Juley..... Juley..... Juley

Ladakh – My history teacher taught me it is a high altitude Himalayan desert in the North India. I dint even dreamt of that place, until I watched the Amir Khan’s  Bollywood blockbuster movie – 3 Idiots. Since then, the tranquility of Ladakh attracted me.  It has become impossible to overcome the lure and fascination of that high Himalayan desert. I was waiting for the ultimate journey to Ladakh Valley.

Kullu to Manali Road

Coniferous Trees piercing the sky

My colleague wedding in Jammu in the month of October was the reason to visit this valley sometime back. I truly admit this is one of the best journeys of my life time. Backpacking is my all time favorite and I prefer to travel alone, so that I can easily blend with locals and learn more about the place and culture.  I did the same here, wished the couple good life and boarded the bus from Jammu to Manali via kullu town.  

The Kullu and Manali towns in Himachal Pradesh were in Dusserha festive spirit.  It was a bonanza for me to witness Kullu Dusserha’s colourful procession of gold and silver idols symbolizing the Hindu deities, which are brought in from far flung villages in the Kullu town.  The road trip from Kullu to Manali was breathtaking with gushing rivers, green valleys, sky piercing coniferous woods and tunnels. 

Valley of Gods - Assembly

I booked ticket to Leh City in Ladakh with the departure time of 01.00 AM in the early hours of morning from manali.  I dint even anticipated the journey to Leh will be scenic and really it was awe inspiring to my eyes and souls. The cab was climbing up towards Rohtang pass and the temperature was dropping down to minus degrees. I could not tolerate the minus degrees and with great difficulty I took a nap. I woke up by seven and was simply amazed by the scenic beauty of the sky and mountains. It was a magic made by the nature between the bluish sky, deserted valley and tantalizing glimpses of the shining white snowflakes.   The terrain was rough thorough out the journey with bad roads to no roads. I could see the works of Border Road Organization of Indian Army in this coarse terrain and making the unmotorable road to motorable road. 

Magic of Nature

Unmotorable roads

Manali- Leh road trip had bad stretches of roads, snow crossings, water crossings due to glacial melts and occasional landslides. We crossed the most scenic Lahaul-Spiti valley unsurpassed in mountain scape.  Keylong, Jispa, Darcha, Zingzingbar, Sarchu, Upshi – These are the places in the Manali-Leh higway. The high altitude desert landscape with virtually no civilization was a sight to behold in all my lifetime.

The dhabas in the route are strange which are made of tents and offer beds to relax for the travelers. The regular beds with woolen blankets are luxury there in the snow clad no man’s land. The dhaba cum restaurants serve hot n spicy noodles with eggs. I was joined by few fellow travelers during lunch in a place called Sarchu (Ms.Som Tiantong, Mr.Pornchai Boriboontrakul, Ms. Achiraya Jingwaja from Bangkok, Thailand and Ms.Caroline McCormick from United States.) All these folks are single travelers visiting Ladakh for the first time like me. It was a typical luncheon meeting with hot bowl of Tibetan Thukpa (noodle soup) and we discussed about our stay and plans in Leh. Strangely all wore a blank expression on their faces including me.  All of us had no plans about the stay and schedules and we smiled at each other. That’s the spirit of solitary travelers and we glued to each other throughout the trip.  

My cab crossed Lachulung la, Thanglang la and Taglang la – Second highest pass of the world at an altitude of 17,582 feet above the mean sea level. We got down in the pass to click some photographs and the cold storm winds in Taglang la pass pierced my ear ossicles. Sooner my fingers become numb and it started to pain. I recollected my Orthopedics lecture on Frost bite by Dr.Major.Kamalnathan who served in Medical Officer in Indian Army in Kargil. My cells froze to the core there and I rushed into the cab.  Even with the protection of many layers of warm garments, the shivering does not stop and my jaws started trembling. 

As the sun set in the distant mountains, the road to Leh seems to never end.  It was creepy night on the daunting roads, our heart beats thumped as we could not see any lights nearby distance. Our eyes were tired and body exhausted in the freezing environment and our souls were eagerly waiting to the glimpse of Leh city. 

New Friends

By 08.20 PM we reached the Leh City. We were shocked to see, no human habitats in the Leh streets. The cab dropped us in the city market and vanished in no seconds. The manali-leh trip of unappreciated beauty and breath-taking views was slowly turning to be nostalgic as we are left in an islet. The streets were utterly deserted, no phone signals, no sign boards of hotels or Guest house. With no hint s about our next plan in the sub-zero temperature with our luggage, we all felt like abandoned in that forbidden city of Leh. Puzzled and perplexed, we were whispering in husky voice and Caroline started finding home stays in map of leh city. Suddenly, we heard the word  Juley… Juley… Juley… 

(To be continued)