The girls only @ Ladakh


 Enroute Leh


Here we are!! 

Day 1 The first day of our girls only adventure.


Before I continue, here is a briefest of our introduction. We are 4 moms, aged in varied numbers of 40s - though we tend to believe that we do not look our age. Kids as well as husbands have grown up to that age that we are sure that they at home are going to take a sigh of relief in our absence for these 6N and 7D long trip. 


For two of us, it is our first ever trip without family, so the nervous somersaults by the little butterflies somewhere in our system was quite explainable. The other two are pros and have led multiple women-only treks to various parts of the country. 


However, this trip involved a ‘first’ for them as well. It was their first ‘non-trek’ - ‘adventure only’ excursion. Unlike their earlier excursions, where they stayed in base camps boasting of humble boarding and lodgings in the foothills of the mountains, ‘running hot water’ was one facility which they jokingly told us about (where a boy brings the hot water from the outside bhatti - running, because he being the single attendant there, has so many errands to run),  they had assured us that this is going to be a comfortable stay in premium hotels.


To my protest of “I would have loved to experience such a ‘down to earth’ (pun was intended) adventure!!” She had countered that in the Ladakh trip, there was already a risk of us falling sick due to high altitude. So the least we could do was to puke, feel dizzy and disoriented, in comfort.


The other precautions that we had taken throughout the trip were- 

  1. We had started taking Diamox (Diamox Oral: Uses, Side Effects, Interactions, Pictures, Warnings & Dosing - WebMD two days before we were to reach Leh. The three followed the advice of the guide to the word and took one full tablet (250 mg) twice a day. Me - a strict proponent of not taking medicines - compromised, and took half a tablet twice a day. We continued the medicine till two days after reaching Leh. Me (who took less dosage) and they (who took full dosage), all survived well.
  2. We all carried our own water bottles and sipped a lot of water throughout the day - even while we were on the road. Surreptitiously, we were on a constant look for big rocks amongst the mountains - in case the need arose. Though we were lucky. Barring two occasions, we got access to bathrooms, but only after we reluctantly agreed to be the customer of the roadside shops and also lowered our standards for hygiene. On the said two occasions, I must confess, we made good use of our shawl/stoles to use as curtains while one of us relieved herself.
  3. And most important - We took it easy!! Even the slightest of exertion - carrying the heavy suitcase, climbing stairs or walking at a paced speed, tended to induce breathlessness. So, we listened to our body. If it was demanding rest, we obliged!!

We met one girl who got sick - dizziness and nausea - because, the dear husband, downplaying her tiredness and indigestion, insisted for her to accompany him for a romantic stroll.

While we got into our taxi to our hotel, there were two silent questions prodding our excited brain cells.
  1. Why is it so hot? In such weather, will we ever get to use the jackets, sweaters and warmers that we are lugging around?
  2. Why are the mountains so brown, barren and bald?

The driver answered our second question. Ladakh lies in the leeway side of the Himalayan range, so the rain bearing clouds fail to offer their bounty here and hence these sad, naked mountains.

Tip - The barren naked bald and brown mountains vouch for the fact that this area remains devoid of any rains even during the staunchest of monsoon season. So, people looking to spend sometime in mountains, but want to avoid Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand during rainy months, may want to consider visiting Ladakh.

Just come prepared, willing to spend some relaxed days without much rushing about and exerting yourself. Because the high altitudes are known to play havoc with ‘unprepareds’, giving them symptoms, the minor ones ranging from headaches, dizziness, nausea and breathlessness. For major ones, and how to be prepared for them, you may read - healthy-in-high-himalayas.pdf

We even had a PJ exchanged between us (after experiencing the slight inconveniences), as to why Ladakh is not a good honeymoon destination? If you think, you know the answer, why don't you reply in the comment box. For the naives ;) is a hint


At our hotel, we were greeted by the sight of the apple laden trees, and forgetting the caution of taking it easy, no exertion rule, especially on our first day which was reserved specifically for rest and acclimatisation - how we went berserk!!


Gradually graduating from collecting the fallen apples, to using a stick to get to the juiciest bunch of apples perched on higher branches, finally the hotel staff member pitched in when we ourselves attempted to try to climb the tree.


Securing the apples safely in one of our sun caps to be devoured later, we proceeded for the next important item of our itinerary- taking 2-3 hours siesta after lunch before heading for the city excursion for the day.

Places covered - Shanti Stupa Shanti Stupa Leh - History, Timings, Rules & Tips (lehladakhindia.com)
Leh palace Leh Palace - History & Things to do & See (lehladakhindia.com)
Ladakh fest
Some useful tips regarding the above sight seeing points -
  1. Shanti Stupa - Look for a guide (none exists officially) if you want to appreciate the murals - (in fact it is true for all other monasteries as well which were included in our itinerary), else they become a normal photo taking site. We realised the loss when we noticed a local accompanying a gentleman tourist explaining the meaningful and enchanting stories adorned on the walls.



  2. We got late reaching the Leh palace. Though we enjoyed the sunset from one of the terrace of the palace, we missed the inside of the palace as it got pretty dark inside, looking unwelcoming and formidable with seemingly motion sensor lights which failed to give us confidence to venture in along with high stone stairs. There is one light and sound show that happens there but it was cancelled that day to accommodate the 3 day Ladakh fest. I guess the ideal time to reach the palace is by 5 - 5:30 pm. You will get enough of day time light to enjoy the insides of the palace and then will not have to loiter around waiting for the show to start.



For us, the biggest highlight of the day turned out to be the Ladakh fest held at the centre of the city in the local market. We were lucky to be in Ladakh on one of those three days to witness and participate in this Cultural delight full of local dance and songs.


Day 2 - It was also supposed to be an easy day - to acclimatise ourselves to high altitudes. The planned attractions to cover during the day ( in the order we did) were-

Indus Zanskar Confluence - The coming together of the slightly muddy Zanskar with clearer Indus was serene in itself, our family-free-girlie-zeal of taking photos, upped the fun quotient a notch higher. Then we noticed the inflated rafting boats and then the banner confirming our discovery and our adventure seeking spirit kicked in!! After much detailed deliberation about choosing between level 3 or level 1 ( these were the two options available), we chose the easier one. Later we applauded ourselves for the smarter choice for it fitted well in our time constraints (level 3 would have taken us around 3 hrs whereas we did the level 1 in around an hour ( 40 minute rafting, 15 minutes to go to location and wearing jackets and all). Besides doing level 3 would have meant more exertion, which we were glad, we avoided.





Magnetic Hill - It again would have become a take photo-make memory- move on type of normal tourist stop (my family calls it Patel point style of holidaying - no intention to harm any specific community sentiments - if done - my apologies), had we not noticed the shop giving Ladakhi costumes on rent. At a very reasonable price of Rs. 100/- per person, unlimited time, no limitation on number of costumes or accessories, the very nice shop owner even offered us his patience and tips to take photos, besides very clean and well maintained costumes. selfie point /Photo Booth Magnetic hill


Gurudwara - The places like these, make you believe in the mystic and divine. The curved dent in the rock, the pious atmosphere and the humble langar (we got to have our lunch at 4pm - thanks to the prasad) make it a must visit point in the itinerary.

Hall of fame- Our last ‘supposed’ stop was Hall of fame (though as perfect time managers as we ladies tend to be - we managed to squeeze in another visit at the local market). The well presented and documented details of the sacrifices and tough serving conditions of our soldiers evokes pride and patriotism in one and all. I particularly got stuck at a video showing how the soldiers are trained to move and defend in snow capped mountains.
 
Tip for the day - There is one light and sound show which happens at Hall of fame once it gets dark. The time of the show is flexible - depending upon the time it gets dark as per time of the year. So, just like Leh palace, it is better to coincide your visit time 45-60 minutes before the time of the show. The ticket for the show stays valid for 7 days from date of purchase.

The show was scheduled for 8pm, we still had 2 hours in our kitty, which we fruitfully utilised in shopping at the local market. Interesting turn of events happened when our taxi driver refused to drive us back to the Hall of Fame as it was getting beyond 8pm and reluctantly we postponed visiting the show to our last day in Ladakh and retired for the day.

Day 3 -

Khardungla pass Khardung La Pass - Mountain Passes in Ladakh, India (lehladakhindia.com)
Deskit monastery Diskit Monastery in Nubra Valley, Ladakh - Complete Information 2021 (lehladakhindia.com)
Sand dunes at Hunder Hunder Sand Dunes Nubra Valley - Tourist Places in Nubra (lehladakhtourism.com)

With great anticipation and newly acquired (hopefully) and very coveted arsenal of acclimatisation, we set on our 3rd day. But how can 4 girls who have ventured out alone in unpredictable terrains of Ladakh behave predictably!!

Mesmerised by the sight of motorcycle bikers zooming around expertly navigating the picturesque high altitude mountain roads, we developed the deep yearning of emulating the adventure. Our local guide succumbed to our charmed requests and arranged a biker who would accompany our cab to the Khardungla pass. We 4 were to take turns pillion riding the bike for the almost 40 km stretch (10 kms each).

Tip - Do not stay at the Khardungla pass for more than 15-20 minutes. Even if you are lucky and feeling ok, just like we were, click photos, relieve yourself of the water that you had been drinking on the way, and if you feel like, have some quick refreshment (nothing much - but maggi and a hot cuppa - trust me, they have never tasted better than on such occasions). Choose the order of the activities as per convenience and availability (there was a long line of tourists to click their memento of having reached the highest motorable pass). Like good girls, we heeded our guide and left the point incident free. Later we got to hear few stories from fellow tourists who overstayed, that how they got bleeding from nose, headache, dizziness, nausea, etc.


On the way was Deskit monastery. But owing to our bike pillion riding-switching rider at every 10 km- adventure, we were running late and decided to skip the monastery, as reaching the sand dunes at Hunder held a better pull on us. We consoled ourselves by visiting the picturesque and serene statue of Maitrayee Buddha which was near the monastery.



At the sand dunes at Hunder at the Nubra valley, we got to rendezvous with the real child in us. Before the two hump camels and ATVs could entice us, we had our full on blast masti photo shoot at the sand dunes. Have you ever seen a cool meandering stream and desert sand co-existing? Well!! Here is the place. After watching the downfall of the sun behind the mountains and helping the moon to rise to its full glory, we made our way to our hotel. After a hearty meal of farm to plate produce, we called it a day, to dream of the motor bikes and two humped camels.




Day 4 - Turtuk village Turtuk in Ladakh - The Last Village on India & Pakistan Border (lehladakhindia.com)
10 things to do in Turtuk, Ladakh ~ The Land of Wanderlust

The day started with a stroll among the apple trees and cabbage, beans and lettuce garden while discussing what all we can get for breakfast with such ample fresh bounty.

We started on time from our hotel at Nubra valley, and after a short toilet break at Shyok valley border point, we reached Thang village.



This village boasts of a first hand experience of how different life can be across two sides of the border across India and Pakistan. The inhabitants of this village got divided into the two countries overnight in 1971. Now the Indian side has roads, hospitals, schools and occupation opportunities, while the other side longingly waits for such opportunities to descend for them while facing the fiercest downturn of their economy. It's here where we got to buy the purest of saffron and sweetest of apricots. 


Our bellowing tummy reminded us that it was already lunch time, so we set out in the quest to find that much recommended restaurant serving baltic cuisine. Now it's another matter that the way to the restaurant was much more interesting than the food itself. While crossing bridges on foot, climbing stairs to the mountainous village (remember we are talking about exertion on high altitudes, where already this much climbing, walking was making us breathless) and asking directions from the retreating tourists to get to the restaurant nestled at the very end of the scenic village, we were marvelling at the strength of ‘word of mouth publicity’ which was guiding us to the quest of this coveted restaurant.And yes….. No- the google maps was not working because of non-existent sticks on the right top corner of the phone.

Well! After a hearty late lunch, which we found good but not at par with the hyped expectations, we decided to head back to our hotel after passing the opportunity to participate in a talk cum workshop by Sonam Wangchuk.

Back at the hotel, after a relaxed dinner and a bonfire later, we called it an early night, mentally preparing ourselves for the next most exciting lag of our trip - Pangong Lake. Sitting in our warm beds, we apologetically looked at our warm jackets who were looking accusingly at us for not providing them enough air, sunlight or kodak moment times.

To offer them some consolation - we again checked the temperature at the Pangong Lake - 0* C (feels like -2* C) at 8 pm tomorrow.

Day 5 - Pangong Lake Pangong Lake | Pangong Tso Lake - What to Know Before You Go (lehladakhindia.com)

Next morning, we took little longer baths, shampooed our hair (compensating in advance for the next day bath in Pangong lake that we were sure that we will be skipping) and dressed ourselves in layers.

The interesting thing to note is that though we didn't discuss, we 4 ended up adopting the same strategy. Birds of a feather travel together ;)

Two hours on the road enroute Pangong and we were incessantly asking just two questions, mentally as well as vocally -

No - not those proverbial ones of ‘ are we there yet’ and ‘ where is the bathroom’. No!!

But 1. Where is the cold?
And 2. Where is the road?

For the first question, we had literally stripped down to our last layer of clothing - unfortunately a warmer - all 4 of us - and still we were sweating in that non AC car. I hear you, so, don’t even get me started on our driver, the fifth occupant of the car, for we were seeing him in the same set of clothes, for the 5th day in a row, come rain, shine or cold!!! So, no Comments on why it was only us - the ladies - who was complaining!!

So, what’s the big deal? You ladies are such snobs!! Roll down the windows of the car and let the cool mountain breeze alleviate your miseries!!

Well …well !! I can hear your thoughts loud and clear!!

So, here lies the premise for our second question. For there was no road. Our car was crawling on a dried up river bed. And a crawling car does not generate enough momentum to generate enough breeze to cool down its occupants :(


We discovered a newfound appreciation for our driver who was deftly navigating the car on gravel like a jumping roller coaster. We had mentally prepared ourselves to forgive him for roaming around in the same set of clothes for the fifth day in a row. We were also silently thanking the Toyota people for giving a good ground clearance to the Innova model. Occasionally, the driver will point towards a speck of a trail in the mountains in the distance, dotted once or twice with some truck or road roller, showing us the actual road which happened to be under repairs at that time.

There were no other cars in sight. Few motorists crossed us riding the bike in a standing position. In our silent girlie eye to eye talk, we even joked on the need for riding that way ;)

Later we got to know that a few motor cyclists got injured and two cars broke down on the gravel river bed posing as a road and had to end their attempts to visit the Pangong lake.

Two- three hours later, once we finally reached close to our destination, the most disappointing question, that god forbid, no enthusiastic traveller should ever be unlucky enough to ask came!! our third question -

Is that it??
Where are those damn fabulous shades of colours of lake water that the online photos boasted of?



After coming on such a perilous road, the view of the lake, though good, seemed disappointing. The perpetrator, we realised, were the clouds who were overpowering all the colours with their grey and hiding the sunset as well.

Still, we made the best of the available opportunities. Took those ‘3 Idiots’ famed ‘all is well stool’ and ‘yellow scooter, red helmet’ props photos. (they even had the red bridal costume similar to the one that Kareena Kapoor wore, but for hygiene reasons, we chose to ignore this option). How a movie can turn a difficult to reach stretch of a lake at one high corner of the world into a sought after tourist spot was interesting to witness.


Now, another ironic relief was that finally the heavy weight of jackets and gloves and earmuffs and caps finally came to fruition. Battling the cold chilly winds, we spent a good amount of time there, taking photos. Next culprit to make us stay there longer was the pre wedding photo shoot happening, where the girl was posing in a thin chiffon saree sans any layer of warm clothing. In fact, there came another group of well prepared ladies who came in flowing matching colour sarees (also carrying the warm wears which they removed while posing for the photos) [(shame to us!!) ]. We saluted the spirit of the girl posing for her pre wedding photos and envied the ladies for their superb idea and left for our cabins.

Tip of the day - besides, dressing in a flowing saree or carrying a colourful dupatta, to take photos of course, you might also want to carry a speaker to listen to music. I had downloaded some songs on my phone, predicting smartly that there would be no internet connectivity in pangong. But the volume of the phone was not loud enough over the chatter of the waves. So we were missing a steaming cup of coffee or tea along with the music while sitting at the edge of the world !!!

doesn’t it sound like a dream!!

At the cabins, all of our disappointment over the grey skies and weariness of the bad roads melted away. The cabins had one wall facing the lake made of glass and a section of the roof too had a glass window to gaze at the night stars. We finally spent a musical evening sipping our choicest drinks ( coffee, tea and hot chocolate - what did you think? - alcohol is strictly not advised on such high altitudes. For that matter, even smoking is!! But we saw few tourists, still indulging with a puff) We also got to see those promised shades of red, green and blue adorning the mountain clad lake water and the skies.



After a delicious scrumptious dinner, we chucked the idea of a bonfire (remember -2*C prediction? Well it felt a notch lower) and headed for our cosy cabins dreaming of dreaming under the peeping stars.

Day 6 The morning greeted us with clear skies and a breathtaking view of the lake and the mountains, daring us to stay back. But, leave we did!!

But only after we each had taken long relaxing baths under the fully equipped bathrooms. After the assumption that we might not get hot water here at such a difficult place, it felt dishonouring to technology and to the hotel management to not make full use of it.

After another round of photos at the cliff to the lake, we headed back to Leh, via a different route this time.

The next destinations were -
Changla pass jktdc.co.in/changla-pass.aspx
Thiksey Monastery Thiksey Monastery in Ladakh - Festivals Date and Best Time to Visit (lehladakhindia.com)
And rancho school Rancho School - Discover Leh Ladakh

And if possible, we had to squeeze in the shopping at the local market at Leh and make use of our Light and sound show ticket at The Hall of Fame.

Like the perfect managers as we ladies are, we managed all.

The only tip for this day, which is actually true for all other days in Ladakh is -
Do not get greedy when you find internet connectivity in your phone, especially while you are on the move. Do not try to catch up with the world by checking the whatsapp messages, e-mails and your instagram feed. This is what I did.and got motion sickness enroute Changla pass.

  2 We did a quick photo at the Changla pass ( the not more than 15-20 minute rule applies to Changla pass as well),


and then headed for the Thiksey monastery. It had lots of stairs and I chose to listen to my body and refused to go up owing to the uneasy feeling and nausea. Others did go. I used the time to catch up with family (read husband) and work.


For the internet connectivity and phone networks, here is the gist ( as on september 2023). Amongst us 4, we had airtel postpaid (works), Jio prepaid (postpaid works) and Vodafone ( prepaid/postpaid - doesn't matter - none works) connections. So, as the ( ) indicates, only airtel postpaid worked for us. The signal was patchy at high altitudes like at Khardungla pass and Changla pass. But in the valleys and near habitation, we had signals. At Pangong lake, we were told that Jio postpaid works, but we can’t confirm.


The next and in fact last destination of our itinerary was Rancho school. The interesting fact is that the school existed much before it shot to fame via the 3 Idiots movie and was already a celebrated school for its various achievements. The only difference, as the girl at the reception told us, was that earlier only the foreigners used to visit, now Indians also come. To accommodate the domestic tourists, they have even erected props as per the movie to act as photo points. Needless to say, we made good use of them. 3 Idiots fame ‘Rancho’s School’ in Ladakh wants to be known by its actual name | Education News - The Indian Express


Day 7 - Back to mundane life

And with this, just like that, we were left with loads of memories and the return ticket to home.

At Bangalore, I met with the worst ever traffic jam (jams are not new for bangaloreans, but this one was epic). But that is a story for some other time....may be!!!
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Comments

Sanjay S Sisodia said…
Very detailed and well written, great work….keep it up
October 11, 2023 at 2:49 PM
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