Lamayuru to Leh – A Cultural and Heritage tour

Day 3 was our journey from Lamayuru to Leh. It was more of a cultural tour. We wanted to reach Leh as soon as possible because my eye was hurting. Since we had settled our hotel bill the previous night check out process was very easy. After a peaceful sleep at night my eyes opened even before the alarm could ring.  I could see bright light from my window. Sun had already risen. Sunrise happens quite early in Ladakh region. I came out of my room at 5:00 AM only to see the spectacular view of Lamayuru. I was thanking God, Yd and the French doctor for helping me out of the terrible situation. At least I was lucky to view the spectacular scenic beauty with my lenses on. The light blue clear sky and the Moonland was in front of me. 

The beautiful view of Lamayuru in the morning

A part of the Lamayuru monastery captured from the hotel's terrace

Thanks Viren for this beautiful and memorable capture

We freshened up quickly and left for the monastery. We spent sometime in the monastery witnessing the morning payers. There were many tourists who were sitting along with us for the prayer session. A group of monks sat there chanting from their scripts probably written in Tibetian language.  It is a form of musical verse which they recite continuously. They also have a bowl of water beside them which they keep drinking from. Little Buddhist monks wearing the traditional Buddhist gown go around pouring water in that as each monk complete the bowl of water.  I do not know whether is just hot water or it had been added with some herbs. I have not done enough research on Buddhism and neither have I gone deep in knowing about their lifestyle and their prayers. May be some day when I really have the interest I would like to read up more on this. For me, as I sat there I could only feel peace. All sat in silence with their minds in sync with the musical chants. They were also using the instruments such as the Tibetian Horn, singing bowl, tibetian prayer wheel, cymbals, skull drums etc while praying. These instruments were common in all the monasteries we visited. Incense sticks were lighted. I am yet to find that exact aroma when I light incense sticks at home. Their mass chants reverberating in our ears. I found this interesting : Buddhist sacred music.

We started from Lamayuru by 6:00 AM. The weather was perfect that morning. The mountains had taken up a different colour this morning with faint light and bright blue sky. We stopped at Khalsti for breakfast. There weren’t many options for us. Paratha with curd and chole was the only option we could take. Tea was all that made a difference there. It was warm and nice for the morning weather. My sunglasses also broke while I sat in the hotel in Khalsti. There was certainly something wrong happening with my eye wear. We drove continuously crossing Nurla and Saspol.

Lamayuru to Alchi route

Between Saspol and Nimu we had to take a deviation to enter Alchi Monastery. The road to Alchi village was beautiful. The faint sunlight was making all the difference. It was good day. Indus River flows along the Alchi village and the monastery also.  Alchi monastery is built on lowland unlike the other monasteries in Ladakh that are located on a hill top. Alchi village is called a Model Village as they have developed the village well and also have their own electricity supply with good schools.  As we entered this village we saw many school children passing by and waving to us. They were very cute and adorable kids. We managed to click a picture of the little ones who were waiting for their school van. We had to go through a narrow path to reach the monastery. The entire path was full of shops selling jewellery and handicraft. My eye was fixed on some of the stone beaded jewellery but I had to control my urge to buy them until we completed our monastery visit.

Alchi Monastery or Alchi Gompa is a Buddhist monastery which is a part of the Alchi Chhoskhor  Temples Leh, Ladakh. Chos-khor means a monastic complex.  There are different settlements of the monasteries. This is also one of the ancient monasteries in Ladakh. Alchi is one of them and is managed by the Likir Monastery. The entry ticket holds good for visiting both the monasteries. The first entrance of the temple complex was very small but once we entered we were surprised to see a tall Buddha statue which could have dated back from the 11^th or 12^th century. There were old and new paintings on the wall. There was also a prayer hall where one old Buddhist monk was chanting prayers and playing a huge skull drum- A Buddhist sacred instrument. I felt so much at peace there that when I sat outside one of the temple complex closing my eyes, I could only hear the musical drum’s sound, the fragrance of the incense sticks, the chirping birds around and the sound of the flowing Indus River. I had never been to a place and had heard varied sounds that could give peace.  We walked down from here to see the flowing river and turned all the prayer wheels. On our way back we did a bit of shopping as planned.

Prayer Wheels in Alchi Monastery

Ancient paintings on the terrace walls of Alchi Monastery 

Apricots in Alchi Monastery

 While we left from Alchi monastery the weather had changed. Faint sunlight was spreading its warmth on us. After about half an hour we reached Likir Monastery. We had to ride up the hill to reach the monastery. 


This happens to be one of my favourite pictures. I manged to capture is with my phone's camera. 

First bike- Spiti Viren, Second one- Savy-Deepa

There is a huge 23 m statue of Maitreya in a seated position. Maitreya is regarded as a future of Buddha. We have to climb up narrow steep steps to reach the Likir Monastery complex. They have different paintings depicting Buddhism. I am yet to understand the message behind those paintings. We all felt that in Buddhism there was a mixture of Hindu culture also. We could see the image of Lord Ganesha, Goddess Kali and also Lord Shiva in some of the paintings. The temple tops were also having a ‘Gopuram’ like structure in some places; some have a dragon like appearance depicting the Chinese culture. Everything seemed to be merged into one culture called Buddhism which talks about peace.

While we were at the Likir Monastery my eyes started burning more. They had become dry because of the lack of a lubricant. I washed my face in fresh cold water coming from a tap which directly came from the Indus River. It was cold and provided relief to my eyes. Everyone was tired by the time we left from Likir. Seeing my discomfort Saveen suggested we leave early to reach Leh. We met Sayantan from Kolkata who was very impressed that we had come on a bike ride from Leh. He also clicked a picture of us together. This is the link to his blog - http://knowallsbox.com/.

Picture clicked by Sayantan

Spiti was very excited about the place and she captured a beautiful video of us with the three bikes coming out from the Likir Monastery.

The sounds of the 500 cc Thunderbirds were roaring there. There weren’t any bikers around when we left. The calm surroundings made the sound of the bike very loud and clear. When we connected to the main highway we saw many tourists in cars coming in to visit Likir Monastery. It was the only time during the day when we saw some tourists on the way.

Yd suggested we go to Nimmu/Nimu to check for river rafting. We reached the point where we saw Sangam and took a route from there seeing a sign board where Chilling was written. The road was freshly laid and it looked very comfortable for the next ten minutes. We were going along the river Zanskar in search for a river rafting origin point in Chilling. We kept going without finding anyone to guide us about the route. After a while, the roads became bad. There were sharp stones and rough patches on the road. It was a bumpy ride. We still did not turn back. We kept moving ahead. There was a sign board which said that we were entering into the Cold desert sanctuary. Everything was barren with huge mountains around. We were not at an altitude now. The mountains were higher than us. After going for about an hour we realized that the road did not lead us anywhere. We reached a point which could have been Chilling. There were many tourists who were seen doing the river rafting. On asking them we found that the river rafting starts at Nimu/Nimmu which was the point where we saw the sangam. Disheartened, we rode back till the same point bearing the bumpy ride again. It was afternoon by the time we reached Nimu. We had lunch at a restaurant which was also a river rafting organizing center. Yd and Saveen bought some information about rafting activity which they conducted. We thought of keeping it for the day after and left from there. 

One the way back I was clicking pictures with Yd’s camera when the lens cap flew because of the strong breeze. I realized immediately and asked him to stop. No other vehicles passed by so we started our search from where I saw the cap falling. The other two bikes also came and we started our search. Finally, I found the black cap fallen in one corner without a single scratch on it. The breeze was strong enough to pull it from there and make it fall into a pit too. Luckily we got it. At the same time Yd faced a tragic situation. His spectacle frame’s handle broke. I had bought spare spectacles for him but it was in Leh. It would be difficult for him to see long distance without spectacles while driving. So he fixed his frame back and put on his helmet. The helmet kept the frame intact.

The entire ride from there till Leh he kept his helmet intact. We decided not to stop. My eyes were hurting a lot and I desperately wanted to remove my contact lenses. It was a jinxed day for our eye wear. On our way back from Nimu to Leh Yd’s bike started making a weird noise. It seemed like stones rattling inside an empty petrol tank. He stopped in between to check if it was a problem with the tank but it wasn’t. We also thought that petrol would have been splashing against the tank. We both did not stop at Gurudwara Pathar Sahib while the others went. 

Yd was riding very slowly. We reached Leh somehow. I was in search of medical shops to find a lubricant eye drop or a tear drop. I went to three medical shops but they did not have any. While we were searching for this eye drop, Savy-Deepa, Viren-Spiti joined us. We rode back together to Leh form there. We reached our hotel by 5:00 PM. I removed my lens solution first. After a hot shower I felt a little relieved. Thankfully, Yd had his spare spectacles. We decided to go to a medical shop and get eye drops, extra lens solution and Yd’s spectacle repaired. Meanwhile Yd, Saveen and Viren got their bikes checked. The mechanic told that he will bring the bikes to the hotel once they were checked.

While we were about to go out, it started raining heavily. So, we sat in our rooms looking at the Ladakh map. We were looking at the route to go to Tso Moriri. We were looking at different options- Like, covering Tso Moriri and later Pangong Tso on the way back. Later, Dawa suggested us not to deviate from our plan and leave for Tso Moriri very early, stay there at Yak Camp which he had booked for us and come back the next day. Also, he took me and Yd in his car around in Leh market seeing the heavy rain. We could get time to go to an ATM and also buy the eye drop I required. The shopkeeper there told us finding a contact lens solution is rare even in Leh and even a spectacle shop for that matter. Actually, we had not seen people wearing spectacles there. May be, they never needed spectacles. The shopkeeper also scared us saying that there were rumours of flood alert in Leh. Feeling tensed we went back to our hotel. Dawa told us to wait and see the morning weather before deciding to leave for Tso Moriri. We had dinner in our hotel as it was raining very heavily. Heavy rain like this was quite unexpected in Leh in the month of July. We had also checked the weather predictions but it wasn’t useful for us to decide whether to travel the next day or not.  We were also worried about Tom and Apoorv as they were not lifting our calls and neither had sent a message about their travel updates. According to our plan we were supposed to meet them at Tso Moriri. We tried asking our friends in Delhi if they had received any updates from them but they were also not sure about Apoorv or Tom’s location. We packed for the next day before sleeping keeping our fingers crossed. If it continued to rain the next day we would have to change our plan. Yd was very worried and he prayed for the rain to stop so that we did not have to change our plan.

Live and let us live #WomenPower

What is it that women of today want????? I am stressing on the words ‘women of today’ because the wants of women have changed according to modernization in the current age.

In a country like India the first thing a woman would want is safety. I believe that all the women would cry out the same mantra to men, ‘ You live and let me live.’ 

Then there will be no question about being treated specially, giving special protection to women, making separate compartments in local trains for women, separate queue for women, keeping separate lifts for women, reserving separate seats in public transports for women. If men start respecting women, automatically these special privileges can be withdrawn. This will help in reducing a number of women related crimes that have been happening. If we look at a news channel or read the newspaper today there is at least some news related to an incident that has occurred to defame a woman’s morale. Topping the charts is - crime against women. If I were to talk about equality here, crimes like murder and theft also occur when men are the victims but women are made to suffer with an extra added crime of sexual harassment. Here’s where women of our country want equality. Why treat us this way? Men need an attitude change. Why blame it on our dressing sense or our free spirit? I think every woman having a girl child will question herself today, ‘Will my daughter be safe in this world?’ At the same time a if mother having a boy teaches her son respect from the beginning she will be able to give one decent man to the nation. Wish there could be a magic wand and we could change the attitude of men towards women with just a single wish.

The next topic to consider will be at the level of admissions in school, college, employment sector – private or corporate. Women of today want equality. At least women who hail from educated families and have encouraging parents do not demand reservation of seats or special privileges to get admission. At the same time, women who hail from a society which still doesn’t believe in educating a girl child, more encouragement is required. There have been many schemes and campaigns like ‘Education for Girl child’, ‘Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana’, ‘ Scholarship for a single girl child’ just because our country consists of a majority of population which still is of the belief of not educating a girl child. There are still cases of female foeticide that exist. In order to save a girl child from such atrocities schemes favouring a girl child have been made. Again it is all about one’s attitude. If the mentality of that population changes and they are willing to educate a girl child such privileges are not required. Women are forced to get that privilege here.  

Women are given preference in some of the engineering and management colleges and also given a raised age bar limit for certain national level entrance examinations in order to help them to move forward. The nation is trying to uplift the status of the women which has not been considered so far. If only families could support the education of women, we would not like availing these extra privileges. Why do women hesitate to work for late hours at the work place? They fear travelling alone at night in public or private transport. There are also instances of work place harassment against women. They do not receive enough support from their family. The family members get worried about a woman’s safety. Women also tend to lose or turn down important roles fearing they might not be able to give 100% to their work. Here’s where women want to treated equally. If we get to live just like men do why want such privileges. Men complain saying that in an interview for reputed educational institutions the admission the panel will prefer taking more women despite their lack of knowledge. They say, women have a reserved quota. Why degrade women in such a way. If all men start thinking alike by supporting women in all walks of life, for example completing a management degree, special privilege is not required. If a woman is well educated and well qualified she is capable of even getting admission in all the colleges in our country or even abroad. She doesn’t need a special quota. Men also complain about the raised age limit for some entrance exams for women. There are two kinds of career breaks a woman can experience. One is after marriage and one after she enters motherhood. If she is supported in her endeavours she  would be able to take exams at any point of time. Marriage or motherhood would not stop her from taking any exams. Age limit equality can also be maintained. 

Next in question is - Why special corporate policies for women only and not for men? The recent buzz has been about corporate companies raising the duration of maternity leaves and also giving some benefits for women who have taken a career break or a sabbatical. Well, the companies have tried to also introduce paternal leaves but they have concentrated more on maternal leaves. Women require extra privilege here because unfortunately biological systems of men are not endowed with the gift of reproduction. So, women have to be given special treatment here. Regarding, maternity leave and its duration, a women would love to join back to work post-delivery as soon she and her child are in a healthy state, only if family members mainly, husband agrees to help. If men were to utilize their paternity leave and help the woman in child care, a woman would be able to recover fast and also get back to work quickly. Question about - Why women should be given sabbatical or child care leave is also answered with my above statement. If attitude of men change and they lend a helping hand the scenario changes. A woman can juggle between her work life as well as family life with equal support from husband. Since companies are not seeing a major change in the attitude of men and a change so drastic cannot be sudden, they decided to introduce women friendly policies to encourage them. It is a good initiative for women who do not have support in their families. They get a chance to have a career for themselves. Then their goal is not only taking care of family and the child but also about taking care of themselves. A major attitude change is required.

Even when it comes to employing a female candidate, employers fear their stability in the organization. They fear that women might leave job citing reasons such as marriage and child birth. Only certain employers have created such policies to prevent women from leaving their jobs. At the same time if the family where a husband has a major role, supports his wife and encourages her to continue with her work and pursue her career goals, employers will be more relieved and there would never arise a chance of discrimination.

After putting down all my view I would like to answer this question: ‘Do women want to be treated specially or equally? – Do men know the difference?’

Women want to be treated equally only if the attitude of men changes. Women are being given special privilege that is because of the lack of support systems around them.  If only men learn to as a normal human being by encouraging women there could be so much equality.

I’m blogging for the India Today Woman Summit 2015 #WomenPower activity at BlogAdda.”

Leh to Lamayuru - NH 1D

Day 2 of our Ladakh travel diaries was from Leh to Lamayuru via NH 1D. This route is taken by travellers who have reached Leh by flight. Bikers prefer visiting Lamayuru mainly while travelling from Leh to Srinagar via Kargil. Lamayuru comes before Kargil and can be a good place to halt for the night. The route till Srinagar is very scenic and each area is different when it comes to its beauty. The route to Lamayuru is mainly like a heritage tour because many monasteries are on the way.

The road is extremely good from Leh to Lamayuru. Thanks to the continuous work done by the BRO (Border Roads Organization). It is about 110 kms from Leh, estimated travel time being 2 and half hours from Leh. But it took us almost four hours to reach Lamayuru that day. The weather was really good in the morning. We were up by 6:00 AM and were also ready to leave after having a warm cup of tea in the hotel. Despite being ready early, it took one hour for us to set up the saddle bags in the bike and have breakfast at a Punjabi Dhaba which is on the way to the petrol bunk from Fort Road. The dhaba is a small roadside restaurant. We did not find any other place to have breakfast in so we went here. They had a limited menu comprising parathas,chole bhature and poori. But when we tasted their hot paratha we realized that it was not some ordinary Punjabi dhaba who were claiming to make good food in Leh. They did not give any extraordinary combinations but the food was simple and good.  From that day we ended up having breakfast in the same dhaba before starting our travel for the day.

After our bike tanks were made full we left from there following the road that joined the NH1 D. It was around 9:30 AM when we halted at the Hall of Fame which is near the airport. It is a museum constructed as well as maintained by the Indian Army in the memory of the soldiers who had lost their lives in wars after Independence in 1947. There is a memorial constructed with the names of the war heroes engraved on the granite wall.

Model of Ladakh-Zanskar Valley

Hall of Fame Memorial

The ground floor has a model of the Ladakh region just opposite to the entrance. They also have exhibited photos depicting the beautiful regions of Ladakh and Zanskar Valley, the flora and the fauna around, information about the brave soldiers who fought for us, the arms and ammunition used during the war including the ones used during the Kargil War. Yd said that this place had a similar feel like the Kargil War Memorial. We had planned to visit Kargil but because of some problem in the roads after Lamayuru we were advised not to go to Kargil on this day. 

We just stood at the memorial for a while feeling proud about the martyrs. Deepa wrote a message in the register paying respect to the brave soldiers.

They also have a souvenir shop in the ground floor. A small theatre is also there where they show documentaries and movies related to the wars that have been fought.  The second floor has a section dedicated to the life of the army men deputed at the Siachen glacier, their uniform, protective gear with the tents pitched in, the food they ate and the pictures of the various expeditions they had been on.

While browsing through the photo gallery where they had depicted different places in Ladakh and Zanskar region, Yd discovered a very surprising fact. Two of the photos that depicted the beautiful Nubra Valley and Hunder had been framed there. Photo credits were not given because he had donated his clicks to Wikipedia and the pictures had been selected from Wikipedia with a short description about the place. In the beginning I couldn’t believe that they were his clicks and ended up making him upset. But a photographer knows his clicks very well. Later, when he showed me the picture clicked by him in 2012 and the one that was framed I believed that it was the same one. Despite all this disagreement I clicked a picture of the proud and happy Yd posing with the photo.

Wiki link -Nubra Valley- Yd's click . Taken in 2012

Picture of Nubra Valley Clicked by Yd in 2012

We left from here and continued on our journey in NH1D. We had hardly travelled for half an hour when our bike broke down. I was capturing a video in the GoPro when he stopped the bike suddenly to the left. He was not able to start the bike. The other two bikes that went ahead of us also returned seeing us halt. Viren suspected that there was a problem with the battery as the horn and the headlight was also not working. We did not have a tool kit to rectify the problem. Yd called Rinchen from Apex Adventure. He sent two mechanics to rectify the problem. While they were on their way we enjoyed being stranded in the middle of nowhere. We had just covered few kilometres from Leh when this happened. The road was beautiful. When I say the road was beautiful it means that it was laid very well and also 

maintained well. So much that we could sit on the road and pose for photos to pass some time.  

We could only see few vehicles passing by. We were surrounded by barren mountains; the sky was just a perfect blue with fluffy clouds partly white and partly with a greyish tinge, cool breeze and our perfect company did not make us feel sad for being stranded at all. Time flew by and within an hour the mechanics came on a RE bike. They were swift in identifying and rectifying the problem. As Viren had checked,the battery’s wire had been burnt. The mechanics did not have any solution then but to change the battery and also replace the burnt wire by taking it out from his bike. Within 15 minutes the bike was up and running. Deepa’s photography skills were being put to use extensively here. Her dream of getting lost in the middle of nowhere was coming true. We were so mesmerized by the place that we forgot about our destination. Only when the mechanic asked us we realized that we had to cover a lot of distance to reach Lamayuru. While they were leaving they asked the guys for a lighter. Since none of us had one or even used it they took out petrol from their bike-put it on a grease laden small piece of cloth, ignited it with the spark plug- lighted their cigarette - threw that cloth in a corner and zoomed past on their bike while we all stood there amazed, not being able to digest what had just happened.

We did not stop at Gurudwara Pather Sahib thinking we could do it while coming. We had to cover a lot so that we could reach Lamayuru at least by 5:00PM considering our speed. It was close to twelve in the afternoon when we left the barren mountains and cloudy sky to enter into an area where we could see patches of greenery with a bit of sunshine in the sky. 

The clouds kept changing shapes as we moved ahead but the sky was the same pure blue as we kept moving. Despite the weather being sunny, the breeze was cool. When this cool breeze hits the face it leaves us with goose bumps. Being the pillion rider I could enjoy more because I could manage to look around and capture the scenic beauty at the same time. I would have made the maximum number of video footage in this journey. In between I left my hands free in an attempt to hug nature. I am falling short of words to describe the thrill I was getting during the entire ride. I am sure the other pillion riders would have felt the same. Yd was driving at a very normal speed still the breeze was hitting hard on the face. 

Advisable to cover the nose and face with a stole or a scarp to prevent cracks and sun burn on the nose and also wearing sunglasses is important as the dust particles can cause irritation in the eyes.

We passed the Magnetic Hill too without feeling any magnetic pull on the bike. Apparently its effect can be seen only in cars where one can leave the break and the gear. The car would move forward.

We reached Nimu/ Nimmu and spent some time to capture the view of the Sangam- The confluence of the Zanskar River and the Indus River. We can clearly see the the colour difference in both the rivers mainly because of the amount of silt/mud they are carrying and also the colour reflected because of the flora and fauna in it. The Zanskar river is a little muddy which gives it a reddish tinge while the Indus is a little clear and gives a greenish appearance.

The route after Nimmu/Nimu was even more beautiful. There were many small white stupas on either side of the road, patches of greens again, the trees were of a similar kind and also had some fruits which seemed like apples. Later we found that walnuts and apricots were cultivated in these regions. This green patch with the river Indus flowing on our left and the mighty yet colourful mountains with green patches welcomed us to Saspol. The village was a small settlement on either side of the NH1D. There were limited restaurants in this route. We chose a small family run hotel to have some warm food. I noticed that each house here had a mini garden with beautiful ornamental and flowering plants. I did not have the time to do much research but certainly wanted to know in details about the kind of plants that could grow in that region. There were not many bikers travelling in our route today. Since we were the only ones in that hotel, all the family members hovered around and were involved in serving food. We felt immense happiness in distributing chocolates among the kids there and also talking to them by merely wishing them with a ‘ Julley’ in Ladakhi language can be used for saying Hi, Welcome, Hello, Namaste, Bye and even Thank You. You just keep telling the villagers Julley, they smile at you and respond. I have never heard any word so far that could carry so much value and  could bring a smile in everyone’s face.

After crossing Saspol we had to take another abrupt halt to wear our raincoats as it had started raining. This exercise itself took half an hour. We were just getting used to the sudden change in the weather conditions. There were many bridges that we had to cross and also the road got a little difficult to travel in before reaching Khalsti. Khalsti is a small town and a Tehsil with few restaurants. After crossing Khaltse the weather changed again. The rain had stopped and the skies opened up into wide mountains which seemed of different colours. Some appeared pink/magenta in sunlight while the same seemed brown where there was no sunlight. We saw a mountain peak shining bright like gold where the sun rays were falling on it from right above.  It was 3:00 PM when we crossed Khalsti and reached the Moonland. You can see different crater like formations on the mountains that continue all the way till Lamayuru. They mountains are barren and of different colours. After crossing Moonland area the road starts becoming a little narrow and we can clearly see that it has been carefully cut out from the jutting rocks. 

Areas have been marked with sign boards to alert tourists about shooting stones and landslides. Despite all this, the roads were just perfect. The Indus river was flowing against our direction and had become very ferocious because of the rocks and the stones that were lying in the path of the flowing river. It was around 5:00 PM when we reached the Lamayuru monastery beside which is the Hotel Niranjana. Our accommodation was booked here. Since it was close to 5:00 PM , we decided not to take the risk of going back. The most important place to visit in Lamayuru is the Lamyuru/Yuru Monstery. It is surrounded by moonland and also at a great height. We can view the meandering roads and the moonland from here. The monastery closes by 6:00 PM in the evening so we hurried into our hotel and selected the rooms in the terrace. 

We found out that this hotel Niranjana was run by the monastery and attracted many tourist. The rooms were clean but we were concerned about the common bathrooms. It reminded me of our hostel days. It was too late for us to search for anything else. Since this hotel was also rated and reviewed well on TripAdvisor we decided to adjust with it. After all it was just for the night stay. When I went to the room and kept my luggage, to my dismay I realized that Yd and I had come unprepared for a night stay. We did not carry any extra pair of clothes and I had not carried my contact lens case, lens solution and also my spectacles. We had warm clothes to keep ourselves off the cold but I was worried about my lenses. I couldn’t take them off without a lens solution and neither could I throw them because I wouldn’t be able to admire the beauty and visit places the next day. Thankfully I was the pillion rider. Yd and I kept having a heated discussion for not bringing my lens solution.

The visit to the monastery eased out our tension a bit. It is the most ancient monastery of Ladakh.  To know about the history of the monastery you can visit their page at http://lamayuru.com/our-monastery/history/. 

A senior monk chose to explain to us about their tradition, their rituals and also about the scriptures and statues present. He spoke broken English and Hindi out of which we could only understand a bit. The surprise was that a Ladakhi tourist guide was explaining in fluent French to a group of tourists from France. Had it been in English we could have understood the history of the monastery well.

After a short visit to the calm monastery Yd and I went hunting for medical shops or dispensaries in that area to find lens solution. We asked the others to relax for some time till we returned. Deepa asked a few tourists in the monastery if they carried lens solution with them. None of them seemed helpful. A lady started advising me to always carry contact lens case in my bag.

Since it was a Sunday the dispensary closed at 4:00 PM and the next destination to seek medical help was 10 kms away. I remembered seeing the place while on our way to Lamayuru. We travelled till there and realized that it was again a small emergency medical help center. On asking one of the locals we were told to go to Khalsti where this area’s largest medical center/hospital was located. We had to drive back traversing the same route which we had crossed just an hour back. The advantage we had at 6:00 PM was that the sun had not set. It was still shinning bright on some of the mountain peaks. Sunset in Ladakh region happens after 7:00 PM or 8:00 PM in the evening. After an hour of debate I gave up and left it to the situation to take its course. My eyes had started feeling tired slowly. I was desperately waiting to remove my contact lenses. We had just crossed the Moonland when Yd realized that he was not able to apply his breaks. He adjusted his speed and managed to move slowly by managing with his gear. He played my knight in shining armour. We crossed Khalsti town and reached the medical center which had a pharmacy shop opposite to it. That had also been closed at 4:00 PM as it was a Sunday. Keeping my hopes still high I asked for the pharmacy counter in the hospital. The hospital was as good as a dispensary in the urban areas. There were two girls in the pharmacy distributing emergency medicine to patients who were suffering from fever, loose motions or vomiting. I knew that I couldn’t find a lens solution in such a place. Instead I asked for lubricant eye drops or tear drops. They did not have that but instead offered me an antibiotic eye drop. They also told me that it was impossible to find lens solution or even lubricant eye drops in this area. The next best health care facility and pharmacy will be in Leh. Yd was ready to take me to Leh but seeing the bike’s condition I did not want to go back to Leh. While coming out from the hospital we both wondered about the plight of the people living there. If someone in Lamayuru had a health problem they would have to travel almost 30+kms to reach a place to find medical help.

The journey to Lamayuru from Khaltsi was gloomy unlike the other two occasions. Since this hospital was the last hope we were already disheartened. We also searched for a mechanic shop in Khalste but there was only one shop which was also closed. We picked up necessary toiletries from a shop in Khalste and left quickly for Lamayuru before it became dark. We couldn’t contact our friends and inform them about our status as phone network was not available. In a place like Ladakh, we realized  how important it was to be connected to loved ones. Tears welled up in my eyes when I thought of foregoing a night’s sleep or throwing away my lenses. I had already given up but hope but Yd went to all the rooms in the first floor asking for lens solution or an eye lubricant drop. The hotel staff had told us that there were tourists from other countries who were staying there. I was just narrating about our unsuccessful attempt to Deepa and Saveen when Yd walked in panting with two small Fevi quick like tubes. There were some French tourists over the age of 60 who understood Yd’s sign language and had hunted out two lubricant eye drops from their bag. It was the last pair that they had. One of them was a doctor who understood Yd’s actions and broken French. The steps in the hotel were made of stone and were too high. Climbing 10 steps will makes us feel like climbing a mountain and leave us breathless. Altitude was also making a big difference. We found difficulty in breathing at times while climbing up or coming down.

The instructions on the tube written in French but I could only understand one word ‘LacriFluid’. I could at least feel relieved that it was a fluid for the eyes and mainly for tear glands. 

When we do not understand something the next option we have is to search it up on Google. We went down to the reception to ask for the Wi-Fi password. The hotel owner Tashi said that we might fight Wi-Fi network but couldn’t access it as there was no electricity. He also told us about something that left us wondering for a while. Lamayuru has been receiving electricity only from 7:00PM to 11:00PM in the night everyday since many years. He told us that the people there had adjusted to this kind of life. Mr. Tashi was a very helpful man and turned out to be multilingual. He spoke to us in Tamil and also owned hotels in Bangalore. Hotel Niranjana was one of his hotels in India. Thanking him we left and freshened up. Dinner was served in the restaurant but only till 9:00 PM. They closed the kitchen by 9:30 PM. We had simple food. The options in the menu were a lot but whatever we were served was freshly cooked and warm. The soup gave us a lot of relief. We picked up few souvenirs from the lobby and retired to our rooms. I used two mineral water bottle caps to keep my lenses. The lubricant was just enough to soak my lenses. I mixed it with a drop of water so that it doesn’t dry overnight. We were planning to stay awake till 11:00 PM to see the lights going off in Lamayuru but were too tired to wake up. The terrace had become very cold by 10:00 PM. Spiti and Viren stayed awake to see the complete black out in Lamayuru. They said that the only light visible from the terrace was a truck’s headlight.

There was pin drop silence and complete peace. Not a soul’s voice could be heard. Don’t know what the walls were made of but we have never slept in such a peaceful surrounding till date. We were enveloped by deep sleep as soon as we hit the bed.

Ladakh- Traveller's Paradise

This is my first ever travelogue for public reading. I have travelled to many places from childhood days, more after marriage and I have also made it a point to document every travel experience in my personal diary. It took a long time for me to realize that sharing travel experiences in public can be of great help to fellow travellers who might be clueless about the place I have visited.

I graduated by sharing my experiences on TripAdvisor. I started recalling all the places I have visited, restaurants I had been to, hotels I have stayed in, places of attraction visited and reviewed them. You can read my reviews here:- TripAdvisor. When fellow travellers found my reviews useful and asked me queries about a place, it started giving me the satisfaction and happiness I have never felt before. I also started reading Travel blogs and following them. I realized that every experience is unique and it must be shared.

After all food, travel and emotions are the only ones that connect people from different walks of life.

With constant nagging from my sweet and encouraging husband, Yd and my dearest blogger friend, editor and mentor Harshit Gupta’s enlightening words of wisdom I decided to share my travel experiences by blogging about them.

The first one to top the charts has to be the visit to every Traveller’s Paraside – Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir.

I won’t go in detail about the geography and location of the place but would like to tell you that Leh district is at about an altitude of 9500-11,500 ft. The mountain ranges in Ladakh extend into the Great Himalayan region. This place has a mixture of the Indo-Tibetian-Buddhist culture.  The region is lapped in the snow- covered fringes of the Himalayas. Being a major settlement along the ‘ Silk Route’, Leh was chosen as the commercial capital.

This region shares its borders with Tibet which is in the east, valley of Kashmir, Jammu and Baltiyul regions to its west, Lahaul and Spiti region in the south and the Karakoram region in the north. Kargil is around 213 km from Leh.

To know more about Ladakh and its history and the latest event updates do visit their official page at http://leh.nic.in.

View from the flight while landing in Leh

The snow capped mountains  as seen while landing

We were a group of six- Three couples who travelled to Ladakh in mid July 2015 from Bangalore. We took a flight from Bangalore to Delhi and from Delhi we took a flight to Leh, Ladakh. Indigo and Go Air flights gave us reasonable rates for travelling to Leh and back. We booked our tickets four months in advance. We had to halt in Delhi airport overnight in order to take the early morning flight to Leh, the next day. Apparently flights do not land in Leh after 2:00 PM.  It was a self-planned trip with detailed inputs from Yd, who had been on a bike trip to Leh from Delhi in 2012. 

We also got a lot of information from Devil On Wheels and TripAdvisor which helped us in planning our trip well. We had only nine days for our trip in Ladakh including the travel days. Had we got a month’s time we could have been more relaxed about planning our trip. We had a fixed yet tentative itinerary which helped in covering decent number of the places in Ladakh.  I say tentative because when in Ladakh nothing can be predicted. It is always better to have back up plans and also one should have the presence of mind to change the trip itinerary ad hoc depending on the weather conditions. July mid is considered as an ideal month for travelling to Ladakh but despite taking enough precautions and planning well we had to face the unexpected too.  Well, how can one not expect adventure in Ladakh?

Only after visiting Ladakh I realized why Yd keeps telling me that if given a chance he would love to travel to Ladakh every year. Every trip experience will be different and the place is certainly magical. One week is not enough to explore the entire region. Some places are totally at the mercy of nature and also being preserved by the locals and the travellers who want Ladakh to remain as surreal as ever. Although over the last 2 years, travellers, bike riders and trekkers have increased, which is good for the Ladakh and J&K Tourism but hoping they do not destroy the beauty of the place.

Our accommodation in Leh was booked at Hotel Druk, Fort Road. This hotel should not be confused with the hotel 'The Druk' which can be searched for online. The hotel where we stayed doesn’t have a website of its own and is also not mentioned on TripAdvisor or Lonely Planet. It is a small cosy hotel with all the basic amenities required. Yd had stayed here on his visit to Leh in 2012. The hotel owner, Mr. Dawa had arranged the stay for us here. All we had to do was to just give him a call and inform him in advance about our travel dates. He also arranged his staff to pick us up from the Kushok Bakula Rinpoche/Rimpoche airport, Leh.

We were allotted 3 rooms in the first floor. It is a family run hotel and maintained very well. The rooms were neat and clean with hot water facility, clean washroom and also clean rugs. You won’t find fans or air conditioners in many hotels here because it is not required. The sun shines bright but the breeze is cool. The nights can become pretty cold. The hotel staffs-Dawa’s family members were very friendly and helpful. Whatever we asked they were always ready to provide us. They serve tea, breakfast, dinner and lunch with prior information. The menu comprised of dal – chawal (the staple food for the vegetarians there), roti-sabzi, pickle and papad. There are many restaurants available for good food in Leh but we preferred having dinner in our hotel most of the time. Mainly because it rained in the evening and also we were too tired to travel anywhere after a day’s travel.

The very first thing that a traveller needs to know before landing in Ladakh is about altitude sickness. It is a very common symptom and can worsen one’s health condition if medication is not taken on time. First aid is a must while going to Ladakh. One must ensure to carry all the medicines required for them and also what suits best for them. The most important ones being medicine to reduce symptoms of altitude sickness like Dimox, medicines to prevent vomiting and loose motions, ORL-S to replenish body fluids in case of excess loss, a sunscreen lotion with SPF 30 or SPF 50 and other basic medicines. I would advise you to consult your doctor before taking medicines like Dimox. Altitude sickness can have different symptoms. We all felt a bit numb and slightly dizzy with headache after landing at the airport. We did take Dimox but what helps is giving our body complete rest and time to acclimatize to the atmosphere there. Adequate sleep also helps a lot. Drinking water also helped and by afternoon our symptoms reduced. It takes one day to start feeling normal. I had a tingling feeling and also numbness in my hands and feet for an entire day. Some had bouts of headache, restless feeling, and sensation of vomiting too. They are all normal unless the symptoms become severe. So it is always better to relax. One must avoid travelling a lot on the first day. In fact, if you have time I would advise you to take two days for just sightseeing and roaming around in Leh market. A good night’s sleep and simple food will show changes the next day. Carrying enough warm clothes, rain coat, extra pair of shoes, extra pairs of socks, light snacks like biscuits, instant energy chocolate bars like Sneaker, 5 Star, Granola, and dry fruits is advisable. There is no scarcity of food in Ladakh. One can at least fine Yippe noodles ( Maggie was banned there too) or dal chawal but there can be situations where we would not be having enough time to search for hotels or food joints while travelling to a destination on the bike. Devil On Wheels gives a good list of things that one must pack for the Ladakh travel.

We rented out bikes from Apex Adventure Tours . They have their rental shop with a garage in the Leh market. Their contact is available online. We had to pay an advance amount to book the bikes for rent before 15 days of our travel. On the first day they gave us Royal Enfield 350 cc Bullet since the 500 cc Thunderbirds were undergoing maintenance. These bikes were enough for travelling around in Leh. They give helmets and also saddle bags. Saddles bags are at an extra cost. For long distance travel saddle bags are really important because the pillion rider cannot carry a heavy backpack for a long time.

We bought the Leh district’s and Ladakh’s map in order to get a clear picture of the route.  Our first meal in Ladakh was at the World Garden Cafe. The ambiance was good and everything that we ordered was really tasty.

We had just enough time to visit the Shanti Stupa on day 1. It was getting cloudy and we could expect a heavy rainfall any time. It was sunny in some areas while there were also areas with dark clouds ready for a downpour.

The first bike ride in Leh to Shanti Stupa was a great way to begin our journey. This was built based on a Japanese order and was inaugurated by Dalai Lama - A stupa that was built as a symbol of world peace. The view from the stupa is really exotic. It is just about 3-4 kms from Fort Road.  

You can find more details here: JK Tourism .

I wish we could have visited the Shanti Stupa at night to view it decorated with lights. The pictures I have seen are really beautiful. 

View from Shanti Stupa

Lord Buddha's statue in Shanti Stupa

View of Shanti Stupa from the Changspa Road

Experience the peace at the Shanti Stupa

The ride gave us the first taste of being free. It took us one day to absorb into the beauty of the place. Since we saw dark clouds hovering around in some areas we left early from there. The evening was quite relaxed. While Saveen and Yd waited for almost an hour to withdraw money at the ATM and Viren and Spiti went in search for buying raincoat, Deepa and I spent time shopping for earrings at the local market. The collection of stone and beaded jewellery was extremely good. We bargained and got a decent deal for few of them. I  was so engrossed in shopping for the stone jewellery that I did not have time to click a picture of the colourful market. We later headed to a shop to buy Pashmina and Ladakhi woollen shawl. 

After the mini shopping  spree we had coffee and snacks in one of the restaurants in Leh market. We bought the Buddhist colourful prayer flags for the three bikes from a shop there. Later, we collected the 500cc Thunderbirds from Apex adventure. Yd, Saveen and Viren were too excited to ride on their 500cc’s. We took our helmets and saddle bags and left before it started raining. Savy-Deepa, Yd and I reached but Viren and Spiti had not reached yet. Suddenly, Yd got a call from Viren saying that his bike had some starting trouble so he was stuck there. (Only Airtel/Vodafone post-paid or only BSNL network works there). There are also many no network zones. So it is better to keep the family members informed about our whereabouts whenever network is available.)

The problem in Viren’s bike was rectified by the mechanic but this minor incident was just the introduction to bike related problems in our trip. I guess every biker would be able to relate to these situations.  After dinner we packed ourselves up to take a good nap and be prepared for the next day’s journey to Lamayuru. Dawa suggested us to start early the next day and come back to Leh on the same day so that we could have the day after dedicated for white water rafting in the Zanskar River. However, our plan was to stay back at Lamayuru and try river rafting on our way back to Leh. I had booked Hotel Niranjana in Lamayuru as a backup option if we were planning to stay back for the night. We had not paid an advance so if at all we had to stay back we had a hotel accommodation fixed for us.

It took a long time for me to understand the routes, directions and the locations of the places were going to visit. Generally, when it comes to travelling to new destinations I do a lot of research about the place but with the Ladakh trip I did not get into the details. I had left everything to Yd for a change. I just did a rough check of the places around on the map to have a fair idea about our destinations. I think I wanted to be surprised. I now feel that I did the right thing by not having any expectations about the trip because I got more than what I could have even imagined.

 Day 2 adventures will be continued in the next blog post. 

Kitchen woes

It has been just few years since I started cooking myself. Initially it was always mommy coming to the rescue. After marriage, there were many situations when I had to manage cooking alone for more than 5 members. My husband has always been there to help me but at times when he is not around it gets too difficult to manage situations such as food fix. I have always played safe when it comes to cooking. If I have to invite someone home I plan well in advance and also buy the ingredients accordingly.

In my childhood days I have never seen my mom being too prepared for guests except for relatives who used to inform before coming. I have had guests coming in as a surprise and my mother always found a solution to give them snacks, tea/coffee/juice. She always kept snacks, lemon for a lemonade, squash or even simple items like ingredients for a pakora or a quick snack ready at home. In fact, if there were many guests at home suddenly mom used to send me quietly to a nearby snack shop to but either samosa or cutlet or aloo bonda. It was so easy for me to just go and get something nice in just 10-15 minutes while my mom kept the guests occupied. This quick delivery was only possible in a two tier city. In a place like Bangalore, guests would prefer coming home only after calling once. No one would like to return back seeing a locked door after travelling 25+ kilometers. But, surprises are always unexpected. One fine day, when entire Bangalore was having a holiday for the elections our friends, a group of 11 came home suddenly. Their voting booths were near our house so they thought of dropping in. 

It was a very quiet day for me and my husband after we had cast our votes. Since, everyone was encouraged to vote, shops except few medical stores remained closed. They were supposed to re-open only after 5:00 PM. We had had our morning coffee and had left for voting. We came back and to our surprise there were 11 of our friends waiting outside. They had not even had breakfast. They were all bachelors and their cook was on leave so they had just managed to make tea for themselves and they had left to cast their vote. From there they had come home to meet us. 

I looked at my husband gave an expression of dismay. There wasn't much grocery and vegetables at home which I could cook for lunch.  It was also the end of the month and we were yet to stock up on fresh grocery. Nevertheless, I invited them in and went into the kitchen. I scanned my fridge thinking I could get some easy option to cook for 13 members.

I was left only with onions, small potatoes, tomatoes and a bottle of pickle. No other green veggies or even pulses. There was some curd left and a small bowl of milk. I made mixed rice with tomatoes, potatoes, onions and served it with pickle and curd (mixed with milk) as a side dish. That was the most embarrassing situation for me. With no shops or restaurants open near by we only only had  an option to serve our guests with something which was left at home. I still feel embarrassed when I recall this situation.

Image Courtesy : IndiBlogger 

Had there been food ordering Apps like TinyOwl then it would have solved many of my problems. I could easily order food from places which could have been open that day and also got it delivered home. I would have been in a better state then. This incident happened when there weren't any Food Startup. Now I have better options available with many food startup's ready to deliver food home.

I have tried browsing through the App but haven't ordered anything from here yet. Hoping to use it soon. It is very simple to use. You have restaurants and food joints with user ratings. They make it easier by using your address to locate food joints around your house. There is a pre-set menu served by these food chains which are available for home delivery. One doesn't even need to haggle for change when the delivery staff comes home because they have 'My Wallet' facility which can help you recharge before so that money can be deducted from here. I see that there are many food joints that have volunteered to offer food via TinyOwl.  They also have offers available like, Uber Ride discounts, food discounts, coupon codes which will attract more customers. Hoping it turns out to be user friendly. You can also try downloading this App. They have an Android as well as an iOS version available for download.

Will my life get easier with Airtel 4G?

Airtel 4G challenge Ad is the new buzz in the Ad world. Everyone is trying to take up the challenge to prove that Airtel 4G http://www.airtel.in/4g is faster than any other network. On the contrary, I am still wondering if my life will really get easier with 4G? I am still pondering over upgrading to a 4G SIM, even though I am an Airtel user from the past 10 years. 3G has been working fine so far but sometimes I hardly get proper internet connectivity even  in Bangalore. But if 4G works there cannot be anything better than this. 

Currently, I have Airtel Broadband at home which has not been quite good when it comes to the Upload speed. In order to get a network connection with an equally good Upload and Download speed we switched over to ACT on a trial basis. I have been paying double of the internet bill from the past 2 months because Airtel Broadband did not help me much. If I get it upgraded to 4G and the speed is as desired I would do away with an extra internet connection at home. I will be able to have an internet connection which will suffice for everything.  

My husband and I are into Candid photography and we have our clients from different parts of the country. Once their wedding moments are captured and the time comes to send them the soft copy of the photos we hesitate because of a bad upload speed we have with Airtel Broadband. We have resorted to sending them pictures in a pen drive and later we courier it to them. Although, there are so many options to upload photos online and send it to the couple. Even if we do try uploading photos online we wait for 2 days so that 1000+ pictures can be uploaded. Airtel 4G should certainly help us for all this. 

Now, that many websites are becoming App only, like Myntra where I try shopping often for fashion products, I have to resort to mobile internet connection also. Whenever I am not at home and I need to use the internet, 3G comes in handy for me. I have been happy with Airtel 3G so far but in many situations the network vanishes suddenly and my payment gets stuck midway. In such situations 4G will come in handy. 

I am a blogger and also an avid reader. While travelling I suddenly feel like either writing and reading a book. I have started buying E-books more now. If network is as fast as 4G I can buy books easily and also keep blogging through the phone. 

If 4G turns out fast, downloading movies within 5-10 minutes will be a dream come true. I can also watch all the English TV Series and catch up with the latest episodes instead of keeping it for download overnight. Watching movies in phone will also be possible. I can also download songs through Saavn.com or Gaana.com. I can listen to the songs when I am offline also. Hoping the unbelievable speed will help me in the future.