Kargil to Leh is a 3 ½ hrs drive of 214kms on NH 1D. The panoramic scenes of nature’s glory coupled with the BRO built seamless roads make these stretches one of the best places to be driving in. The weather was perfect with not one cloud to be seen on the clear blue skies _ such deep blue that you cannot find it in the cities! And those vistas of layers and layers of brown mountains seemed to stretch as far the eyes could see and the mind could comprehend.
Some of the places one can see on this route are NamikaLa, FatuLa, Lamayuru, Mulbek, Moonscape hills, , Magnetic Hill
We crossed the NamikLa pass at 12198feet which is the highest in the Srinagar-Leh highway and the Fatula pass at 13478feet. The entire area is a defense den with lots of convoys and army folks securing this serenity.
View in front of Lamayaru
Lamayuru is an ancient monastery of the 8th century, I do not understand much about Buddhist spirituality but I like the calm in monasteries and their locations are often encapsulated in extremely beautiful panoramas with absolute tranquility. If you have ample time, take a walk here, it is a one off experience you cannot afford to miss.
View of Moonrock landscapes from the Lamayaru Gompa
The view and the vistas are astonishingly beautiful around this place. Each hill has a different pattern to swirl up your imaginations. It is as if God was making his choicest sand castles here.
The Moonrock hills, true to their name, look like craters on the moon. The pyramid shaped formations on these hills are really intriguing.
Next was the Magnetic Hill, the expanse of similar looking smooth slopes in the backdrop of open skies against a levelled surface road make the downhill path appear like an uphill path. It creates an optical illusion that vehicles are moving uphill much against gravity. There are monster trucks available for a fun ride on hire.
Magnetic Hill Road
Driving here is like a beautiful dream!
Next is the Sangam point where the Sindhu and Zanskar rivers meet.
Sindhu Zanskar Sangam
Then there is Pattar Saahib Gurudwara, if you are reaching Leh by afternoon, you can visit the Gurudwara and have Langar.
The Hall Of Fame is another must visit attraction where you can easily spend some 3 hours reading about the Army regiments, wars, weapons, winning stories and woeful memories. I would call it an Army Heritage Gallery with a lot of interesting information and insight into what it takes to be standing there at the borders. (We visited the Hall of Fame on the eve of our last day of the tour from 2.30pm to 5.30pm and covered the Gurudwara in the morning just before leaving Leh).
You are almost entering Leh!
Julay!
We reached our hotel Blue Mountain in Leh at around 2pm. The Leh market is a 7minute walk from here. We had lunch at Sneha Vegetarian Snacks. Strolled around in the markets looking at why Ladakhis had a red burnt nose.
Leh Market
I was reminded of my Srinagar driver telling me – Ye Ladakhi Kheenchke oxygen lethe hai na – isi liye inka naak laal hota hai’! Leh is at 11,562feet and the October weather was sunny yet very chill, a strange unease was overwhelmingly arresting me and I felt as if my nose was becoming numb!
However I was much better after a nice hot ginger-honey drink, also fatty food like butter will do lot of good in high altitudes to keep you going.
The next day morning was the moment I was looking forward to _ what is a trip to Leh without a bike ride beside the Sindhu Rivers?
Leh Palace
Bike rentals are available for Rs.1000 per day, fuel fills is on you. We started off visiting the Leh palace – a small wood and mud building. You can catch a good glimpse of the Leh city from here.
View from Leh Palace
Leh is the land of Changpas, Drogpas and Dards, its palaces are simple inornate structures devoid of grandiose, built with whatever substances were available and suitable in the hostile climates by the local kings.
The chirpy HazaarBaasha or the Chakor Pakshi
Ladakh means the Land Of Passes(La-Pass, dakh-land). In this land of lofty mountains and splendid valleys the best thing to do is to plunge in its scenic beauty by simply driving around against the wafting winds.
Enroute Stok, now don’t look out for the stand!!
We drove to Stok Palace which is some 12kms from Leh, located in a serene seclusion, the Stok Palace overlooks the Giant Buddha statue in its close vicinity.
The insides of the palace are mostly wooden, the walls and ceilings are complemented with bright colored paintings and artefacts.
View from Stok
The occasional chiming sounds of the large Mantra Mani spun by curious tourists, adds a unique sanctity in the air. En route the highway we had lunch at ‘Buddhist Garden Restaurant’ owned by an old friendly Ladakhi lady.
View at the Shey Palace
Next we were heading towards Shey Palace in Shey village. Shey Palace is a 16th century structure that hosts a monastery with a gigantic copper Buddha statue. It was the ancient capital of Ladakhi kings before they moved to Stok.
Vistas near the DrukPadmaSchool
Next we were driving towards Thiksey Monastery and then to Hemis in Karu village. Between Shey Palace and the Thiksey Monastery there is a splendid burst of yellow! On the way we saw a whole lot of tourist vehicles parked near the Druk Padma Karpo School that is now famously called as Rancho’s School because parts of the movie – 3 Idiots was shot here (the school scenes). It was amusing to see the number of people queued up here to have a look at Aamir Khan’s classroom and of course Chatur’s pissing point! The hill stations of J&K are smitten by the Bollywood Bug, many valleys or points are named after some movie. We took some pictures here and didn’t go inside the school. We also skipped stopping at the Thiksey monastery as we were headed to see the biggest monastery _ Hemis.
Leh to Hemis monastery is 45kms and an incredible drive with breath taking vistas of the Sindhu river and those barren terrains with a dash of Saffeda and Willows spread across in their vivid hues.
Ladakh is known as the cradle of diverse cultures. Although predominantly Buddhist it has considerable Muslim population as Islam was brought in by invading kings, travelers and trades from around the 15th century.
Located amidst the high Himalayan ranges like Karakoram, Zanskar and The Himalayan ranges, Ladakh is a rain shadow region with no vegetation or rain, making the place a rocky edged barren terrain that is very difficult for human existence but still Leh manages to attract lakhs of tourists round the year because of these very unique features.
Bridge Crossing to Hemis
Although you can see flowing waters everywhere, there is acute scarcity of water in Ladakh. So while in Ladakh, use water judiciously and leave this heavenly place nice and clean.
Arch gate to Hemis, 5kms before the monastery
Hemis monastery is located on a remote hill gorge we were the only ones driving on this route at around 4pm. It is an ancient monastery that was reestablished in the 16th century.
Main monastery is another 3kms from here
It is the biggest and richest gompa that hosts the annual Hemis festival also known as The Kumb Mela Of The Himalayas, where sacred masked dances and other traditional rituals are performed. Lamas from across the world congregate here to commemorate the Padmasambava who is believed to be the reincarnation of Buddha.
Hemis Gompa
This place has a small restaurant, museum and clean toilets.
The sun was setting and the weather dipping, it was time to call it a day. And we were driving back beside the Sindhu once again against the hostile winds. By the time we reached our hotel my nose had almost signed off and felt like it didn’t exist!
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