Ladakh: Paradise in my backyard

I intended to write a detailed travel description on Ladakh but feel that the place has to be experienced and not read about. Instead, I’m just going to describe our itinerary and provide basic tips on things not to be missed.

Best season: July to mid September (If you enjoy music/culture the Leh festival is celebrated early September)

Days needed: One can spend anywhere between a week and a month discovering new places in the region. We spent about 12 days total and were quite content but intend to revisit.

Avoid large group tours and try and customize your trip. It is a place you want to discover at your own pace and truly immerse yourself in.

Basic geography: J&K state has 3 distinct regions: Ladakh (Buddhist majority), Jammu (Hindu majority) and Kashmir (Muslim majority). This makes for complex politics in the region. Leh is the biggest town in Ladakh region and the only one with a civilian airport.

This is a broder area also called a War zone. One will see several army/military camps and tight security.

Imp to carry:

·         Food and water for the long drives around Ladakh

·         First aid kit

·         Music on pen drives. Cars are not equipped with CD players

·         Government ID

·         Toilet paper, hand sanitizer and face wash

·         All weather clothes. Might encounter rain, snow and extreme heat. Carry lots of layers.

·         Mountain sun block (high SPF), chapstick and cold creams

Day 1

Arrived into Chandigarh at 1:00 pm and left from airport for Manali.

Supposed to reach Manali by 10:00 pm, but due to landslide arrived at 4:00 am.

I recommend flying into Manali though the drive was beautiful, it’s a hassle.

Day2:

Left hotel at 10:00am despite warnings of road blockage and landslides etc.

Crossed Marhi (before Rohtang pass) and had to return to the hotel by the evening

Day3:

Left hotel at 2:00 pm to make another attempt to cross Rohtang pass (most taxi companies refused saying the road was closed)

Found a driver at the Manali taxi union near the market, agreed to pay him 14,000 for a Sumo and we left around 4:00 to reach Marhi and find the roads in much better conditions than the day before

After several false starts, finally crossed Rohtang (gorgeous drive since we got fresh snow) and reached Keylong around 11:00 pm. Overnight hotel Tashi Deleng (paid Rs. 900)

Day 4:

Left early morning amidst warnings that the roads were closed to reach Darchu around 8:00 am. (This is the point before Baralacha pass starts where taxi drivers convene to exchange notes) The drive from this point is stupendous. The entire drive across Baralacha we encountered fresh snow and snow fall.

Stopped in Sarchu for a Maggi lunch and a small village after that for tea.

Crossed the Tanglangla pass (2^nd highest in the world) but could barely step out for a minute due to chilling winds. Very rough drive. Not for the faint hearted. Need an experienced driver and an adventurous disposition.
Reached Leh at 10:00 pm, ate some soup and crashed. Had a slight headache and was freezing. Overnight Ladakh Residency (WORST hotel ever. Do NOT stay here)

Day 5:

Awoke at  7:00 am, headache had disappeared. Post breakfast, met our guide Mr.Phunsuk who drove us to his office and arranged an Innova to take us around Leh.

First stop was Hemis monastery. Sprained my ankle here. Had to rush to the military hospital where they bandaged it and gave me painkillers. They refused to take any money for the same.

Then Aloka carried on to see Thiksay monastery which she enjoyed.

We skipped Shey Palace since we were hungry. (Paid 1400 for these 3 spots. Clearly we got ripped off!)

Lunch at Dreamland. Really disgusting. Hair in the momos. Thupka was bland.

Checked in to the Shyla guest house (highly recc. Paid 1490 incl breakfast for 2). It is right next to Bon Appetit restaurant where we spent the rest of the evening at leisure. (Great continental food. Salads and soups were excellent.

Day 6:

7:30 wake up in our gigantic room at the guest house. 8:00am breakfast cooked by the residents of the house. Left around 9:00 for Pangong Lake with our new driver Padma in a comfortable Innova.

Drive is gorgeous. We spotted lots of animals: yak, pashmina goats, donkeys, horses, marmot etc.  

Crossed the Changla Pass (3^rd highest in world)

Road conition excellent. Weather was fabulous. We had a comfortable and pleasant journey to Pangong, arriving around 2:00 pm in time for lunch.

Lunch at a dhaba facing the lake. Paid 210 for 3 people including scenery that money can’t buy!

Reached Nature’s nest camp, our abode for the night around 4:30. Drank chai by the lake.

I wanted to drive along the periphery of the lake, so the driver and I went an additional 10 kms to Mann village, met some villagers and had fresh yak milk at their house.

Dinner at campsite was dal and veggies etc. Full Indian meal. Paid 2200 incl breakfast and dinner.

Was freezing cold by this point. Stood outside our tent watching the moon for some time and then crashed at 10:00 pm

Day 7:

Set the alarm for five am to see the sunrise. Absolutely gorgeous play of colours as the sun rose and made itself comfortable.

Drank tea, did yoga by the lake, ate cornflakes and got some channa packed for the journey towards Nubra Valley.

Decided to drive directly there despite driver’s reluctance to take us across Warilla pass.

Drive is the same route upto Shakti village, from this point the ascent up Warilla starts.

After the pass, beyond the first village the scenery changes dramatically and the desert landscape begins.

Road converges with direct Leh route at Khalsar village. All raod conditions excellent. After the Manali to Leh drive, the Ladakh journey seemed like a drive through clouds.

Crossed Diskit to reach Hunder and our campsite Nubra Organic around six pm.

Relaxed all evening under a tree with drinks and muchies.

Dinner around 8:30. Great food here. Full Indian vegetarian meal.

Slept at 10:00 pm.

Day 8:

Reached Diskit monastery just after six am for early morning prayers.

Campsite manager had provided incorrect information. Prayers started at 7:00 am but we enjoyed strolling through the empty monastery.

The prayers were a surreal experience and I highly recommend it to everyone.

Returned to campsite, ate upma and drank chai, quickly packed up and left for Turtuk (Pakistan border town)

Drive took us over 3 hours, since it was absolutely gorgeous and we kept stopping for pictures.

Spoke to the BSF employees, drank some bottled apricot juice and rushed back to Hunder desert dunes.

Rode the double humped camels. Really robust and healthy animals. MUST do!

Left Nubra after 4:00 pm to reach Khardungla pass just before six thirty (after this point they do not allow people to cross the pass)

There is a cafeteria here that we wanted to stop at but was closed when we arrived.

Returned to Leh around 9:00 pm and went straight to Tibetan Kitchen to eat the best meal in Ladakh. MUST eat their dumpling soup, momos, eggplant in garlic sauce etc.  Paid 1000 for 4 people.

Overning at hotel Royal Ladakh (Hotel looks grand but we got a very crappy room. No electricity at night. Room was moist and dingy).

Day 9:

I woke up at 8:00 am, after breakfast of baked beans and toast, left for rafting down the Zanskar river.

Crossed magnetic hill and the gurudwara on the way.

Rafting transport arrive fifty minutes late, with no phone call or apology for the same.

At the rafting spot, nothing was ready and we waited more than an hour while the guides inflated the rafts. I went with Indus Rafting. Do not recommend at all though the guide (from Rishikesh) was good.

Rafting was very simple. Only one level 3 rapid and the rest level 2.
With my sprained leg the level was ideal for me. The intent was to enjoy the gorgeous landscape from a raft and take a dip in the freezing waters of the Indus (both of which I totally recommend)

Rafting trip included hot veggie Indian lunch. Aloka picked me up from here and we continued onward to Alchi.

This monastery is a MUST do. They have ancient hand paintings and murals in their temples and the entire monastery is on the banks of the Indus river.

Shopped at the small tourist shops at the gates of the monastery

Ate cake and drank tea and fresh apricot juice at the German Bakery outside the monastery. Highly recc if it is in season.

Proceeded onward to Lamaruyu. Overnight at Niranjan guest house. Paid 700 for the night.

Room was really dingy and not appealing. Ate dinner at the restaurant below. Food was disgusting and hard to put in the mouth. Extremely bad dining experience. And overpriced too.

Highlight of the location is that it is adjoining the monastery, hence the young Lama kids are constantly in the kitchen asking for noodles or soup from the cook who gladly obliges them.

Slept by 10:00 pm.

Day 10:

Woke up at six thirty for morning prayers at the monastery. Wandered around till 8:00 and returned to guest house was breakfast. I ordered a parantha that looked as disgusting as it tasted. Left the guest house hungry and disappointed with the stay.

Next stop was 20 minutes away. The moon surface land that Lamaruyu is famous for is an interesting sight and recommended if driving to/from Srinagar.

Continued onward to Dahanu village to visit the Aryan valley and its people. Met with several villagers, went to 3 homes, talked to them about their heritage etc.

People there were largely unaware of their culture and background etc. We enjoyed our interactions and spent more than 2 hours there.

Drive was along the Indus river almost all the way to Kargil. The landscapes were probably the least pretty on this drive.

Reached Kargil after 4:00. Went to hotel Siachen to check in. Didn’t get a good vibe from the owners so decided to stay in Hotel d’Zojilla, which was better than Siachen but still not very pleasant.

We asked the owners for food since we were starving and they refused saying we could only get tea and biscuits despite the cook agreeing to serve us food. (Paid 2300 incl dinner for 2)

We were thankful for the hot water shower, freshly cooked dinner and good company at the hotel.

Day 11:

Left the hotel just before six am towards Srinagar.

Stopped at Kargil War Memorial to see pictures and tributes to the soldiers.

Reached the Zojilla pass around 9 am. We were blessed with a clear sunny day and enjoyed the turning of the landscapes to a fresh bright green.

Scenery on this journey was outstanding.

Stopped for breakfast in Sonmarg beyond which we encountered only thick forests of coniferous trees for miles.

Before reaching our hotel, we visited the Nishaat Gardens which was gorgeous but it was extremely hot so we decided to retire for the afternoon.

Checking in at the Taj Vivanta, a real luxury hotel was a terrific end to the trip. The Chinese restaurant here is highly recommended and is open only for dinner, though we didn’t try it.

We ate a scrumptious Kashmiri lunch ( recc the pudhina parantha and lotus root vegetable) at Altitude, their coffee shop and lazed around for 3 hours in the room.

Evening was spent on a shikara, listening to Kashmir themed music from the ipod.

For dinner we went to the Lalit and enjoyed the Guchi mushroom (delicacy) vegetable in the outdoor area.

Overnight at hotel.

Day 12:

Flight got delayed but thankfully Indigo notified us in advance so we didn’t leave for the airport

Went to visit a cousin who recently moved to Srinagar.

They own a boutique hotel called Dar Es Salaam on the Nageen Lake.

Their hotel was extremely charming and felt like living in a kashmiri home. Would highly recc staying here if you want to experience affordable Kashmiri luxury.

Left for the Srinagar airport where we were amazed at the multiple security checks for both luggage and people. Suggest reaching airport about 2 hours prior to flight. This was the most unpleasant part of the journey. Perhaps, more distasteful since it marked the end of our trip.

This is a trip that everyone must do. No amount of researching, seeing pictures or reading blogs will allow one to truly grasp the meaning and magic of Ladakh. You have to see it to believe it. Bon voyage.