Sunday, June 30, 2013

Ladakh: Take My Breath Away!

The modest start
The overnight bus journey till Manali was largely uneventful. As conscious as I was of the fact that I was headed to Ladakh, I could not think about or visualise anything beyond the view from my window. Gradually moving out of Delhi, out of the spaces that I do not even relate to from my South Delhi life, the bus gathered pace and I moved into another zone with my music. There is something about moving along at a constant speed and watching highway lights in the dark. It calms the mind like few other things can.

I was up after barely 2-3 hours of sleep. And this time the view had changed to lightning and rain. And the highway roads had changed to hilly winding roads. That was a rather unsettling environment. For the three summers that I had been planning this trip, the only factor for keeping early-June dates was rain. And goes without saying that the pessimist in me reacts first in such situations! So there was no question of sleep again. I endlessly wished (almost prayed, I think) for the rain to stop. It did by the time our supremely late bus reached Manali. The sun rules!

The expected nightmare; only worse
For some strange reason I was never convinced that stopping in Manali for a night would be a more efficient way of moving ahead. I didn’t believe that it won’t change the number of days required to complete the trip. I was clearly wrong. And I realised that only two days later. 

Marhi, where Swetha and I had breakfast last year, was completely different this time. While last time it was bustling with multiple eating joints, shops selling expensive accessories, hundreds of cars, and even more number of people, this time it was deserted. There was no sign of any shops or restaurants there. We just about spotted a gorgeous face selling Maggi from the back of an Alto. And a couple of guys who were selling bhutta. That’s all. 

Getting to Rohtang top? I expected a traffic jam, but since we were late, we faced incoming traffic on what could not even qualify as a single lane road. We had obnoxious people trying to overtake us. At one point we were made to stop right where a landslide was expected. Snow seemed to be shadowing the road. And it took us about four hours to get out of the traffic jam. 


Having been on the road for over 24 hours, my body started asking for a break. Sunset in Lahaul Valley was beautiful as ever, but I was beginning to feel sick. And by the time we reached our guest house in Keylong, I thought it was the end of the trip for me. Closed the 29 hours on the road by puking my gut out.  

The known terrain
I went till Baralacha La last July. Even though that was almost a year ago, this time it felt like I had experienced the place just yesterday. I knew the turns. I knew the place. Until I saw the amount of snow I did just before Suraj Taal. That was new. And I had so many visuals to compare. The browns with the white, the blues with the white, the colourful flowers of last year with the white! There was so much snow that my camera couldn’t even capture the contours of the different mountains. Suraj Taal was half frozen too. I remembered where Swetha had parked herself on a rock last year. All that was white. Pristine white.

Suraj Taal


The stunning scenes 
One of the reasons why mountains are considered majestic is because every turn brings something new with it. I can guarantee that the world’s best descriptive-writing cannot do justice to what I saw that day. I remember a river flowing on the other side. Snow had begun to melt and there were zig-zag trickles down otherwise brown and green mountains. In some places I saw a frozen top and heavy flow of water right underneath. The sky was becoming bluer by the moment. I had to take off my blue-tinted sunglasses to be sure of just how blue the sky was. Imagining faces and shapes in clouds was a thing from childhood. Here I was seeing everything from dinosaurs to old men to peacocks to panthers to you-name-it! Most rocks were barren but surfaces changed from uneven to smooth like one could go sliding on them. The only sign of habitation was of the army. It was sunny. It was cold. It was so dusty that I couldn’t feel my fingers anymore. My palette could only taste dust. But nature had taken over completely. My camera and I were trying hard to keep up.





Overjoyed
After Pang, I sat in the car nonchalantly, focusing on the way the sky was opening up. I did not know we were hitting More Plains. I had read about it, I had seen pictures, but was I in for a surprise or what! The car was speeding. The past few hours of barren landscape changed to green patches, clearer skies, herds of cattle, and a big civilization of clouds. The grass was greener on the other side. Again I wished I was biking through that place, not looking at only one side. Right then my Shuffle threw up a song which I had barely noticed before. The view, the wind and the music placed my dreams and my freedom right in front of my eyes. It overwhelmed me. The tears didn’t make their way out but I felt my soul cry out in happiness. Or something like that. I do not think I had ever felt like that before. Or if anything else has the ability to make me feel like that. 






Water delights
I was always very keen on seeing Tso Moriri. The more the water in a trip, the happier I am. It is a simple phenomenon. And because we were going to Tso Moriri, we also got to see Tso Kar, Startspuk Tso and Tso Kiagar on the way. We named Tso Kiagar Chhotu Tso because nobody knew the name at the time. I cannot write enough about how excited I feel when around a water body. From oceans to ponds, it is always something magical. 

Tso Kar
Tso Moriri! As if the blue in the sky was not enough!

Tso Moriri is at an altitude higher than 15000 feet. I knew it was going to be our coldest night. My body didn’t like the idea of being there. But how could I have missed that pink sunset over the lake! Or the lightness I felt just by spending some time by the lake even though the previous night was exhausting to say the least. I was beaming when we crossed Chhotu Tso in the morning. Such was its effect. 

Chhotu Tso


It finally sunk in
While we saw the ‘welcome to Ladakh’ signs much earlier, for me, it sunk in when we were a couple of kilometres outside of Leh. I was sprawled in the backseat of the car at the time. Touching the window glass was the best that I could do to feel the realness of the place, of being there! Finally! I was in Ladakh. Oh my god, I was in Ladakh! All the people who have been saying that I don’t smile anymore should have been there. 

We zipped through into the city. It felt as if I entered an inhabited land after ages. It felt good. 



For the record, by then I had seen mountains in white, green, brown, fawn, purple and red hues.

The magic of Pangong! 
I am glad we did not skip it, which we were considering at one point. The weather was rough and the roads were rougher. The drive wasn’t long, but it was cold and all the landslide stories I’d heard were easy to identify with at the time. On the way we saw a board according to which we should not have been there at that time of the day. It started with rain in Leh and became snow at Chang La. And our driver was jumping about in a t-shirt. It was summer, after all! In essence, getting there was hard. It was raining even at the lake in the evening. I chose to look towards China just to avoid some cold and painful hits on the face. I missed the sun.



The king of Chang La!
Do you think nature cares that it's China on the other side?

The sun played hide and seek in the morning. Its presence was comforting, not just physically. The waters were relatively peaceful. It was good to not have any people around (unlike the previous evening). I think the water felt the noise people were making. And that’s why I sat still by the banks. Stillness is hard to deal with in the city. There, it was priceless.



Hide!

As soon as I turned to walk back to the inn, the sun popped out again. I turned around, in obvious acknowledgment. We exchanged that passionate glare. I was contented. 

Seek! :D

The drive back on the same route was pure ecstasy! We had clear skies for most part. The clouds were again cottony. My camera and I hung from the car window – doggie style! 



Movie reel
As we left Leh for Kargil, the empty velvet roads and mountains on both sides seemed to come straight out of a movie. There was nothing to say or be in awe of after all that we had seen. But when wind was the only sound and the smooth splendour of the drive was there to indulge in, it felt peaceful and perfect. If only there was a convertible Mercedez and a hero to drive with! 




Unreal
The last leg of the drive to Srinagar was wet and cold. It rained all along. The landscape had changed to lush green. Cotton clouds had made way for the misty ones that flirted with snow-capped peaks. The mountains there gave an impression that they had a civilization settled in them. The oak brown background seemed to have some black paint all over it. It was literally like art work on the canvas. So completely engrossing and enchanting!

The clouds, snow and sky were one

I did not click any pictures of a lot of these views that I have described above. I guess I don't need to spell out why.

PS - I have never taken longer to put a post together!

Monday, June 24, 2013

Ladakh: The People Who Made It Happen

Our Drivers
We completed the journey between Manali and Srinagar in four different cars with four different drivers. From Manali to Keylong, we were with Namgyal. He was stylish, outgoing, god-fearing, and a safe driver. But very low on confidence. Sitting next to him through the drive, particularly at Rohtang, didn’t feel too great. 



At Keylong, we switched to Jimmy’s car. He was Namgyal’s mentor, the big brother. He was cool, had every single dhinchak hindi movie song you can imagine, smoked at every opportunity he got, took care of all our needs, sang well, entertained us, and wore the coolest tee that read, “I hope there is an after life so that I can waste that too”. He got the girls two litres of chhang too, the local alcoholic beverage. He was with us on the Keylong-Tso Moriri-Leh leg.

Jimmy with Ruhi
In and around Leh, we drove with Kamal. He was reserved but had the nicest smile. He was even safer than the first two drivers and that worked well for us because passing through Chang La on our way to Pangong Tso was not easy. The weather was bad and the roads were worse. Oh, and his car had a ghost DJ. Poor guy tried hard to fix the system but some loose wires led to repeated switching of songs every couple of moments. Some of his songs drove me nuts too, but that was not a matter of choice for me.

The last leg between Leh and Srinagar was covered with Iqbal. He was a relatively elderly man who had children back home. He seemed to have driven around more high maintenance passengers in the past – he turned off his music when he felt it would disturb us, stopped at points which made for good photos before anyone asked him, and shared some interesting trivia at regular intervals. Milan sat with him in front when we were crossing Zoji La. Apparently he did not induce any confidence in her with his antics. But he brought us down safely. Our lives were literally in his hands through that steep and slushy slope. I also happened to drop my phone in his car and he was kind enough to return it in time. 

Whether it was Tso Moriri which was located at the back of beyond or the drive through army convoys in Kargil, at no point did I feel unsafe - all thanks to these drivers. They were half the reason why our drive was as awesome as it was. 

The Girls
There was madness, quiet, maturity, and entertainment, all in good proportions. 


It felt kinda cool every time we told someone that we were from Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai and Bangalore respectively. 



Nidhi became the boss of me every time I felt unwell and did she love being that or what! She used her design and aesthetics skills to do some sketching through the trip and I am waiting for her to complete them.

One of her many moments of feeling light

Milan clicked pretty pictures of me, nicely took over the role of planner from me, gave me company in potty issues, and made for many a perfect-sync laughter moments.

Her moment of hotness in a load of dust

Being with Ruhi, as always, was effortless. I spent this much time with her after long and she has visibly mellowed down quite a bit. But it’s always a nice, positive feeling to have her around and I am so glad she thought she could do the trip only with me. 

Her moment of snow-y happiness

Prashant
Well, what do I say. He is the first person I had heard of going to Ladakh. That was seven years ago. His pictures back then had bored the life out of me. Yes, I didn’t see the handful that made it to his blog, I saw all hundreds (or thousands?) of them. 

He gave me a lot of tips. He lent his wide angle lens again. Introduced me to Parvez who managed the whole trip for us. And he took more interest in my trip than I expected anyone who wasn’t travelling with me to. It was nice.

Prashant, this one's for you.

Parvez, Javed, and their Ladakh Eco Adventures
Their hospitality was unmatched. I know people from up north are all nice, but these are the guys I interacted with and it was an absolute pleasure (barring one episode which we all got over later). Javed won me over with the fresh apricot juice, and Parvez with his late evening visit to the guest house only so he could say bye to me. 

The Army Officers in Kargil
Sure we were the CO’s guests, and sure they hardly get to interact with hot women like us :P, but their effort at making us comfortable, entertaining us, GIVING ME GOOD RED WINE, flirting with us, and waking up early just to see us off was well noted and appreciated. I wanted to leave them a nice letter, but handing it to them would have been too corny; so I refrained. 

Swati
If it wasn't for her plan and shout-out, I don't know if this trip would have happened for me even this year. 


Mann Marziyan

I came back from Ladakh last Sunday. And I am still trying to figure how to put together an account of what I experienced. It really was beyond words. It was even beyond photographs. No picture can do justice to what you get to view there. The landscape, the colours, the terrain, the form each mountain takes – all of it is just incredible. I can imagine why some people go there almost every year. And I mean it when I say I feel I have seen everything nature has to offer. I do know it is not true, but that’s what the place leaves you with. 

I am still going to try and document the experience. Can’t not do it. :)

This trip was about three things – nature, the girls I went with, and being in the moment. There was no unnecessary reflection on life. There was minimal effort in trying to see any of the man-made places/monasteries around. I did not have the energy to interact, talk to, or even click local faces which are undeniably beautiful. I was happy just gazing at the mountains from the moving car. And well, it was a road trip after all. We covered over 1500 kilometres by road over eight days. And the reason why the girls were important:
Company on such a trip matters a lot. And I went with some of my closest friends.
It was important that everyone else got along because at the beginning of the trip they only knew me.
And well, I was the one who ended up being most unwell during the time. Was I glad or what that it was them I was travelling with!

There is a lot to write and I think this time I will break it up across posts.