28-Aug (Tue):
|
Kargil
|
Leh
|
Kargil (8858)
– Mulbek (10826) – Hansikot (11925) > Fotu LA (13517) > Lamayuru
(11482) > Khaltsi (10269) > Nimmu ( 10369) > Leh (10500)
|
7 AM
|
6.15 PM
|
230 Kms
|
Kargil to Leh is a 7-8hr drive and one usually
has breakfast at Mulbek, next to the statue of the ‘next’ Buddha, and then go
via Lamayuru to Leh. There is another route that was supposed to be the
picturesque one, but it drives almost next door to PoK and hence is not open to
public all the time. The road is not that bad supposedly.
We left at 0820hrs and started driving out of
Kargil on the route to Leh. The traffic was low, and the road wasn’t all that
bad. It was a double road in the making and was paved only in bits and
pieces. The surroundings all through gave
an altogether new canvas for our shutters; and in no time all of us started
going click-click. We drove past the famed Mulbek Maitrey Buddha
We came across many Army Convoys on the route.
An Army convoy of 40 trucks was parked by the wayside in groups of twos and
threes, waiting for the traffic to clear. It is here that I appreciated the
road sense of hill folk. None of them was trying to overtake one another, none
of them had his vehicle’s nose blocking the road for oncoming traffic. This is
because they know that even if one person does something foolish, the whole
road will be blocked for hours. And yes, people from the plains and those too
in private cars were the culprits, not local taxis.
Namika LA: This was the second LA of our trip. We
reached the top of the pass, locally called Point Zero, at 13517 feet, with not
much of an effort. Seemed great, but didn’t feel great. There we nothing other than a milestone
indicating the point zero. The drive stretch was a mixture of single lane,
double lane n progress and some real butter tarmac. If Wordsworth were alive,
then he could have written an even better version of Daffodils. Who knows, he
would have been inspired to write many more sonnets too.
Khangral came and went and so did Budhkharbu
and Heniskot.
FOTU LA: This was a place where we spent more time
than NAMIKA LA. The landscape earlier during the drive was amazing. The road
from here onwards was smooth and freshly laid. I must confess that travelling
in September has one big advantage i.e. the BRO personnel could be seen often
preparing/laying fresh roads which sometimes incite you to ZOOOOOM Past.
Lamayuru: The route into this tiny village was
blocked due to a truck accident. Hence we had to skip a visit to the popular
Lamayuru Monastry. An estimate of what we missed is in this link
As we drove past, we were feeling hungry, and
the car also needed rest. We reached a
road side dabha well before Khalste and had some of the best parathas of our
trip.
Drive through Suspol, Bazgoo was uneventful,
though the roads demanded us to reduce 2 manweight now and then. As we drove
past Nimoo (confluence point of Indus and Zanskar) we reached the famous
Magnetic Hill.
Magnetic Hill Madness : Another hour
of drive, and one gets to the Magnet Hill; a strange geological phenomenon. The
mineral deposit in the surrounding hills does something there due to which it
creates a gravitation pull away from the natural gravitational pull. The hill is alleged to have magnetic
properties strong enough to pull cars uphill and force passing aircraft to
increase their altitude in order to escape magnetic interference. Place your vehicle on a specific spot on the
road (Highlighted there) with its engines ON and on a neutral Gear and you will
soon notice the vehicle moving up at a speed of 20 km/hour. You will have the
same results over and again as you redo the exercise. There was a small crowd there, checking out
the magnetic properties of their bikes. Across the valley, there was a small
track leading up one of the spurs of the ridgeline. I understood that it was
made by bikers riding up the spur to test if the hill could “pull” their bikes
up. My one tonne baby got pulled as well. We tried the experiment for a couple
of times, completely oblivious to the few others who were there as well to take
photos… that was the child in us. We also took video of the magnetic hill
phenomenon and moved on.
We totally missed Guradwara Pather Saheb which
is just 25 kms from Leh and thereafter, without much efforts (being the
straight freshly laid roads) we drove towards Leh.
The road to Leh town leads along the airport.
Earlier, one could see the civil terminal and the Air Force hangers from the
road itself. But now, an almost 10 feet wall with an outer layer of barbed wire
had come up, denying the superb view of the other side of the river.
The Valley Opens Up Around Nimu, the valley
opened up into that wide, expansive vista for which Ladakh is so famous. One
could see for miles ahead, the surface was excellent and all of us took that
customary shot with the Sun behind us and the shadow of the bike in the frame.
The wind picked up too and it felt like one is riding down a huge, long tunnel
without a roof.
The valley was bathed in intermittent patches
of sunlight. Even the snow-clad peaks were gleaming with fresh snow melting and
winking in the brightness as if conspiring with me to keep this sight to
ourselves.
We reached Leh at about 1730hrs and started
looking for the hotel which was on our shortlist. We could get in touch with
them and also got a confirmation of the room availability. However it was tough
for me (rather anyone of us) to understand the accent of the lady who spoke to
us. We could locate the hotel by around 30 mins of drive. 1930hrs, when we
finally checked into Hotel Padmaling on Changspa Street. This hotel would be
our home as & when we touch Leh in the next couple of days. All of us were
tired, but more than the tiredness, the sights we captured in our head kept us
awake.
We went into a restaurant on Changspa for
dinner that night right at the entrance to the street. The service was very
slow. The meal was wholesome, though, and for the tired quintet that we were,
it was very tasty with a twist
There was a light breeze blowing across the
valley, fluttering the prayer flags strung across the terrace wall. Lights
twinkled across the town, blurring the boundary between Earth and Sky. Clamour
of the wind would be swallowed up into nothingness by the immense space around.
And the silence of the mountains would descend again, limitless in depth,
ear-shattering in volume. A strange paradox struck me here – why do we whisper
when there is such immense space around us and yet shout in the confines of a
closed room…
I was in Leh, the Capital of Ladakh. A land of
the most fantastic kaleidoscope of sights and sounds that I have the privilege
of witnessing. Azure skies calling out for a photo shoot, peaks with their
typically cynical icy stare calling to the Hillarys and Tenzings (we indeed
came across many of them as we overheard conversations either in hotel / in
shops) to conquer them, sands for the Lawrences of Arabia to sweat out on and
meandering among this smorgasbord of tectonics, the Jhelum River, paradise and
perdition for rafters. And all through, the width of the valley, as wide and
generous as the Almighty’s heart.
HOTEL PADMALING: is a very comfy guest house. It has two levels
with rooms on the sides and the central space serving as an open walkway from
the ground floor to the large skylight on the window panes of first floor. There
are large quantities of wood everywhere. The stairs, banisters, balustrades,
window sills, door frames are all in wood. The bathroom furnishings are good
quality stuff and maintained well too.
Warm water is provided by firewood heating so
it is available only when it is requested during the day and between 7 – 9 in
morning.
On the ground floor, there is a small reception
with newspapers and magazines for guests.
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