12 Days in Jammu and Kashmir

A Traveler’s diary has always some stories to tell. Travelling is a life-changing experience. Every traveler is a Story-teller from his own perspective. The Journey of My 12 days in Jammu and Kashmir is an unforgettable event of my life. I want to share the moments with this story that I’ve experienced on my trip to J&K.

Jammu and Kashmir is famous for the mountains, hills, pine trees, conifers, deodars, snow-capped mountains and ice-skiing in the winters, glaciers, Pashmina shawls, rivers and lakes, trekking, horse-riding, holy shrines, Kashmiri-cuisine, flower and fruit gardens, military based camps and offices, wooden carved architecture, movie shooting locations, histories, museums, monuments, monasteries, people of myriad kinds and many more.

It was the month of July when we experience too much of perspiration and humid weather as we reside in the city very close to the sea. But I was super excited about my upcoming trip to Kashmir by the next week. It was just 5 days to go and all of us started to plan and pack our luggage. We also packed our cameras, OTG pen drives, some quick snacks like biscuits, chips, and mainly chocolates because chocolates are good for the Heart and for breathing in the high altitude. We also double checked taking our flight tickets, ID cards, and the travel plan.

I love wandering because it gives me a sense of freedom to get away from the normal life. I get to know new places, people, culture, and food. I’m actually a foodie- traveler, who loves food alongside the traveling moments. I absolutely love going to the hill station and the mountains, and I was eagerly waiting for the day to arrive, to experience the flavor, taste, food extravaganza and of course the landscapes of J&K.

And the day arrived, we started early morning 4:30 am for the Airport. Our flight was at 7 am, it was via a flight from the capital city. Flight to Jammu was at 2:30 pm in the afternoon. We reached Jammu around 4 pm. The cab agency was there to receive us, we got into the cab and I was ready with my camera to start clicking. I am going to put some of my favorite pictures from my journey. They say that you can never get a bad shot in the mountains.

Day 1: JAMMU

We started driving on the long-stretched routes along the mountain ends and river banks. There were many religious holy places such as Temples, Mosques, also Gurudwaras. The Jammu road towards Katra falls on the National Highway 1A, where the majestic River Chenab flowing in red-muddy color towards my right and mountain rocks on my left. I’ve always loved this sort of long stretched routes and we were going closer and closer to that mountain where the Mother God (Mata Rani) resides.

We reached the Asia hotel where we were going to spend the next two nights. As I entered the heavenly place of Jammu and Kashmir, first things that fell into my sight were mountains, rivers, and beautiful glowing flowers. The flowers were so beautiful that I began clicking on all of them. The flowers are bigger than the size of my fist and even my own face. I was spellbound at the very first glimpse of this beautiful place and its natural beauty.
We took some time to get fresh and then the hotel provided cab, we went to book our entry tickets to the ‘Vaishno Devi Temple’. The place was very nearby to our hotel, so it took about 15 minutes to and fro, and also the ticket counter was not crowded at that time. We came back to the hotel, had our meals, took a quick nap. We then started walking up on the mountain to visit the Holy Shrine to offer our prayers and wishes to the Deity (Mother God).

Day 2: KATRA

We along with the other devotees climbed up high on the mountain to seek the blessing of the Goddess. It was a distance of approximately 16 km. That morning we reached the sacred place and got the darshan of Mata Rani. While getting down the mountains we took the pony ride, as we had terrible leg aches. The afternoon we spend some nap time in the hotel, the evening we went to the market in Katra, it was just 10 minutes away from our hotel, however, the hotel provided a cab for our pick and drop. The food was amazingly delightful and good for the appetite, the stay was comfortable. Katra is strictly a vegetarian place as it’s the divine place; the markets and their services are open for 24 hours.

The hotel served dinner from 8 pm and the food came down as a heavenly bliss to us. After the journey of the whole day, even though light snacks accompanied us, but the whole meal was actually a gift from an Angel. The plate included my favorite Matar paneer, aloo gobi, dal chawal, boondi raita, salads, and papad.

Our two days of stay in the Holy town was over, and it gave us a lifetime experience of walking up above the mountains and we were fortunate enough to have the darshan of the Almighty.

Day 3: PAHALGAM

The day started in a pleasant and fresh mood, we were heading to a new destination – Pahalgam. We started at 7:30 in the morning from Katra, the hotel packed our breakfast so that we could have while on the drive. As we were not habituated of driving in the mountains, for the first two hours all of us had the feeling of nausea, we knew it was important to carry few polythene or paper bags during travel. Initially, we had little inconvenience as we stopped the cab quite a few times on the way. However, once we were used to the zoom along drive on the mountains, we enjoyed each and every moment of our journey.

Chenani Nashri Tunnel

Our cab (Toyota Innova MUV) was very comfortable, we had no trouble in sitting for hours and riding over the rocky roads. We passed through many tunnels, which were quite dark and awesome at the same time. We also crossed India’s longest road tunnel ‘Chenani Nashri Tunnel’ between Udhampur and Ramban. The tunnel is approximately 9 km long. It was inaugurated very recently in April 2017. It looked very new and the infrastructure makes you feel as if you are driving in a foreign land. It was a comfortable and smooth ride in that dark long stretched tunnel route and I felt a bit dozy.

Scenic beauty can be best enjoyed in the hill station. The different colors of the Mother Earth are visible in Jammu and Kashmir. I started documenting and noting down the name of the places that we were passing through. I felt the Sun so soft in Ramban that falls on the way to Pahalgam in Anantnag. These places are affected by landslides at any point in time, especially when it rains.

Ramban

The Beauty of Nature!!

The Sutlej River, one of the tributaries of River Chenab flowing extravagantly in the picture.

On the way to Pahalgam, there was a heavy traffic of the travelers and devotees to the ‘Amarnath Pilgrimage’, as this was the Saawan Month in India and most of the people follow the traditional vows to remain vegetarian for over 30 days and also perform ‘Tirth Yatra’. Therefore our cab stopped at each checkpoint which were set up for the pilgrims’ convenience.

The Mattan Valley is a small village in the district of Anantnag. This place resembles the true and soulful brotherhood of the three religion – Hindu, Muslim and Sikh. Anantnag was and is still actually known as Islamabad by the locals. The Lidder River coming straight from Pahalgam is also seen in the picture.

Betaab Valley

This is one of the shooting locations of a Bollywood movie named ‘Betaab’ in the early 80’s which starred Sunny Deol as his first movie. The place is named after the movie as ‘Betaab Valley’. At present, the valley looked more of man-made place as compared to the actual scenarios in the movie.

Chandanwari

Witnessed the live snow clad (icebergs) in the mountains of Chandanwari. Though we did not feel that cold as it was the Summer month in Kashmir. These are the camps of the Amarnath Pilgrims, which were set up for about 40 days for them to take rest on their way to the ‘Amarnath Tirth Yatra’.

There are summer resorts, picnic spots in abundance in Pahalgam and its natural beauty have always attracted the tourists and film-makers. The famous Bollywood Movie like ‘Karma’ in the 80’s starring Dilip Kumar, ‘Jab Tak Hain Jaan of 2012 starring Shahrukh Khan, ‘Bajrangi Bhaijaan’ of 2015 starring Salman Khan was shot in the Aru Valley in Pahalgam, it’s a beautiful location.

Aishmuqam Dargah

Bajrangi Bhaijaan’s Qawaali song sung by Adnan Sami was shot in ‘Aishmuqam Dargah’, loved the place, it was so calm and peaceful, people were so kind over there and you feel pulled towards the ambiance of the Dargah premises. We climbed nearly 350 steps up the mountain to reach the dargah and didn’t even feel tired. There are sweet outlets on both the sides of the stairs while climbing the shrine. The movie depicts the story in Pakistan, however, the shooting was based in India in our beautiful ‘Valley of Shepherds’.
The locals call Baisaran as the ‘Mini Switzerland’ and we need to take the horse ride to view the beautiful Kashmir Valley.
This one day wasn’t enough to capture all the bewildering sights, however, it’s always a stupendous experience. Had a wonderful stay at the Paradise Inn, where they served non-veg on the menu, I’m being a true non-veg lover was delighted with the dinner. It was the first non-veg in the list after my visit to J&K.

Day 4: GULMARG

Our morning began a little late for Gulmarg, as we were bit tired and slept for some more time in the morning. Breakfast was served in the hotel by 9 am, so we finished eating, then started by 10 am on the way to our next destination- Gulmarg. On the way, I saw the houses built of chipped paint, old wooden blocks and windows which play their own part in making Kashmir even more special and warm. The rooftops were painted with bright color, especially they used green, blue and red. We passed through a dense forest of pine and conifers, the leaves were wavering in the wind. 

Gulmarg

A scenery of Gulmarg through my camera lens

Gulmarg

A Spectacular morning view of the town, from outside our hotel Khaleel Palace. Is there anything more beautiful than this, I felt like I was in the seventh sky.

"When there's an infinite sky above you;
And wholesome greenery below you;
Also the mighty mountains around you;
Nature is calling you...
So spread your arms and hug them all."

When you are in Gulmarg, you get the best of nature’s creation. The flowers are way beyond their beauty, they shine under the soft sun and sparkle in the mist. The colors look absolutely bright and beautiful grabbing your full attention towards them. These flowers are the main attraction in the Gulmarg hills, there are 'meadows of blue flowers' they are grown in every corner of the town. This is why Gulmarg is literally known as the ‘Meadow of Flowers’. An area under Lt.col.R.N.Chopra has meadows of all varieties of flowers in and around its place. This one is from the quaint little day of the horse trekking to the Gulmarg hills. We saw many gurgling rivulets and springs of water. There were snow-capped mountain peaks situated at some distance away. We also visited the only temple standing tall upon the hill in the heart of the town.

Maharani Shiv Temple

The pony ride brought us to the Kangamdori (as said by the pony master, I’m not sure of the spelling though), it is the first phase of the Gondola. The Gondola rides were shut for few days because of an accident occurred 2 days ago, where the cables were broken. We moved to the Khilanmarg which is the shooting location of a Hindi film song ‘Chahe Koi Mujhe Junglee kahe….Yahoo’ from the early 60’s.

Khilanmarg

The pony ride took us near the Frozen Lake, where the water is flowing straight down the mountain, melting from the frozen glaciers. It's damn cold, and interestingly the people here bathe with this chilling cold water even in extremely cold weather, they also drink it directly. Our pony master did mention that people out here don’t need any medicines because this serene water heals any bacterial infections or other diseases too. We were amazed to see the people trusting the purity of this water and we also filled two bottles for us so that we could use it to heal any small infections after returning to our own city. We borrowed the Kashmiri dress which is called as Phiran and dressed for the photo shoot in the green valley.

I assemble those beautiful moments spent in Gulmarg with the meal which was drool-worthy. This tomato soup with croutons was just awesome for the weather and our appetite, it was simple yet tasty.

Day 5: DAL LAKE

Fresh Plums of Kashmir

We reached Srinagar afternoon, as we stopped at few points on our way from Gulmarg to Srinagar. We visited the ‘Apple Orchards’, the beautiful valley in Tangmarg, a factory outlet showroom of Pashmina shawls and Dry Fruits on the outskirts of Srinagar, from there we bought some saffron. While heading to the capital city, we also saw the Fruit Market.
The markets are filled with fresh fruits everywhere, especially fresh Plums, Apples and Apricots are in abundance. This goes without saying even we bought few boxes of apples and also took two big boxes of fresh Plums, which were very juicy, soft, sweet and little sour. Few we ate during the journey and rest we brought back home.

We checked into a beautiful wooden carved and very well furnished, a typical ancient architectural design of the Mughals, here stay at the New Alexander Palace Houseboat. We got fresh and started for the ‘Shikara rides’. We had some relaxing time in the shikhara while watching the beautiful and mesmerizing life of Dal Lake.

Shikharas standing in a row in Dal Lake

On a Shikhara Shopping-spree!!

Shikharas

We enjoyed kulfi and Kawah in the boat ride, our boater mentioned that Kawah is a sweet beverage which is generally a type of green tea made with lemon juice, cardamom, cinnamon, sugar or honey, sometimes they also mix saffron and almonds or walnuts. It is usually served to the guests and also given during marriage to the bride for the first time. People like to drink it when it is hot.

Kawah

The Reflections of Nature: the mirror image of the boy, trees, and houses on the water!! The residents of Dal Lake.
Natural mirrors

We spent some quality time around the houseboats and captured the astounding views of the lake in the evening lights.

Nigeen lake is actually the backside of the Dal Lake. The timing for the sunrise and the sunset were adjusted according to the tourist's interest, as the day began too early around 5 am and ends very late about 8 pm. So it gave us more hours to plan accordingly and visited the places in the daylight.

Dinner was served quite early around 8 pm, it was an unforgettable experience of our stay in the houseboat. A complete homely feeling within the private wooden frame, with food, that felt absolutely as the taste of home.

Day 6: SRINAGAR

Our day had begun with check-out from the houseboat on Dal Lake and then check-in to hotel Druk on land just opposite to the lake. The entire day was spent in the city sightseeing. Firstly we went to the Shankaracharya Temple where we had to climb up about 400 steps. Photography was not allowed there, so we left our cameras and phones in the car. However, I captured a glimpse of the entire city from the top while driving back from the temple.

Secondly, we went to the Mughal Gardens. There are 4 Mughal Gardens in Srinagar and also the Tulip Garden and the Botanical Garden.

The first garden on our list was Nishat Bagh. The beautiful scenarios of nature’s creation arrest me here. An absolute delight to every photographers’ lens.

Nishat Bagh

 A family spending their day in the Nishat Bagh

Beautiful Flower and mesmerizing landscape at its background

The second garden was Shalimar Bagh, which is known to be the largest Mughal Garden of all the gardens in India. A light colorful rainbow captured on my lens.

  

On our way, we dropped down at Asia’s largest Tulip garden and also the Botanical garden. The Tulip garden showed very few flowers at this time, and they say April is the best time to visit, as tulips are grown in full bloom in April.

The fifth garden was the Chashme Shahi, which has the spring water channel on the terraced formation architecture.

 

The last garden was the Pari Mahal, from where we get the panoramic view of the whole Srinagar city. Even this was designed in the terrace formation. These flowers are from the Mughal Gardens.

  

As you walk through these gardens, you walk endlessly, extra mile, they are marvelous, huge, staggering into your eye shots. These are an amazing art of nature. The day looked very bright and colorful, the Sun was at its peak brightness. Even though the sun was blazing fiercely at me, nothing stopped me from enjoying the beauty of the paradise. Instead of salubrious weather and pristine environment, it was the scorching heat that welcomed us. July turned out to be the cruelest month even on the hills. However, the picturesque and lush landscape was worth our visit. 

The sunset view in the paradise city.

The beautiful thing about this city is that there is a slow and silent transition taking place at every corner of the street. It was merely the transition of fear to the existence of harmony in the heart. These places are worst affected by violence, hatred, and unrest, but people still tend to maintain an aura of love and emotion of attachment. Even though serenity is ruined and clashes occur, yet we find the most peaceful natural attributes, tranquility and scenic pleasures in this city. I loved this place and I would love to visit again in the winter. 

Day 7: KARGIL

This day we began very early around 6 in the morning, as we had to cross the Zojila pass before 12 noon. So our driver was driving a bit faster and as we rolled I was ready with my camera to record the spectacular views from the car itself. However there were few obstacles falling on our way as the route we headed for Sonamarg was closed because of ministerial issues regarding the ‘Amarnath Pilgrimage’, so we had to return back and take another route. Then again military officials stopped all the cars at the check post of the ‘Amarnath Tirth Yatra’. Fortunately, they stopped us only for 10 minutes unlike the other travelers, and we left from there quickly.

Thajiwas Glacier

On the way en route Sonamarg, we got down on some eateries, had hot tea, pakoras, and bhajiyas, which was absolutely perfect for the cloudy weather. We reached the meadows of Gold – Sonamarg, where the horse ride was a must to catch the astonishing ‘Thajiwas Glacier’ the ice-capped mountains looked amazingly gorgeous and from here onwards we started feeling colder. It is so much true as said by Amir Khusru that ‘If there is a Heaven on Earth, it's here, it's here! Haminasto! Haminasto!!
It's truly Incredible! It's purely Magical; Exceptionally A Paradise on Earth.

Zoji la

We stopped at the Zero point (Zoji la) on our way to Kargil, where it also began raining heavily. So we had to stop there until the rain slowed down. My favorite Maggi accompanied me there and also we had some snacks and tea. Surprisingly there were few guys at the pass selling shawls and other dress materials at that chilling cold mountain area, so we did a bit of shopping too. The place was almost freezing because of rains and I was shivering badly, but purposely I did not want to wear woolen to feel the cool weather. The place was a strikingly perfect combination of ice and rains.

I was astonished by the bike life in this high mountain chain, people are so lively, energetic, fearlessly enthralled with their rides on these dangerous, deadliest, rocky barren mountains, but it's definitely the most beautiful experience. I met a guy from Germany, who rode a bicycle straight from Lucknow to Kashmir. It creates great enthusiasm in them to kill the fear out from their heart and ride in the fresh air and to live in freedom. But when I was driving in the huge mountains with the immense edges by my side, peeping through the glass panes wondering as to where’s the land deep down there? I was thrilled as well as enchanted.

The Kargil War Memorial

I feel very proud to visit this place ( The Kargil War Memorial) just before the ‘Kargil Diwas’ (on 26 July) and ‘Independence Day’ (on 15 August). ‘The Kargil War’ is an epic event created in the history of India. I pay my tribute to the great heroes for their bravery and to save our motherland.

Neelum river

This is the Neel river which meets the Line of Control (LOC) and it goes straight to Pakistan.

We happened to reach Kargil by late in the afternoon and the entire day was cloudy or since it is one of the coldest habitats could be that the weather seems to be always cloudy. 

Suru River

Kargil Main Market

The loquacious River Suru one of the tributaries of the mighty Indus river. There are houses built of mud and rocks along the hillsides. The main market in Kargil where the shops are located adjacently at the long stretched route along the mountain on one side and the Suru river at the other side.

And the food journey also continued alongside with the travel. The Hotel D’ Zojila maintained the low-fat foods in the meal, because Dras which is the main town in Kargil, is the coldest inhabitant in India and also the second coldest in the world, hence the food habits are very obvious to be maintained keeping in view the heart and pulse rate, heart pump, blood flow, frozen nerves or nerve-wracking. So people here usually prefer on boiled or steamed foods. 

The breakfast scene at Kargil was low-calorie content, as this plate shows the aloo ka paratha, upma, omelet, and chole are all prepared with either less oil or without oil. The travelers were instructed not to eat heavy meals during the journey in the rocky and curvy mountain path, which were often faced with bumps in the road and they become the reason for nausea in the trip. We avoided fatty foods like chips and preferred to eat mainly biscuits, apples, boiled eggs, so our journey was not that troublesome.

It was a heavenly experience in Dras, where the temperature was nearly freezing below 6°C. Sometimes I also felt my palms getting numb, but the hotels provided room warmer which was cozy and we got a sound sleep at night to start the next day.

Day 8: LEH-LADAKH

Mulbek

Starting at 9 in the morning to drive distances at the long stretched routes to reach our next destination. We stopped at each and every locations falling on our way to Ladakh.
The first was the ‘Mulbek’ from the Chamba Monastery, where a huge idol of Buddha is sculpted along the mountain height.

Then we headed to the ‘Namika la’ top, which was nearly 12200 feet above the sea level, the views gave an astonishing vista to the traveler's lens, the place was bewildering and we had some marvelous photo session with an immovable bike being displayed there for the traveler’s fantasy and enjoyment. Our car began to accelerate up to the high mountain, we drove to the wafts of cool and soothing breeze. 

The next stop was ‘Fotula’ Top, which is at an altitude of approx 13500 feet high, it is known to be the highest point on the Srinagar-Leh road which falls on the National Highway 1. The place was very breezy, the colorful flags were eye-catching and mountains stole the show as usual.

We headed to the ‘Lamayuru Monastery’, which is one of the oldest and largest Gompas (Monastery) in Ladakh from the 11^th century.

These wheels have the mantras written on it ‘Om Mani Padme Hum’, it is believed that when you spin these wheels, it reduces the stress out of your mind and gives you peace from within.

The place (Lamayuru) is often known as the ‘Moonland Hill’. Ladakh has the most living areas for the monks at Gompa, and Lamayuru is one of the gems of all the monasteries in India. When it comes to food, momos are the best option in the mountains, so we grabbed a plateful of momos from hotel Niranjana, which is managed and owned by the Lamayuru Monastery.

We passed through the Khaltsi Gompa, where we clicked some road photography. The Likir route was the best of all the road photography shows we enjoyed, I found this place the most mesmerizing and excerpt of my dreams. We did some road shows on the ‘Magnetic Hill’, which is famous for its motorbike sports adventure, as the vehicle moves with the speed of the magnetic force.

Ladakh or it is most often also known as the ‘little Tibet of India’, has a fantastic landscape with the Himalayan chains all around. While driving on the NH1 connecting Srinagar and Leh we get to witness the unbelievable Confluence of Indus and Zanskar rivers at the Nimmu Village. Both the rivers meet distinctly and can be easily recognizable. The greener is the Indus river to the left and the lighter toned shining blue river is the Zanskar approaching from the right direction.

The colors are more prominent during Spring, but in the month of July, it looks muddy. A 14 km stretch of Indus river in the upstream direction ending at this confluence is popular for rafting. The Indus originates in the Chang Thang cold desert and the Zanskar river originates in the Zanskar ranges. Both these Himalayan rivers join at a scenic view in Ladakh at this confluence.

As of now the maintenance of these roadways and its surroundings were under the ‘Vijayak Project’ of Border Roads Organisation, but as we entered the Leh city from the airport onwards it comes under the ‘Himank Project’.

It was the most adventure kind of day and finally, after a long road show on our way to Ladakh, we reached there just before the dusk. Hotel Holiday Ladakh greeted us by an overwhelming white scarf around our neck saying ‘Jullay’, meaning welcome or Namaskar by the Lamas/Buddhists in Ladakh.

We went to the Leh Main market. The lights were on in the market and we were on a shopping spree at one of the highest markets of India.

Dinner scenes, I was damn hungry after the whole day’s journey, so just grabbed everything on my plate to sit and eat peacefully in my place. The journey of my food stories shall also be alive in my memories along with the traveling moments.

Day 9: NUBRA

Today on our cab was Xylo MUV with a new driver-cum-guide to accompany and take us to new adventurous ride, because Srinagar number board cars do not run on these routes. We usually used to start off early in the morning for our next destination, so that we could comfortably cover the distances of about 7 hours daily. The hotels packed most of our breakfast meal to eat while on the go. This was great in terms of hospitality as they understood the needs of the travelers. Since the distance from Leh to Nubra was to be covered in fewer hours, we had some time to finish our breakfast in the hotel.

This was our morning meal at Leh. It offered varieties in the breakfast menu keeping in view to the choice of all the travelers. I was clueless as what I need to eat, so I took everything on my plate, but I could eat only bread and butter, then distributed the rest to my family. I was enjoying the food and the drive to the fullest.

We got an incredible view of Leh from up above the Ladakh Mountain Ranges. I captured the beautiful shots of the town. In this pic: A Stadium is in construction; the Zanskar Mountain Range standing tall far straight; the Shanti Stupa lies on the right side; the Leh Palace and the Tsemo Castle above it at the left; the Stok Kangri standing on both the ends. I gathered a head lot of information. Travelling is all about learning and discovering new things. We were driving towards the world’s Highest Motorable Pass, which is the gateway to the Shyok and Nubra Valley.

We reached the ‘Khardungla’ pass, where there was a crowd of people and also people walked over a blanket of ice. Khardung la has a lot of controversies as if it’s the world’s highest motorable pass or not, and people were getting crazy to click their photos on the milestone.

I too have a photograph clicked on that milestone with a gang of strangers, however, none seemed to be unknown there as we enjoyed the scenic pleasures together. I calmly happen to write my name on the bed of snow with a message-

“I’m top of this beautiful world

With my name written on the ice high above the ground on the mountain floor

I see this as in my dreams, but when I wake up it was the reality

I find my name written like that on my return to that place next day

Oh heaven, take me there, as I want to see if my name’s still written there.”

When you are traveling from Khardung la, the Sun is at its peak, the Sun burns you, the icy cold numbs you, but the view spellbinds you and the ride accomplishes you. It is very important to carry sun protective moisturizing lotion/cream.

Diskit Monastery

Passing through the Khardung Valley, Siachen Stallions, Khalsar, the Shyok Valley, around 3 in the afternoon we reached the Diskit Monastery, where we found the most magnificent eye vista of the 32 meters tall statue of the Majestic Maitreya Crowned Buddha. I’ve seen a lot of photographs of this place, this is one of my perspectives. But believe me, these are nothing of what the place is actually like. A camera can never do justice to this place, one needs to come here to witness the true vision of this horizon.

“Now I’m a part of Nature’s Painting.

I’m framed along the colors of Nature.

Nature is bestowed in me.

I’m lucky to step my feet upon the heaven.

My soul feels blessed to witness this Nature.

I’m in love with this Nature.”

We went to the camp for check-in and kept our luggage, where this was our welcome treat at the camp after the long- long journey.
Then we headed to the Hunder Village in Nubra Valley, where it was a wondrous meeting of the mountains, water, blue sky, clouds, the two-humped camel called a Bactrian, white sand dunes and the white desert. I could recall that once in my school days I had learned about the ‘cold desert’ of the world is in our country, and I’ve been fortunate enough to visit the place in my life. A few more kilometers from this valley will take you to the Pakistan Border. This valley is very close to the Siachen, and the Nubra river actually originates from the Siachen glaciers.

Nubra Valley

This picture shows as if the reminiscent of trader’s caravan walking on the silk route.

A herd of pashmina goats came along our way, we get the famous pashmina shawls made from the fine fiber of these goats.

Shyok river

This is the Shyok river which means the ‘river of sorrows’, one cannot very easily distinguish between the desert and the riverbed in that valley, because the muddy sand has been mixed along with the river water, so both look similar, sometimes it's even the ripples of the water and the dunes look same. Only at times when it is very windy, the water flows can be seen moving faster.

Our stay at the Nubra Camp was completely a different experience altogether. I captured beautiful flowers and the tiny apples in the daylight. Then, living the night under the clear sky with stars shining brightly, we also had a music gala with campfire until late night. I loved the soups served in the meals in every hotel, it actually helped the appetite to revive. The soup was essential for the diet at the beginning of every meal. Every hotel made it compulsory to serve soup at the beginning of meal for the travelers. We had survived on fruits/quick snacks and tea/water in the daytime, where it took 8-9 hours of traveling each day to reach our next destination. So we ate the main course meal only at night. Usually, the hotels served dinner before 9 pm, so that we could finish our meals and start early the next morning. And that hunger moment after the whole day’s journey, the soup was just a heavenly bliss to start the heavy meal after the day’s void tummy. The long road journey did not make us feel hungry though while we were traveling. So here’s a little pledge to start the diet on a lighter note to the heavy meal on a travelers’ list.

Day 10: PANGONG TSO

The beginning of a new day and a new destination. The morning scenery with a clear blue sky above us. We started off very early as we had to cover a distance of 10 hours, as the main route to Pangong from Nubra (which was shorter of approx 5 hours) was closed due to natural calamity. So we had to return back to Leh, then stretch a long route from the Chang Thang valley. The route to Pangong was quite painful as most of the part was non-concrete, stony path and the moment we saw a black patch after driving many kilometers on a raw, rocky, gravel road, we heaved a sigh of relief. This day we rolled on the way non-stop as we wanted to reach the enchanting Pangong before the sunset, however, I was ready with my camera all the time from within the glass panes.

Chemday Monastery

I caught everything that was interesting in my cameras such as the ‘Chemday Monastery’ up on the hillside, the zig-zag or Z-shaped pattern road on the mountain near Zingral. One of the best things while driving on the roads of Ladakh is the quotes written on the milestones or direction sign boards by BRO (Border Roads Organisation), it reflects at every twist and turns on the way and when you read them, it seems to give us motivation on our drive. 

 

                                               Zingral                                                Milestone

Our car stopped at the ‘Changla’, which is known to be one of the highest motorable passes, again faced with a lot of controversies as to if it is either the first or second or third highest pass.

There was a temple in the middle of the pass named ‘Changla Baba Dev Sthal’ and the prayer flags did give a lesson to remember, as a mark of accomplishment and in reference to the Buddhist Monks prayer flags are put up at every location in Leh-Ladakh, with the hope that the wind will carry the mantras written on the prayer flags out to everyone and promote peace, love, compassion, strength, and wisdom. On the contrary to this belief, prayer flags are not supposed to carry prayers to the God and the flags’ faded colors are considered as auspicious, which signifies that the prayers were successfully carried by the wind and it spread goodwill into all the pervading space and also to the people. Our cab passed through the Tangtse Valley, Tsultak Bridge, Changthang Wildlife Sanctuary, Durbuk Village, and some more names in my diary.

While passing through Changthang en route Pangong Tso, we found wildlife habitat in plenty, especially the huge rodents ‘Marmots’, which are actually squirrels and locals call it ‘phea’. Our driver said its name as ‘Lukhiya’, as what I’ve noted in my records. Marmots are found in abundance in this region, and we were crazily waiting for them to come out from below the ground. There are thousands of holes in that area where the marmots keep going on and off the ground.
We would need to pay separately for the 'Pass Permit forms' for the entry to Nubra and Pangong because both these places are non-accessible and are under the military sections.

First view of the world famous ‘Pangong Tso

And we were patiently driving at the long stretch mountainous roadway, we couldn’t find even the first glance of the lake. Our car kept moving and moving, and the sun was almost going to set down, hiding behind the mountains. After a very long drive, our wait was accomplished as soon as we saw the first view of the world famous ‘Pangong Tso’. Reached to our camp after 5 in the evening, but the day was still bright enough almost for 2 hours more. We were astonished, the scenery took my breath away and the breeze drove my senses numb as if I was flying high letting myself free in the air.

Pangong Tso

The place was peaceful, away from the crowd and the hustle-bustle of the city life and the honks of the vehicles. Nature was at its best performance and I was a silent spectator and the marvelous shots simply turn you speechless. The cobalt blue sky, the pearly white clouds, the mighty Himalayas, the grassland, and the desert land giving the lake camouflaging effect from everywhere. The mystical breeze smoothly moved the clouds above and water below, sunlight peeped through the cottony mass and the magnificent Himalayas stole the show in the background.

'3 Idiots' movie location

We had the most mischievous photography session at the spot of the famous Bollywood movie ‘3 Idiots’ shooting location. We could also see the borderline mountain from where our neighboring country China would begin. Then slowly the 200 km long saltwater lake changed its color into sparkling silver, as the stars made a roof over it. The night turned colder and I was pleased to spend the night under the sky full of stars, a graceful lake in front and the solitary mountains all around.

In this chain of mountains, the mountain that is visible at the center of this picture is actually the China border, therefore, on crossing that mountain we would step into our neighboring country.

Day 11: LEH CITY TOUR

Our morning began quite late, as we wanted to spend some more time in that mesmerizing location, in the Pangong. We had our breakfast with the most wonderful horizon of the earth. The sunrise as viewed from Pangong was exquisite as if thousands of golden sparks were bursting into flames and radiating fiery colors throughout the sky and into the glistening lake, it was purely magical. Then we headed back for the city sightseeing in Leh, on the way we witnessed the striking views, the Bikers life and the Summer life of Ladakh. Our driver-cum-guide said that Leh and Ladakh are actually the same places, the locals call it as Leh and the tourists say it as Ladakh, whereas I got to know that Leh is actually a big town in Ladakh.

These are the structure or the Stupas built from the ancient time by the kings who ruled these places, these are white painted, inside them are the written mantras/chants that people worship Gods by walking around the dome three times in a day.

Hall of Fame

Around 4 pm, we reached the ‘Hall of Fame’, it is a museum where you get to see the complete historical, geographical features of Ladakh, also the memory, sacrifice, achievements of the Indian Army. As it is the most famous tourist spot, it is necessary to have a cost for its maintenance and we didn’t mind to pay Rs.25 entry fee plus Rs.50 for photography in the inner premises. The Hall of Fame and the Kargil War Memorial are important for the tourists to visit so that we could understand how the Army is guarding the nation to keep us safe from our enemies attack. I felt a lot more patriotic at both these locations and felt proud to at least visit and pay tribute to our national heroes. You get all the important information of Jammu and Kashmir under this roof, but to explore these things physically it's mandatory to visit the places and noting down the unknown facts.

Shanti Stupa

Then again the fun time began on our next location at the ‘Shanti Stupa’, even this is the most visited tourist attraction in Ladakh. It is a paradise for every photographer’s lens and it gives an extra mile overlooking to the whole Leh city. It is so peaceful that you feel your worries paved a way out for yourself. If you want to get the panoramic views of the entire Leh city, this place gives the superb angles to the focus of your lens. The hilltop location was spectacular, the place is intensely spiritual.

Leh City

Leh Palace

Our next spot was the ‘Leh Palace’, it’s a piece of history, beautiful architecture which holds the heritage of the royal family in Leh. As we happened to be the last visitors, and the place shuts for the tourists as the sun sets, they allowed us to go without the entry ticket, as the ticket counter was already closed. It was around 6:40 pm then, but the sun was still shining bright and we enjoyed to the fullest up to the last level, ie the topmost terrace of the palace. It was like an exciting adventure game as if we played hide and seek or a computer game with every level that we climbed up we win. I simply loved climbing up the narrow wooden staircases in the darkness and hunting to escape into the light. It was a different experience along the brilliant construction of the palace inside.

Namgyal Tsemo Monastery

Then upon the same hill, there lies another castle named ‘Namgyal Tsemo Monastery’ also said to be the ‘Victory Tower’ sometimes. Since there was no vehicle route to reach that place and we had to climb nearly 300 steps, and it was already dusk and we were damn tired, even though we had the zeal to go, but the elderly members said no. However, I tried to click a portion of it from below.
In Ladakh most of the places name ends with ‘La’, that’s why ‘La’dakh is known to be called as ‘the land of passes’. ‘LA’ means 'pass' by the people of Leh-Ladakh. So I got in my diary list Zojila, Namikala, Fotula, Khardungla, Changla and much more.

Finally, spending the last night in Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir. We packed all our luggage to leave from there forever, and the last dinner was served at the Hotel Holiday Ladakh was delicious and we were delighted with their service. The place was excellent, would love to stay there if we visit again.

I wish the time to stop here and there shall not be an end to this journey.

Day 12: LEH AIRPORT

The most memorable and life-changing trip was coming to an end. I’m proud to visit these places which show a deep connection to landscapes, history, culture, patriotism, ancient architecture, and what not. There is no other place in the world that is blessed with so many things. I’ve been to many places but none could match the love what the Kashmiris share with the tourists. My journey to Jammu and Kashmir is an unforgettable experience of my life, with a successful trek over the mountains and exploring the flora and fauna.

Leh Airport

I could still continue the hangover by capturing hundreds of shots even after our flight took off.  I got the most beautiful scenic panorama through the glass panes, the endless chains of the Himalayan mountains, the ice-capped regions, thin line of the rivers that was visible from the dense white clouds.
As if I was walking on the clouds high above the earth. It was mesmerizing, unbelievable and it was a flight to remember. It was the most fun-filled, weird, marvelous, dangerous, adventurous, beautiful, mind-blowing, and craziest traveling experience. Finally, we reached home by the evening with all the scenery in our eyes and memories in our heart.

I shared the complete story of my journey, this was an awesome tour of my life and I expect more to follow on my list. It was a travel of a lifetime. Now I miss the ecstasies of the travel and retrieve them in my dreams.
This is surely not the end of this World; there's another part of the world waiting for me to explore!!
Author: Paromita Pramanick

Find other Travel Stories on this blog-->> My first visit to the North-East; MAYAPUR BHRAMAN

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