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| A visit to the land of High Passes-Ladakh |
The Northern most state of J & Kconsists of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh. Ladakh lies between Kunlun mountain range in the North and the Main Great Himalayas in the South, inhabited by people of Indo Aryan and Tibetan descendance. It is one of the few remaining abodes of Buddhism in South Asia. The majority of Ladakhis are Tibetan Buddhists and the rest are mostly Shia Muslims. The largest town in Ladakh is Leh situated at an altitude of 1150o ft above the sea level.
I always had a dream to visit Ladakh, the land of clear blue skies and snow. My father informed me that he is planning a trip to Ladakh during my summer vacations. I was overwhelmed with joy and enthusiastically started gathering information fron friends, relatives and the internet.
The day came when my sister, mother, father and I started our journey by Rajdhani Express to New Delhi and from there to Leh by Air India flight. The flight was scheduled to depart early in the morning and after about 40 mins we were flying above the snow scaped mountains of the Himalayas. It was a breathtaking scene, the morning sun was glittering over the mountain and I was amazed at the beauty of nature. Soon we started descending and we reached the "Kushok Bakula Rinpochek Airport" at Leh. we rested the whole day so as to acclimatize with the high altitude climatic conditions. The second day we went to Shey Monastery (The summer capital of Ladakh, Built during 1655 by king of Ladakh, Deldan Namgyal), Thiksey Monastery (A Tibetan Buddhist Monastery, the largest Gompa in central Ladakh) and Hemis Monastery (A Tibetan Buddhist Monastery of the Drukpa Lineage which was re-established by Ladakhi King Sengge Namgyal in 1962). On our way back we went to the Shanti Stupa I saw a whole lot of solar panels being used for alternate power supply and was happy to see th high regard for nature of locals and the use of Green Energy. The third day, we took some of our luggage and started for Nubra Valley, the Northern boundary of Ladakh. On our way we stopped at Khardung La the highest motorable road on Earth situated at 18380 ft above the sea level. It was a breath taking anoramic view of high mountains covered with Snow. The sheer beauty created by mother nature for us to admire. T'he oxygen level at 18380 ft is much below our normal requirement thus causing altitude sickness.We were warned not to extend our stay at Khardung La. My 5year old sister was feeling uneasy and thus we quickly got in to the car and moved on. We reached Nubra Valley and stayed at Sand Dunes Leisure Camp at Hundar, which is nearest to the Cold Desert or popularly known as the Sand Dunes. I was spellbound to see camels (Double Hump Back Bactrian Camels) roaming around in the Desert at such a height. I was thinking about the mysteries of mother nature that how could a desert be created at such a high altitude. I enjoyed1 the stay with my parents and sister at Nubra Valley and came back to Leh. The next day we went to Alchi Monastery (The oldest and most famous monastery built by Guru Rinchen Zangpo between 958 and 1055) and on the way we visited "Pathar Sahib" where we were offered snacks and hot tea at the Holy Langar and I did Kar Seva. We went up the Magnetic Hill where we defied gravity, as it was possible for us to climb the hill without any exhaustion. On our wayback we visited "Hall of Fame". It is an army museum which depicts the unparalleled determination, dedication and hardship they have endured during China War, Pakistan War and Kargil War. The photographs depict the Heroic deeds of our army men who are the custodians of our mother land. The photographs depict the commitment and selflessness shown by our army in protecting the LOC across inhospitable terrain in the Siachen Glacier. On the eighth day we started for a two day trip to Pangong Lake, locally known as the Pangong Tso situated at a height of 14270 ft and is and is 134 kms long. The lake has the broadest width of 5 kms and only 40% of the lake lies in India, the rest is in Tibet. The lake is an endorheic lake :meaning, a lake fed by glaciers but with no outlet to a river or sea. The water is salty and devoid of much fauna. On the way we crossed Chang La the second highest motorable pass and the third highest pass in the World situated at a height of 17586 ft. At Pangong, lake we stayed over at Shambhala Camp. The lake changes its color with the movement of the Sun during the day. The Ladakh region receives very Scanty rainfall due to which the hills are devoid of any vegetation and are barren, with very little vegetation along the glacier fed rivers. The main rivers of Ladakh are Indus and Zaqskar. The high barren hills give a view similar to the hills of Arizona. We had some health issues due to lack of oxygen, like headache, nausea and dizziness. On the last day of our stay at Leh my fathter kept in store a thrilling experience of white water river rafting. We went to Sangam a place where the holy Indus River meets the holy river Zaskar. From there we went 12 kms up stream and got into a raft. We all were given rowing paddles which was to be used to manoeuvre through the rough flowing river water and stones on the way. We all were given life jackets for our safety and we took the ride. It was a life time experience to ride on the raft and move across the fast flowing river.
The day came when we had to bid goodbye to Ladakh and come back. We went to the airport from where we took a flight to New Delhi on our way back. As we took off to the skies I stared through the window and silently bid farewell to the land of endless beauty of nature, with a hope that I will come back once again one day.
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| A visit to the land of High Passes-Ladakh |
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| A visit to the land of High Passes-Ladakh |