part 8

Part 8. Pangong Tso generally called as pangong lake is situated at a height of 4350 mts in the Himalayas,Ladakh This azure structure of water lies to an extent of 134 km between China and India.the striking colors of the water is a constant tourist attraction here.The breadth is about 5 km and is a favourite location too for many Bollywood movies.One of the largest brackish water lake, its vistas are breath-takingly beautiful. The temperature varies from minus 10 to 10 degrees. Roughly 150 km from leh, this is a must-see for all ladakh visitors.

Though our driver was constantly reminding us about the cold that is yet to experience at pangong we did nt pay much attention since we were busy absorbing the first sights of this beautiful water body. We reached near the lake and when we got out of the car we were just shocked to see the beauty of the lake. Then it struck that we were feeling very very cold. Putting on all the exxtra layering of clothes we were welcomed by a local girl padma for hot cups of coffee and snacks. Into our rooms. There were good wash rooms and beds with many blankets but the power supply was very low. They did not have much electricity and was running on a small generator. We, urbanites could not really digest that. No phones, no wifi and finally no electricity?/ Where on earth we have landed? Unpacking and taking out more woolen stuff we got ready to brave the cold and walk outside to view the lake. It was a wrong decision. We were shivering in those sub zero temperature after a time spa of 10 minutes. We had o us layers of warm clothing but it didnt help. By sunset we were iside our rooms playing cards and other games. We had to chaarge our phones and cameras in 2 hours since electricity would be cut off soon. The whole ight was so cold and we could hear the sounds of some wild animls howling in the night. The next day we came to know that the temperature was minus 7degrees!! We survived without a room heater or an electric light ..for tht matter…

Day 2 Ladakh...

Day 2.

Rinchen Angchuk, our young and enthusiastic driver reached the hotel at sharp 9 AM . We were informed earlier and hence we were very much ready and excited to see the place. We had a full breakfast at the hotel before leaving. That day we would see the local tourists’ spots in Leh and around. Angchuk was our tour guide too. We saw him offering a small prayer looking towards the photograph of Lord Budha in his car. Off we started towards our first stop which was the Stok Palace. Ladakh, which is at the northern part of India has two districts. Leh and Kargil. These two are the two major cities as well.the population is roughly about 2.75 lakhs and is a very mountainous terrain. Wheat barley and vegetables are grown here.The crops vary according to the altitude and weather conditions. As we drove through the streets of ladakh towards the Stok place we saw many budhist prayer bells, schools, hospitals, shops and other structures and most of them backdropped by the mighty mountains.

This was built in the 14th century by Lama Lhawang Lotus and it was the home of the royals earlier. Photography was not allowed inside the building. It was kept like a museum displaying all the artifacts and items used by the then royal people of ladakh. The traditional dresses,jewellery and other articles were all laden and studded with coral and turquoise and pearls. Very beautiful they were. There were some very old paintings on display which were 1500 years old. They were still intact and when asked the person in charge told us that those colors survived because they were prepared by crushing those semi precious stones like corals, jade, turquoise and pearls and using some organic mixture to hold them together.!! We were amazed at their ancient techniques of art.! We were allowed to take pictures only from the out side of the Stok palace.

Our next stop was the Thiksay Monastery. It was a Gompa or a Tibetan styled monastery. A very huge , white and ancient building. It was situated on a hill and our car was parked at the gates. We had to walk for some time to reach the 100 steps that we were to climb to reach the main area of the monastery. The walking itself was task since we were on high altitude and then climbing those steps were hard and strenuous for us. Even if you are physically very fit, in these mountainous terrains and super high altitude you need to have your breath under control and take it slowly. Most of the people get very excited and run up to reach the top only to get very tired and out of breath. The tip is to do it slow and steady. We saw a very huge prayer wheel at the very beginning of the premises. And as we climbed up towards the long winding steps we reached into a beautifully decorated prayer hall. It was very silent and perfect for meditation. Flash lights were not allowed. There was an enormous statue of Lord Budha. It was huge and multi coloured with gleaming finish entirely. The colors enhanced his meditational posture with folded hands. You will be so humbled by the energy and vibrations prevailed over there that you will find yourself simply sitting there and closing your eye to absorb all that divine energy. All of us sat there silently for sometime only to get super energized to see the rest of the monastery. There were more stairways to climb to enter the worshiping place of other Gods like Tara. the entire monastery had wooden floors. Other major monasteries were hemis, Shey. lamayuru etc.In each such places the statues of Gods and Goddesses were exquisitely made with rich colours and other decorations. Looking at them one will definitely wonder about the craftsmanship of those ancient artisans and artists and will surely bow in their memory.!

Tea break...and here I must write about the black bag before continuing.

Ladakh Diaried....Part 1

Part 1. So here it is...our story of a great trip.. To the remotest part of india. We had this belief that Ladakh was a place for bikers and hence for youngsters or the adventurous people oly.. Well..most of us. But then again we had an advantage. We had Sonal didi who was an exceptionally well informed fellow traveler since she was a seasoned mountaineer and had conquered many big ones like mount Kilimanjaro etc. Our group consisted of six ladies( of ages from 23 to 60) We were very doubtful that the youngest one probably will feel left out because of the fact that she was too young. .. Some members flew down to Delhi from Dubai and two of us from india. All of us met at Delhi airport and our flight was on 28th early morning to Leh.

The excitement of meeting friends at the airport was too noisy that people started glaring at us..looking daggers..hmm..a task well begun i guess. A short flight from Delhi to Leh by Vistara airlines. It was a lovely flight, new aircraft, leather seats etc and very friendly crew. The flight was full of tourists like us.We were told by our agent in Ladakh that the tourist season was nearly ending and we were just on time before the frozen scenes set in.

Lo...we are already in Kushok bakula Rimpoche airport terminal. Our agent was waiting with a smile. The first impression which is normally the best, was one of a very endearing one. People seemed friendly and very polite. They had all our luggage safely mounted on the carrier of the car and off we went to our hotel which was about 2 km from the airport.

The Sangto Villa was a very beautiful place with all the necessary comforts including wifi.!! We were told earlier not to expect much network connection in leh. But the wifi surprised us and our wifi-craving team mates had a lot of action as soon as we checked in. posing and clicking and sending to dear ones back home ofcourse!!! Especailly when the place is so laden with multi colored flowers and gardens. There were apple trees fully laden with green and red apples which were a sight to us. Soon those apples were inside our alimentary canal and we devoured them happily. Then we saw the apricot tree showering us with their ripe fruits which were another thing to pursue further. We wanted to behave like a proper tourist paying a casual glance to everything but those fruit trees wont allow us to be so..So off we went running around plucking those ripe ones and finishing them in a span of seconds.!! Such super abundance we had never seen earlier..!!

Our agent Siddarth took us to the dining area for a very sumptous breakfast of Poha, Aloo paratha, Omlette coffee tea and fresh fruits. He gave us a small briefing about ladakh Leh, cargil, Drass etc and also about the tourist season and what kind of things and climate to expect in each region. That day there was no sight seeing and we had to get acclimatised for the entire day. So we spent the day clicking photos and enjoying the various dishes that were provided. The rest of the day we spent merrily walking around the resort and enjoying the sights of ostentatious folds of mountains that bordered the villa and the poplar trees that stood over the villa as if protecting them. We went to bed after a great dinner that was served in the hotel and also in anticipation of the next day. We were already in awe of the silently eloquent ladakh mountain ranges…..(To be continued)