there lived an weird cock called Mr. Suspicious. He was a pleasant looking man, but with a susupicious eye. He looked at his wife with Suspicion and so, his boss and peers. His relatives and close friends werent spared at All. All their good effort in helping him resolve this grave behaviour would backfire and they would meet their dead ends.

Few months turned into year and years into decade. Alas nothing could change this man. One fine day, his wife brought in a servant called as Mr. Good. Suprisingly things became better that year and the family ties improved. Now this lead to a good news in the family and a baby boy born. The mother named him Mr. Happy. And believe it or not the the Mr. Suspicious suddenly changed and became neutral. Abh Bolo Kyun??

.

Kyun ki , Suspicious ko good and Happy ne balance kiyain na baba. Arey yeh maine nahi newton ne Bola. I was trying my scriptwriting skills. Ok fine, no more stories from now on. Happy? Who says we have freedom in this Country?

.

Enjoy the pic now:)