Woke up at 6:50 am after a sound sleep. It was a very cold day. I changed quickly and left to look for an
alternate place somewhere in Chang spa area.
The rooms available in that area were very expensive for my
budget. Even a small single bedroom without an attached bathroom was costing Rs 600
on an average. It was so not worth it. Since I had to stay in Leh for a minimum
of 7 days, I wanted a decent, comfortable and budget-friendly place to stay in.
After half an hour of searching, I decided to first have breakfast, so I stepped
into a buzzing restaurant named La Crazy corner. I was quite amazed to see the
spread of breakfast for a restaurant that small. That explained why that
place was full of foreigners.
While I was waiting for my breakfast, I saw one sad notice.
It seemed that I was not the only one who had lost things on the way. One
unfortunate guy had lost a backpack and in it was the memories of the entire
trip captured in his camera. The notice said it all. All he wanted was his
memory card back, not the money. I knew exactly what he was going through and
felt his pain. This is why I was extremely cautious with my camera and never
let it out of my sight. I prayed that he gets his memory card back, else I am
sure he will curse himself for the rest of his life.
Breakfast arrived and I was very pleased with the
presentation of it. Leh had started surprising me.
Later I learned that the owner of that cafe' was a Nepali guy and he helped
me with the details of some of the good places to stay. Few of the suggested
hotels were just behind his restaurant so I decided to check them out. After
checking out a few places, I got a very good place to stay- Hotel Skitpo. Ali, a
friendly and a very helpful guy was in charge there. I negotiated the room
tariff and paid him in advance to book the room. Meanwhile, I checked out from
hotel Dimbur.
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| My room at hotel Skitpo |
As Ladakh shares a border with China, I was told that I
would have to get an inner line permit to visit some of the sensitive places
around the region. However, Ali informed me that post-April 2014, there was no
need for the Indians to apply for inner line permit as any valid Indian ID
would be sufficient. I didn’t want the trip to be caught up in a bureaucratic
confusion, so I decided to check the rules myself and reached the district commissioner’s
office. Ali was right. The officials at
the DC office told me that Indians no longer need a permit.
“Juley” – That’s the magical word in Leh. Its good morning,
good night, thank you, have a nice day all mixed into one word. If you start and
end a conversation with “Juley”, you are assured of a meaningful conversation.
The least it guarantees is a smiling face from a stranger.
So, with this, the exploring began. My first stop was Leh
Palace as it was the closest. I parked Chitti (that's what Linda calls my Royal Enfield .Inspired from the movie of one
of our favorite actors - RAJNIKANT !!! ) on the DC office parking ground and
walked towards Leh palace which seemed about one km away. There is no way
anyone can miss this palace. The modest palace is strategically placed on top
of the hill overlooking the town.
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| The Leh Palace |
The narrow lanes took me back to the ancient Leh, a step at
a time. It seemed to be the place where time forgot to move on.
While I was walking towards the palace, I came across Ladakh
Arts and Media Organisation (LAMO). It was once an ancient residence of one of
the King's minister but later converted to LAMO’s office cum exhibition hall. Curiously,
I went inside and found that place was full of painting and crafting themed around
the region.
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| Painting titled "The Dream" |
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| Painting titled "The Buddhist Texts" |
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| Painting titled "A journey through acrylic on canvas" - My favorite |
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| Painting titled " Monks chanting" |
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| Painting titled " The Game" |
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| Ancient Ladakhi Kitchen |
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| Ancient Ladakhi Kitchen |
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| Ancient Ladakhi wall paintings |
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| View of Leh Palace from LAMO terrace |
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| View of Leh Palace from LAMO terrace |
Once I reached the Leh palace, I bought the entry ticket and
walked the royal path. Once inside the palace, a peculiar smell hit me which I
soon got accustomed to. It was not the kind of palace I was used to seeing. It’s the
simplest palace I have ever seen. I think that the stress was laid on making
the palace more comfortable for the king rather than make it superficially
royal. All the mud bricks, small windows, extensive use of local wood for
flooring and ceiling makes it very cosy inside even during the harsh cold
winter times. The architects of the palace had got the basics absolutely right.
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| Entry to the Palace |
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| The Palace holy library |
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| Small windows = less cold winter air |
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| View from The Leh Palace Terrace |
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| View of Tsemo monastery from The Leh Palace Terrace |
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| View from The Leh Palace Terrace |
Tsemo Gumpa (Monastery) lies right next to the palace on the
hilltop. I knew the trek was not going to be an easy one because the climb was
very steep.
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| Trek to Tsemo monastery |
I slowly walked towards the gumpa as the altitude sickness made me
pant on every step but once I reached there, I was well rewarded. Adding to my breathing problem, the view of
the Leh town from the hilltop was ironically, breathtaking.
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| View from Tsemo Monastery |
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| Inside Tsemo Gompa |
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| Inside Tsemo Gompa |
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| The valley where the devastating flash flood took place in 2010 |
After the Tsemo gumpa, I was very hungry. I asked one of
the local guys to guide me to the place that serves the best thukpa and momos in
the town. I think I triggered the hunger in him because he thought for some
time and said, “aa jao” (Come). He led me through some lane, past some series
of stairs and finally walked into Angchok restaurant. He took the lead and
ordered a “Mixed” for me. It was basically the best of the two worlds, a mix of
thukpa and momo , something that I had never heard before. It was one of the
best food that I have had. A taste that I am not gonna forget very easily, if
at all I do.
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| The "Mixed" |
After the heavenly lunch, I headed towards “The hall of
Fame” which is a memorial cum museum for fallen heroes of the Kargil conflict. I
asked one of the army men about the details of the Kargil conflict and what he
narrated was very surprising. He showed me the map detailing how deep the
Pakistani infiltrators had reached, and it was quite a shocking thing to note. They
also play a documentary on the Kargil conflict which is not to be missed. Once
you see the documentary, you can’t help but be proud of our army history. The
documentary also explains the public – army amity in the region. I learned that
the locals too had a very prominent role during the Kargil conflict. That
region proudly boasts of civil and military heroic tales of the Kargil
conflict.
My next stop was Thiksey and Hemis monastery but as it was
already 5 pm, one of the cab drivers suggested that it was very late to make it
there. He advised me to go to the Spithup Gompa instead which was just 3 Kms
ahead.
I reached Spituk gompa and luckily the Kushelas (Buddhist monks) were
performing the evening prayers. Once I heard the chanting of prayers, my body
froze, it refused to budge from that place. I sat down listening to the chants,
not understanding a word, but finding strange comfort in them. After about
half an hour of that high, I stood up and walked towards the donation box to
put in some money. I couldn’t believe a huge dog was sitting right next to one of
the kushela throughout the prayer. I went in real close to see if I was
mistaken, but I was not.
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| Inside Spituk Gompa |
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| Kushela with the Gompa watchdog |
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| Another one |
As I was getting ready to leave, it was tea time for the
praying kushalas so they were being served T-momos and the special butter
tea. The one who was serving the kushelas gave me some too. I didn’t even think
twice and humbly accepted to have them. It was so tasty that I wanted to run to
the kitchen and say the legendary line from Oliver Twist, “Please sir, can I
have some more?”
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| My butter tea and T-momo |
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| T- momo eating watchdog |
After the T-momo melted in my mouth, I insisted that I
would wash the bowl myself. The kushela led me to the central kitchen where all
the cooking would be done.
The same kushela advised me to visit the Kali
monastery which was about 100 meters away. This place was full of ancient wall
paintings, so photography was strictly not allowed inside. Actually, the
monastery is of a Buddhist goddess who looks exactly like goddess Kali in
Hinduism, and since it was very close to army area many soldiers came to
worship what they saw was goddess Kali through their lense of faith. That’s how
it came to be known as Kali monastery. For me, it was a good “all God is one”
lesson. I am not a very religious person, on top of that I am not a Buddhist, but
the Kali monastery was the most surreal
religious place that I had ever visited. It was the first time ever in my life that
I was experiencing a spiritual high. The half an hour that I spent there with
just me and those holy spirits, was truly magical.* It was a day well spent
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| Kali Monastery |
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| And another one |
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| View from Kali Monastery |
The monastery closed at 6:00 pm. My wheels were making some
strange sound and were wobbling a bit, so I took Chitti to one of the famous mechanics there to get the problems rectified. The shop was run by one friendly sardar
named Amarjit. He had a proper look and replaced my disc pads for a very
reasonable price.
When I reached the main town, I saw one phone booth, they
had not become extinct after all. Linda must have prayed really hard. Since I
had plans to grab a drink with the army guy who I met yesterday, I left my bike
at the hotel and walked to explore the Leh market. Drinking and riding, not in
my rule book. The local administration was beautifying the market so the entire
market was dug up.
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| Leh market |
I headed straight to the phone booth and called my parents
and Linda. She was surprised to get a call from me. Just when I thought she was done, she had saved the best for the
last. She told me that Lochan had managed to fix my phone in Delhi and that too
free of cost. The Dugar sales at Ahemadabad were trying to fleece me by trying
to change the motherboard which was working fine for a whopping 12k (read day 5).
Lochan and his strange ways had just saved me a good deal of money. After I was
done with my phone calls, I met the army guy and we headed to Ibex bar and restaurant.
The place looked more like a UN informal party as the place was bustling with tourist
from all over the world. The rum and coke combination worked just right soothing
my overworked muscles. That gentleman had a pure army way of life. He served me
first saying that the senior needs to be served first. With that, he won my
heart – not a booze talk this.
At the end of the 13th day, I had travelled 37
kms, experienced a spiritual high and met a good company. It was a just a
perfect Saturday and a rare one too.
*All the special
moments which I would not get a chance to do otherwise are in bold
(Do read the other days chronicle listed in the same page)
#Royalenfield #trip
#leh #bikeride #adventure #ladakh #travel
who dares win!!! still continuing to read....lol
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