Ladakh – The land of extremes

First rays of sun piercing the Laddakh mountains

If you are looking for a calm, cool hill station to spend your vacations near the trees and the natural green scenery, then you can go to Kasaul, Manali and Chahal. But, if you are looking for experience of a lifetime, then Leh, Ladakh is where you must go. Located in Kashmir, Ladakh is a place of very rough, dramatic terrain and some very challenging climate.

One can reach there via roads, using either the Srinagar-Leh highway, from Kashmir Valley via Kargil (approx. 434 Km), which remains open for traffic from early June to November, or the Manali-Leh highway (approx. the 473 km), that is open for traffic from around mid-June to early October. (430 km long). The other means to go there is via air, but they are operated only from the cities of Delhi, Jammu, Mumbai, Kolkata and Sri Nagar. You might want to book the tickets several months in advance, because small airplanes with a capacity of only 150 are allowed to operate from there, owing to the harsh climatic and geographical conditions which make every take-off and landing a challenge. Planes are allowed to operate only between 7am and 10am every day, when the air has the minimum density required for a take-off.

A statue of the Maitreyi Buddha at the Shanti Stupa

Your first day at Leh will get completely consumed to get acclimatised there. Situated at a height of nearly 11,600 ft. the air density is so thin that your immediate reaction to the first breath that you take there will be that half of the air of the city had been sucked out and thrown into outer space. You will be advised to stay at the hotel for at least 7-8 hours, during which your hotel’s medical staff will come and examine your vital signs and prescribe medication. It is advised to follow the medical instructions carefully, else you might end up with an oxygen mask! But don’t worry much; your body will get used to it by the end of the first day.

A statue of the Maitreyi Buddha at the Diksit Monastery

As mentioned earlier, Ladakh is the land of extremes. It is the only place on Earth where you can get a sunburn and a frost bite at the same time, if your feet are in the shadow of a rock and your upper body is exposed to the sun. Surprised? Owing to the altitude, the sunrays sting your skin as they hit you, forcing you to cover every part of your body at all times. But the air being extremely thin does not absorb any heat and you’ll feel cold if the wind blows! That’s the irony of it.

Life is so simple and peaceful at Leh – Away from all the modernisation, away from all the crime and wars and hassles of the modern man. People do have mobile phones there, but yes, people still use Walkmans and MP3 players with cassettes in them. The locals of the city are of Tibetan descent, most of which are Buddhists and the rest Muslims. Quite helpful people, they are. There isn’t a single rickshaw or auto-rickshaw there, but the place is full of cars and jeeps. The place is not pollution free though, since the dust blowing in from the mountains 24/7 makes it hard to breathe.

Leh has a strong cultural grounding, owing to the Tibetan Buddhist influence. There are many amazing scenic places to be at, apart from the places of worship. One such site is the ‘Magnetic Hill’. About 30 km outside the main city, the magnetic hill has become a popular stop for domestic tourists on car journeys. The alignment of the road with the slope of the background can give the illusion that cars are able to drift upwards, under the influence of the magnetic fields from a nearby ferrite hill. On the way to the Magnetic Hill comes ‘Gurudwara Pathar Sahib’, a beautiful Gurudwara that is looked after by the Indian Army. Having a langar there is something to look forward to, as both military men and locals voluntarily cook and serve food there with the utmost compassion.

The confluence of rivers Zanskar and Indus

Another natural beauty is the confluence of the rivers Indus and Zanskar in the beautiful Nimmu valley, around half an hour’s drive away from central Leh. The scenery is mind blowing, as the muddy waters of the Zanskar and the pristine, blue waters of the Indus come out from different valleys, and confluence, looking almost like an oil-water interface, since the waters from the different rivers doesn’t mix quite easily owing to a difference in their densities.

One must also visit the beautiful ‘Spituk Monastery’ and if you are lucky, you could get a chance to meet and be blessed by the ‘Bakula’, the seven year old head of the monastery. On the way to the monastery, located less than a km from Leh is the ‘Hall of Fame museum’, which gives a narrative on the rich and colourful cultural heritage of Ladakh as well as the heart wrenching sacrifice made by Indian soldiers over the past two decades in their fight against terror and infiltration.

A panoramic view of the beautiful Pangong Lake

Once you have seen the attractions around the main city Leh, there are two places where you must visit. The first is the astounding ‘Pangong Lake’, which takes a 5 hour drive from Leh. The lake is known for its pristine blue water which changes its colours at different times of the day. The second is the ‘Nubra Valley’, which is a 4 hour drive from Leh. The Nubra valley is famous for its only of a kind silver sand dunes. You can take safaris on double-humped camels, which are only present in Laddakh except for Mongolia.

A far view of the only place on Earth with silver sand dunes - Nubra Valley, Laddakh

Mongolian double-humped camels, endemic to Mongolia and The Nubra Valley, Laddakh

Despite having a rocky and unruly terrain, the roads of Laddakh are very well kept and cover almost every part of it, which can be owed to the much organised services of the Indian Army and the BSF. However, the roads can get quite slippery in the evenings as the snow from the mountains melts and streams are formed at different parts of the roads. Therefore, it is a race against time in the evening to get back to the main city, or you would have to stay back at a hotel and waste a day of your trip. Other than that, Laddakh is one place where the journeys are definitely more enjoyable than the destinations.

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