Leh :A trip to Heaven - 6

Day 6: Next day we had planned to go to Chumathang, a place about 137km from Leh.  This place is famous for its hot springs.  We left Leh at about 8:00am with (again!) some instant noodles and tea.  The intermediate halts were at Upshi (TCP), Likche, Hemya and Kiari.  All the 137km of this journey were along the Indus River (upstream) and were the best drive so far from Leh.  Rocks and mountains of all colors and hues lined the route.  Along the banks of Indus, we could see rocks with many layers and which seemed like ruins of some great old civilizations – but it could have just been my imagination.  I don’t know if anybody has explored this yet.

At Upshi TPC, the traffic inspector gave some warnings to Chhetan regarding the color of his jeep’s license plate.  We had a small halt at the first bridge over Indus, which was near Likche.  There we met a boy, named Sonam Gunbo, who was going home after attending school.  I thought he would be in fourth or fifth class, but he told us he was in his eighth class though he was only 12 years old!  He was studying at Likche High School, which was more than 14km from his house at Hemya.  Everyday he used to walk this distance!  That day he got a lift from us J.  I asked him to write his address in my address book.  And how he wrote!  He had the most beautiful handwriting for a child of his age that I had ever seen.  His hand moved artistically in floral patterns as almost printed those words.  I was highly moved.  Then I thought what would happen next to this boy.  He may study till tenth class in this school after which the nearest school for higher education was in Leh (more than 60km away).  If he wanted to study beyond 12th class, he would have to move to Jammu, Chandigarh or Delhi.  And it seemed highly improbable to me that he would go even to Leh.  He told me he would probably sit at his father’s shop at Hemya!

At Kiyari, the TCP inspector stopped us.  I told him that we were tourists from Delhi.  He said tourists were not allowed beyond that point.  Then seeing our disappointment, he allowed us to go with the condition that we didn’t tell anybody we were tourists.  We reached Chumathang at about noon.  There were lots of hot springs from where the water was routed to public bathtubs.  We didn’t feel like taking bath in those for who knows how many people had taken bath in the same water.  There was a military post nearby, which had its own private bath for its officers.  When I talked to one of the jawans there about my past links with the Defense, he agreed to let us use the private bath.  This was just luxurious.  The hot spring bath in a clean bathtub was so relaxing that we were fresher than ever afterwards.

Leh :A trip to Heaven - 5

Day 5: We left for Pangong at about 8:00am on Wednesday.  Though the distance was only 36km, Chhetan said it would take us about two hours.  This drive was the most pleasant so far, as the weather was calm and a little warmer.  We crossed Muglib and a small lake – Chakartrale Tso.  The land was all deserted and looked virgin.  Finally we got a glimpse of the Lukung Lake about 2km away.  One edge of this lake is in Lukung village and hence that part is called Lukung Lake.  Pangong Lake itself is spread over 46 km (in length) and half of it is India and half is in China.

When we reached Pangong Lake (14256 ft) we were totally dumbstruck.  It was a sight to be seen to be believed.  I had never seen such beauty before!  A huge lake surrounded by mountains all over – and everything almost untouched by man. Words can’t describe the beauty -- it was so beautiful!

We had brought the stove with us on which we prepared some instant noodles and had tea with it.  We prepared noodles in the salty lake water, so didn’t need to add any salt to it.   We walked around for about two hours.  We also collected some shining stones from the lakeshores.  I thought they were ores of some precious metals.  But if it had been so, the place wouldn’t be so deserted, I reasoned.  Chhetan told us that in winters, the army jawans drive their jeeps on the lake!  And that this place had much less military activity now after the recent Indo-China agreements.  We lost track of time, but we had to return.  So we reluctantly started back for Tangtse.

Once again we thanked the Chering family for their hospitality.  Their children looked so cute and unaffected by the harshness of life around them.  The return journey from Tangtse to Leh proved to be quite relaxing and easy compared to our earlier drives.  I guess we were getting used to the climate.  We kept ourselves in good spirits by singing songs.  I think in the six hours or so that it took us, we must have sung some 500 songs – and all without a single repetition!  We reached Leh around 7:30pm and had dinner at the dhaba again before coming back to our guesthouse.

Leh :A trip to Heaven - 4

Day 4: We slept well and got up early on Tuesday because we had to pack everything for Pangong.  Chhetan came at about 9:30am.  We did some shopping, as we had to stay one night away from Leh.  Chhetan had brought some utensils and stove from his house.  We bought some bread, butter, jam, instant noodles, juice, water and fruits etc.  We finally left for Pangong at about 11:30am.

On the way, we saw the Teksey Gompa, one of the monasteries.  We crossed Karu (30km from Leh), Zingrul (15500 ft), Chang-La (the second highest motorable road at 17350 ft) and Tso-Tak on the way to Pangong.    While going down the slopes from Chang-La, I again started feeling dizzy and breathless.  In fact it was colder at Chang-La than at Khardung-La.  When it became clear that I needed some immediate rest, Chhetan planned a halt for us at the Tangtse village in the Tangtse valley, about 36km from Pangong.  In any case it was also getting dark and we couldn’t have reached the lake before sunset.

We stayed at one of Chhetan’s friend’s house.  Chering Motup was a shopkeeper and he also used to run a hotel that was now closed.  We were put up in this single room hotel.  Chering lighted a bukhari (a stove used for heating the room) for us.  We prepared instant noodles for dinner and took rest.  We had carried sleeping bags with us from the Ti-Sei guesthouse.  Chering gave us one more quilt and we slept very well.

Leh :A trip to Heaven - 3

Day 3: Next day, Chhetan came after breakfast to take us to Khardung-La as planned.  It is the highest motorable road in the world, at 18380 feet!  We went to the District Development Office for collecting permits.  Anybody wanting to go to Khardung-La and other such sensitive places has to take permission from the Leh District authorities.  We took permits for Khardung-La, Pangong Lake, Chumathang and Tso-Mo-Riri.  It took us about half an hour to get the permits.

We left for Khardung-La at about 11am.  The first TCP or Traffic Check Post was at Ganglas and one was at a place called South Polo.  Like North Pole and South Pole, Leh has two places called North Polo and South Polo, which are both high altitude points on two opposing mountains, so Chhetan told us.  On the way, we saw a school with the children playing in the huge playground.  What a magnificent setting it was for a school!  The road up to South Polo was okay, but from South Polo (12000 ft) onwards it was only a jeep track and was in a bad shape.  Moreover, since the air became thinner as we went higher, we both started feeling a bit dizzy.  Chhetan said this was expected as he himself was feeling so.  It became quite unbearable by the time we reached the top of the La (the pass). We had reached the highest motorable point in the world. We managed to stay there only for a few minutes.  There was a glacier too that we saw.  We also witnessed a cruel scene – something that I will remember forever.  We saw some laborers getting down from a truck.  Most of them were from eastern India and were wearing only lungis and slippers and shirts.  In such extreme cold where even daytime temperatures were –10C, these people had only this much to protect them!   And above that they were supposed to also work.  It was truly pathetic.  Contrast it with us – we had layers of warm clothing all over to be there to enjoy it all for ten minutes!  We could not stay at Khardung-La for long because breathing was difficult and it was too cold.  Besides, standing in the open was very difficult due to the chilly high-speed winds.

By this time I was feeling quite nauseated.  I had a terrible headache and I wanted to reach the guesthouse as soon as possible.  Immediately after reaching the main bazaar, I vomited everything I had since morning.  This, however, did give me some relief from my headache.  We took some honey-lemon tea in a restaurant before going back to our rooms to rest.  Vipin was also not feeling well.  He took some medicine as well.

Leh : A trip to Heaven - 2

Day 2: We went for a morning walk; down the stream I had seen earlier.  Though later on I thought it was silly of me to have walked so much after the headache – remember we still not had had 24 hours of rest.  We had our breakfast and checked out of the Shamba-La.  Mr. Wang Chuk introduced us to Chhetan, an ex-serviceman and now a taxi driver.  When we told Chhetan about our plans to shift to Yak-tail, he told us about a guesthouse that he said was very good, and cheap.  We said okay, let’s give it a try.

The path to the Ti-Sei guesthouse was not quite encouraging -- covered with cow-dung and sewage -- but it reminded me of the path to our house in my village Mandori, and so we went on.  I was forming an image of the guesthouse in my mind as we were walking towards it.  But as soon as I entered through the shabby looking front door, all my impressions were erased.  In front of us was a garden full of vegetables – cabbage, onions – and flowers and trees.  On one side was a small house, of which the upper floor was meant for the guests.  As we crossed the house and came into the open field, the view we got was unbelievable!  There was a vast field around and the mountains in the background provided the perfect panoramic setting you could wish for.  For a moment I was jealous of the owner, for he owned a house in such a fairy-tale location.

Then he took us upstairs and showed us the rooms.  The rooms were just fantastic – something like I had only seen in movies.  One of the rooms had two of the walls fully made of glass windows, and was truly a room with a view.  The room was simple but we wanted nothing more than this.  And all this for just Rs 80 per day, less than a tenth of the Shamba-La rent!  We asked Chhetan to bring our baggage, which was still lying in his jeep outside.

After a while we discussed our travel plans with Chhetan.  We wanted to go to Khardung-La on Monday, next to Pangong-Tso (Tso is for lake) on Tuesday and from then on to Chumathang.  From Chumathang, we would go to Tso-Mo-Riri, if time and weather permitted.  About noon we had lunch at hotel Dream Land.  It was the best food we had had so far.  I had the traditional Ladakhi meal – momos.  It is quite like our Baati (of Daal-Baati Choorma), but it can also be stuffed, like Samosas.  It is served with soup and vegetables.  I had only about and a half pieces of the momo.  It was quite filling.

During this time, Chhetan told us his story.  He belonged to a poor family of eight children.  When he was only 16, he joined the Army as a driver and sent money to his parents and brothers, who did not earn enough from their farming.  After his sisters were married off, he realized that he had slogged fifteen years for his brothers – who earned nothing – and had saved very little for himself.  Then the brothers broke off.  Chhetan left his Army job and took up driving the taxi.  A salary of Rs 120 and a Rs 600 pension now sustained his family of four.  He said he would hardly make anything out of our trip, because he didn’t own the jeep.

After this we went on our first excursion from Leh.  It was to Choglam-Sar, a place about six km from Leh.  This is where we got to see the legendary Indus River with the mountainous backdrop.  The water was pure, as expected, and cold.  Vipin decided to take a holy-dip in the river, but was quite afraid to go in because the strong currents.  Three young boys had just finished bathing and washing their clothes when Vipin asked them whether it would be safe for him to swim.  One of them readily agreed to give Vipin company!  He showed Vipin how to jump and swim across.  That bolstered Vipin’s confidence and he also jumped in.  But he didn’t have the practice of swimming in such strong currents – he had only seen posh swimming pools of Delhi, which were hardly comparable to this.  So he quickly came back ashore, though not without some difficulty.

The boys then started taking photos of each other in their traditional dresses.  I also clicked a photo of one of the boys.  It was painful to hear that this was the first time they were wearing their traditional dress and that too for these photos only.  They then offered me the dress for wearing, which was quite a touching gesture.  I got myself photographed in that.  The boys were tenth class students at the local Islamia Public School.

When we had left the guesthouse in the morning, the owner and his charming daughter were thrashing their wheat crop with a buffalo helping them.  All through the day, this process would continue.  When we came back, the owner and his wife were removing the husk from the grains.  The owner said it would take him about eight days to finish thrashing all his wheat.  Being a hilly area, they get only one crop per year in June-September.

Chhetan had told us that some foreigners would be coming in the evening to take photographs of the host family in their traditional costumes.  We too joined them took some pictures.  The dress was highly ornamental and it is called a Gomcha.  Is it just a coincidence that in my far-away village Mandori, a piece of cloth casually worn after a bath is also called Gamchha?  We were offered the traditional Ladakhi tea called Susma tea.  Ladakhis drink a lot of it throughout the day.  It is prepared with special Ladakhi tea leaves, is salted and has Yak butter -- superb in taste and very refreshing.  My mild headache vanished with this tea.  The traditional Ladakhi barley beer Chhang was also offered.

Leh Trip : Visit to Heaven Day 1

Heaven on Earth

Our flight started at right time from Delhi.  Breakfast was served immediately.  We had not even finished it when we noticed the approaching Himalayan peaks.  They looked bare – no greenery at all, and of course, no signs of any habitation.  Soon we were flying over the snow-capped peaks.  The weather was very clear and we could not take any snaps of the silvery cotton-balls that the clouds look like from above.  But the peaks were compensation enough.  We had not even satisfied ourselves with the camera when the landing announcement came.  It was only 7:30 am, and hour and ten minutes since we had left Delhi.  The outside temperature was reported to be 2 C and it almost gave us a shiver.  We took out our jackets and came down the stairs.

It was as if we had landed in heavens.  Snow-capped peaks all around and a clear sky surrounded us.  I assured myself that we were going to enjoy the place.  At the airport, Mr. Wang Chuk, manager of the Shamba-La hotel, welcomed us.  We were taken to the hotel in a taxi.  The Shamba-La, meaning “Heaven on Earth” was once Oberoi Shamba-La.  But when tourist inflow declined, the Oberois discontinued their association with this hotel.  It is about one and a half km from the airport and is away from the hubbub of the town.

The terrace of the hotel presented a beautiful view of the mountains.  In an adjacent house there were many apple trees laden with ripe apples.  How red and inviting they were!  A young little Ladakhi girl was busy in the garden.  She readily gave us a perfect and innocent smile.

We immediately wanted to go out and roam around but we had to take precautions, else we could have suffered from AMS, or Acute Mountain Sickness.  It occurs due to a sudden change in the altitude.  You have to acclimatize yourself with the local weather by taking complete rest for at least a day.  Otherwise, you may find it difficult to take even little strain.  The oxygen levels and temperature are much lower compared to the plains.  So blood circulation and breathing gets difficult.  In such a condition, straining oneself can be dangerous and can result in severe headaches, body-aches, fever, breathlessness etc.  So we were told to let our bodies adapt to the air first.

However, it was difficult to stop myself.  After a couple of hours, I came out and roamed around.  I went up to a stream flowing nearby.  I hadn’t seen purer water than that, I thought.  I walked for some time and came back.  And I paid the price for the liberty I had taken.  I was starting to have a headache.  Two Dispirins and a tea helped a little.

We had lunch at Shamba-La itself.  It was good hygienic stuff but not very tasteful.  Vipin said we would have dinner in the town.  We were also thinking of an alternative place to stay because Shamba-La was almost Rs 1000 a day.  In the evening we went to town and saw some hotels.  We saw Galdan Continental and Yak-tail and decided for the Yak-tail.  We had dinner at a Punjabi restaurant near Yak-tail.  The food was tasty, but very fatty – typical dhaba stuff.  We came back and settled down to sleep.  After about two hours I got up with severe headache.  I took another dose of Dispirin and tried to get some sleep.  For about two hours of so, I couldn’t.  After that when I finally did sleep, I got up only at 6:00am with quite some relief.