Leh palace Ruins

Leh palace
Originally uploaded by ankur_gupta10.

I assumed leh palace to be like the other rajasthan palaces i have seen. They are nice strcutures with some ornamental artwork on walls which remind you of the great past. Leh palace was a ruin, It is currently undergoing renovation. Myself and prashant were the only 2 brave souls who ventured over some precarious ladders to reach its very top.

Dal Lake...

Dal Lake..., originally uploaded by OM Bhardwaj.

Kashmir, the beauty of this place is not going to be easy for anyone to describe ever...

God bless us all with peace in this heaven on earth !!!

Introduction to Ladakh

Khardungla INStructions
Originally uploaded by ankur_gupta10.

Read the board for some Introduction to Ladakh. Some important instructions and points to note.

You would be able to read the board after clicking on all size button the flickr page.

Magnetic Hill- Believe it or not

Magnetic Hill
Originally uploaded by ankur_gupta10.

Magnetic Hill came just a few kilometers outside Leh on our Leh--shrinagar trip. Somehow prashant knew about this hill but we were not sure wheter such a thing really exists.. or can it even exist. I thought it to be some rumor. Then we asked the driver and he confirmed that such a place exists and then i got even more confused.

When we reached the place I was still very sceptic, then we parked the vehicle in the spot that was marked on the road, and as soon as the driver started the Sumo, it started moving ahead uphill...

For the cynics, i have the video, this is RIPLEY'S BELIEVE IT OR NOT!!!

Battle of Tiger Hill

Battle of Tiger Hill
Originally uploaded by ankur_gupta10.

On our way from Leh to Shrinagar was Kargil and Drass. The memories of the Kargil war came to mind. At some stretches along the road, there was a sign board "You are being watched by the enemy".

The Army learning from the previous war now has many weapons and positions that can are shaded from the hills under the control of pakistan. Then came Drass, the driver told us of about the peaks all around, tiger hill, Tololing etc.

More details on the war at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1999_Kargil_Conflict

Check out pics of Kargil and Drass..Deepu/prashant can u give the links to your pics?/

Band of Boys

Leh 023
Originally uploaded by ankur_gupta10.

Here is the complete gang that went to leh..i don't think we would have a better pic than this of the entire group for the trip..

Zojila Pass

Zojila Pass
Originally uploaded by ankur_gupta10.

on our way from Leh to Shrinagar came the Zojila pass. When we saw the Board for Zojila pass we wondered " Why is this pass so famous?" The altitude is not that high. The slopes not all that dangerous.

When we moved further ahead of the Zojila pass board we understood why the Zojila pass is so INfamous. The road is not good. The slopes very steep on the sides. I can imagine how dangerous it would be under Snow/Rains.

Our driver told us of a recent truck accident at Zojila. It was a fuel truck, about half filled. Somewhere along the slope the truck jerked , due to being half filled the fuel exerted a backward push and the driver was not able to control the truck and it crashed down the slope....

Power station paani mein beh gaya

When we reached Leh, it was almost evening time. The generators were running everywhere. Then our driver told us that whole Leh is devoid of power because "Power station paani mein beh gaya" (The power station got washed away). We could not understand how something like power station can get washed away. The place was meant to be LEH, the capital of the Ladakh region. It was no small village!!!

One day we decided to eat out and there was all the diesel of generators that we had to inhale for free. Regarding the restaurants at Leh there needs to be another post. And maybe I would need Deepak’s help with the names of the places we SHUD NOT GO. Indians are a minority in Leh and we are treated as such.

La la la la Leh

Ladakh is literally the land of high passes. And in Ladakhi language, passes are known as ‘La’. This is an account of all the roads and passes that we crossed while reaching Leh from Delhi.

Friday, 11th August, 2006: The only pass was Azadpur Mandi by-pass and it took us a good two hours to pass out of constipated Delhi.

Saturday, 12th August, 2006: The bus reached Manali only after noon. After lunch and some rest, we started for Keylong. The highest pass of the day was Rohtang pass at 13050 ft. Note that it is still called pass here and not ‘La’. It was extremely windy up there and we could not stand there for more than five minutes. A few minutes later and at a lower height of 10301 ft at Koksar, we were much more comfortable. We reached Keylong at 2100 hrs.

Sunday, 13th August, 2006: Started at 0530 in the morning. This was a day full of passes – first came Baralachala at 16500 ft. Then after crossing Sarchu, came the famous Gata loops, where one ascends from 4200 m to 4667 m over 21 loops and 20 mins. Then came two passes in quick succession – Nakeela (15547 ft) and Lachulungla (16617 ft). We stopped at a place called Pang for lunch. Immediately after Pang, there were a few loops which took us to a higher plateau – the Mori plains. This was the most amazing sight with the plain stretching to miles on both sides and mountains in the distance. We quit the road and two Scorpios raced each other at 80 kmph. We gave up soon though, as we couldn’t resist stopping for a few snaps. After miles of nothingness, we reached the mountains. After a steady climb, we reached Taglangla – the highest pass of the day at 17582 ft and the third highest in the world.

After Taglangla, several long loops bring you down to the ‘plains’. Then on the roads take you through some purple and green colored hills, till you reach river Indus. After that the remaining road is as smooth as mirror – this expression is not mine but the driver’s. It is indeed a smooth straight road through a desert which gets you to Leh.

More Pics of Leh Trip

Finally I am able to load my share of pictures on net. Sorry to keep you people waiting for the pics.

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Check out rest of the Leh Pics at http://picasaweb.google.com/deepak79

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Six Album in total. Leh Trip pics from my camera are divided in 4 Albums. One album is for Panoramas that i clicked in the entire trip.

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The last album is of pics taken by Anubhav camera.

Looking for Pictures?

Ok ok... our heartfelt apologies for not posting the pictures long time ago... but then better late then never...

Me and Ankur have managed to upload the pictures on flickr and here are the relevent links...

Pictures by Prashant ( clicked using Nikon Coolpix 4200)

Pictures by Ankur (Clicked using a Kodak V530)

Pictures by Subhadip (Clicked using Minolta Dynax 5D)

And trust me this is just half of the fantastic work... Deepak the landscape specialist is yet to come out with his lot of the pics... and last but not the least, the most talked about fella on the Trip Anubhav would share his share of the shots...

so while these photos would keep you busy, we are trying to get you more to look at... and open your mouths in AWW :)

happpy surfing...

Got Leh'ed...

If anyone ever says that Leh is beautiful, or Ladhak is a dream come true, or Srinagar is heaven… do not believe it… just do not…

Go and see for yourself…

Oh and by the way, we are back at our respective locations, all fit and fine!!!

A few things worth mentioning while everyone is waiting for the photos, the travelogues, and the information…

• A drive for 12 hours, and the number of vehicles you see is about 20…
• Plains for about 40 kms straight at 12000 ft above the sea level…
• Raw, brown huge mountains without any green…
• A sky full of stars and there are so many that if you start counting you can easily loose count in 3 seconds…
• A lake which is dark blue in colour in the afternoon, grey in the evening, and silver-ish in the morning, is 154 kms long and 4 kms wide at its maximum width…
• A Camp in the middle of nowhere...
• Mountains where clouds paint their shadows…
• Sight which defies distance, you can look at a mountain which is as far as far can be…

I have not been this short of words for a trip ever!!! I think I should let some photos speak for the trip...

Here you go...

On our way from Manali to Leh

On our way from Manali to Leh

On our way from Manali to Leh

From Leh to Pangong Tso

The Pangong Tso

The Pangong Tso

Thiksey Gompa

Hunder - The desert at over 10000 feet

We got stuck at the North Pullu...

MoonLand...

Zojila Pass - On our way to Srinagar from Leh

Sonemarg

Mughal Gardens in Srinagar

Dal Lake

Hazratbal Dargah

Dal Lake at Night

There is more coming your way!!!

Wait!!!

Leh - Pangong Tso - Leh

We are back in Leh after a wonderful camping experience near the Pangong Tso (Spangmik)...

Had a great lunch, dinner, bonfire, long drive, and a not so comfortable sleep in the tents... but overall this has Been more like a dream!!!

Deepak is not feeling too well... Ankur and Anubhav also complaint of headache, stomach ache... etc etc... I have a slight backache... and Subbu looks tired too...

We have been moving on and on and on...

Tomorrow, we go to Nubra Valley and come back instead of camping there, which was the original plan...

Details of the days would come up once we are back... oh... and did I mention that we are on a photography spree too... loads of them...

And :) I drove for 25 kms to the World's third highest PASS in a Scorpio... Chang LA :)

I should stop writing now... Internet access is very costly here... 60 bucks for 30 minutes... phew!!!

May God be with us....

Amen!!!

In Manali....

Reached Manali @ 1200 hrs...

The Volvo though comfortable took a li'il extra long to reach...
2 hours in Delhi after departure, traffic jams, longer then required pit-stops at places you do not want to stop at have been the highlight so far...

Expense Statement:
50 bucks for the bags in the Volvo... it’s more like a tip...
265 bucks for something close to dinner near Pipli, Kurukshetra...

Plans from here...
We got down from the bus and rushed straight to Hotel Himgiri, near the Telephone Exchange... Parvez, the guy who has arranged for our stay in Leh, gave us a nice tip to save some money…

Instead of a cab based in Manali, we are hiring a cab based out of JK, which means some money saved… Instead of an expected 10000 bucks we should be able to get the cab in about 7000 bucks… and its a SCORPIO... not too old... the last seat is like those high end versions still with the plastic covers on :)

We plan to be in Keylong tonight… and then move to Leh from there tmrw morning…
While I am posting away to glory here… the rest of the gang is downstairs, ordering nice Chinese food in the Café Chopsticks…

May God be with us…

Amen…

Getting LEH'ed...

Ok.... so the day is finally here!!!

I am not really sure for how long I, we have been waiting for this day...

right from the start of the thoughts, to that Sunday morning call of Deepak to get the flight tickets, to my calling Subbu to confirm his participation, to Ankur joining us from the US, to me not having enough money to get the Volvo tickets, to getting the tickets, the bookings, to chalking out the plans, to Deepak's charger getting conked off, to Anubhav (who would be referred to as Pondy on the trip) loosing his charger too, to me arranging for a digital camera, to getting a camcorder, to making a checklist to TODAY !!!!

It already has been quite a trip!!!

And today I am stuck in the office for another couple of hours... with that strange sensation in my legs to just get up and get out of here!!!

I am still to pack my stuff... everything has been laid out on the bed... just need to push all the stuff in the bag!!!

Oh... and Pawan Gulani... a very dear friend of mine has wished me luck!!!

He says I am going to get LEH’ed!!! Well... yes I am... excitement, passion, heat, cold, fatigue, sleep, everything!!!

I AM going to get LEH'ed :)

Capturing Moments....

Looks like we are all equipped with enough photography equipment to shoot a movie and a complete magazine...

1) My Canon 3000v Film Based SLR
2) Deepak's Panasonic FZ20 Prosumer
3) Subhadip's Minolta Dynax
4) Anubhav's Olympus C-765
5) A Nikon Cool Pix 4600 with a 1 GB Card
6) Sony HandyCam HC-21
7) Ankur's Kodak V530


looks like we are all good for over 3500 pics in the 9 days we are roaming around :)

ye ye ye !!!

Shopping the Essentials

More Updates on the trip :-

After booking for the hotels and vehicle at Leh, Now we are looking for the finer details of the trip. Some of the updates are :-

1) Me and Prashant met this Sunday and shopped for few essential items like Soaps, Oil, Toothpaste, Instant Coffee Sachets, Biscuits etc etc. The most important stuff was Sunscreen.........well its gonna be direct and harsh sun light out there, so We guys too need it :) On a serious note, Sunscreen is one of the most important things that you should carry for Ladakh trip. Sunglasses are also needed.

2) Still need to purchase the essential medicines including Diamox for Height sickness. A small medicine box is very important for the trip.

3) Talked to Mr. Miru and found out how to deposit the advance in his account. We might end up giving him the total money in leh because the procedure of depositing the money in his account is little complicated.

4) Tried to made an estimate of Clothes that would be required out there. Around 6-8 tees, 2-3 sweatshirts or Pullovers and 1 Jacket is minimum that one should carry. Yeah yeah i am not forgetting the jeans/ cargos and trousers :) .......also a cap is needed.

5) I had a talk with one of my very dear cousin bro (captain in Army) and got a contact of his colleague in Army. He is based in Tangstse right now and he has asked us to come over for lunch (on a trip to Pangong) and any other help thats needed when we are in Leh.

6) The weather out there in Leh is not so good right now. Its been raining for a while and there are floods also in some area (Unlike Leh, which is the most dry area in India along with Thar desert) For weather updates you can use CNN website.

Apart from that a new problem has come in. My digicam charger has stopped working. I have given it for repairs but the chances are not so good. Tried finding few alternatives in pallika but original one as expected is not availaible. Some generic ones are present, which i dont know whether they will work or not. I have taken a charger from one of my very good friend Akash but incase he plans to go out somewhere in the same time, i have to give it back. Lets see how things turn out. Also, i was planning to get one extra digicam but that is also not working right now. Seems like i would be heading to leh without any camera at all :(

Anubhav has also misplaced his charger somewhere (Olympus C-765) .....thats another disaster........

anyway, lets see how things work out.......

Staying Options

Well......just 5 more days to go........................We have been planning and getting information like crazy for past few days. Finally things moved into 4th gear last week. Here are few updates for everyone :-

1) According to our plan, We are planning to move to Keylong from Manali on 12th August and stay there for night. HPTDC has an excellent hotel (Hotel Chander Bhaga) at Keylong and they have provision for online booking of rooms. So, a Double Bedroom Suite for 1600 bucks booked out there by me last week.

2) Next on the agenda was looking out for a suitable accommodation in Leh, Tangstse (Near Pangong) and Hundur. Here is a list of registered Hotels and Guest Houses in Leh (Link). After a lot of research through online forums and networking sites (India Mike, Ryze, Orkut etc), I finalized three guest houses:-

• Oriental Guest House

Phone (0)1982 250 516, Fax (0)1982 252 414
Email : ladakhoriental@yahoo.co.in

• Shanti Guesthouse, Below Shanti Stupa, Yurthang Road, Changspa, Leh, Ladakh 194101

Phone: 01982-253084

• Alimjan Guest House, opp. Mandala Hotel on the fort road.

Phone: 01982-250314 (r), 01982-255297 (guest house), 94191-79149 (cell)
Contact: Mr. Parvez Miru

Prashant talked to Mr. Parvez Miru at Alimjan Guest House and told him about our trip details. He came back to us later in the day with his charges for our whole trip (right from the moment we enter Leh to the moment we leave it).

Sunday, August 13, 2006	Arrival : Leh in night	Leh (2 Double Bed room with bath)
Monday, August 14, 2006	Leh-Pangong Tso	Tented accommodation
Tuesday, August 15, 2006	Pangong Tso - Leh	Leh (2 Double Bed room with bath)
Wednesday, August 16, 2006	Leh-Khardung la-Nubra Valley	Tented accommodation in Hundur
Thursday, August 17, 2006	Nubra Valley - Leh	Leh (2 Double Bed room with bath)
Friday, August 18, 2006	Departure : Early morning

We would be having 2 Double bed room (attached bath rooms) with 3 meals (13 August night to 18 morning) + Scorpio to Nubra Valley (night stay) and Pangong (night stay) + Tented accommodation for Nubra valley and Pangong for night including meals

He would also help us in arranging the inner line permit for Pangong and Nubra valley.

The total cost for 5 people is 24000 Rs. That means 4800 Rs per person, which we thought was quite decent. It will save us from all the hassles of looking out for GH in Leh in night, getting the permits, arranging Vehicle for travel (Taxi Union in Leh, outside taxis are not allowed) and accommodation at Hundur and Pangong.

3) So, we are more or less done with our accommodation in Leh and other places we are going to travel including a Vehicle in Leh. What is still left:-

• 4by4 from Manali to Leh : Can only be booked after reaching Manali
• How we are going to travel from Leh to Srinagar (Taxi, Bus ?? ) Not decided yet.
• Accommodation in Drass or Kargil on the way to Srinagar.

More updates coming soon.

The PLAN....

The plan on the Table… presented in the Table…

Date/Day	Activity	Watching the stars in…
Friday, August 11, 2006	Departure from Delhi, 1800 hrs.	BUS
Saturday, August 12, 2006	Reach Manali, Move to Keylong	Keylong
Sunday, August 13, 2006	Keylong- Leh	Leh
Monday, August 14, 2006	Leh-Pangong Tso	Tangste/Likung
Tuesday, August 15, 2006	Pangong Tso - Leh	Leh
Wednesday, August 16, 2006	Leh-Khardung la-Nubra Valley	Hundur
Thursday, August 17, 2006	Nubra Valley - Leh	Leh
Friday, August 18, 2006	Leh - Kargil	Kargil
Saturday, August 19, 2006	Kargil - Srinagar	Srinagar
Sunday, August 20, 2006	Srinagar - Delhi	Delhi
Monday, August 21, 2006	Boo hoo hoo :(	Who watches the stars on a office day

StArT FrOm ThE BeGiNNiNg...

The thought process is not recent... I have been thinking of going to Leh for years now...

When i talked to Deepak about the thought... he was excited about it... and we immediately decided that we two were going sometime in 2006... when !!! we did not know... all we knew was that we were going...

Subbu came into picture because of some casual talks… and we did not waste any more time to decide when we were going… Deepak got the tickets done from Srinagar to Delhi…

A week later, while I was talking to Ankur about the trip, he showed interest and I told him the plan in a li’il detail… It took him just about 10 minutes to decide that he wanted to join the gang… and he got the flight tickets done for himself…

What was left now, were the Delhi-Manali Volvo tickets… which I was supposed to take care of… I did not have any money in June and had to delay the purchase of the tickets to July… got my salary on the 1st and went to get the tickets from the Himachal Pradesh Tourism Department for the Delhi-Manali Volvo… The day I was going to get the tickets, Deepak called and said that Anubhav was joining us… so I could get 5 tickets now… a good number…

I reach the tourism office and find out that I was extremely lucky because 24 seats out of the 40 were already booked by a group… we got the seat numbers 28-32 for the Delhi-Manali Volvo for 11-August’06, departure time from Delhi (Chandralok Building, Janpath) is 1830 hours.

Time now for a small intro not necessarily in any order ? which means I can start with myself first…

Prashant Bhardwaj:
Also called Prashie (by Deepak), Pete( by Subbu)
My love for my car is well known in my friend circle… and the fact that I have managed to get out of Delhi every month since September’05 is good enough to prove my love for travel… I like to capture moments from the streets in my camera…
I write for myself @ http://rightmore.6te.net

Deepak Kumar:
One of my first few friends from Orkut… the common interest in Travel and Photography brought us together… an avid reader and a deep sea of knowledge… is doing most of the research with Subbu for the trip…

Calls himself boring and weird and leaves the rest for the rest to know…

Deepak’s fantastic work with the camera can be seen on his Photoblog: http://aportraitoflife.blogspot.com/

Subhadip:
Called Subbu by the people who know him…
We know each other from the time when I joined Hughes… strange enough we both love to travel and take pictures, but never went for a trip together when we were working together… strange !!! Yes!!!

A wonderfully composed person… quite and to the point… a good writer…

You can read how he writes @ http://brainbit.blogspot.com/

Ankur Gupta:
We know each other through the blog-o-sphere and then the love for our FIAT cars got us talking… he loves to drive his Petra and is the only married guy in the gang heading towards Leh next month…

His blog address is: http://bugmann.spaces.msn.com/PersonalSpace.aspx

Anubhav Tripathy:
Referred to as Pondy by his friends for some reasons that would sound best when shared by his highness himself…
I have not spend a lot of time talking or interacting with this guy, but whatever time is spent was good enough to tell me about the cool head he carries with himself… Am sure he is going to be a good company to be with on the Trip…

So that was about the gang of 5… one married and 4 single and smart looking dashing young men…


Looking forward to the trip… May God be with us…

Amen !!!