Leh, Ladakh is a place in Jammu & Kashmir, India which is called a place of lifeless beauty. The place lacks greenery, but it is beautiful, in spite of that. A visit to the place revealed a lot of its beauty, and the place is worth visiting.

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Tour to Leh, Ladakh, the Trans Himalayan Safari.

23^rd June 2013

We boarded train 13151 Jammu Tawi Express at 11:45 AM, we were in train on 24^th June 2013 and reached the destination Jammu Tawi station at 9:00 AM.

25^th June 2013

We boarded a taxi and reached Patnitop, which was 120 Km from the station and checked in hotel Samson. Then we had our lunch. In the evening our manger discussed some history of Jammu and Kashmir and also Ladakh.

26^th June 2013

We checked out from the hotel early in the morning having our breakfast and went out for Srinagar 185 KM from Patnitop. On the way we had our lunch in a dhaba very close to Srinagar. Then we reached Srinagar at around 4 PM and checked in hotel Swiss, very close to famous Dal Lake. Then after taking some rest we went to see Dal Lake and boarded Shikara which is famous in Dal Lake.

27^th June 2013

When we woke up we noticed that it was raining heavily, and thus our morning trip to Mughal Gardens was postponed to afternoon. So we enjoyed a free morning and had our lunch early. Then we started for Mughal gardens and we visited Chasmesahi, Nishat Bagh and Shalimar Bagh. After I visited there I got a glimpse of the fact why Kashmir is said to be the heaven on earth.

28^th June 2013

We checked out from the hotel early in the morning and started for Kargil bidding good bye to Dal Lake which was around 204 Km from Srinagar and having an altitude of almost 9312 feet. We had our breakfast after a few kilometres from Srinagar on the bank of the historically significant river Sind. Then we again progressed a few kilometer and saw something which previously I used to see in the the most beautiful photographs, yes, snowcapped mountains. They were the first treat to my eyes after reaching Kashmir. Then we passed the adventurous Zoji La pass at an average altitude 11455 feet and reached Dras where we had our lunch. After lunch on the way we passed Tololing, Tiger Hill which was conquered during the Kargil war in 1999 and was later regained by Indian army. On the way we visited Kargil War Memorial and reached Kargil at almost 5 PM and checked in Hotel Caravan Sarai. Then we took rest and had our lunch.

29^th June 2013

In the very early morning we went out for our long awaiting destination Leh which is around 215 KM from Kargil. On our way we had our lunch in front of a site where there was an idol of Lord Shiva and Buddha in one. On the way we saw valley of dolls which means encroachment on the rocks on the mountains. This is a natural phenomenon which is formed on the mountains in dry weather where the dust combines with the snow and hits the mountains, which later gets liquefied and pores remain on the rocks. It helps in formation of various idols, human faces, Rajasthan palace etc. On our way we came through Namika La and Fatula Top having altitudes respectively 12198 Feet and 13479 Feet. Then we reached Leh and checked in hotel Gawaling International at around 4 PM. There was something special in the hotel and they were, as soon as we reached the hotel we were greeted warmly and some snacks like Spring Role and noodles with tea were provided. Then we took rest on that day.

30^th June 2013

On the next day we had our breakfast and went out for seeing the local sight seeings of Leh at around 10 AM. Our 1^st venue was Hemis Gompa and the river Sind was passing with us. Hemis Gompa is the largest monastery in Leh among many other monasteries. Our next destination was Thiksey Gompa, which was another famous monastery in Leh. The most interesting fact about this monastery is a beautiful picture of Leh with the mountains can be seen from here. Then on our way back we spent some time in front of the river Sind and saw the school where the Aamir Khan’s mega hit 3 idiots was shoot. Then we came back to the hotel and had our lunch. Then we had a nap and went to see other sight seeings like Hall of Fame and Shanti Stupa at around 4 PM. Hall of fame is a museum where the great deeds of the Indian army were displayed and also few information about how weapons were preserved at high altitude etc. There I heard a melodious prayer which is also considered to be a heeling mantra and also a mantra to attain Nirvana by the people of Ladakh. The wordings were OM MANI PADME HUM. It’s a 6 syllable prayer i.e. OM-MA-NI-PAD-ME-HUM, where all syllables has a meaning. Then we went to Shanti Stupa which is another monastery in Leh. This is the only monastery which was visible from our hotel in Leh. Here also we heard the magical heeling prayer mentioned before. This was all about that day in Leh.

1^st July 2013

Then on this day we went out for the most attractive destination of our tour i.e. Pangom Tso, which is a high altitude lake at almost 14129 feet and almost 214 Km from Leh. We reached there via Chang La, having an altitude of 17586 Feet. There the Indian army were offering tea free of cost. Then we reached Pangom Tso, one amazing fact about this lake is if 10 people look at the lake from a same point at a distance from it, each people will observe various colours of the water, I saw the colour golden, greenish blue and then deep sky blue. The lake was a large one having a length of 195 Km where only 45 Km is in India and the rest is in China. The colour of the water was pure blue as seen from in front of the lake. The scenic beauty of the lake was outstanding as the beautiful lake was surrounded by vegetation less mountains on all its sides. Here is the spot where the last scene of Aamir Khan’s blockbuster 3 idiots was shoot, and the place where it was proved that nose is not an obstruction to kiss. :P Not only 3 idiots but also Jab tak hein Jaan, Dil Se and a few other famous Bollywood movies were shoot there. Then we came back from there and reached our hotel at about 7 PM. This was one of the most tiring journeys on our tour.

2^nd July 2013

Our next day destination was Nubra Valley which was around 104 Km from Leh and had an altitude of 10000 feet. We reached there via Khardungla Pass, which had an altitude of 18380 Feet. This is the world’s highest motor able road. There we had coffee, probably we had it in the world’s highest cafeteria. Then we reached Nubra Valley at around 12 Noon and had our lunch there. We stayed at Nubra that night and that too in tent. We had some rest and went out to see the cold desert where we enjoyed a camel safari, and the most interesting thing about the camels at Leh are they have 2 humps. Then we took some photographs and came back to our tent. The tents were not like traditional tents because they consisted a bed, a table, a bathroom. Living in the tent was a different but interesting experience. We were lucky travelers because we got rain in the cold desert, which is not an everyday matter.

3^rd July 2013

We went out for Leh early in the morning, on our way we visited Deskit Gompa, and then came back to Leh again via Khardungla Pass at around 12 Noon. Then we had our lunch and it was a free day.

4^th July 2013

This was our last day in Leh, we went out for other sight seeings of Leh i.e. Alchi, Likir Gompa, Magnetic Hill and the confluence of river Zanskar and Sind. On our way to Alchi Gompa we saw Magnetic Hill, which is a hilly area surrounded by hills. The people of Leh believes that the hill has magnetic properties, due to which if a car is set to neutral it will move forwards with a speed of 5 to 10 km per hour at against gravity due to the earth’s magnetic field. But in reality nothing is there, its just an optical illusion which makes people seem that they are moving against the gravity but actually they are moving downwards. Then we reached Alchi Gompa which was the 1^st monastery we have seen in Leh which did not have any staircases. After Alchi our next destination was Likir Gompa. There we spend sometime over there and then we reached the confluence of the two rivers. As it was a confluence we can see the exact point wher the two rivers met and the waters from two different rivers had different colours. It was on that very day when we revealed the true beauty of Ladakh and also the reason why it is called the lifeless beauty. Then we again reached our hotel in Leh to have our last lunch at the amazingly beautiful place.

5^th July 2013

Very early in the morning we went out for Sarchu, which was around 251 Km from Leh, had an altitude of almost 14000 feet and reached there at around 5 PM. We also stayed in tent in Sarchu and there we felt the glimpse of true tent because it was located at a truly remote area where there were kilometres long distance which had neither electricity, nor water, and the people relied on ice melted water over there. The place where we lived in Sarchu was an open land surrounded by snowcapped mountains everywhere with cold wind was always flowing. It was really adventurous to live in tent at such a remote area and spent the night there.

6^th July 2013

Very early in the morning we went out from Sarchu for Manali which was around 233 KM from Sarchu and had an altitude of almost 7000 feet. On our way we saw Baralachla and a truly beautiful village where peace and beauty were the only emblems. We had our lunch on our way and then we entered Rohtang Pass. There we boarded a snow scooter to gain a different experience and then we again started for Manali, Rohtang Pass was very adventurous from my point of view because when we were passing by it, the road was totally covered with dense clouds and fog. The condition was so difficult that even a vehicle at a distance of almost 20 metres was also not visible. Then at last we reached Manali at around 7 PM and checked in Hotel Zarim Resort.

7^th July 2013

The day was free from the tourist operator’s side and the days was given free for our own marketing and sight seeings individually. We visited the Hidimba Temple which was at a small distance from our hotel and then we did our marketing. Even in the afternoon we had marketing and saw a monastery in Manali and went back to our hotel. That’s all about our free day at Manali.

8^th July 2013

The last leg of our marathon was the running from Manali to Kalka to board the train 12312 Kalka Howrah Mail which was to depart from Kalka at 11:45 PM. It was 284 KM from Manali. On this last journey we faced a few difficulties with landslides on our way but we managed to overcome the difficulties. Though due to this problem we reached Kalka 2 hours after the stipulated time, though it was not a great deal. On reaching there we had our dinner in the station, and then entered the train which left Kalka at its time and then we reached West Bengal on 10^th July 2013 and reached Bardhamann at 12:30 PM, which was 6 hours late that the train’s usual time. Then we boarded a local train to reach our house.