Ladkah Part 1 – Simpleh Leh and Around

Unlike our other trips, the Ladakh trip actually came about after months (well at least a month) of thinking and planning that started way back in April. The sabbatical and the impending doom of the infamous Delhi summers also played a big part in this trip. Albeit, all those glorious travel shows (like “Globe Trekker” and “Walking the World”) on Travel & Living also had something to do with it. These shows are just sinful and should come with a statutory warning for travelholics – “Not to be watched if you are currently in a job that does not allow you to take more than 5 days leave or if your bank balance cannot handle the travel costs involved etc etc”

View from Shanti Stupa, Leh

Initially, the potential locations that were shortlisted included New Zealand, Scotland and Finland – anywhere that’s cold, quiet and green was the theme I guess. However, the afore-mentioned “statutory warning” came into play and we soon realized that we needed to think slightly closer to home if we wanted to do justice to the place. Ladakh was something that Karmacola had always heard about. Leh/Ladakh was the place that she had heard stories about on the one too many trip to Rohtang Pass from Mandi during childhood – land of infinite desolateness and beauty. Having traveled through all the nooks and crannies of Himachal and J&K, Leh/Ladakh always seemed to be the final frontier- a land so remote that it requires at least 3 days of travel from Delhi by road (a distance of about 960 Km or 600 miles) of which at least 250 Kms is above 13000 ft (4000 m). Needless to stay this is the mother of all road trips for bikers (read Bullet aficionados- India’s answer to Harley) and any other self-respecting road trip enthusiast.

Unfortunately, these corporate workhorses (or in this particular case workhorse in singular) couldn’t afford 6 days just to reach Leh so we took the easy way out and opted for a direct flight from Delhi to Leh instead. After, months of googling and fantasizing one very hot Delhi morning in mid June we boarded the flight to Leh keeping our fingers crossed (Leh flights get canceled quite often due to bad weather).We were not sure as to what to expect –various websites had hailed it as hair-raising and not for the faint hearted. Well we did get goose-bumps and our hearts did go boink boink –not because it was scary or anything but because just 15 mins after leaving the dusty tarmac of Delhi airport we were at the foothills of Himalayas and the next 30 mts or so we were just staring at the snow capped peaks of the Himalayas that stretched for miles before us on the both the sides. Did we mention that the sun had just risen and the peaks were all glowing? I am surprised that any of the in-flight food went in as we were just sitting there with our mouth open all the time.

View from the Flight

As we neared Leh, the cloud covered peaks gave way to a valley with patches of greens and sliver of blue (which we correctly surmised was river Indus) thrown in. The temperature when we landed was a pleasant 10 C a much more amenable temperature after the 44 C of Delhi and as we got down at the small and delightful airport we realized that we had finally made it in exactly 90 mins – a distance that took my grandfather 30 days to cover about 50 years back and which still takes 3 days to cover. The many wonders of modern travel – now if we could only figure out a way to teleport.

River Indus flowing through the Leh valley

Leh Town as Seen from Shanti Stupa

As mentioned there are many staying options in Leh – most of them centrally located. Your travel agent (if you are going through one – which is strongly ill-advised) will try and convince you that all the hotels are same and the amenities to be found are fairly basic – getting hot water is quite a luxury. Quite the contrary – we found out to our dismay on the first day we landed at Leh. The hotel that our Delhi-based ignorant agent had booked in us was alright as typical touristy hotels go (Note: we loathe all things that remotely look, feel, smell, walk, or talk touristy). There were the regular noisy desis in the garden sunning themselves, a rather dingy restaurant serving horrible North Indian food, and to top it all a rather biggish blandish room replete with a huge bathtub in the loo. A bathtub in a land that receives as much rainfall in a year as the Sahara desert?! As Chandler would say -Could it BE more touristy?

This was the one and only low point in our entire trip. Although, the room had a nice view of the Stok range and we made most of it as we acclimatized to the altitude of 11400 ft on the first day. We had had warned more than enough about AMS (acute mountain sickness) so we made the most of it by lazing in bed and enjoying the weather (happy to be free of ACs). Thankfully a visit by a friend of ours prompted us to check out a guest house (that was also featured in Lonely Planet) the very next morning. This place was heaven sent – simple, warm, peaceful – tucked away in the poplar lined by-lanes of Leh town- and still 10 mins walk away from all the shops/eating joints. Although, somehow we had most of our meals in the lovely green tinged café at the guest house resonating with Om Mane Padme Hum chants (sometimes we still hear it in our sleep). It was difficult not to – the café had these amazing views of the snow covered peaks ( replete with golden sunrise) on one side and Leh Palace and Shanti Stupa on the other two sides. Plus, Vaiguru’s Nepali connection helped make the local staff (one of whom even happened to be from Kurseong, Vaiguru’s hallowed schooling ground) feel that we were truly from the brotherhood. As a result the guest house was always a home away from home for us and we always looked forward to coming back to it on the way back from our one too many trips outside of Leh.

The brilliant view as seen from the cafe at Padma

Shanti Stupa

Leh by itself deserves at least 2-3 days of undivided attention to discover and absorb. There are many small eating joints of all nationalities and taste -German and Israeli cafes are the force de rigueur although we preferred the Tibetan ones. There are these little T-shirt shops tailoring (literally) to your sense of humor or lack thereof – we managed to cater to our nerd inner selves and acquired quite a few custom embroidered T-shirts.
Then of course there are the usual (what we thought) tourist spots in Leh – the Palace, Stupa and Gompas (or monasteries) which at the first go we were not too keen on. I am glad we visited these places though. The Stupa although slightly garish with its bright colors (apparently it was constructed by Japanese about 25 years back) boasts some of the best views of the Leh valley. The place is so peaceful and isolated that we really wished we had spent more time up there gazing at the many hues of blues, browns, and greens and being at peace (or at least trying to) with our spiritual selves.

View from Shanti Stupa

People often get disappointed with Leh Palace (built in the 17th century) once the pretty façade of browns and orange is crossed –there is literally nothing to see- well by usual standards. However, we found lots of dark narrow paths in the palace leading to unknown treasures and adventures. Unfortunately, we didn’t have any torches with us and realizing that we are no Indiana Jones we never got to explore those places. Looming above the Leh palace and of course the whole Leh valley is the bright red colored Tsemo Gompa (or Red Gompa –for obvious reasons). The views from the Gompa are even more spectacular and of course if you are even more adventure inclined you could scramble up the ruins of the Victory fort or just enjoy the contrast of its white walls against the oh so blue skies. If you are keen on visiting other gompas and stupas –there are a couple more scattered around the Leh town –each surprisingly unique in its architecture and history. Tisseru Stupa (built some 1000 years back) also visible from the Shanti Stupa looked particularly interesting with its flattish mud-brick structure.

Leh Palace in the foreground with Tsemo Gompa & Victory Fort perched on top

Victory Fort and the ubiquitous prayer flags

If you are not the sedentary inclined there are also the walks along the tree lined narrow paved lanes along open mini-canals that usually stay dry during the day and magically transform into gushing icy cold streams in the evenings as the snowy peaks melt during the day. Or you could just curl up in a comfortable chair in the Padma café-with a book in hand or not, sipping a chilled beer or not, clicking the 100th picture of snowy peaks or not – but always awed by the desolated beauty of this remote town and yet feeling strangely at home.

Sun setting on the peaks as seen from the cafe at Padma

Travel Dates: 18th -28th June 2009
Other Photos: Simpleh Leh & Around
Words from the Wise
1. Avoid using a travel agent. If you must find a local travel agent in Leh and do most of your research on the net before accepting the itinerary.
2. Anything less than 9 days is simply not worth it in our humble opinion
3. Keep at least 2 days for acclimatization in Leh and at least one day mid-way through your itinerary or you risk the chance of getting tired of all the driving around
4. DO NOT stay in a standard hotel – instead opt for one of many smaller charming guest houses/hotels scattered around Leh. Unless you are the kind that can’t go without their paneer and mixed veg do not opt for a full meal plan. Opt instead for the Bed & breakfast option and explore the lovely eateries in Leh
5. If you are momo lovers (if not – what is wrong with you?) definitely try the momos at Leh Café (it is not on the menu) and Tibetan Kitchen. Also try Tenduk (a flatter soupy cousin of the now infamous Thukpa) at Tibetan Kitchen –again off the menu.
6. If buying Tibetan artifacts (especially prayer bowls) ask if they are machine made or hand made. The hand made although less glamorous are the real deal.
7. Last but not the least practice your Julay – Hello, Goodbye, Welcome, and Thank You.